rholland1951

Rode the Sam Hillborne out on the gray eve of the promised storm. Didn't quite get rained on.


Finished in the dark.

rod

rumrunn6

Wifey keeps trying to push me out the door to ride my bike. "come on you've got all the stuff, get out there, you'll feel better afterwards". she's nutz. but then, who else would have married me? if I do, it will be an all-time low record for me. don't think I've ever ridden below 17 degrees

thin_concrete

Holy moly it’s cold. Thank goodness for Zwift.

rumrunn6

Wifey's coercion worked but then as I was getting ready to ride, she started in w/ the guilt trip, while she made peanut butter squares & lasagna

yup, 17 degrees will freeze my water bottle, after a while

was glad the MTB's studded tires fit great on the hybrid. got others for the MTB that I'll mount next week I think

bike_tom

I got out for a ride this afternoon for the first time in over two weeks. At noon there was a forecast of wintry mix around 2pm, but by 1:30 the weather folks changed their minds, so I headed out. It was a great early winter day, temp about 40' and a rather brooding overcast sky. Took the Minuteman out to Depot Park.

The Depot certainly looked wintry, even without any snow:



Saw only a handful of other riders, but there were a fair number of walkers, especially near Arlington and Lexington Centers.

I stopped to check out Peeper's Pond in East Lexington. There is already a skin of ice that seems to be discouraging the ducks, geese and swans often seen there:



While waiting to cross Mystic Street on the way back, a woman on foot asked me "aren't you cold?" I replied "no, I got lots of layers!" She said "is your bike electric?" I said "no, only leg power" Implicit was that pedaling the bike kept me warm.

A good outing.

Tom

NomarsGirl

The weather looks pretty good for Sunday. I haven’t taken my poor bike out in a long time. Maybe we’ll get a New Year’s ride in.

EVlove

I'm banking on tomorrow. NWS forecast for Chelmsford:

I already took the Bianchi off the ceiling hooks and mounted saddle and pedals. The Lotus is better equipped for the ever-worsening potholes around here but it's in the basement for some winter wrenching.

rumrunn6

I shud take the MTB out one more time, before mounting the new snow tires

rholland1951

Mid-afternoon Thursday, I took the Sam Hilborne out for a short spin up to the Eastern shore of the Mystic Lakes, to see what I could see. The sun was already low, temperatures in the low 50s.


Shannon Beach was deserted, with a skin of ice.


No boats on the Upper Mystic Lake. No distance swimmers.


Bacow Sailing Pavillion: No Swimming, No Drones. No sailboats, for that matter. One guy fishes from the dock. That's as quiet as the place ever gets.


The powerboats usually moored at the Medford Boat Club, down at the Dam, have been hauled out for the season. The kayak and paddleboard crowd is staying warm and dry. Or hiking.


A fisherman at the Lower Mystic Lake has two lines in, fishing for dinner, I reckon.


So who was there? A few walkers, a few runners, a few cyclists. One EliptiiGO pilot. I guess if I can accept e-bikes as bikes, I can extend the same courtesy to these escaped gym machines. Just wait until they start electrifying those things..

A few swans near the mouth of the Aberjona River, some ducks in the Lower Mystic Lake. Nobody fool enough to test their weight on the ice. In all, a peaceful little ride. Home before sunset.

rod

rumrunn6

water ripple GIF, love it!

EVlove

The promised 58 degree weather materialized, eventually topping 60 according to my smarty-pants watch. MTB shorts with a long "baselayer" (what used to be called long johns...) were quite sufficient. I headed out towards the BFRT before lunch, picking it up at I-495/Golden Cove Rd, and finding it much more popular with walkers and joggers than cyclists today. I think I saw a total of one other guy on a bike, at H(e)art Pond beach, which was my modest destination for this outing. That stubborn cold was still very noticeable, and of course I'm way off my summer shape at this point, so smarty-pants never showed more than an appalling 22 mph on the flat stretches. So much for riding track next season, never mind racing.

The shorts (Zoic brand) were actually on their maiden outing, having been acquired recently on clearance for next season, for the princely sum of $6 including a padded liner that I likely won't have a use for. To my surprise, the zippered thigh pockets proved really convenient for keys, phone and sunglasses. I think I won't need my frame bag anymore, for these short rides. Having quicker access to the phone still doesn't mean more pictures, I'm afraid. This is pretty much it, frozen "surf" at the pond:


But hey, it's from the drive side. Sort of.

Lunch back home and the day was still too nice to leave it at 11 miles, so off I went again, this time on the 7 mile loop either side of Stony Brook that is becoming my default when I can't decide where to ride. Only to be reminded every time that Plain Rd in Westford is still being worked on, and in terrible shape. Earlier on, I had to lean into a turn carefully so as not to clip a row of driveway stakes along the curb with my inside shoulder. The hazards of mild winter weather.

I did notice an almost magical spell all day. Drivers noticed and respected me, walkers heard my bell and reacted appropriately, there was a guy clearing leaves around his mailbox using an actual hand rake, and the Gatorade-swilling, puck-losing, stick-breaking, littering teen hockey crowd on the skating pond behind our house actually had enough brains to pull the goals off the ice before the thaw. Festivus miracles, all of it.

Now off to grab a watering can to rinse off that road salt!

bike_tom

I had plans for the afternoon that prevented taking the long ride today's weather warranted, but I did get out this morning.

I rode east on the MM to Alewife and then over to Somerville on the Cambridge Linear Park and Somerville Community Path. I knew from riding to Bedford on Wednesday that the MM was free of road salt. The paths east of Alewife, on the other hand, were not compatible with a low sodium diet. In truth, it was dry, so the bike didn't get dirty.

The path extension beyond Lowell St is not formally open, but I spoke to a pedestrian who said she had walked as far as Somerville High before encountering construction.

From the Lowell St overlook I watched some Green Line trains go by. This shot shows a Boston bound train, with the Community Path extension just visible on the far right:



I doubled back to Alewife and continued on the MM to Lexington Center before heading home.

The mild weather was starting to bring out more folks than typical for this time of year, but the view at Arlington's Great Meadows was peaceful as always:



I keep thinking every ride will be my last of the season, but there is still no sign of real winter (i.e. filthy roads full of snow and slush) in the immediate forecast.

Tom

rholland1951

Took yet another get-acquainted ride on the Sam Hillborne today, this one on the familiar route out to Lexington Center and back on the Minuteman, one of those all-I-had-time-for rides that seems to make up the lion's share of my riding these days. It was a beautiful day, conditions even better than advertised, and the Minuteman was lively without being exactly thronged.


The Mile 4.0 Cairn Builders are back to familiar dyadic compositions. Works for me...


The Sam's wheelbase is a tad longer than the Surly LHT's. It moves with a stable-nimble grace that I find congenial, and my choice of Barlow Pass Extralights for shoes represents a return to something I have tried before, and liked a lot. One of these days, I'll put panniers on it and do a little credit card touring. One of these Summer days, of course.

rod

rumrunn6

got out before dark, but just barely

rumrunn6

yeah I tend to keep less track of my "stats" in winter months. & I have Zoic MTB shorts, I like them very much! where did you get them for $6?

rumrunn6

almost came out there today. how many late December/January days are in the 50s? was gonna use the road bike for a swift ~20 miles. but by time I got out, I could only ride around my neighborhood

EVlove

Sorry, got my orders mixed up there. They were just under $20 actually, from Steep&Cheap. Zoic Black Market, but that clearance sale is long gone, it was in early November. I did get $6 shorts around that same time, too, but those are just regular casual wear, not bike shorts. The perks of having a 30 inch waist

rumrunn6

got out before the rain, on this gloomy day. hoping for a little nap, before going out tonight

EVlove

Given the forecast, I had decided to play on Friday and work today to make up. Staying in for NYE as usual. We used to do First Night for many years including 2000 but then we got a dog. She's gone but now it's just an opportunity cook something more elaborate than usual. Chinese hot pot tonight, I even managed to find the fondue set!

bike_tom

Where is that?
The boardwalk and water channel look like those at Great Meadows, but the pond does not. In any case, it looks pretty wet!

rumrunn6

one of the perimeter roads at the Assabet River National Wildlife Refuge

rumrunn6

fun! Happy New Year! Wifey & I going to a friend's for dinner in Brookline & we'll stay 'till about 1am. lasagna & champagne

Ghazmh

Happy new years all!

rholland1951

On Saturday, I checked the weather forecast twice, then took the Ocean Air Cycles Rambler and rode East.


It was New Years Eve, and the last ride of the year. It made sense to take it on the hills-and-traffic drill through Medford, Malden, Melrose, and Stoneham. Temperatures were in the 50s, and the rain didn't start until late enough in the ride so that it was more of a cue than a disappointment. The Rambler took it all in stride, and the Paul Racers stopped the bike in the wet, hilly conditions.

Medford: the Central Avenue Time Machine prepared to have its Temporal Odometer click over another year.


Rain, hills, cars: what could happen?


The Kurukulla Center showing its winter lights in the murk and wet. Like many a traveller, I was glad to see them.


Happy New Year! Wishing you many rides to come.

rod

gregoryorzol

Nice shoot!