A Ride With Chewbacca: A Photo Essay

So, Han and I went for a ride the other day...

I rode my old drop-bar Salsa with the sweet drilled-out Modolo levers.

I saw someone who i thought might be a wookie, and was so disappointed when he wasn't, I got him in the face with my water bottle!

We met these nice ladies and joined them for a picnic.  I guess one was a "Rita Hayworth", whatever that is.

After meeting up with our Tattoine riding bros, we decided to camp out like Sand People.

I climbed up the hill to take this picture of our glowing pods.

Han and I were closer to the lake in this cozy tent.  A little TOO cozy, if you ask me.

Matt's Trail II

Went for a great ride today.  Saw a little yellow bird that I can't really identify and he was kind of a b@stard about sticking around so I could look at him (see me?  No, I'll fly away.  Now I'll come back- now do you see me?  Now I'll disappear).  Also a swan and a redwing(ed?) blackbird (not rare- but pretty!)

Also, some frogs of some kind (unless beavers sing) were going crazy in the beaver pond.  Really quite loud.

Oh, and the title.  Long ago we had a trail called Matt's Trail (by Matt, Mark, Jim, maybe Forrest, and I- I'm quite sure that no one else ever even heard this name).  This was I think back in the time when we felt a little more exploratory.  At least speaking for myself, this was true.  I don't really feel like leaning back and plummeting from rocks like I used to.  (though I must add, the rock to which I refer has been either removed or buried, and gravel trail put in its place).

So, with my newly realized riding motto in my head (I don't want to do battle with the trail- I want to ride on it. And I don't like getting off the bike to carry it up things or over things), I did a tiny bit of exploring in the other direction from the artist-formerly-known-as-rock-plummet, and found two nice little loops.  One of which involved a rickety old up-and-over job over a rotten log (see above parenthetical statement).  After some poking around, I realized that the rotten log was so rotten it could be kicked apart.  I was able to make a new line (without ruining the old rickety) by piling rocks in the V of an un-rotten fallen tree.

One more note, and I'll show you my drawing of the trail.  A unique feature of these little loops is that they pass between the reservoir and a dirty, copper-colored, opaque little lake, into which a pipe spews liquid at a good clip.  Perhaps it just stirs up the dirt on the bottom, but it looked awfully... unclean to me.

So, without further ado, I present to you Matt's Trail:  V. 2.0.

Oh, and Mark, you'll be sad to hear that "motocross", the trail where you performed your amazing front flip off a rock, seems to have been destroyed or abandoned.  There's a giant pile of brush/wood near where it used to begin, but large piles of dirt block the trail.

Hubris and Humility

My first mtb hero.  Juli.  Completely unrelated to this post, but a cool photo  by "Kid" Riemer from Salsa.

I did go for a kayak out into the ocean yesterday, though.  Found an island full of seagulls, lit a big bonfire, and basically lived like a wildman.  That was fun.  I don't think the vikings would've been as careful putting the fire out, though.

And honestly, a little humbling.  The waves started to get a little big, and I started to feel pretty small in my little kayak.  All I could think was to keep perpendicular to the waves, and thank goodness that worked out.

But it sure did remind me about getting in over your head.  About respecting nature.  About common knowledge.  That when R.E.I. staff says you'll need something, it just might be a good idea to listen to them (in this case, I was afeared I was going to soon need either a paddle float or a bailing pump (is that the right name?) or both.)

In retrospect, I think I went a little further out toward the "real" ocean this time than I did last time.  I headed for the point of Forest River Park, then out to sea, rather than coming from Salem Willows and staying in the "shadow" of the islands as I approached them.  I did make it to an island further "out" than before- but there was no place to come ashore that I could see.  I decided to return to the island I knew. (which would mean putting the waves behind me and using them to my advantage vs. fighting through them).

All told, if you have a kayak, an ocean, and some uninhabited islands at your disposal, I heartily recommend it.

My Dream: inspired by Patriot's Day at the Studio Cafe

You know what I wish?  That I could have every bike that I see, and could have a big old barn, with hundreds of those screw-in hooks, and keep all the bikes there, and ride a different one every day.

I'm not kidding, but perhaps if I explain yesterday a bit, it will at least make sense- I was down in Concord and Lexington for Patriot's Day (which wouldn't seem to be a big bike day, but boy it sure was).  Bikes (mostly road bikes) were EVERYWHERE down there.  So many that you're constantly passing them and you want (at least I do) to look at each bike, but you just can't for the safety of both of you.

I have a sickness- I know it's true- I would like to photograph and study EVERY bike I see.  Well, that's not precisely true.  There are plenty of junkers out there that I'm not at all interested in. 

But still, that leaves so many, many bikes that I'd love to study in detail.

And thank you, RideStudioCafe, for being there before the parade started.  And partly during.  You were a godsend.  Getting to read Rouleur and Privateer instead of sitting on a curb looking at nothing was beyond a miracle.  Especially since the parade started an hour late.  Thank you.

From Rivbike.com- check them out and give them some business too.

MTB BOSTON on Android!

My Sutro App MOUNTAIN BIKE BOSTON is now available for Android smartphones.  Go HERE to purchase it, please!

Even if you think you know all the trails in the area (and you very well might)- consider recommending this to friends who may be coming to visit the area.

Thanks for all your support when this was out only on Apple, now let's get the word out to a whole new group of people!

Micro-Touring a la Velo

Just wanted to combine together a few resources for you.  Found this new page from the Adv. Cycl. Assoc.

And of course there's always the information here.  Riv also has a list of what to pack, and it's worth checking out the products for camping that they sell, just to get an idea.  Now, as Grant at Riv often says, if they're the ones that turn you on to a particular product idea, you really should buy it from them, but that's between the two of you.

A final resource for those of you who have netflix is this movie, recently added to the netflix selection of bike movies.

Have fun out there.

Phriday Photo Post

Just some photos today, taken from here and there.

Gary Perkin photo- from the Cape Epic.

pink CX bike by Ira Ryan

Where does one buy a helmet like that?  from Sweetpea (the picture)

anodized lug nuts from Blue Lug bike shop in Japan.