Getting out of the house will always be tough and rides may sometime be shorter than I'd like but at least I am getting on the house. Yesterday I did this route out to Lincoln, but doing the ride from Arlington center. I chose the hilly Concord Ave route out of Belmont and started on the route at the end of Concord Avenue in Lexington.
The ride was very nice and while it was cold and the sky was spitting rain for most of the ride, the sun came out for the last leg from Lexington to Arlington. The nicest section was the short jog just past the Cambridge Reservoir over Old Country Road, Old Conant Road, and Conant Road to Weston Road on the way to Lincoln center. There is a short trail/fire road that gets you onto Old Conant Road, which looks like this:
A number of larger houses are at the Conant Ride end of Old Conant. There are wetlands on this end and the road isn't much more than a wide, paved trail through the woods. Conant is minimally developed and still a nice road for cycling. I stopped to check the radar on Weston Road, worrying that the drops of rain were becoming more significant but they soon ended.
Stop for a radar check (fenders were not necessary on this ride):
I like the ride from Lincoln to Walden Pond over Sandy Pond and Baker Bridge Roads. It is largely flat with a couple of rollers. There was farm activity on the Rte 126 end of Baker Bridge:
I followed the standard route past Hanscom and the Cambridge Reservoir into Lexington. A Ride Studio Cafe ride started to overtake me on Mill Street. I intended to grab a cup of coffee at there so I cranked to get in before the bulk of the RSC riders. I did and even managed to snag indoor bike parking. Small victories. After a quick expresso and a brief hello to Elton from Harris Cyclery, I caught a brief period of bright sunshine for my ride back home. The ride was about 28 miles.
This was my second road ride on my IF this year. I have otherwise been riding on my Surly, mostly because I don't want to expose my IF to salt and because I have been riding at night for at least half the miles I rode this year and the Surly has the dynamo hub. I do intend to use the lighting on the IF if I do any overnight rides, like a fleche (or here).
The ride of the IF continues to amaze me, especially after spending over 300 miles on the Surly (starting very late last year). But I did noticed inconsistent shifting after cleaning the chain rings and replacing the chain on Friday evening. Rob V. from RSC adjusted my derailleurs and concluded that the shifter is starting to age. This happened in the past and I will be bringing the bike into RSC for a rebuild or replacement, depending on what Jeff, their mechanic, can do. The shifting is good enough for now and I will do the NER populaire next weekend regardless.
Let's see, still less than 300 miles for the year.
The ride was very nice and while it was cold and the sky was spitting rain for most of the ride, the sun came out for the last leg from Lexington to Arlington. The nicest section was the short jog just past the Cambridge Reservoir over Old Country Road, Old Conant Road, and Conant Road to Weston Road on the way to Lincoln center. There is a short trail/fire road that gets you onto Old Conant Road, which looks like this:
A number of larger houses are at the Conant Ride end of Old Conant. There are wetlands on this end and the road isn't much more than a wide, paved trail through the woods. Conant is minimally developed and still a nice road for cycling. I stopped to check the radar on Weston Road, worrying that the drops of rain were becoming more significant but they soon ended.
Stop for a radar check (fenders were not necessary on this ride):
I like the ride from Lincoln to Walden Pond over Sandy Pond and Baker Bridge Roads. It is largely flat with a couple of rollers. There was farm activity on the Rte 126 end of Baker Bridge:
I followed the standard route past Hanscom and the Cambridge Reservoir into Lexington. A Ride Studio Cafe ride started to overtake me on Mill Street. I intended to grab a cup of coffee at there so I cranked to get in before the bulk of the RSC riders. I did and even managed to snag indoor bike parking. Small victories. After a quick expresso and a brief hello to Elton from Harris Cyclery, I caught a brief period of bright sunshine for my ride back home. The ride was about 28 miles.
This was my second road ride on my IF this year. I have otherwise been riding on my Surly, mostly because I don't want to expose my IF to salt and because I have been riding at night for at least half the miles I rode this year and the Surly has the dynamo hub. I do intend to use the lighting on the IF if I do any overnight rides, like a fleche (or here).
The ride of the IF continues to amaze me, especially after spending over 300 miles on the Surly (starting very late last year). But I did noticed inconsistent shifting after cleaning the chain rings and replacing the chain on Friday evening. Rob V. from RSC adjusted my derailleurs and concluded that the shifter is starting to age. This happened in the past and I will be bringing the bike into RSC for a rebuild or replacement, depending on what Jeff, their mechanic, can do. The shifting is good enough for now and I will do the NER populaire next weekend regardless.
Let's see, still less than 300 miles for the year.
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