jimmuller 

My neighbor texted me on Friday afternoon to ask if I wanted to go out on Saturday. Well, of course! So we did, um, 44.something IIRC. He rode his Serotta, I rode the Bianchi. He's hard to keep up with.




Today I took the Gazelle out for 48.9 miles, had the good fortune to meet @Ghazmh while eating lunch in Carlisle. It was great day to ride!

Ghazmh

Saturday I took Ghazmh junior out for an awesome Saturday afternoon ride on the Minuteman. I was on my 520 giving it a shakedown ride to test my saddle position tweaks and to see if I can catch and correct any squeaks and creeks before my 4 day mini tour in 2 weeks. It really reminded me of my younger days discovering the awesomeness of cycling on my 1999 Gary Fisher Marlin. Starting out at the Alewife end riding to Bedford was like an adventure across the state for me back then. Suffice it to say Ghazmh Junior is hooked. We (as we always do together) stopped for lunch at the Kickstand Cafe. Afterwards we overheard a live band at Spy pond but when we went to check out the festivities on our way back West the party was over.

Today I got out for a quintessentially wonderful ride on my R3. As i rolled by Ferns I rubber necked to see if I spied a glance of any familiar faces (my routine if I'm not already planning to stop) and I did! I saw Jim. I stopped and sat for a few moments and had a nice chat. I rolled out and headed towards Rte 4 to add some extra miles on my leg towards Concord Ctr thru Bedford. Shortly after leaving Ferns I regretted having not gone into Ferns for a snack. I was bonking. Out of gas I made it to the gas station where 4 and 225 merge together and downed the best tasting banana I ever had followed by some coconut water. Soon thereafter I was making my usual left onto Baker Bridge rd and can see the brown on the fringes of the trees that line the road. The sunflowers that once greeted us cyclists as we approach the hill are all staring at the ground wrapped in brown leaves of autumn. I rolled up my driveway after 77.5 miles.

Jim, give Sharon my best and I look forward to crossing paths with the tandem soon!

eabeaj

Then you rolled right by (or, about fifty yards or so away from) me watching my two-year-old dance around like a lunatic to said band. Here's to a closer encounter sometime.

Speaking of close encounters, was on a reasonably intense group ride Saturday morning interrupted by one of the more experienced members of the group getting clipped by another rider and hitting the pavement at what had to be 35-40mph at the base of the Bedford Rd hill in Lincoln. EMS, smashed-up helmet, torn-up kit, the whole deal. I missed the incident itself but I swooped down the hill to the sight of her bloodily staggering to the side of the road. I'm new enough to riding in groups, and have been lucky enough, to have never been that close to a crash before. I think the woman in question will be fine soon enough but it did spook me a little.

mr_bill

Some new colors at Muddy River (The Esplanade gets its first mural):







-mr. bill

mr_bill

Some more art from Sunday - Cambridge Carnival. Only got a couple of shots after the end of the parade, but these give you an idea of just how LARGE these costumes can be.

The parade may be over for this costumed woman, but there's still the final walk up Vassar Street to the truck for packing up:



-mr. bill

rholland1951

Sitting on the Rawland in the bike box in Arlington Center, circa 9:30 Tuesday night, plenty of streetlight illumination, returning from an ABAC meeting. Speaking of which, anyone know of any communities in Eastern Massachusetts who are actively experimenting with dockless bikesharing systems?


rod

rumrunn6

seriously? wow, that's optimistic

rholland1951

It turns out to be a Thing. Started in China, tried in Seattle. There is a current dispute as to whether it should be seen as an innovative transportation modality, or littering...

rod

rumrunn6

lol

mr_bill

I used DB Call a Bike in Frankfurt. They worked well, because even though they were dockless, there were drop off/pickup locations throughout the city. Sometimes with paint on the ground showing where to drop off. Othertimes just a sign post indicating this was a drop off area. There was a significant discount to dropping the bike off in a drop off area.

I did pick up one bike not in a drop off area, it had the geocaching problem in cities. I got to within a football pitch of the bike with the app, and then had to seek it out. Took a while, but it felt a bit like a game.

Anyhow, with only a single dockless provider in a territory there seemed to be few problems of "littering" in Frankfurt.

(I'm guessing you are talking about the recent NYT's article on China, where out of control (crony) capitalism leads to a huge oversupply.)

Netherlands has a docked/valet bike share (OV Fiets) only for people with Dutch bank accounts. Amsterdam immediately cracked down on dockless. Even tourist bikes they'll agressively sieze if left anywhere outside a legit bike parking box/bike rack.

But I'm not aware of anything prototyping around here. Geofencing where dockless can be left will be an interesting problem for a town around here.

-mr. bill

jimmuller 

I've been riding my commute again. I'm rapidly losing patience with the MM idiots. Hey guys, anybody can be a TdF hero going downhill. It takes brains to be courteous too, so I guess you can be excused.

I'm also getting ticked at guys who shout "That's a bright light." Like, it's broad daylight, the sun has been up for 2 hours, or setting in 2 hours, with a clear blue sky. Didn't your Driver's Ed instructor ever teach you not to stare into the headlights of an oncoming car? Anybody want to buy a headlight? They don't want me to use mine.

mr_bill

Well, now you only have to go to Frankfurt if you want to try a successful dockless bikesharing system.

But oddly, you can find the second OFO in the US in Worcester this morning. (Here's to hoping they'll be successful too.)

https://www.facebook.com/ofobicycle/p...06712432894372

-mr. bill

jimmuller 

Friday's commute was, ah, interesting. Traffic has been ridiculously heavy this week, but not on Friday. The day started humid but not too hot. Predictions were for a slight chance of showers so I guess anything non-zero would have fit with the day's events. Stuff in the office conspired to make me half an hour later leaving than I wanted to be, not a problem. But the one heavy rain storm decided to come over as I was climbing the hill between Woburn and Lexington. I pulled over under a tree and waited until I decided it might go on for a while. Out into the rain, avoid the puddles, stay vertical. Once you're wet you can't get much wetter. By the time I got to Bow St the rain had stopped. The MM was nearly deserted, cool and dark. A fun ride home.

mr_bill

Between Kickstand and Spy Pond Field ramp.



-mr. bill

mr_bill

A view of the Minuteman from Scutra patio.


-mr. bill

rholland1951

Rode the Ebisu to Arlington Center, where I helped staff ABAC's booth at Arlington Town Day. We were giving away free kids' bicycle helmets and reflective vests, along with free advice (worth every penny). We were also the de facto Complaints Department for the Minuteman, Arlington Center, and numerous intersections; business was good; if the weather had been a little better or a little worse, many of these people would have been elsewhere.






After a few hours of that, rolled out the Minuteman to Depot Park, Bedford, and back. Population pressure was doing its thing, and there were lots of family groups, parents riding with kids. Good illustration of what all those free helmets were for. At times, encountered large clusters of riders, a sort of accidental Critical Mass. Passed those when I found them. More work for the Complaints Department...








rod

Ghazmh

'Twas a light week for me. 34 miles Tuesday morning followed by 29 Wednesday. Wednesday I had no energy or much enthusiasm. It felt more like a chore than fun but I think that's due to a higher than usual workload at work that kinda sapped my drive. I squeezed in another 38 early early Saturday morning and finally had an awesome mid day Sunday 50 mile spin on the R3. The signs and scents of fall was in the air even though we were blessed with July's temperature. Before today's ride I rode the Montare to the grocery store with the Nomad quickly followed by ride sans Nomad to Trader Joe in Newton then Russo's in Watertown.

autonomy

Well, I was away on a two-week vacation, so I didn't get much riding done. Doesn't really count as Northeast ride, but I'll post anyway:

Germany (Bavaria) - was lucky enough to borrow our hosts' bike to go explore the local forest for an hour:

IMG_20170907_1356509_rewind.jpg
The road out of town

IMG_20170907_1406595_rewind.jpg
Dirt/mud roads in the forest

IMG_20170907_1444160_rewind.jpg
Sketchy descents

IMG_20170907_1419444_rewind.jpg
My ride - note the awesome horn

IMG_20170907_1447573_rewind.jpg
Alternate path into town

IMG_20170907_1454109_rewind.jpg
In town

Boy, bikes EVERYWHERE in Bavaria, used mostly for practical purposes. An incredible number of e-bikes. Saw very few kitted-out cyclists. The roads and views are fantastic, but dangerous IMO - too curvy, hilly, with narrow shoulders, and speed limit is 90kmh, which gives cars very little time to react. However, almost always there was a pedestrian/cyclist sidewalk nearby. I actually enjoyed cycling through the town streets most. Saw a number of touring cyclists, especially in Passau and Salzburg.

Spain (Catalonia) - unfortunately, I wasn't able to fit a ride in even though there was a shop nearby renting carbon road bikes (traveling with a toddler...). However, we did take a couple trips out of town and the roads were pretty amazing and one day I will ride these! There were a LOT of serious cyclists out and not a lot of traffic. Plus signs warning cars to stay 1.5m away from cyclists = friendly.

DSC07349.jpg

DSC07216.jpg

I've been itching to get back on my road bike and do a loop through Carlisle but the weather hasn't been cooperating

mr_bill

Also not in Greater Boston, but that is the John Hancock Center ahead, not to be confused with the John Hancock Tower.



-mr. bill

autonomy

On the Minuteman eastbound, approaching Spy Pond

IMG_20170920_1700192_rewind.jpg

jimmuller 

Did someone put stress formula in the public water supply, or is it just the weather? This has been one stressful week thanks to some drivers and some cyclists. Oh well, I guess it's still better than driving to work.

rholland1951

Saturday morning, took part in the "informal test/practice ride" for next year's 25th anniversary Bikeway Celebration ride; this year's ride was really part of the preparation for that, a rolling talk-a-little-ride-a-little meeting of the Arlington, Lexington, and Bedford bike committees over most of the length of the Minuteman, examining likely stopping/talking sites, themes to bring out in talks, etc.

I was running late, as usual, but managed a sustained sprint to make it out to Depot Park, Bedford, in time to catch at least some of the initial palaver.


At Bedford, made the acquaintance of Tucker, the canine participant in the ride.


We stopped at Meriam Street in Lexington for another talking session: where to put 100 cyclists (and their bikes)?


Tucker got there with a little help from electric pedal-assist.


I took the Rawland Nordavinden on this ride, and was gratified when it garnered a few compliments.


We gave our mouths a rest, and switched to legs and lungs to ride on to Arlington Center. It was one of those magical early Fall days, everything splendid with a ripe beauty, something that can't last.






After a little more planning, we got back on the bikes and proceeded to Spy Pond, our last stop. A swan was elegantly strutting its stuff. A reception for the Arlington Public Art program was underway; the ABAC chair had a speaking role in that (we helped coordinate their use of the Minuteman as an installation venue). There was pizza, a welcome noontime development. The Arlington Knitting Brigade was honored, for their role in making the trees cozy.




rod

jimmuller 

I took the, um, gee, which bike did I ride today? Ah, the Grandis. 46 miles. Intended to ride more but had some flat trouble.

Found another curious old building:



Sometimes you just have to take a break:





No matter how much you ride there is always something new to experience. Zipping along through the fields after flying down the hill past Gropius House I passed a car going the other way with the horn beeping intermittently. I thought, was this someone trying to get my attention? I waved as the car went by thinking it might be someone who recognized me. The honking stopped, but then 50 yards later it started again, and I noticed the driver, an elderly woman, had pulled over. So I turned around to see if she was looking for help. She apologized and said her necklace had gotten stuck in the horn. While I stood there she pulled on it a few more times, each time honking the horn! After a few more tried she got it out, thanked me for coming back.

Speaking of flats, I had two flats on the rear tire seemingly from the same cause and without me going anywhere between them. I hadn't gone but a few miles when it picked up a sliver of glass. I patched it but the tire wouldn't hold air. Found another tiny abrasion about 2cm away on the side of the tire. Best I can figure is I scraped the tube on the glass as I pulled it out. Or maybe not. About 35 miles later the tire went soft again. A time hole near the previous two. Hmm, no holes. It looked like a faulty tube. Anyway, a tube swap fixed it, got me home.

Panza

Rode the Rodman Ride for Kids charity ride : )! 100 miles and 3000ft of rainy wet fun, then hot 80 degree blaze in the last hour. A stunning example of New England weather. On a supported ride, I made sure to thank all the policemen/policewomen who helped clear the way for us as we rode. Only one policeman was on his phone during the intersection haha. I raised money for Special Education Classes in Lowell Public Schools : )!!

Completed in a time of 4:54, I was dropped by the lead group 86 miles in and they finished in 4:40-4:44. I wish I was fit enough to stay on the wheel but man, they were hammering 400W+ up the climbs and my legs just cramped right up. : /

I guess I just have to get in better shape!

mr,grumpy 

You guys are always an inspiration but make me jealous that I don't have access to the MM Trail. I don't ride as often or as long as you all but I did get in a pleasant spin around Mausley State Forest today. Visited the cows and dog-walkers. I am seriously considering a big life-change that will free up more time for myself.