Overnight ride
Aug. 21st, 2006 02:50 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
magidSaturday night, I rode in the eighteenth annual overnight bike ride around Boston. The Back Bay Midnight Pedalers have an annual architectural tour around the Boston area, with a different route every year. This year’s theme was a reprise of an early route called “Circles, Squares, and Triangles”, with some emendations, of course. (And while it’s mostly bikes, anything person-powered is welcome; I’ve seen scooters and rollerblades as well as bikes.)
Interestingly, most of the first half of the ride was places I'm familiar with, and a lot in Cambridge. Which meant that while the intermittent rain was annoying, by the time it got more serious, I wasn’t close to home any more (plus already wet, so how much more drenched could I get? Foolish question.)
We started from Copley and went to the reflecting pool by the mother church. It was glorious seeing the river of red blinking rear lights as well over a hundred bikes set out. Less wonderful was how slowly I had to ride, much slower than my natural pace. Plus I find it difficult to navigate when I’m in the middle of a big bike crowd, so I tended to find places in the group that were less populated.
From there, we went along the Fens and over to the where the C line emerges from underground, and I learned that it’s called Audubon Circle for the traffic circle that used to be there. Now, it’s a plain intersection, with lots of pavement and almost no green. Alas for poor Audubon. I did notice the outline of some bird (a crow? a raven? Where’s Hrafn when I need her?) on one of the lightposts, so it’s not wholly without Audubonic content.
Next we went to the triangle intersection at Babcock and Freeman Streets (Brookline), where I managed to miss most of the commentary other than the concern that the police might escort us out of town. We rode down Harvard Street, which was noticeably more lively in Allston as the bars let out. We were vigorously cheered by drunk people, except when they asked questions, like “why are you riding?” (best answer: “fun!”).
The next stop was the Sports Depot at the end of Harvard Street, where I learned that it used to be an actual train depot in the area, which is why restaurants catering to train people’s needs were about.
We turned onto Cambridge Street, then left on North Harvard, going past the stadium (note: the surface there is still pot-holed; not a wonderful street to ride), across the river (JFK street is still under construction, so another street I’d not have chosen), and down the footpath by the Charles Hotel to JFK park. The sprinklers were on; it was hard to tell whether the light rain was getting harder or not. I hadn’t known that the JFK Presidential Library would have been in Cambridge had the city council not rejected the idea (for the traffic it would have brought). I suppose they’re right about the traffic, and I don’t know where they’d’ve managed to put anything near as bit as the one they did build.
We went back to JFK Street, then through Harvard Yard to the gate I enter the Yard on Quincy Street. I hadn’t realized that the arts center (next to the Fogg) is the only Corbusier building in the US. Not my favorite building, but it works a lot better than some modern concrete prisms that seem to want to be jails.
We went down Bow Street (*wave* to my old apartment) to Mass Ave and thence to Central Square. After that stop (I have little memory of the talk there), we took Main Street to the world sculpture (it was on!) at Kendall. I learned there that the reason there was so much space for new buildings around Kendall is that the city had taken many acres by eminent domain for NASA to move in, but then the president changed, and NASA moved elsewhere. Oh, and the twelve spheres around the world sculpture represent phases of the moon.
Next, we rode up Third Street to Cambridge Street, stopping at Lechmere (there was something about the Lechmere Company, but I don’t remember much of it).
From there we went into the park behind the Galleria, going around the water, and circling up to Land Boulevard. We went straight, passing Bunker Hill Community College. We turned left onto Main Street (Charlestown), and rode to just outside Sullivan Square, near the Schrafft's building. Someone had almost been hit by a car, which was thankfully the closest we came to an accident. There were a couple of flats, a spill or two, but nothing serious.
We took Medford Street, which goes along the back side of Charlestown (much more industrial than the Boston-facing side), to Terminal Street, that felt like it would take us under the high bridge of Route 1. It didn't, but the view was lovely. We went to the Charlestown Navy Yard, out a long, unoccupied pier (8?) that gave us a lovely view of the city’s night skyline.
And this is where I stopped being clear about streets, except for a bit later on at Beacon Hill. We went by a bit of a roundabout fashion back into the city, zig-zagging over some locks (I walked the bike, not wanting to deal with wet metal mesh surface that was also narrow), then came out around North Station, with great views of the wishbone bridge (I was closer to it not-in-a-car than I've been since they had allowed people to walk it, just before it opened). We went along the water, then turned to climb up a hill to a park overlooking the water. I should go back in daylight; it should have a lovely view. (I think it’s the park between the North End playground and Copps Hill Cemetery.) Yet again, I’m not remembering much of what was said. (Note to self: if it’s not raining, bring paper and pencil.)
More roundabout streets (including a scary because of the rain steep hill), and we came through some side streets of the North End (brightly lit like the aftermath of a carnival; there had been a fisherman's something festival). It was raining again, and I was having a hard time seeing (maybe it’s time to get contacts again...), so stayed towards the back of the pack. Which is part of the reason I could figure out I could skip the little loop of cobblestoned street before we got to the Haymarket section. I didn’t want to take my skinny-tired bike over wet cobbles, nor did I want to deal with the jouncing I’d take.
So. I rode over the metal fish in the street, passing Haymarket, then coming to City Hall Plaza, that dormant, mostly useless space of 1.8 million bricks. There was plenty of space for people to stand under shelter, which was most appreciated. This was where I remembered I’d bought a commemorative T-shirt, which meant I had something else to dry my glasses on (again). It stayed dry enough to use for much of the rest of the ride. Other than that, the building and the plaza was mostly reviled as ugly and impractical.
From there, we headed towards Park St. station, turning to go up towards the golden dome of the State House. There were cops here, with lights blazing; I'm assuming they decided that a pack of crazy people riding in the rain weren't worth the bother.
We went up into Beacon Hill, then came down (most people doing a little loop through Louisberg Square, but I again avoided the cobbles), crossed Charles Street, then turned left on the next parallel street. We got to Comm Avenue, then zagged (illegally) left to go into the Garden for a stop by the Make Way for Ducklings statue, and discussion of how the Garden was part of the created land made with forty years of 6 day/week, 24 hour/day trainloads of dirt (!), much of it from Needham.
This was not the only time we ignored one way streets, which very much bothered me. The partial ignoring of red lights (after checking that the cross street was clear) bothered me less, given the time of night and the size of the bike pack, despite my normal practice of following all vehicular rules while biking.
We looped around the pond, then out to Hadassah Way. Left, then right, and we started on the part of the route I'm most fuzzy about. We went to the South End, passing the BCA plaza, then took a left down a lovely side street with a park in the middle. At the end we turned right, and that continued for a while. There were a couple more stops past there, but I don't have a clear enough idea where (even after checking a map), until we got onto Mass Avenue just before going under City Hospital. We continued on Mass Ave. into (Roxbury? Dorchester?), taking a series of turns into increasingly narrower streets, until we got to Isabella Stewart Gardner's carriage house. It's now just about over the original marker of the Dot/Roxbury line (the Dorchester stream/river/water thing), having been sold by the family a while back for $1 to the trustees of the (something) historic house. Elias? Something like that. We got to go into the carriage house (one of the trustees was with us), but not into the main house, as that would've entailed dripping on too many antiques. The carriage house, however, is mostly bare, unfinished wood, with a couple of carriages in the echoing space. We got to be inside (read: I could again wipe my face and glasses somewhat dry), and there was even a bathroom.
We headed out again (it’s harder going back into the rain that just staying in it), and somehow a group at the back got disconnected from the rest. I was towards the back, of course. We saw them up ahead on [some big street I don't know the name of], but then they vanished over a hill, and by the time we got up there, they’d vanished. And the tail guys (with radios) weren’t able to reach the main group, perhaps due to the hills, or maybe the radio had gotten a bit wet. Luckily, the trustee knew how to get to Castle Island, and we knew the rest of the group would show up soon, as the sky was already lightening, so we went straight there.
We came around the 'wrong' way (wrong in that it meant we didn't get a loop), and at some point the tail got in radio contact with the others again. Some people peeled off, not wanting to wait in the wind; the rest of us went up to the walls of the fortress to get out of the wind, which made a huge difference. I hadn't gotten cold before then (amazingly, since I was in drenched clothes, the shirt a cotton one, and therefore sopping), but I started to feel it here, with the steady winds. (Most everyone else had put on layers, or added weather gear of some sort or another on top.) One of the radio guys broke out his "Castle Island food" (Vienna fingers, Nutter Butters, a third kind of cookie), and we watched as the first flight out of Logan zoomed over us, roaring loudly.
Eventually the others arrived, stopping around the bend from us, in the wind... We joined them, and I heard some, er, "discussions" between the outriders about what should have happened. I found out that the rest of the group had gone to Dorchester Heights, a climb and a view of where there used to be cannon, once upon a Revolutionary time. It would've been nice to see it, but I wasn't too unhappy to have missed a hill...
The sky was definitely light now, and we finally got moving, heading back to the city. We came north, past some piers (there was a huge cruise ship moored at one of them; someone commented that there weren’t nearly enough lifeboats in evidence), zig-zagged around the World Trade Center area, then got onto a path along the harbor (which not only had neat metal ship decorations, but also the outline of a neon woman walking along (one point of) a bridge. Very cool. There was more not-quite-straight-route to get across the Fort Point Channel (I think), then we headed north to the hotel near the Aquarium, facing Christopher Columbus Park (there are cows there, but I was too drenched to want to explore just then), which was the end of the ride.
There weren’t a lot of people left, but everyone who’d stuck it out was rather exuberant. Someone retrieved food stored in the hotel (apparently the AC in there was a very bad combination with wet clothes), and we breakfasted. Much of the food provided was kosher, it somehow didn’t appeal. I had some of the ginger-almond granola I’d brought, but didn’t try anything else.
Eventually I needed to leave before getting wholly chilled. I rode back most of the way with Xuth, arriving home about a quarter to 8, about nine hours after leaving. First thing: take off shoes and socks, then I wiped off the bike before a warm shower and falling into bed. At least the rainclouds made it easier to sleep :-).
Other notes:
I had some interesting conversations with people. The trustee of the carriage house is a transportation planner, so I got to hear lots of stuff about the North-South station connectors, the extension of the Green Line, and so on. I don't think I've had a real conversation with Xuth before, certainly not since my brother's wedding. There were people who'd come in from NH for the ride, and someone out from LA who decided to do this for a lark as part of his vacation.
The people: Of the perhaps 150 who started, there were a couple of dozen of us by the end. Some years there’s much less attrition, but I assume those years it’s clear. There were a couple of kids in carriers, and some older kids biking under their own steam. Two Indian men rode in turbans; I shudder to think how much water they were carrying on their heads by the end. I don't think they were Sikhs; I think their turbans would've had to have been white, then. One guy used a scooter, his one active foot keeping up with our two. At least one person had noticeable brake issues by the end, using his feet to slow.
Conversation ebbed and flowed, and as it thinned out (or the night wore on; I'm not sure if it was just camraderie or the feeling of stubborn people sticking it out), there was more interaction between strangers, which was nice.
The rain not only made it hard to see, and nervous-making to brake, it meant hours in beyond-drenched, totally squelchy socks, which I hate, plus lots of rainwater in my eyes, which hurts after a while (I ended up squinting or winking until I could wipe my face). And sometimes it was hard enough rain that the individual drops hurt. It was humid enough that sometimes my glasses fogged up, too.
Eaten: two bars of raw fruits and nuts (I’d been in a mood for bars with ingredients that were real food. They were both pretty good, though the cherry one was noticeably tarter, in a lovely way), three cookies, a bit of ginger-almond granola. And lots of water, of course. I'm not sure whether I would've drunk more had the humidity been lower, but I had part of a water bottle left when the CamelBak ran dry (though it hadn’t been completely full when I started).
Lights: I started with my regular headlight, which lasted almost three hours because I turned it off at every stop. I should've gotten a second (rechargeable) battery, but never got around to it, and I only need it once/year, if that. Though it's good to have spares... So to have some light in front of me (more to be seen, but also to see), I tried rigging the rainbow LED light I’d gotten from ElectricTruffle ages ago. It didn't stay wholly clipped on the battery cord when I went over a pothole (my poor wrists), so I put it on my waist, which meant less light for me, but some light showing forward. The rear red lights run off regular batteries, and were fine.
There are a surprising number of people out late, and most of them either cheered or asked what we were doing, in one way or another. There's something wonderful about traveling in a bike group that large, taking over a lane (sometimes two) of a street, all these people moving so quietly around.
Physically: wrists ached from the potholery, feet hurt some from lack of sitting, eyes hurt from the rainwater in them. Once home I found new bruises and small cuts, plus a couple of tiny blisters on one wrist. Nothing, really. Side note on the new bike shoes: they were better. Not all the way better, in that I noticed my feet tingling a couple of times, ie, but there seemed to be improvement, and I'm hoping that continues. (Obviously, not (wholly?) a toeclip issue.). Plus, some saddle soreness has appeared.
Mileage: someone at the end said it was just under 32 miles, though I don't know how much I missed by not getting to Dorchester Heights. It was also something over 3 miles to and from, so definitely well over 35 miles for me.
In the end, despite the rain, it was an exhilerating night. Though I hope next year’s ride is dry.
Interestingly, most of the first half of the ride was places I'm familiar with, and a lot in Cambridge. Which meant that while the intermittent rain was annoying, by the time it got more serious, I wasn’t close to home any more (plus already wet, so how much more drenched could I get? Foolish question.)
We started from Copley and went to the reflecting pool by the mother church. It was glorious seeing the river of red blinking rear lights as well over a hundred bikes set out. Less wonderful was how slowly I had to ride, much slower than my natural pace. Plus I find it difficult to navigate when I’m in the middle of a big bike crowd, so I tended to find places in the group that were less populated.
From there, we went along the Fens and over to the where the C line emerges from underground, and I learned that it’s called Audubon Circle for the traffic circle that used to be there. Now, it’s a plain intersection, with lots of pavement and almost no green. Alas for poor Audubon. I did notice the outline of some bird (a crow? a raven? Where’s Hrafn when I need her?) on one of the lightposts, so it’s not wholly without Audubonic content.
Next we went to the triangle intersection at Babcock and Freeman Streets (Brookline), where I managed to miss most of the commentary other than the concern that the police might escort us out of town. We rode down Harvard Street, which was noticeably more lively in Allston as the bars let out. We were vigorously cheered by drunk people, except when they asked questions, like “why are you riding?” (best answer: “fun!”).
The next stop was the Sports Depot at the end of Harvard Street, where I learned that it used to be an actual train depot in the area, which is why restaurants catering to train people’s needs were about.
We turned onto Cambridge Street, then left on North Harvard, going past the stadium (note: the surface there is still pot-holed; not a wonderful street to ride), across the river (JFK street is still under construction, so another street I’d not have chosen), and down the footpath by the Charles Hotel to JFK park. The sprinklers were on; it was hard to tell whether the light rain was getting harder or not. I hadn’t known that the JFK Presidential Library would have been in Cambridge had the city council not rejected the idea (for the traffic it would have brought). I suppose they’re right about the traffic, and I don’t know where they’d’ve managed to put anything near as bit as the one they did build.
We went back to JFK Street, then through Harvard Yard to the gate I enter the Yard on Quincy Street. I hadn’t realized that the arts center (next to the Fogg) is the only Corbusier building in the US. Not my favorite building, but it works a lot better than some modern concrete prisms that seem to want to be jails.
We went down Bow Street (*wave* to my old apartment) to Mass Ave and thence to Central Square. After that stop (I have little memory of the talk there), we took Main Street to the world sculpture (it was on!) at Kendall. I learned there that the reason there was so much space for new buildings around Kendall is that the city had taken many acres by eminent domain for NASA to move in, but then the president changed, and NASA moved elsewhere. Oh, and the twelve spheres around the world sculpture represent phases of the moon.
Next, we rode up Third Street to Cambridge Street, stopping at Lechmere (there was something about the Lechmere Company, but I don’t remember much of it).
From there we went into the park behind the Galleria, going around the water, and circling up to Land Boulevard. We went straight, passing Bunker Hill Community College. We turned left onto Main Street (Charlestown), and rode to just outside Sullivan Square, near the Schrafft's building. Someone had almost been hit by a car, which was thankfully the closest we came to an accident. There were a couple of flats, a spill or two, but nothing serious.
We took Medford Street, which goes along the back side of Charlestown (much more industrial than the Boston-facing side), to Terminal Street, that felt like it would take us under the high bridge of Route 1. It didn't, but the view was lovely. We went to the Charlestown Navy Yard, out a long, unoccupied pier (8?) that gave us a lovely view of the city’s night skyline.
And this is where I stopped being clear about streets, except for a bit later on at Beacon Hill. We went by a bit of a roundabout fashion back into the city, zig-zagging over some locks (I walked the bike, not wanting to deal with wet metal mesh surface that was also narrow), then came out around North Station, with great views of the wishbone bridge (I was closer to it not-in-a-car than I've been since they had allowed people to walk it, just before it opened). We went along the water, then turned to climb up a hill to a park overlooking the water. I should go back in daylight; it should have a lovely view. (I think it’s the park between the North End playground and Copps Hill Cemetery.) Yet again, I’m not remembering much of what was said. (Note to self: if it’s not raining, bring paper and pencil.)
More roundabout streets (including a scary because of the rain steep hill), and we came through some side streets of the North End (brightly lit like the aftermath of a carnival; there had been a fisherman's something festival). It was raining again, and I was having a hard time seeing (maybe it’s time to get contacts again...), so stayed towards the back of the pack. Which is part of the reason I could figure out I could skip the little loop of cobblestoned street before we got to the Haymarket section. I didn’t want to take my skinny-tired bike over wet cobbles, nor did I want to deal with the jouncing I’d take.
So. I rode over the metal fish in the street, passing Haymarket, then coming to City Hall Plaza, that dormant, mostly useless space of 1.8 million bricks. There was plenty of space for people to stand under shelter, which was most appreciated. This was where I remembered I’d bought a commemorative T-shirt, which meant I had something else to dry my glasses on (again). It stayed dry enough to use for much of the rest of the ride. Other than that, the building and the plaza was mostly reviled as ugly and impractical.
From there, we headed towards Park St. station, turning to go up towards the golden dome of the State House. There were cops here, with lights blazing; I'm assuming they decided that a pack of crazy people riding in the rain weren't worth the bother.
We went up into Beacon Hill, then came down (most people doing a little loop through Louisberg Square, but I again avoided the cobbles), crossed Charles Street, then turned left on the next parallel street. We got to Comm Avenue, then zagged (illegally) left to go into the Garden for a stop by the Make Way for Ducklings statue, and discussion of how the Garden was part of the created land made with forty years of 6 day/week, 24 hour/day trainloads of dirt (!), much of it from Needham.
This was not the only time we ignored one way streets, which very much bothered me. The partial ignoring of red lights (after checking that the cross street was clear) bothered me less, given the time of night and the size of the bike pack, despite my normal practice of following all vehicular rules while biking.
We looped around the pond, then out to Hadassah Way. Left, then right, and we started on the part of the route I'm most fuzzy about. We went to the South End, passing the BCA plaza, then took a left down a lovely side street with a park in the middle. At the end we turned right, and that continued for a while. There were a couple more stops past there, but I don't have a clear enough idea where (even after checking a map), until we got onto Mass Avenue just before going under City Hospital. We continued on Mass Ave. into (Roxbury? Dorchester?), taking a series of turns into increasingly narrower streets, until we got to Isabella Stewart Gardner's carriage house. It's now just about over the original marker of the Dot/Roxbury line (the Dorchester stream/river/water thing), having been sold by the family a while back for $1 to the trustees of the (something) historic house. Elias? Something like that. We got to go into the carriage house (one of the trustees was with us), but not into the main house, as that would've entailed dripping on too many antiques. The carriage house, however, is mostly bare, unfinished wood, with a couple of carriages in the echoing space. We got to be inside (read: I could again wipe my face and glasses somewhat dry), and there was even a bathroom.
We headed out again (it’s harder going back into the rain that just staying in it), and somehow a group at the back got disconnected from the rest. I was towards the back, of course. We saw them up ahead on [some big street I don't know the name of], but then they vanished over a hill, and by the time we got up there, they’d vanished. And the tail guys (with radios) weren’t able to reach the main group, perhaps due to the hills, or maybe the radio had gotten a bit wet. Luckily, the trustee knew how to get to Castle Island, and we knew the rest of the group would show up soon, as the sky was already lightening, so we went straight there.
We came around the 'wrong' way (wrong in that it meant we didn't get a loop), and at some point the tail got in radio contact with the others again. Some people peeled off, not wanting to wait in the wind; the rest of us went up to the walls of the fortress to get out of the wind, which made a huge difference. I hadn't gotten cold before then (amazingly, since I was in drenched clothes, the shirt a cotton one, and therefore sopping), but I started to feel it here, with the steady winds. (Most everyone else had put on layers, or added weather gear of some sort or another on top.) One of the radio guys broke out his "Castle Island food" (Vienna fingers, Nutter Butters, a third kind of cookie), and we watched as the first flight out of Logan zoomed over us, roaring loudly.
Eventually the others arrived, stopping around the bend from us, in the wind... We joined them, and I heard some, er, "discussions" between the outriders about what should have happened. I found out that the rest of the group had gone to Dorchester Heights, a climb and a view of where there used to be cannon, once upon a Revolutionary time. It would've been nice to see it, but I wasn't too unhappy to have missed a hill...
The sky was definitely light now, and we finally got moving, heading back to the city. We came north, past some piers (there was a huge cruise ship moored at one of them; someone commented that there weren’t nearly enough lifeboats in evidence), zig-zagged around the World Trade Center area, then got onto a path along the harbor (which not only had neat metal ship decorations, but also the outline of a neon woman walking along (one point of) a bridge. Very cool. There was more not-quite-straight-route to get across the Fort Point Channel (I think), then we headed north to the hotel near the Aquarium, facing Christopher Columbus Park (there are cows there, but I was too drenched to want to explore just then), which was the end of the ride.
There weren’t a lot of people left, but everyone who’d stuck it out was rather exuberant. Someone retrieved food stored in the hotel (apparently the AC in there was a very bad combination with wet clothes), and we breakfasted. Much of the food provided was kosher, it somehow didn’t appeal. I had some of the ginger-almond granola I’d brought, but didn’t try anything else.
Eventually I needed to leave before getting wholly chilled. I rode back most of the way with Xuth, arriving home about a quarter to 8, about nine hours after leaving. First thing: take off shoes and socks, then I wiped off the bike before a warm shower and falling into bed. At least the rainclouds made it easier to sleep :-).
Other notes:
I had some interesting conversations with people. The trustee of the carriage house is a transportation planner, so I got to hear lots of stuff about the North-South station connectors, the extension of the Green Line, and so on. I don't think I've had a real conversation with Xuth before, certainly not since my brother's wedding. There were people who'd come in from NH for the ride, and someone out from LA who decided to do this for a lark as part of his vacation.
The people: Of the perhaps 150 who started, there were a couple of dozen of us by the end. Some years there’s much less attrition, but I assume those years it’s clear. There were a couple of kids in carriers, and some older kids biking under their own steam. Two Indian men rode in turbans; I shudder to think how much water they were carrying on their heads by the end. I don't think they were Sikhs; I think their turbans would've had to have been white, then. One guy used a scooter, his one active foot keeping up with our two. At least one person had noticeable brake issues by the end, using his feet to slow.
Conversation ebbed and flowed, and as it thinned out (or the night wore on; I'm not sure if it was just camraderie or the feeling of stubborn people sticking it out), there was more interaction between strangers, which was nice.
The rain not only made it hard to see, and nervous-making to brake, it meant hours in beyond-drenched, totally squelchy socks, which I hate, plus lots of rainwater in my eyes, which hurts after a while (I ended up squinting or winking until I could wipe my face). And sometimes it was hard enough rain that the individual drops hurt. It was humid enough that sometimes my glasses fogged up, too.
Eaten: two bars of raw fruits and nuts (I’d been in a mood for bars with ingredients that were real food. They were both pretty good, though the cherry one was noticeably tarter, in a lovely way), three cookies, a bit of ginger-almond granola. And lots of water, of course. I'm not sure whether I would've drunk more had the humidity been lower, but I had part of a water bottle left when the CamelBak ran dry (though it hadn’t been completely full when I started).
Lights: I started with my regular headlight, which lasted almost three hours because I turned it off at every stop. I should've gotten a second (rechargeable) battery, but never got around to it, and I only need it once/year, if that. Though it's good to have spares... So to have some light in front of me (more to be seen, but also to see), I tried rigging the rainbow LED light I’d gotten from ElectricTruffle ages ago. It didn't stay wholly clipped on the battery cord when I went over a pothole (my poor wrists), so I put it on my waist, which meant less light for me, but some light showing forward. The rear red lights run off regular batteries, and were fine.
There are a surprising number of people out late, and most of them either cheered or asked what we were doing, in one way or another. There's something wonderful about traveling in a bike group that large, taking over a lane (sometimes two) of a street, all these people moving so quietly around.
Physically: wrists ached from the potholery, feet hurt some from lack of sitting, eyes hurt from the rainwater in them. Once home I found new bruises and small cuts, plus a couple of tiny blisters on one wrist. Nothing, really. Side note on the new bike shoes: they were better. Not all the way better, in that I noticed my feet tingling a couple of times, ie, but there seemed to be improvement, and I'm hoping that continues. (Obviously, not (wholly?) a toeclip issue.). Plus, some saddle soreness has appeared.
Mileage: someone at the end said it was just under 32 miles, though I don't know how much I missed by not getting to Dorchester Heights. It was also something over 3 miles to and from, so definitely well over 35 miles for me.
In the end, despite the rain, it was an exhilerating night. Though I hope next year’s ride is dry.
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no subject
Date: 2006-08-21 07:01 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-08-21 07:27 pm (UTC)Though it didn't feel very difficult other than the rain, since the average rate is so low. And biking made me not sleepy, at least until the very end.
no subject
Date: 2006-08-21 07:48 pm (UTC)I had to look it up too. It was Copps Hill Terrace -- see the link on our (much briefer) write-up http://miekec.livejournal.com/55724.html
..until we got onto Mass Avenue
It *was* pretty vague to me at that point too...I know part of that section included Washington Street, and I think the square was Blackstone or Franklin square.
Excellent write-up. Thanks!
no subject
Date: 2006-08-21 08:40 pm (UTC)I've always been vague about the Roxbury/Dorchester area; I don't know any of the big streets, even, much less other places. I should remedy that.
no subject
Date: 2006-08-21 08:02 pm (UTC)For me, the highlight was riding through North End among all the closed concessions for the Fisherman's Festival (http://www.fishermansfeast.com/). I'm going to try to ride back there in the middle of the St. Anthony's Feast (http://www.stanthonysfeast.com/) to take night photos.
The cobbles were horrid.
I thought there were more of us at the end of the ride, but I cut out before breakfast was served because I really wanted some Dunkin's coffee ... and then decided just to head over to South Station to wring out my clothes and take the train to Alewife because once I lost my momentum, biking home eight miles in the rain lost its appeal.
no subject
Date: 2006-08-21 08:18 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-08-21 08:27 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-08-21 08:33 pm (UTC)I highly recommend visiting it. Some years, I've gone first to the Caribbean Carnival in Roxbury, then to St. Anthony's the same day, for a true cultural contrast.
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Date: 2006-08-21 08:37 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-08-21 08:45 pm (UTC)I thought the crown of lights was lovely, and all the unpeopled after-hours booths felt like a scene from a movie. I'd love to see photos, if you take them at the next festival.
I can't deal with cobbles; the irregular stones I went over through Quincy Market on my way home were bad enough. Heck, I dislike walking on them if my shoes aren't thick enough!
I could well be off by a dozen people or more by the end; I didn't count or anything. Someone asked if I'd take the train home, but the idea of freezing on an overly air-conditioned car, then having to bike the last bit home was really unappealing (and it was only 3+ miles, not 8). It wasn't raining the most of the ride home, either, which was a nice break.
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Date: 2006-08-21 09:07 pm (UTC)As for the cobbles: riding a hybrid makes all the difference. Much more stable, albeit still not very comfortable. And the trailer sure bounced all over the place on them.
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Date: 2006-08-21 09:49 pm (UTC)I should get a hybrid someday. My bike's an ancient (over 40) racing bike my dad gave me when he needed a granny gear, and it's wonderful, except that I'm paranoid about unpaved surfaces. And cobbles just don't count as paving...
Trailer: was this a yellow kid-trailer? If so, I was on your left when we stopped at the light just over the bridge from the Bunker Hill Monument. (There were three of us at the front of that mini-pack, me, you-if-it's-you, and your partner (still if it's you :-).)
no subject
Date: 2006-08-22 03:50 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-08-22 06:03 pm (UTC)*grin*
PS
Date: 2006-08-21 08:51 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-08-21 08:17 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-08-21 08:34 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-08-21 09:11 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-08-22 02:50 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-08-21 08:39 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-08-21 08:49 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-08-22 01:00 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-08-22 02:53 am (UTC)Thanks again for the cookies, also for the mileage: it sounds like I can safely claim at least 36 miles for the night with the rides to/from.
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Date: 2006-08-22 01:58 am (UTC)Sounds like a neat adventure.
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Date: 2006-08-22 02:55 am (UTC)It was a lot of fun, and I want to go again next year. Do you ride? It's late enough in the year that there's time to have gotten riding legs in shape...
no subject
Date: 2006-08-22 03:08 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-08-22 03:23 am (UTC)And I don't understand why riding a bike seems to be the key activity here. You'd think that many people wouldn't stop riding bikes long enough for it be have to be remembered.
no subject
Date: 2006-08-22 04:15 am (UTC)Good point, and well phrased.
what you missed
Date: 2006-08-22 04:11 am (UTC)What it also provided was what would have been a gorgeous view of boston if we could actually have seen it through the fog and clouds (we could barely see the lights on the prudential building).
Re: what you missed
Date: 2006-08-22 12:01 pm (UTC)Thanks.
Re: what you missed
Date: 2006-08-22 03:52 pm (UTC)Re: what you missed
Date: 2006-08-22 05:26 pm (UTC)(center what you want the coordinates of in the window. Shrinking the window to something tiny helps considerably in this endeavor. Click on "link to this page". Look at the URL in your browser window, the two numbers after "&ll=" are the latitude and longitude of the window center in decimal format. You may choose to edit the coordinates by hand to move the arrow to exactly where you want it. In extremely rough terms 0.00001 degrees moves you 1 meter.)
Re: what you missed
Date: 2006-08-22 06:02 pm (UTC)Thank you; I can see this being useful.