Wednesday, May 8, 2013

A week or so of riding

It has been over a week since I did this longish ride.  While it was a long ride for how much riding I did this year prior to the ride, I wasn't completely worn out.  In fact, I didn't ride on Sunday only because I had no time.  I did ride on Monday, getting out of the house at 5AM for a 20 mile ride on the Surly.  Lighting was necessary for the ride but the sun came up on my way back home.  The season for early morning rides sans lights is about here.

I've been commuting some and rode in twice last week.  My wife let me borrow her older mixte, a Miyata 215.  The fit isn't amazing but it was good enough.  I rode from near pre-school so I didn't have any hills - the gearing was fine. I was going to a conference and couldn't park indoors.  We agreed that it was reasonable to park the Miyata outside with a u-lock and a cable and it was fine.  Bike parking was tight:


On my Friday commute home, I saw a NFG Cycles cyclo cross bike.  The owner knows the builder.  The frame is nice and the build is largely American made.  Another local frame builder.


I did ride a couple of decent rides on the weekend.  On Saturday, I did this ride in reverse.  On Sunday, I did a slightly longer ride, this variation of the basic Arlington, Carlisle, Concord route with an eye to avoid the main roads when possible.  It makes for a very nice ride.  Saturday was a bit cool.  Sunday was much nicer and there were a million riders out there.  From the Sunday ride:


I now have a Hubway account to run errands at work when I don't ride so to test the system I rented a bike at lunch on Monday with a friend.  We did a loop along the river.  The bike is a tank.  The locking mechanism in the front is massive.  The tires are beefy enough to guarantee long wheel life. A few miles on this beast was a real workout.


I also commuted on Tuesday, which was a fabulous day and many cyclists were riding that day.  I was in a posse that was between 30 and 40 riders at some points on Hampshire Street.  It was quite the scene.  Travel with that many cyclists makes the trip slower but it was a fun experience.  People weren't crowding each other so it remained safe.

Total miles for the year: 530.  Total number of bikes I rode in the last week or so: 4, miles: 125.






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