godshammgod

I've got a fun little ride planned for tomorrow. My girlfriend is running the Harvard Pilgrim 10K down at Gillette tomorrow. Unfortunately I have to work tonight in Newton, so I'm going to hit the road around 6:30am and cruise down to Foxboro to watch the race. Should be a nice little 23ish miler or so. And I'm assuming no traffic either...

Jim from Boston

Did I see you buzz by on Rte 109 this morning (Monday, July 4) about 6:40 AM, coming off of Pine St I think? I was stopped at Pam's Market and saw a roadie in black and white flash by.

godshammgod

That was probably me.

Did I wave or nod? I saw a few other cyclists out this morning, but not many. I was actually surprised there weren't more people out.

That route to Foxboro is simply gorgeous by the way. Nice quiet roads, a couple of hills to keep you honest. I'll be doing that again!

Jim from Boston

Thanks for the reply. I was just coming out of Pam's Market on foot near the door, so you surely didn't see me; I just got a quick glance of you. I thought it might be you because we once met around that time in that vicinity.

I was cycling this morning though, on a 20 mile route from Kenmore Square to Norwood including a spin down Storrow Drive at 5:30 AM and through the Esplanade to see the early morning July 4th activity. About a quarter mile down the wrong side of Storrow, I realized it had not yet been shut down to auto traffic.

How did you get out to Foxboro? I cycle out in that vicinity frequently and know the roads pretty well. From your direction on Rte 109 it seems you were taking a roundabout route.

godshammgod

I think I took a bit of a circuitous path.

Rolled out from Newton through Dover then took a right on 109. I followed that all the way until I took a left on 115 and basically followed that all the way until Route 1.

It ended up being right around 24 miles.

jimmuller 

I'm glad to hear you folks got in some good riding this weekend. Alas, I didn't and may not be able to do my bike commute tomorrow morning despite the great weather prediction. One unexpected down side to being in shape is that one can keep burning energy until something breaks. After three days of singing and playing loud and fast in the heat I must have developed an electrolyte imbalance. As we were loading up the car in Concord this afternoon I realized I had a cramp in my calf. No particular cause. It's still there, and not pleasant. Have drunk lots of water and veggie juice (and a great beer), taken calcium and salt, drunk more water, eaten good food, berries and banana, blah blah blah. It's still there. Maybe I can ride anyway. Once I step on board the train I'll have no choice.

mtalinm

109 is a great route indeed. I almost rode it from Westwood to Medway yesterday but ran out of time.

pretty hot this morning for the commute in but still managed to match my fastest weekday time...

jimmuller 

Yeah, it sure was.

I did my bike commute today, as my calf muscle was feeling better, still stiff and sore but usable. The thermometer in my car said 66 when I left the house but when I stepped out of the train it felt much warmer.

The ride home was pleasant though.

Jim from Boston

Some of the best long loops I do from Kenmore to Norwood are via Rtes 109 and 115. I find the Rte 109 segment from Medfield to Westwood kind of hairy though, and I sometimes take alternative parallel routes via Hartford or Elm Street (in Medfield through Walpole to North St and on to Norwood).

Tomorrow, I think I'll ride Elm 5t, from Kenmore via Needham, Dover and Medfield; looking for 30 miles, and then it's on to Michigan (via car) for my Century.

mtalinm

Can anyone recommend a good bike fitter in the Boston area? I have one leg slightly longer than the other, as well as other problems...

I live in Westwood but don't mind traveling for the right person. I have become increasingly disenchanted with what is available locally

Daewon774

Hi everyone,

Does anyone know of a good website to track down local NE cycling events for charities? I'd like to ride some events but am having a hard time finding events on google that are not race specific. Thanks

godshammgod

It would be a hike for you, but I recently got a great fitting at a small shop in Salem called the Urbane Cyclist. It's a husband and wife owned shop. The wife actually has a degree in physiology. He has a fit certification from several different places. I ended up going there for two sessions, about an hour each. They don't use the computer/video imagery that a lot of bigger shops are using. But they were really detail oriented and focused on all the key measurements.

I think the biggest thing is finding a fitter who understands what you want to do on the bike. And they were really good at listening to what I wanted and figuring out a way to make it work. The price worked out to $150. But that covers multiple visits.

The only other fit I've ever done is at Back Bay Cycles in Boston. A great guy named Mike gave me a bit of a quicker fit when I first got into the sport. I believe he's still there. Though, his fits are definitely a bit more racer oriented. Another of my friends had a great experience at Landry's in Natick.

JandersUF

7/4--> Got together with a buddy and early in the AM we went out the minuteman to bedford, then did about 20miles in a loop westerly. Made the mistake of hopping back on the MMT to get back to town... that lasted about 1/4 mi. It was mid-morning on the 4th of July... and the trail was backed with 3 year olds on training wheels, moms in huge groups pushing triplet strollers, and my favorite: A mom and dad, each wildly roller-blading, mom carrying a small child in a backpack harness, dad pushing one in a stroller, both listening to ipods, and sweeping down the trail two abreast. This reminded us while we only use the MMT on weekday AMs when no one is around. Ended up doing about 55mi, then taking a nap before huge BBQ time.

7/6--> I'm up in the White Mountains for a few days. Today I woke up early, and took off at 0630 on a 50 mile loop. Went down Bear Notch, then up Kancamangus, turned around at the top and road back home. Something like 4500ft of climbing in 50 miles, including the ride up to our rental unit... 3/4mi averaging 9%. What a #@$# after 49mi of climbing. Anyway... I'm no climber but the roads and views and experience was awesome.

jimmuller 

I got in my usual commute today. Traffic this week has been heavy on 128 on my way to the train station but light on the bike part of my trip. On the other hand, people seem to be more nervous or oblivious or aggressive than normal. Usually they are quite polite. For examples: Somebody cut me off pulling onto an I95 entrance ramp, apparently trying to fall no more than 20ft behind the other three cars in front of him going up the ramp, as if it was going to make any difference. Some drivers were hugging the right shoulder more than typical, or at stoplights pulling so far over to the right that I couldn't make passage between them and the curb. I've seen more than the usual number of drivers run red lights. Oh, and there have three or four ambulances, police cars, or firetrucks go by every day with siren's blaring.

The worst move was by a pedestrian this morning. I was pedaling along 123 through a residential section, a nice road with a good shoulder. An old man carrying a gas-powered weed trimmer ambled slowly the edge of the road with his head down. He kept his head down, never looked up, and suddenly just stepped over onto the pavement right in front of me. I saw it coming, checked my mirror and realized there was an SUV coming up fast. My only choice was to thread the needle. Had he bumped me it could have been my last bike ride. Had I been a pickup truck's big wing mirrors it would have been his last weed trimming.

As I went by he finally noticed me and it must have scared the <bleep> out of him. He yelled an expletive so I hit the brakes and yelled back that he'd stepped onto the road without looking. His response was "And stay on the right side of the road!" Uh, I was on the right side, in both senses of the word "right".

Like I said, this must be Be Stupid Week. This week I've been biking very defensively.

mtalinm

thanks, that's very useful. Salem is not to far to go for a good fit. i'm not a racer

buzzman

I LOVE that ride. I've done it many times and it's a great loop. Almost hit a moose once coming down off of Kancamangus on my tandem once.

And thanks for extending the definition of "metro Boston". I'm a "metro Boston" most of the year but spend part of the summer in the Berkshires so it's not totally legit when I post my rides but at heart I'm a Boston guy gone west temporarily.


How strange! I had a very similar incident on my ride today with a guy and his leaf blower. It was a on a winding country road, but one that can be fairly well travelled since it connects two towns, and this guy backward steps right out into the road as I'm pounding fast up this climb and a car is closing from behind me. I bellowed loud enough to be heard over the leaf blower (and more) and startled the guy. Thing was the guy looked PO'd at me- even though he'd almost backed into me and I'd just saved him from getting hit by either me or the car.

Other than that I had a very nice 45 mile ride (in the Berkshires ) with tons of climbing and a dirt road detour that turned out to be absolutely stunningly beautiful.

mtalinm

w00t! new fastest weekday time on my commute to work this morning: 46:35, down from 49:01: https://connect.garmin.com/activity/97358282

I say "weekday" time because I once made it in 45:30 at 6am on a Saturday morning with zero traffic so I didn't ever stop. so I was pretty psyched to get within a minute of that (moving time) despite the 20 or so stops on my way.

and all of this was on the folding bike! with drop bars and a Capreo drivetrain, that thing is fast...

godshammgod

Yeah, I think there's this perception that all bike fits should look a certain way sometimes.

Even my fitter said, ''Everyone thinks they need to look like a pro in the tour, but our bodies can't do what their bodies do.''

I liked when he said that. It was refreshing.

By the way, here's their website: https://www.theurbanecyclist.com/

cmolway

Forecasts of heavy fog and potential hail changed my mind about heading back home to grab my bike after dropping off the 3yo at daycare. 1st time in over a month that I drove into to work this morning--I feel really guilty about it. This morning's fog makes it look like it's dark outside. Seems like a good call.

godshammgod

Yeah, I got caught in that as I was making my way through Dover. The rain felt like little needles for about 45 minutes.

Thankfully I was riding with a guy who is really strong so he gave me a nice tow back out of harm's way. He made a good point that it's easier to ride harder when the weather sucks. You just don't notice the pain. At one point he casually said that he'd been riding at about 300 watts for a half hour without noticing. I was happy to just be sucking his wheel.

cmolway

Did the guy have a power meter on his commuter?

I personally don't mind the rain--that's what rain bikes are for. The only thing I dislike is the need to wear gloves so I can wipe off all the crap that sticks to the tires when wet. It's the threat of hail that usually forces me off the road. I never see anyone on my commute until I hit Charlestown (about a mile from my destination).

jimmuller 

Ayup. The National Weather Service had issued a severe t-storm warning for my destination, and the radar map looked like a flower garden with blossoms overhead and stretching far to the west, and the sky at home was a dismal gray, slightly raining. I drove in. It was pouring along my bike route.

godshammgod

Oh we weren't commuting. We were just out for a 25ish mile ride. And the rain just happened to start at our halfway point so we just rode back through it.

I was a little unprepared. He at least had a cycling cap to keep the water out of the eyes.

I usually love riding in the rain. Today was a bit hairy because it was so heavy and the standing water built up really quickly.

mtalinm

I bailed too. though by the time I started driving in, the rain had let up and I would've been fine. and it was nice the rest of the day. so I ended up feeling lame for skipping

btw gotta feel really sorry for Chris Horner and Bradley Wiggins. Horner basically finished the stage with a concussion - was asking his manager whether he finished as they put him on a stretcher

rholland1951

So, the other day I was riding up the first hill on Monument Street, Concord (with the North Bridge behind me) when I passed six Ferraris... not bad for a touring bike. They were, of course, on a tractor-trailer, parked in front of a house. Whether dropping off or picking up, I don't know.