Jim from Boston

A well-known route to me, @sbp. I used to work in Needham, and rode to and from Kenmore Square. Where you took Washington St, I continued down Beacon; it was about 11 miles. Other routes were from Newton Center down Winchester to Nahatan to Kendrick, or Needham St to Highland Ave (very commercial though, but an alternative early in the AM).

Nice to see you posting again.

sherbornpeddler

Yep, don't disagree but it is a semipartial correlation. Years ago my chain broke as I approached the same lunch spot. I walked up the hill and found the pin missing from my multi-tool chain tool. A pretty good sized group of what appeared to be weekend casual riders were lunching on the porch and I noticed the bikes were medium to fancy. I didn't ask for or expect help when one cyclist came down from the porch and offered her chain tool and another rider offered a paper towel and hand cleaner wipe. They returned to their comrades on the porch and expertly talked chain width, miles per chain and their individual cleaning and oiling rituals. I repaired my chain, cleaned my hands, returned their chain tool and lost confidence in my ability to judge a bicyclist by its spandex.

sherbornpeddler

Jim, Thank you.
You certainly know those routes under more conditions than I and I pay attention to your expertise. I feel security in numbers on Beacon going in and for the late afternoon return west prefer the bike paths along the Charles River from Cambridge or Boston all the way to Waltham. I've gone in to Boston via Beacon a number of times but not stayed on Central-Elliot long enough to take the Woodward, Lincoln, Lake Ave jog by Crystal Lake. I am looking forward to the Newton to Medfield Bay Colony trail.

mr_bill

Remember the old advertisements? "...A silly millimeter longer...."


It's funny how things evolve, each individual decision is just few millimeters here or there, lather rinse and repeat, so while each individual decision made sense, the next thing you know you are talking about almost a couple of centimeters.

It was only a matter of time where somebody did something truly [strike]questionable[/strike], uh, innovative to get back just a couple of millimeters.

But let us see, from 32mm, to 36, to 40, to 41.5 (and can't forget 38 too). So, start asking why there. Add in 120, 126, 130, and 135, start asking there.

Getting evolved to there, you can't really -2mm, but if someone truly must -2mm, a solution is to put radial lacing on the drive side to effectively get that -2mm. So that's why the hub designer picked radial drive side. And why the hub designer made sure that the hub is beefy enough to transmit the torque to the non-drive side. And why having made those choices, the hub is designed so that it can ONLY be radial laced on the drive side and it can ONLY be crossed two on the non-drive side. So that's why that wheel is laced that way.

As to why the rider picked that hub, obviously because it came with the wheel. But why did the rider pick that wheel?

And why -2mm?

-mr. bill

jimmuller 

Of course I was being a bit silly and admittedly lumping all potatoes into the same pot. We have had some great personal encounters at Fern's, and indeed most cyclists we have encountered anywhere have been very friendly. (We have almost never actually required assistance from anyone else though we have lent our frame pump to more than one other rider.) That particular encounter was, shall we say, amusing.

I recall the song "I dont why she swallowed the fly."

So you are saying "they" designed that wheel primarily to regain 2mm of dish on the DS? That in itself would be a win when you have so few spokes to share the load.

I stopped to help a guy once as I was riding by Merriam's Corner. I'd seen him there staring at his rear wheel half an hour earlier and saw him again on my return. He had one of those wheels with only a handful of aero spokes rigged to a non-traditional hub for which the spokes had no elbow at the hub end. With one broken spoke the wheel was too warped for him to ride without brake rub. He thanked me for the offer and said his wife was on the way to pick him up. It still strikes me that with no competition involved he might have been better off with less leading-edge wheels. You can trim the margins too tight and (to mix a few metaphors) like Icarus fly too close to the sun.

But of course anyone can ride whatever bike they choose. The key is to choose wisely.

rholland1951

Took the old GT Karakoram rigid mtb wearing the studded Nokian W240 tires out to Depot Park, Bedford, on the Minuteman at noon, 20 miles in thaw conditions after yesterday's snow storm. The trail surface varied over the length of the ride, ranging from bare pavement to smooth ice to bumpy ice to snow newly fallen from the overhanging branches, often falling on me. Nice ride, very much with the character of rolling through a series of picture post cards, one after another. Tomorrow it will be all different, and if we get the predicted snow and cold as the week unfolds, different again and again.




















rod

rumrunn6

Currier and Ives!

jimmuller 

Rod, nice pics. Very New England.

No riding for me or us today. But we did manage a nice 2+ hr EVA though Estabrook Woods.

rholland1951

Took a sunset ride on the Minuteman, just up to Lexington Center, 10 miles, towards the end of today's thaw. The thaw did its work, most of the trail was either dry, bare pavement, or wet, bare pavement, but there were stretches of rutted slush, like this bit near Russell Place, Arlington, that will cause trouble when they freeze up tonight: icy ruts.


The inevitable next plowing will help with that, and we're in for enough action this week that change of state is the best bet. Meanwhile, there were subtle sunset colors to admire, with just enough surface variation to turn this into an entertaining mixed-terrain ride on the studded Nokians, made a little more challenging after dark, when one of the two headlights decided to exhaust its batteries.












rod

Ghazmh

Rod, nice pics of the MMRT as usual.

My Garmin Virb camera died after 20 minutes of use. I won't be joining the post-great-ride-pictures club as I hoped. I returned if for a refund,

rholland1951

I've been making do with the camera in my phone for some years now: it's always there...

rod

rholland1951

The Big Thaw followed the Big Freeze, and was itself followed by a little ride on the Minuteman this evening, a pleasure after many too many days off the bike. Temperatures were in the low 40s, cool with an option on cold, the pavement was bare and dry in the main, here and there damp with a bit of meltwater, with a few deep puddles for variety. The studded Nokians crackled merrily, with nothing better to do than make a little noise.


rod

jimmuller 

I rode my commute today! I rode my commute today! Had to watch carefully for some black ice this morning but mostly had no trouble. Went out again to pick up a sandwich for lunch. It was a glorious early spring afternoon! And a cool but pleasant ride home.

rumrunn6

there really should be a like button ...

rholland1951

Had a mental health ride on the Minuteman tonight, Lexington Center and back, 10 miles in the cold evening air that started at 32 and dropped into the 20s. At 6pm, the sky had a violet glow that would gradually fade to full dark, and hymns I couldn't quite place drifted up from the the Baptists' carrilon, while a dog barked on Turkey Hill: sounds carried well tonight. Perversely hoped for a bit of ice, to justify the Nokians, but only got a few little frozen puddles that fractured with a gratifying CRACK! when I traversed them. Peaceful ride, helped to clear the considerable cobwebs left over from today's nonsense.




rod

rumrunn6

this would be a good day to get out a again cuz I heard temps mite get to 50s? instead I'm driving to VT to visit daughter at school

jimmuller 

I've been remiss in reporting rides; gotta' keep the logs up to date, right?

A few weeks ago riding the tandem on the MM we passed @mr_bill walking the other way, exchanged a quick greeting. Since then of course we have had some snow and some deep-January-type cold. Wednesday was spring-like so I rode to/from work, a great ride. Found a few patches of black ice in the morning but suffered no mishap. Wednesday night was cold enough that melt run-off from the day would have frozen into black ice so I chose not to ride. Visual inspection from the car on the morning commute made that seem like a smart decision.

With last night predicted to be dry I had intended to ride today. Then they changed the prediction to say it would be 12degF when I departed this morning so I decided to wait 'n'see. Actual temperatures this morning were higher so I decided to ride after all. 19degF when I left the house, warmer than some of the x-c skiing days we've seen. It was a pleasant ride to work!

Not many cyclists today. One guy going the other way on the MM must have had studded tires. His bike sounded like frying bacon, only louder. Saw two riders on roads. Not many cars either.

otg 

Good weather coming this weekend (hopefully). Been about 2 weeks since my last ride, going to change that!

Ghazmh

Hoping to get out later today.

jimmuller 

We took the tandem out today. When we returned the odo read 45.00. That looks like 45 miles to me. A bit of water on the shoulders, some sand too, but otherwise the only real hazard was debris from the last wind storm. A nice day!

Ghazmh

I did get out for a rather slow and steady 23 miles on my old Gary Fisher Montare that's affectionately known as Monte. Monte had WTB Bronson treaded mountain tires. I find some sections of my route so badly rutted and debris strewn that I'm weary of riding a road bike (even though I saw dozens today). Shortly after getting home I shelved the Bronson's and put on the take-off bontrager 32's from my 520 for tomorrow.

rholland1951

Set out just as the last sunset colors were painting the clouds over East Arlington, 14 miles on the Minuteman through bright twilight which resolved into moonlight as the temperature settled gently into the 50s, a benign and pretty ride.
















rod

guidoStow

Had an hour between chores so I snuck out for a quick 16 miles. So nice to be outside on the bike...

guidoStow

Yesterday was so nice that despite the 45 degree temp I did it again... I put on an extra layer of wool and headed out on a favorite loop through sudbury, wayland, weston, lincoln, concord, carlisle, acton and back to stow.

Pygmy goats in carlisle



Some interested in the bike...



Day job disclosure?

jdotconnor

On Saturday I got my first ride in Massachusetts. We, wife, 14 month old and I, moved here mid December. Starting in Medford, where I live, rode past the Tufts campus over to Arlington to ride up and back the minuteman. Then back past Spy pond along the Alewife road to head back. Only 21 miles but a good way to see the area.

Since it was the first really nice day in a while and I was riding midday the trail was really crowded. Hopefully I find more roads safe enough to ride on. Massachusets was actually pretty good but I don't know how long it stays that wide past Arlington.

When I look at the bike lane roads on a map it seems more like a pile of broken sticks radiating from Boston. Not many places to make decent, safe loops. Any recommendations on that? Drivers were really nice. Charlotte had amazing roads and bike lanes but drivers had no respect for bikes or pedestrians.