They are waterproof and hard to remove; intended for safety stickers on machinery, and such. I'm gonna slap them on the windows of cars in bike lanes; they'll need a razor blade to get them off.
Recently visited Denver and saw these interesting things: On pedestrian stairs with no ramps, they've added these slots or grooves alongside the treads so you can guide your bike or scooter up or down.
I prefer a ramp, and this steep approach has obvious dangers, but this is a relatively simple and inexpensive way to add limited two-wheel accessibility in places where you'd otherwise either have to carry your ride, or find a detour.
Had lunch in this hole in the wall under Chicago's elevated trains. This place was made world famous by John Belushi in the heady early days of SNL
53 pleasant summer miles: local roads to the Mass Central Trail Trail, to the Bruce Freeman Trail, to the Reformatory Branch Trail, to the Minuteman Bikeway, and home.
The MCRT was almost deserted today. Freeman was normally busy, as was the Minuteman. The newly paved sections of the Minuteman are wonderful: smooth and wide. The Reformatory Branch is unpaved, in deep quiet forest, and passes through two wildlife sanctuaries.
Rover tires on Mars, 12 years past warranty, and showing a little bit of wear.
Rode along the Harborwalk this morning, from Charlestown to South Boston, to see some of the visiting tall ships. There's another group of ships moored in East Boston, but that's a separate trip across the Harbor.
With the recent World Cup, the locally Massachusetts-themed 250th Independence celebrations, and now the visiting fleet of Tall Ships, Boston feels like pre-covid levels of public life and engagement. It's rather nice.
More pix:
Five area rail trails, 43 miles, one hobo bridge
(3 pix) Rode out and back from Methuen Mass to Manchester NH along the Methuen, Salem, Windham, Derry, and Londonderry Rail Trails.
It was mostly nice --- classic small town New England rail trails --- with two exceptions.
When the trail transitions from Massachusetts to New Hampshire in Salem, the rail trail exists mostly in name only for a few miles. The trail is a lightly- to barely-managed maintenance trail beneath high tension power lines that run along the side of Route 28, with its strip malls, shopping centers, fast food joints, and heavy traffic. It's not scenic at all; the riding surface has lots of loose stone and is generally unpleasant; and the whole thing feels like the cheapest possible way to create a nominal trail. It would be far easier and faster to ride out on route 28, but there are no bike lanes or amenities there because, you know, "there's a bike trail under the power lines."
The more serious issue for passage is in Derry, along a very, very rough, unmaintained, section of the Windham Rail Trail --- just a footpath through the forest at that location. Where it crosses the Beaver Brook at the base of a narrow gully, you must ford the moving water (not ideal for an e-bike), or cross via a moist, 1.5-foot wide, decaying, scrap lumber, hobo bridge. ( 42.8906019, -71.3348106 )
I thought about it for a couple minutes, but it was my first time there, I didn't know the area, I didn't know what was on the trail on the other side of the bridge, and, dammit, I'm 75 years old. So, nope. I backtracked and took a highway detour around the rough section.
There's lots of active highway construction in the area, which further complicated things, but may also mean that this rough section of trail will finally be upgraded. It's awful now.
If you take those sections away, probably 35 of the 43 miles were quite pleasant. But I don't think I'll be riding any of these trails again.
The boisterous Scots have gone, leaving traffic cones on the heads of area statues. The World Cup fans from England are more reserved, but are still leaving their mark.
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​ Part ONE, https://www.reddit.com/r/fitbit/s/vixNUNd6qk , we discussed several suggestions for making Coach less chatty and annoying. The answer I thought I found only lasted a day, as several redditors correctly predicted. This time, I'm explicitly telling to to make the change permanent.
We'll see.
I'm NOT necessarily seeking the fastest possible or most elaborate --- just a good, basic charger at least 25w, fully Samsung compatible. (The Samsung 25w charger is sold out.)
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What have you guys found that works? Thanks!
It ended ok, but man....
I wanted to explore some bikeable trails west of Boston, around Waltham. I ended at Prospect Hill, which has a very wide, unobstructed view to Boston in the distance. Nice spot. It was about a 40 mile round trip ride from my home in Malden.
But on the way, in Beaver Brook North, a dog bit my left calf, drawing a small amount of blood in two places, and also ruining my pants and socks. The dog was on leash, but a 10 foot leash doesn't do much on a 6 foot wide trail; dog just momentarily lost its mind and went from a happy trot to a snarling lunge that ended at my leg. WTF.
Owner yelled at the dog, I yelled at the dog, dog was instantly fine and well behaved again. Double WTF.
Lady was nice and genuinely apologetic. We exchanged information, and she offered to pay for the damaged clothing. The bite is minor; I have a tetanus booster scheduled for tomorrow morning.
I pedalled onward... and discovered the trail I was on was totally flooded and impassable.
I have to say my spirits were flagging a bit at that point.
Some backtracking and a detour or two later, I arrived at Prospect Hill, which is very nice.
Is it 40 miles nice? Yes, probably. Is it 40 miles plus a dog bite nice? Meh.
Nice spot with a bench along the mostly-developed 10 mile Tri-Community Greenway, north of Boston. Easily reachable by bike from the city in about an hour, or by commuter rail to Wedgemere. The Greenway itself is mostly a paved rail-trail, with some on-road segments, and many crossings. The Stoneham end of the trail is a few hundred feet higher elevation than the Winchester end; Stoneham to Winchester is the easier direction.
One of the nicest rides north out of Boston is getting a major upgrade to its "Bike Kitchen."