29
Nov
November 2011
Excellent bike riding weather through November. I have been out on my Giant road bike a few times. The other day I took a hike through the town woods and determined that despite the October Nor’easter and Hurricane Irene, a couple of the main trails are clear. So I may pull out by C-Dale F3 mountain bike for a spin and to burn off some frustrations. The only problem is that it is almost dark when I get home. Stay safe for now.
15
Nov
Ayer Rail Trail
I have ridden the Ayer Rail Trail twice. Once in the summer at a leisurely pace on my mountain bike and the other this past Sunday November 13th on my road bike. I really wanted to push it this past ride, but the number of limbs down narrowed the trail in many spots where only one bike could get through at a time. The limbs also made it difficult to see ahead in several spots, which was a speed limiter. Overall, I managed the trail end-to-end, up and back a distance of about 24.5 miles. I did this in about 90 minutes, which comes out to almost 16 mph, per my gps. I plan on doing this trail again as it is very scenic, and hopefully next time the limbs will be clear and I can keep my speed up. However, if I want to do a fast ride with no cars I guess I will negotiate the baby strollers, dog walkers, joggers and roller bladders on the Minuteman Bike-way.
I have added two pictures taken from my low quality cell phone camera and posted them in my photo gallery on bike rides. A.J.
5
Nov
Changing Up the Site a Little
Besides model railroading and train watching, my other passion has become the non-motorized bike riding. I now have a mountain bike and a road bike. I have done some rides on some on three rail trails in eastern mass. One in Ayer, MA that runs to Nashua, NH and two others that start in Lexington, Ma. In Lexington there is the famous and busy Minuteman Rail Trail that goes to Alewife Brook T-Station. The Ayer Rail Trail is more scenic. You can ride a regular bike on both. There is also the short Narrow Gauge Rail Trail that heads north out of Bedford, MA at the same spot where the the Minuteman begins. The narrow gauge trail starts out on pavement but quickly goes to gravel, so you should have a fat tired bike to take on this trail. There is also a book on Massachusetts Rail trails and I plan to explore some next spring and post about my regular bike rides as well. Just thought I would update you all. Expect to see a page set up for my bike rides.
