rholland1951

Took the Seven out late Thursday afternoon, a bright day with lots of solar glare for the outbound ride.


The clock and the calendar are up to their usual late August tricks. If it wasn't quite a sunset ride, the clouds still took on some tints that suggested the sun might get around to setting some time when I stopped looking.


rod

bike_tom

I rode out to Concord this afternoon via the Minuteman and the Reformatory Branch. The RBT was in good shape and as busy as I have ever seen it, but I saw something sad which I will get to below.

I saw the motorized insect again, this time in a crouching pose:




The punch list work continues on the MM paving project in Lexington Center. Most of the sidewalk ramps are in place, such as here at Woburn St:




I saw two lemonade stands, including this one on the RBT near Great Meadows NWR:



That's a testament to how popular the RBT has gotten.

Now the sad news: a ghost bike at the RBT Concord Rd (Rt 62) crossing.



I spoke to a woman walking nearby, with her young daughter, who gave me some details. It seems a woman was walking her bike across the crosswalk when she was hit by an inattentive driver.

Here's an article in the Bedford citizen about the incident: https://thebedfordcitizen.org/2024/0...rosswalk-dies/

An article about the life of the woman who lost her life: https://thebedfordcitizen.org/2024/0...******-artist/

Sigh. Very sad.

I continued to my usual turnaround spot at Lowell Rd:




It was a good ride, but I couldn't help thinking about the poor woman who died.
Be careful out there.

Tom

rholland1951

The late August weather gave us a bonus day of Summer, so I took the Seven and rode East.


I was doing my customary hills-and-traffic drill, something I do periodically to keep my wits about me. Here's a picture of some traffic, taken in Medford Square.


Perhaps also in the category of traffic is this reminder that a bicycle can be used as a basic source of income, all this sport riding aside.


As close as I got to a legitimate hills photo this week. I was busy climbing and descending them, not photographing them.


There's no photograph of this, but I paused at the Malden Bike Kitchen on the Northern Strand to chat with a volunteer there whose day job is at Seven Cycles. He was familiar with my bike's build, as it turns out, and we had a pleasant conversation.

Played a little more with the convex mirror. I wonder if it's possible to get stuck in there?


rod

rholland1951

They didn't call this Sunday for nothing, I thought. No pastels here. I was turning around at the mouth of the Aberjona River, on the Mystic Valley Parkway, riding the Seven again.


Shannon Beach was nearly deserted, but many more people seem to have left in the previous hour. Families were marching down the footpaths carrying the impedimenta of a day at the beach.


At the Tufts Bacow Sailing Pavillion, distance swimmers, paddle boarders, fishermen, and others were going with the flow, or flowing with the go. I got a few photos of that.


For the last few years, distance swimmers in the Commonwealth have been requested (required?) to tow large, brightly-colored floats. Here are swimmers, one just ending her swim and another warming up to begin hers. A fisherman and his son, to say nothing of his dogs, look on. A kayak or small canoe approaches.


The dogs could, perhaps, catch a ride on the paddleboard. It's a peaceful Sunday scene. And like many a good, short ride, it was over in half an hour.


rod

bike_tom

This morning I decided to ride the urban loop that takes advantage of newer paths like the Somerville Community Path Extension and the Watertown Cambridge Greenway, along with legacy paths like the Minuteman and the Charles Dudley White Bike Path. I believe I previously posted a Strava plot of this, but here's the route as it was recorded today:





The ride began with the Spy Pond to Lake St stretch of the MM, which is a pleasantly shady tunnel at this time of year:




The Community Path has its final route and pavement going through Junction Park now, though the park itself is still under construction:




I paused in North Point Park before crossing the Charles at the Museum of Science, seen in the background here:




The Longfellow Bridge as seen from the Esplanade:




Geese and weeping trees:




Some nice urban artwork on a Storrow Drive offramp:




These boats are for rent at the pavilion along Soldier's Field road:




I crossed the Charles into Watertown at North Beacon St. Normally I cut through Arsenal Park to reach the Greenway spur behand the Best Buy on Arsenal St, but the park was closed tor reconstruction, requiring a bit of route improvisation. From there I made my way past Fresh Pond and picked up the MM again at Alewife.

From my Arlington starting point it was a bit over 19 miles. I wouldn't call it a bucolic ride, but it was a welcome change of pace.

A good day and a good ride.

Tom

rholland1951

That's a nice mix of old and new in a touring loop. Where is Junction Park?

rod

bike_tom

Hey Rod. That's referring to Somerville Junction Park along the Community Path Extension. It's between Centre and Central Streets Somerville,
Until recently the bike path veered off the side, which you have probably experienced.

https://voice.somervillema.gov/somerville-junction

Tom

rholland1951

Ah, thanks. That rings a bell.

rod

rholland1951

I took the Seven on a sustained sprint out to Depot Park on Tuesday afternoon. It was another mind-emptying ride, all spin, no dialectic. Some days, I like 'em like that.


Traffic varied. This gentle flow through Lexington was certainly seen from time to time. And then there were the electrified scorchers (not shown). I actually yelled at a couple of those. And one guy (also not shown) who appeared very close on my tail, filling the mirror, while making nary a sound. That was a bit of a novelty. Glad I noticed him.


Tophet Swamp and its electrical infrastructure have joined the long list of topographic features I seem to have stopped noticing. But every now and then I notice them anyway, and take their picture. Wish the beavers would come back.


rod

rholland1951

Wednesday we had light and shadow, along with a warm breeze and dancing clouds: a ride that was hard not to like.


rod

rholland1951

On Tuesday, after 5 days in Phoenix, away and off the bike on family business (and 100+ degree weather), I took the Seven for a late-afternoon spin up the Minuteman to Lexington Center and back. The congestion in Arlington Center was a taste of the ride to come.


Cool, dry weather. Pleasant after 108° F. Not that I was on a bike in that.


Peepers Pond is looking increasingly toxic. And sounding uncharacteristically quiet. Grumble. "Too thin to plow, too thick to drink."


This was one of the relatively rare rides in which I screwed up and didn't wear a rear view mirror clipped to my glasses frame. Rather than double back to the house, I simply used my ears more and glanced over my shoulder obsessively. It worked. Sometimes it's the helmet that gets left on the shelf. That produces a particularly goofy feeling.

rod

rholland1951

Another late afternoon ride out the Minuteman on Wednesday, intense, fast as I could turn the crank. Once more on the Seven: I've got it in my head that I'll understand the bike better if I put a thousand miles on it. That may even be true, but I'm not there yet.


My one stop was at Battle Road Bikes, had some quick chats with Jim and the crew. A pit stop in the best sense.

rod

rholland1951

Took the Seven out for a spin on Thursday afternoon.


Just when I thought Peepers Pond had had its toxic way with charismatic megafauna, this heron showed up.


The vernal pools and associated swamps behind Lexington Center are pretty well dried up. Just as well, given the mosquito-borne disease situation this week.


There's still some green and wet where the creeks flow free.


And the bodhisattvas are welcome here.


Om mani padme hum.

rod

rholland1951

Late Friday afternoon I took the Nobilette and rode up the Mystic Valley Parkway to watch the sun set on the Mystic Lakes.


The Parkway traffic was agreeably light this evening.


Good lights and good air. The Nobilette sped along. It goes where I point it.


Tyler Oulton considered this Columbus TSX frameset a work of art. After living with the build for a bit, I'm inclined to agree.


The sun goes where the sun goes.


Another good ride, speedy and pleasant.


rod

rholland1951

Saturday I took the Rivendell Sam Hillborne and rode East, for a few rounds of the hills-and-traffic drill.


The hills don't change but the bikes do. My recent experience with the Seven, its frameset and drive train, appeared to be somewhat transferrable to the near-random-access world of friction shifting on the steel Sam Hillborne. Seems to have worked, I had my way with the hills.

The traffic was another matter. Don't know who was handing out Stupid Pills to the drivers, but there were plenty of takers. I had to bellow at a driver who was making up his own right-of-way doctrine in the rotary at Winthrop Square (more of a circle, really). There are some situations in which a good, loud voice is the most valuable asset when riding a bike. That incident aside, I was able to summon the choreography I needed as I danced with the traffic.

Not a lot of pictures, but the dancing water sprites at Fellsmere Pond were showing off again, so here's one.


rod

rholland1951

Took the Nobilette out for a fast spin on the Minuteman Sunday before dinner. The air was cool and dry, splendid riding conditions. The TSX frame, Suntour Power Rachet friction shifters, Paul Racer M brakes, hand-built wheels, and Rene Herse 28mm Chinook Pass Extralights did their parts to keep the bike nipping right along.


Whoopee! I'm still smiling.

rod

rholland1951

Monday, I took the Rivendell Sam Hillborne out for a vigorous sprint to Lexington Center and back. Vigorous sprints comprise a large percentage of my rides these days, in part because I often don't have time for anything else, but have found that intensity can replace distance ridden... up to a point. The Sam Hillborne is good for either, as it turns out.


rod

rholland1951

The Seven came back from the shop, where they were conducting a multi-day experiment with the Rene Herse TPU tubes; they had developed a slow leak, and it was determined that that was owing to a loose valve core stem. Lubricating that fixed the leak. It was a beautiful day, and the Minuteman was thronged. Here's a throng queueing to escape Arlington Center and get on the trail.


I was in a speedy mood, and the legs and knees were cooperating. Made it out to Lexington Center and back at a brisk pace. Stopped at Arlington's Great Meadow and had a little bit of fun with animations, then got back on the bike and cranked home.


May we enjoy an extended and benign Autumn.

rod

rholland1951

The last couple of days I spent putting up signs along the Minuteman in Arlington to alert people to this Sunday's Bikeway Block Party, Jim Cadenhead's vision for The Longest Party in Boston, lots of fun stretching from Arlington, through Lexington, and on to Bedford.


Think of it as a Linear Porchfest. Today I rode the Minuteman to review the status of the signs: they were all standing.


Sunday, I'll be in Whittemore Park, Arlington, helping out with the Boston Modular and Synth Showcase, a musical event in the Bikeway Block Party for which my son Sam is doing the heavy lifting. It should be a good time. If you're passing through Arlington on Sunday, stop in, say hi, and vibrate.

rod

rholland1951

Took the 1982 Specialized Sequoia rebuild out on Friday. The bike is set up as a go-fast, and it's numbers were very similar to those last seen on the Seven on the same route. I attribute that to a similar drive-train, leading to similar shifting profiles. A fine old steel frame, and no excess in the build probably helps. Likewise the 35mm Extralight Rene Herse tires. How do I speed thee up? Let me count the ways. Arlington's Great Meadow is looking dry.


Whenever I ride one of the white bikes (the Sequoia, or the Ebisu), I inevitably notice any ghost bikes in the neighborhood. Paused for a photo of a visit with the one on the Minuteman.


Ain't superstitious, but a sequence of Big Friendly Trucks greeted the Sequoia on the ride back. Message received: don't get cocky.

rod