Cranes Not Bombs
Jul. 3rd, 2015 05:33 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ornoth_cyclingThree rides I want to cover mostly in brief, two of them a while back.
After doing my first century of the year (up to Nashua NH back on May 10), the following weekend (May 17) I chose to do another century. I decided to mostly follow the Bikes-Not-Bombs 80-mile ride because I was curious about the route, and a co-worker was doing it a couple weeks later.
 |
 |
 |
 |
The route passed southwest, through several towns I’d never ridden in: Westwood, Medfield, Norfolk, Millis, Holliston, Ashland, and Sherborn. it was very pretty, with no big hills but a lot of ups-and-downs. As usual around Memorial Day, the lilacs and lily of the valley were in bloom, and the yellow pollen thickly caked my arms and legs.
After a warm century the week before, the miles felt really long, and weaved around back and forth maddeningly to get in enough miles, much like the old Climb to the Clouds ride we dislike so much. I ended the ride completely spent. Perhaps it was the vision of all the couches, recliners, and beds set out for sale on people’s front lawns…
But at any rate, that was an interesting and mostly-pleasant new route, and my second century of the year. Here’s the Strava GPS log, complete with photos.
Another long ride was from Boston up to Cranes Beach in Ipswitch back on June 7. That was a scouting ride for leading co-workers on a bike ride up there for our company’s beach event.
I went up my traditional northbound route through Woburn and Middleton, which was really nice, and came back the more direct (and much more ugly) coastal route through Lynn and Saugus that I haven’t used in years. It wasn’t pretty at all. Although I’d imagined extending the 85-mile ride to a full century, I was flagging and wanted to get home, so I decided to punt on that misguided idea. But it was a successful scouting trip. Here’s the Strava GPS log, complete with photos.
And then on Thursday June 25 was the official company beach day. Co-workers Alex, Mike, and I met up at the office around 9am and I navigated them up the ugly direct route. The weather was nice and we made surprisingly good time, averaging 16 mph both ways. The event itself was nice, and our co-workers were all thoroughly impressed with our group for riding it. I finished with a total of 73 miles, but that might not have been the smartest thing to do, since I got home with a mere 36 hours before turning around to do a century on the weekend’s MS Ride. Here’s the Strava GPS log, complete with photos.
