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Sunday, November 7th (map) Cambridge Reservoir Ride Mileage: ~25 Terrain: Rolling Hills Destination: Arlington, Lexington, Waltham, Weston Meeting Place: In front of the Starbucks in Arlington Heights (Next to Trader Joe's on Mass. Ave near the Lexington line)
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It's hard to believe all the good weather we have had this fall. Imagine having nice warm weather all the way into November! Even with the late notice, there were a dozen excited riders. Off we went up Mass Ave, past Wilson Farms and out to Concord Ave. After riding along Wyman St (by Rt. 128) and over the highway at Totten Pond Road, we finally got on to some much quieter roads. Lexington St. winds quietly past the Cambridge School of Weston and runs into Church St which rolls quietly into Weston. We turned on to Conant Rd and past the same gaily decorated house we passed last week. The winds of the week and taken their toll, but it was still impressive to see. After the photo shoot in Lincoln, it was up Bedford Street, across Rt. 2 and up to Rt. 2A. Instead of going all the way to Mass Ave as outlined on our maps, we detoured down Mill St to Lincoln. This a great choice for two reasons. Mill is really pretty as is goes past the other end of the reservoir and there was a 10K race going on along Lincoln St. Riding with the runners was fun AND police stopped traffic for us at every crossing. In Lexington we picked up the bike path and headed back to our starting point. Maybe more rides this fall? Pray for good weather! |
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Halloween Ride (map) Mileage: 27 miles Terrain: Rolling hills Destination: Newton, Weston, Concord, Sudbury As you can see from the picture, we found some Halloween decorations on our ride today. There were actually about four times as many decorations as can be seen in the photo. The house is on Conant Rd. in Weston. So, if you hurry, you might he able to see it before the owner takes it down. The ride was kind of a figure 8 done counter clockwise. My usually nature is to do thing clockwise, so it was fun to ride Sandy Pond, Baker Bridge, and Walden St. |
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in the opposite directions. Sudbury Rd. was quite pleasant as the temperatures approached the 70 degree mark. We ended the ride going through Meadowbrook Country Club and managed to elude any errant golf ball. In the end we road 30 easy miles. I'm hoping for good weather and another impromptu ride next Sunday. |
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Sunday, October 17, 2004 |
Fall foliage combined with a crystal clear sky made this a particularly beautiful day riding. The ride took us along the Mystic Lakes, on to the little used Horn Pond Bike Path in Winchester and then around Horn Pond. After a brief picture stop on the banks of the pond, we wound our way over to Johnson Road in Winchester, famous for being long and steep. But not steep enough to intimidate our intrepid riders. After that hill, the next one, although significant, seemed trivial. But once over the top, we had a long downhill to Rt. 3. We cut off Rt. 3 at Laconia St., just past the intersection with Woburn St. I had warned of a water hazard, but in the span of 18 hours, it had become just a series of puddles on the road. But oh the anticipation :-) Rejoining Rt. 3, we quickly made our way to East St. Then we followed Miriam to York and down our last hill to Grant. From there, we turned on to Mass Ave, picked up the Minuteman Bikeway at Season's Four and headed back to our starting point. A good time was had by all. |
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Sunday, Sept 26th,
2004 Long Lake Ice Cream Ride (map) Mileage: ~22 Terrain: Flat & rolling hills Destination: Concord, Acton, Littleton, Westford & Carlisle Meeting Place: Old North Bridge parking lot in Concord |
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A perfect day for riding. Bright sun, pleasant temperatures, little wind and nice riders! We were honored to day to have two children along with their parents. The ride was based on one of the rides from the MassBike Festival in August. The ice cream cone street markings made it easy to navigate, although we did not follow their route exactly. I had always wanted to have a ride called the Pope Road Ride (in Acton) and this could have been called that since we rode half of Pole Road on the way out and the other half on the way back. The hit some moderate hills, but mostly before we reached our first stop at Nagog Hill Orchard where we picked and ate wonderful apples. Then on to Long Lake where parking is for Littleton residents only, but nobody cares about a bike. The lake is beautiful. We will surely swim there next year. From here, on to Kimbals in Westford. The ice cream was terrific. I recommend Pumpkin. After a leisurely time ice cream tasting, back on our bike an 8 miles back to the Old North Bridge. |
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Sunday, September 12, 2004 |
I decided to do an easy ride for the first of the fall. Kind of get people back in the swing of things. But now I realize that a little difficulty makes people a lot more sociable. The original ride was just a big loop out 225 and then left on River/Monument, past the Old North Bridge to Concord Center, out Lowell to Carlisle and then back on 225. I added the optional loops the you can see on the map and it made for a better ride by adding a few short moderate hills. And the ice cream stop helped too. I also wanted to share the note below which kind summarizes things. I want to thank Bruce and all the other riders for a terrific time today. The weather was perfect, the back roads were beautiful, our leader did his usual impeccable job, and my fellow riders were all friendly, great people--not an ordinary one among you. Dey, Christine, Tom, Marcia and I rode on to Lexington; Dey continued on while the rest of us overate at a lunch buffet at a Chinese restaurant. Well, heck, we earned it--we had to suffer through that ice cream, after all. While not the longest, this was one of the most enjoyable rides of the year for me. They should all be like this! --Arthur
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Sunday, July 11th |
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Bristol Independence Day Ride Mileage: 30
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Sunday, June 20th
Well it was a beautiful day, so people must have
wanted to do something other than bike ride since it was just Zack and me out at
the Commonwealth Ave carriage road meeting place in Newton Centre. This allowed
us to customize the ride into the "Big Truck Tour". |
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Duxbury Beach Powder Point Bridge Ride Mileage: 25 miles Terrain: Mostly Flat Destination: Pembroke, Duxbury, Marshfield
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Good weather, great scenery and friendly riders. That about sums up this ride. We had 32 people show up from near and far. This was our first ride on the south shore, so I was not sure how many people would show up. But I knew when I arrived at the Stop & Shop parking lot early and saw lots of bikes that this was going to be a large group. We headed almost due south on recommended roads from the Rubel bike map until we got to Bay Rd. We followed Bay Road to Duxbury Center and out Washington St. Heidi lives in Duxbury and offered her house for a pit stop. Her yard is right on the water, so he had to stay around for awhile. But ice cream beckoned, so we head off to Farfar's. To get there, you turn where the flagpole used to be. After refreshments, we backtracked and turned on to Powder Point Ave with it's beautiful old homes. Then across the Powder Point Bridge to the beach and |
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yet another stop to take in the ocean views where the photo was taken. At the other end of the beach road, we turned left and then right on to Webster St. At the end of Webster we took a left on to busy Rte 139 (Ocean St.). Just after Rte 3A we took a left on Old Ocean St. and were once again on quite roads. We followed Mt Skirgo St, over Rte 3. Then right on Spring St., right on Elm St., right on Oak St. and left into the Stop and Shop lot to end a perfectly wonderful ride. May thanks to everyone for coming, but especially John for his help with route planning, Heidi for generously letting us use the house and yard and to Dan who is a master tire change. This was without a doubt, the best ride this year. Click here for lots more pictures by Dave Strauss |
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Sunday, May 23rd
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It was another day for the optimists, and there were but five of us. The weather forecast was similar to last week, with a chance showers, but improving as the day went on. This time the forecast was right! Everyone chose to start from Arlington rather the Bedford. The uncertain weather meant light traffic on the Minuteman Bikeway on our trip out to Bedford. I had not been to Bedford since last summer and was pleasantly surprised to see how Depot Square has been transformed, with a nice plaza and benches. From here we headed out South Street, on to Rt. 4 to Dudley Road. Lots of horses out as we wound our way through the farmland so close to Boston. Back on Rt. 4, we crossed the Concord River, then a quick turn on Treble Cove Road and on the West St. There is a "road closed" sign as you get close to Great Brook Farm, but the wash out is not complete and we easily got through. After ice cream and a stop at the new interpretive center, we headed out, made a loop past the cranberry bogs, back to Rt. 225, took a loop on to East and Maple streets and finally back to Rt. 225 and headed back home. A little longer than usually at 33.5 mile, but everyone did great. |
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Tour d'Arlington and More
Mileage: ~13 This ride was being run in conjunction with the Arlington Alternative Transportation Festival & Kid's Bike Rodeo, ending at the fair site. Click here for map (5mb) |
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This was a ride for optimists. You can see the four who showed up, believing the early weather report which called for clouds followed by sun in around noon. We headed off toward Horn Pond in Winchester and after about 10 minutes, it began to rain lightly. A passing shower we thought, but at least it was warm. But the rains continue as made our way through Winchester and on to the Horn Pond Bikeway. We circumnavigated and stopping at the restrooms to dry out a little. But the rain continued, so off we went, out Wildwood and up the big hill on the other site of Rt 3. As always, this hill lets you know just how strong you are :-) When we all reached the top, it was clear that the rain was not going to stop. We decided to take a short-cut back. Down the hill, we crossed Lowell St. continuing on Maple St until we picked up the Minuteman Bikeway. We stopped at the Alternative Transportation fair, which had been moved inside. The organizers did a terrific job setting things up and there were lots of kid riding around the rodeo course. From here, everyone headed back home to someplace warm and dry clothes. |
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