Ride Report

Two riders. 27 miles, fast pace.
What a beautiful day! Cold and windy and if anybody wants to argue, we saw piles of snow that were not melting.

I would have to say that the best part of the ride today was when we noticed a huge flock of doves, with one black pigeon, (same bird by the way) flying around and around,. So beautiful with the bright sunlight lighting up the wings as they went into full sun.
Out of what seemed nowhere, came a good sized hawk and flew into the passing, swooping group.
It seemed to have one for a while and took off out of the group. It got loose and later joined the flock at a much higher altitude.
We did a really nice ride of all back roads with Crocuses popping up with every glance. Its Spring here, finally and today made us feel as if we were over the hump.
Enjoy the photos:

Ride Anouncement, Wed, 3-30-11

Come join us for a slow early Spring ride around Dover, Westwood, Medfield, Sherborn, Natick and back to Dover.


Ride starts at the Dover library in Dover Center on Dedham Street at 11:00 and finishes around 1:30. Bring cash and lock for possable lunch stop.
This will be a great ride for new riders as well as seasoned cyclists. Recumbents only please.
RSVP by emailing me at the address to the right. Hope to see you there!

East Bay Trail Ride Report

What a great day and what a great ride. Two riders, Thirty miles.
We got to the starting spot a little late taking our time to do things right. With a little stop at East Providence Cycles looking for a 24x1" tube. They had never seen that size, ever. This gave us the feeling that we were no longer at home and in a very different part of the world. (It doesn't take much!)
On the trail by 12:00 we figured that taking our time was best. We bundled up and slow going made our way South along the riderless trail. We pretty much had the trail to ourselves today.
After the first 10 miles we started to smell Stuffies. Maybe it was just me but following my nose we came across this great restaurant by the name of "Jacks". When we walked through the door the waitress asked, "How many Stuffies will you be having today?"
Like a dream come true and at the same time not believing the story for an instant, I said, "Two Please!"
Out they came, in all there stuffed glory!


After getting "stuffed" ourselves, we headed further South along the trail.
Passing people along the way I noticed for the first time, that walkers just were not as surprised with the looks of the recumbent as they use to be from years past. It was almost as if they expected to see us.
Quick fix, We stopped and put on each recumbent a large piece of beach bamboo, Correct me if I'm wrong about the name, But it was when the smiles started again. Everyone noticed the long grass thing and laughed and waved, just like old times.



On the way back we got into a little bit of flurrie action, but never enough to get wet. Just enough though to remind us that "Old Man Winter" wants to come along with us into the spring and not die yet!




All in all a great ride and a fantastic way to spend the day, again, Heads Up, in our favorite part of the world, New England.

My mapmyride Spring Challenge Status

posted by Danni

I just thought I'd give an update on my mapmyride mileage status. Happily, I am currently on vacation in Bonaire in the Netherland Antilles. Before leaving home I had ridden 90 miles out of my 100. I was hoping to do the last 10 miles here on the island on a mountain bike. The resort claimed that they rented mountain bikes so I brought my bike shorts, my bike shirt, and my helmet. (Heck! I even brought bike snacks!! Well, snacks for me, not for the bike ;-) I was planning on finishing off my 100 miles in 'island style.'

However, this morning when I went to inquire about renting a mountain bike, I was informed that they had decided to discontinue the mountain bike program this very week. Saturday, the day I arrived, was the last day to be able to rent bikes. Just my luck! It turns out too many people were returning the bikes completely destroyed. The weekly maintenance on the bikes was becoming too much of a burden and they weren't making any money on the rentals. Sadness!!

I had planned on writing an article about how I had cheated on Ben. (Yes, my recumbent has a name. For more on that read my article: The Perils of Naming a Bike!) I was going to write about being unfaithful to my recumbent and whether I enjoyed the infidelity or not, but alas, it is not going to happen this vacation. I guess I'll just have to spend more time in the water, scuba diving with the fishies, and finish off my 100 miles when I return home.

And maybe, just maybe, if I'm really nice to Scott he will find a way to take me mountain biking this summer – but shhhhhh!! Whatever you do, don't tell Ben!!!

Nashua River Rail Trail Report

I received a report last night from reader/rider Doug M letting me know that parts of the Nashua River Rail Trail are 4" deep in snow. Remember that white stuff of Winter?
With today's weather report of 3" due to fall outside of route 495, it doesn't look good for Wednesdays social ride on that particular trail. A slight change will be important so here's an Idea:
The East Bay Trail starting in East Provenience starting at 11:00am. Possibly a tour afterwards of the new Narragansett Brewery in Provenience.
Any takers?

Still feel like Winter to you? Listen to the Peepers below, but don't expect to see them!

What a Great Photo!

John Shlitter shot by Forrest Halford on a foggy Iowa morning

The Nashua River Rail Trail, Wed. 3-23-11

Again, we will have a Bosrug group ride on this wonderful trail. Starting from the north and heading South for a lunch break, and then back to the cars.
The trail is mostly flat and will allow us to ride side by side for a real Bosrug social. This is a super easy ride and is perfect to get the Recumbent Legs back in shape for the up coming season. Ride starts at 11:00 am. Looks like its going to be a great day for this ride.
RSVP at the email address to the right so we will know your coming.

Ride Announcement, Wednesday 3-16-11

Twentyfive mile, slow roller starting in Dover at 11:00. RSVP by emailing me at the address to the right.
Hope to see you there!

It's Officially Recumbent Riding Season

posted by Danni

How do I know? Because it can't truly be recumbent riding season until I've fallen over on my bike, which I did yesterday - so it's official!! So how did it happen this time, you ask? Well, I came to a stop sign at the top of a fairly steep hill. I needed to be clipped in to make it up the hill, but when I got to the stop sign I couldn't get my right foot unclipped. You see, I was wearing my wonderfully warm, toasty Lake boots which I love almost as much as I love my bike. However, on Mr. Chamberlain's expert advice, I bought the boots big enough to be able to wear double socks to keep my feet nice and toasty on the really cold days, which works. I'm happy! Yesterday, though, was not a really cold day so I was only wearing one pair of socks. Even with the shoes tightened as much as I could tighten them, there was still a little bit of wiggle room - enough so, that when I needed to get unclipped quickly, my foot was moving inside the shoe and not giving me enough torque to get out of the pedal quickly enough and . . . BAM!!!!

As I was lying on the ground, tangled in my bike, I found myself laughing hysterically. I mean how is it that I can be extremely graceful off of a bike and such an extreme klutz once I am riding? Luckily, with only a few exceptions, I am typically alone when I have these misadventures. That is one saving grace, at least. And yesterday I fell on the right side of my bike so, bonus, at least I didn't have to replace my mirror yet again!! (I've started keeping a spare since I break them so often.) Anyway, my guess is that it's just the "powers that be" trying to keep me humble. It's working!!

In any case, it was a gorgeous day to ride yesterday. I did a 31 mile ride with a nice little pit stop at the Horseshoe Pub in Hudson where I got to enjoy some Leffe on tap. Today isn't as sunny, but still it's warm. I'll be doing another 30 miles. That will get me to 75 miles done on my goal to my ipad ;-) Only 25 more to go!

I hope you can get out and ride today. After all, the touch-up paint is out - it's riding season!!!

The Perfect Peeper Prank

For those of you that dont know what a Peeper or Spring Peeper is, Its a little peeping noise heard around wet lands at night at this time of year. Made by a tiny tree frog, their call can only be heard for only about 3 weeks after the first warm day and full ice melt. After that Im not sure what happens to them, but for me. Peepers have been my first real sign of Spring. When I first hear them, I know Winter is over. We could get more snow, but after Peepers, It doesn't last long.
Last year a friend of mine, Frank Cunningham, and I went out and recorded Peepers and turned it into a CD of Spring noises. Last week after transferring the recording to two small speakered MP3 players, had a pocket of peepers to take along.
Because no one bothers to look for the frogs, When they hear the peeping, they don't bother to look for the sound source.
Last night with all the ponds still frozen at the Sugar Shack in South Natick, Chris Yoder and I set up the "Pocket Peepers" at the door and went inside to watch them boil sap to Maple Syrup.
It wasn't long before someone went out to check the tank of sap and returned smiling announcing that the Peepers had arrived! Spring is here!
He said it was strange though, They sounded as if they were coming from the wood pile!

85.66 miles to go . . .

posted by Danni

So today was the first ride of the "Call It Fate" tour for me. It was the coldest ride I've ever done - around 35 degrees. It wasn't too bad, but it was a learning experience. I've heard people say that you have to start the ride out being a bit cold. That doesn't work for me. Why not? Well, I could be wearing my heavy long underwear, ski pants, an anorak covering a heavy fleece sweater, a balaclava, one of those really heavy Russian hats (you know the ones I mean,) scarf, mittens, hand warmers, and toe warmers and I'd STILL start the ride off being cold!! So, the question becomes HOW cold should I be when I start off the ride? The answer . . . colder than I was when I started today. Half way through the ride I was overheating so much that I had to stop and peel off several layers. By the time I caught up with Scott, who very kindly waited for me once he realized I wasn't behind him, he was snoring, sound asleep, leaning on his handlebars at the side of the road. (It must have taken me a lot longer than I thought to strip down.) With a couple of not so gentle pokes, I was able to wake him and we resumed our ride. Next time . . . no fleece shirt!!

I also found out today just how quickly one could get completely out of shape. Somebody once told me that I'd have an easier time riding this year (my second year of riding) even if I didn't ride my bike over the winter. That certainly wasn't the case today!! I couldn't help thinking about that and laughing to myself as I was absolutely dying while trying to make it up the hills. I am SOOO out of shape. And Scott, being the consummate gentleman that he is, upon arriving home exclaimed, "Wow!! Those hills were tough today. They were killing me." However, I was there! I saw him zipping right up the hills until he realized that I had slowed down to a snail's pace. (I'm sure I was just taking in the sights. ;-) In any case, it was extremely kind of Scott to try to make me feel better. That is just one of the many things I love about him!!

And as for being out of shape, there is just one thing I can think of to do to improve the situation - ride more!!! So that is my plan. If anybody wants to ride with me, I would enjoy the company - but PLEASE bring your camera. You will need something to do while waiting for me as I'm taking in the sights on the uphills. You may as well get some photos of those sights while you wait ;-)

The, "Call it Fate" Tour

Be part of this season opener of bosrug fun when we dust off the recumbents and go out and get them muddy.
Rides start both days, Tuesday and Wednesday at 5 Main Street in Dover at 11:00 am and cover slow rollers around the Dover, Needham, Westwood, Medfield, Sherborn, Framingham, Natick, Wellesley aera. Slow riding on the up hills anyway.
Temperatures are expected to be in the mid fourtys so not too much cold weather problem. Expect lots of stops and lots of photos.
Hope to see you there. RSVP by emailing me at the address to the right or simply commenting below.

Call It Fate?

posted by Danni

It turns out I'm not really very coherent in the morning until after I've had my first cup of dark, strong, high-test coffee. (Black, no sugar, please. I don't want anything getting in the way of my caffeine.) So it is not often that I attempt to do anything in the morning that might require my brain to be functional until after I've had that first cup of wakefulness. However this morning, though I don't know why - I'll call it fate, was different.

For some reason, unbeknownst to my conscious mind, I attempted to read my email without my morning coffee. NOT a good idea . . . or was it? One of the emails I received this morning was from mapmyride.com. (I use this site to create .gpx files for my bike GPS.) Anyway, this email invited me to ride a century in 30 days to be entered into a drawing to win an iPad®. I found myself thinking that I really didn't need or want an iPad. I was so NOT interested. Besides, I'm going on a vacation soon. I don't have time to ride my bike. And, even if I did it's still cold out, the roads are still icy, and when it's not icy it's wet and sloppy and my bike gets dirty, wah, Wah, WAH . . . (EXTREME whining!!)

You see, this is my least favorite time of the year. It is my opinion that most people are in a pretty deep funk right about now. I mean in December you have the holidays to distract you, and as annoying as they are, they ARE a good distraction. (Hmmm. Maybe that's their true purpose. I'll have to give that one some thought.) After that you have January where winter is still bright, shiny and new. You get to be out on your skis or snow shoes doing the winter sport thing. It's all new and good. But then February sets in. It's colder, you are tired of dirty snow, (and please don't even get me going on shoveling the stuff this year) and although you think winter sports are fun - you just can't do them as long as summer sports because it's just too damn cold!! Then March hits. It's the worst. You can almost taste spring in the air. You know it's there. Some days you actually get a tease, a small taste of spring, and then the next day it's back to 10 degrees. Your soul yearns for long bike rides, followed by burgers on Scott's back deck, playing Foosball in the barn while laughing with friends and drinking cold beer (and, no, I won't tell you where Scott hides my Leffe ;-) only to realize that, although it's close, it's NOT . . .CLOSE . . . ENOUGH!!!!!! And this makes me grumpy!!! So much so that I find myself too grumpy to even think about going riding in this, my least favorite time of the year.

But I digress! Back to the lack of coffee, I promise! So, although 100% convinced I had absolutely no intention of doing this mapmyride challenge, I found myself curious about the terms and conditions. With only curiosity in mind, I clicked on what I thought was the log-in button. Instead, in my non-caffeinated state, I clicked on the "Join Now!" button. Now, since my mapmyride password is set to automatically log in . . . it did!! I was greeted by a screen that said something to the effect of "Good for you!! You have entered the Spring Challenge. You now have 30 days to ride 100 miles!" Uhhhhhhhhh! Wait a minute . . . What?!? But I haven't had my morning coffee yet!!!

Given the fact that I pretty much NEVER read my morning email without coffee, I'm chalking this one up to fate. So . . . anybody want to go for a bike ride with me? I'll bring the pre-ride coffee! And hey, if we do 100 miles - you might even win an iPad ;-)

Good Bye February!

Is there any reader that's going to miss this past month? Not me!
Loaded with cold and snow, I don't think that there was one day that we forgot about Old Man Winter. We remembered warmer days from our past, hoping they will be nice days coming soon.
Oh for a hot, sunny New England afternoon! Long ride with new places followed by snacks on the deck in Dover and possably a little Foosball in the cool shade in the barn? YES!
Cold weather cycling builds character. I look around at my friends and the people I know and we just don't need any more! Right?
March is a great month. Any snow we get at this time of year won't stick around because of the strong sun's rays. Our first glimpse of warmer weather will be here any day now. Just not Thursday where morning temperatures are said to be in the teens.