Hub on Wheels
Sep. 22nd, 2008 10:58 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
magidYesterday I rode Hub on Wheels, a ride around Boston benefitting Technology Goes Home, a program that gets low-income families in Boston more comfortable with technology (and more involved in the local schools as well). I admit, I think the cause is a good one, but I signed up partly because they close off Storrow Drive for the ride: I've ridden Storrow by bike!
There were three options for distance, 10, 30, or 50 miles. The routes split partway along, so it was possible to choose whatever I was in the mood for at the time. Which was the 50, of course. It still amazes me that there's a 50-mile loop in the city (well, minus a little bit in Milton). Everyone started together, doing the Storrow part (the road was closed for an hour and a half only, so everyone had to be through there first), then over to the Jway, looping south in and around the Arboretum and Forest Hills, then out to the coast and north to downtown.
Most of the time, it was easy to follow the route, between the arrowed signs, the orange-flag-waving crew, and the riders ahead, though later on there were one or two intersections that had none of these. A few other criticisms: the first two rest stops were poorly located. The first was at the U-turn on Storrow, which meant that there were lots of people stopping when others were trying to make a tight turn. It should've been 50 feet farther along, which would've made things much easier. The second one was at the top of a short, steep hill we'd just turned onto, which again meant that traffic backed up in bad ways. I was unhappy that there were multiple parts of the route that were not paved: this had not been mentioned anywhere, and I avoid off-roading with my skinny road tires. I survived the sand, and tried to walk the graveled bits. It would've been much better (also safer) to have the whole route on pavement. The second time the 30- and 50-mile routes split, there wasn't much notice, and there was a rest stop awkwardly placed (on the plus side, there was good music when I passed it, so I got to dance on my bike :-).
On the plus side, I was very thankful that they put an aisle of green outdoor carpeting stuff over the one bridge that had that horrible grillework I hate riding over (I heard later someone missed the green, rode on the grille, and did a faceplant on it, requiring an ambulance; I hope they're ok). There were plenty of snacks at the rest stops, also first aid, mechanics, and portapotties. The crew was enthusiastic. Other than the off-road parts, the route was good, and I got to see parts of Boston I've never seen before (a few felt like I might have been there on an overnight ride, but I couldn't be sure).
I wore the Hazon/Arava jersey, and met a couple of people because of it, including a rider from this fall's ride (one who's ridden before), a friend of Rachel L (from this spring's ride), and another person who's thinking of doing the ride sometime.
The ride started with people putting themselves into two groups, fast or slow. I had no idea where to put myself (I pass some people, others pass me), so figured slow was safe. Note to self for future large rides: start with the faster riders. I'm not hugely fast in the long run, but I am faster than a lot of the casual riders there for the shorter routes. I don't think of myself as being wildly athletic or anything, so this was a pleasant surprise to figure out.
I rode alone, but people were friendly, and I chatted with a bunch of people over the course of the ride.
There were some interesting bikes/bikers out, including a bicycle built for three (mom, dad, daughter), a full-size tandem with an extra pair of pedals far above the regular pair so the tiny girl riding behind her dad could reach the pedals, a guy using an arm-powered bike (my arms hurt just thinking about it), a one-handed rider with a metal attachment on the other side, a tandem with a huge US flag flying behind (I thought of Nigel), and at least one Super Grover jersey (I thought of Iftach).
There was one big hill on the 50-mile route, which I was quite pleased to make it up without walking (there were many people who dismounted). Sure, I was huffing and puffing and in lowest gear, but I made it!
I got to explore parts of Boston, and the smell of the sea towards the end was lovely. I liked how the route was hilly mostly in the middle third, which meant there was plenty of time to warm up and cool off.
Unfortunately, it wasn't completely smooth biking. Coming off one of the unpaved bits, I dismounted rather than do a tight turn on gravel onto pavement. I was off to the right, where another paved bit joined the route, and about to start off, when a kid plowed into my rear wheel. It was damaged, enough so that I couldn't even roll the bike, but had to carry it. The kid and his mom didn't stay to help, of course (and when I happened to catch them later, the mom told me it was all my fault for being in the way. Um, yeah. Not so much. But it would just end up being a she sez-I sez situation, and I didn't want to push it further (only later coming up with lines I would've felt comfortable saying), though I believe that the one doing the rear-ending is legally the one at fault.).
Someone stopped to try to help, but nothing worked. So I carried my bike over a mile to the next mechanics' station. My shoulder hurt after a while (I'm noticing that shoulder a lot this morning), so I had it on my head for a while. I hate walking in the bike shoes that far; at least there was some grass along the path at that point, which was easier than pavement for walking.
Eventually I got to the mechanics. The guy looked at it, and said he couldn't do anything, nor did he have a wheel with him. Then he looked at it again, took it over to the metal picket fence (I think to bend it), brought it back and whacked it on the pavement a few times, reinflated it, and put it back on. He got it so I could at least ride the rest of the way (luckily this was the last rest stop, so it wasn't too far), though I didn't have any rear brakes. Oy. I was pretty careful the rest of the way, never going as fast as I otherwise would, in case I needed to brake suddenly.
I went to Broadway Bike on my way home, but they don't have the right kind of wheel in stock, so it would've taken two weeks to get the bike fixed. So I went to Wheelworks in Porter, and they'll have it for me tomorrow. Which is great, except that whole $150 I wish I didn't have to spend. *sigh* (At least I stopped at home on the way, so I could walk back from Porter in street shoes.)
Other casualties of the day: the red blinky I have on the back of my Camelbak flew off at one point, so I'll need to replace that as well (I have one on the back of my bike, so I'm still street legal for night riding). I got a cut on the side of my thumb in an inconvenient place. And the outside of my right ankle is hurting a bunch; I'm not sure whether it's a bruised bone or a hurt muscle/tendon, but I'm assuming it's not broken since I've walked a number of miles on it since it started being noticeable.
Even with all this, I ended up back at City Hall Plaza around 12:30, less than four and a half hours after setting out, which felt good.
There were three options for distance, 10, 30, or 50 miles. The routes split partway along, so it was possible to choose whatever I was in the mood for at the time. Which was the 50, of course. It still amazes me that there's a 50-mile loop in the city (well, minus a little bit in Milton). Everyone started together, doing the Storrow part (the road was closed for an hour and a half only, so everyone had to be through there first), then over to the Jway, looping south in and around the Arboretum and Forest Hills, then out to the coast and north to downtown.
Most of the time, it was easy to follow the route, between the arrowed signs, the orange-flag-waving crew, and the riders ahead, though later on there were one or two intersections that had none of these. A few other criticisms: the first two rest stops were poorly located. The first was at the U-turn on Storrow, which meant that there were lots of people stopping when others were trying to make a tight turn. It should've been 50 feet farther along, which would've made things much easier. The second one was at the top of a short, steep hill we'd just turned onto, which again meant that traffic backed up in bad ways. I was unhappy that there were multiple parts of the route that were not paved: this had not been mentioned anywhere, and I avoid off-roading with my skinny road tires. I survived the sand, and tried to walk the graveled bits. It would've been much better (also safer) to have the whole route on pavement. The second time the 30- and 50-mile routes split, there wasn't much notice, and there was a rest stop awkwardly placed (on the plus side, there was good music when I passed it, so I got to dance on my bike :-).
On the plus side, I was very thankful that they put an aisle of green outdoor carpeting stuff over the one bridge that had that horrible grillework I hate riding over (I heard later someone missed the green, rode on the grille, and did a faceplant on it, requiring an ambulance; I hope they're ok). There were plenty of snacks at the rest stops, also first aid, mechanics, and portapotties. The crew was enthusiastic. Other than the off-road parts, the route was good, and I got to see parts of Boston I've never seen before (a few felt like I might have been there on an overnight ride, but I couldn't be sure).
I wore the Hazon/Arava jersey, and met a couple of people because of it, including a rider from this fall's ride (one who's ridden before), a friend of Rachel L (from this spring's ride), and another person who's thinking of doing the ride sometime.
The ride started with people putting themselves into two groups, fast or slow. I had no idea where to put myself (I pass some people, others pass me), so figured slow was safe. Note to self for future large rides: start with the faster riders. I'm not hugely fast in the long run, but I am faster than a lot of the casual riders there for the shorter routes. I don't think of myself as being wildly athletic or anything, so this was a pleasant surprise to figure out.
I rode alone, but people were friendly, and I chatted with a bunch of people over the course of the ride.
There were some interesting bikes/bikers out, including a bicycle built for three (mom, dad, daughter), a full-size tandem with an extra pair of pedals far above the regular pair so the tiny girl riding behind her dad could reach the pedals, a guy using an arm-powered bike (my arms hurt just thinking about it), a one-handed rider with a metal attachment on the other side, a tandem with a huge US flag flying behind (I thought of Nigel), and at least one Super Grover jersey (I thought of Iftach).
There was one big hill on the 50-mile route, which I was quite pleased to make it up without walking (there were many people who dismounted). Sure, I was huffing and puffing and in lowest gear, but I made it!
I got to explore parts of Boston, and the smell of the sea towards the end was lovely. I liked how the route was hilly mostly in the middle third, which meant there was plenty of time to warm up and cool off.
Unfortunately, it wasn't completely smooth biking. Coming off one of the unpaved bits, I dismounted rather than do a tight turn on gravel onto pavement. I was off to the right, where another paved bit joined the route, and about to start off, when a kid plowed into my rear wheel. It was damaged, enough so that I couldn't even roll the bike, but had to carry it. The kid and his mom didn't stay to help, of course (and when I happened to catch them later, the mom told me it was all my fault for being in the way. Um, yeah. Not so much. But it would just end up being a she sez-I sez situation, and I didn't want to push it further (only later coming up with lines I would've felt comfortable saying), though I believe that the one doing the rear-ending is legally the one at fault.).
Someone stopped to try to help, but nothing worked. So I carried my bike over a mile to the next mechanics' station. My shoulder hurt after a while (I'm noticing that shoulder a lot this morning), so I had it on my head for a while. I hate walking in the bike shoes that far; at least there was some grass along the path at that point, which was easier than pavement for walking.
Eventually I got to the mechanics. The guy looked at it, and said he couldn't do anything, nor did he have a wheel with him. Then he looked at it again, took it over to the metal picket fence (I think to bend it), brought it back and whacked it on the pavement a few times, reinflated it, and put it back on. He got it so I could at least ride the rest of the way (luckily this was the last rest stop, so it wasn't too far), though I didn't have any rear brakes. Oy. I was pretty careful the rest of the way, never going as fast as I otherwise would, in case I needed to brake suddenly.
I went to Broadway Bike on my way home, but they don't have the right kind of wheel in stock, so it would've taken two weeks to get the bike fixed. So I went to Wheelworks in Porter, and they'll have it for me tomorrow. Which is great, except that whole $150 I wish I didn't have to spend. *sigh* (At least I stopped at home on the way, so I could walk back from Porter in street shoes.)
Other casualties of the day: the red blinky I have on the back of my Camelbak flew off at one point, so I'll need to replace that as well (I have one on the back of my bike, so I'm still street legal for night riding). I got a cut on the side of my thumb in an inconvenient place. And the outside of my right ankle is hurting a bunch; I'm not sure whether it's a bruised bone or a hurt muscle/tendon, but I'm assuming it's not broken since I've walked a number of miles on it since it started being noticeable.
Even with all this, I ended up back at City Hall Plaza around 12:30, less than four and a half hours after setting out, which felt good.
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Date: 2008-09-24 02:05 am (UTC)Way to go for doing the 50 mile ride though!
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Date: 2008-09-24 02:46 am (UTC)