Peabody Trails Update

Not sure if I'm telling you all something everyone but me knows already, but have discovered lately that there are quite a few trails in the triangle between Kodak, Higgins Middle School, and CBD in Peabody.  Not a whole lot of mileage, but some fun singletrack and bermed turns and such.  Certainly worth checking out, esp. if you combined it with a visit to Salem Woods.  And Salem Willows.  Those are fun little trails too, if you spend some time at the Arcade after.

Not back on it, Joe- STILL on it.

So, I took my own advice, and passed it by my wife just to be sure.  Take a day off.  Do less mileage at first.  Make it fun, and then it'll happen, and then you'll get in better shape, and THEN you can up the mileage.  But still it will be good to rest.  Everyone says that.  The pros.  The wise men. 

And my wife.

 

So, today I went out and did 5.5 mi. in the woods.  And made sure to wet down myself BEFORE I went out.  So as not to use my drinkin' water for wettin'!

Not sure if I've used this before, but does it really matter- what an image.

Rest Day?

My natural inclination is to say that though I feel pretty tired today, I should tough it out and get my butt out there.  I know myself well enough, though, to know that this extreme-ness is a bad tendency I have, and that probably means I should take a rest so that I can be ready to ride tomorrow.

The difference between intention and action is staggering to me sometimes...

Ride Report: Kodak Loop #1

Now THAT is hi-viz!

I'm confused- No bikes INSIDE the atm? 

water, bikes, what could be better? 

My kinda sign.  Still seems a little controlling, though, doesn't it?

So, I started again with my new shot at being an actual cyclist.  I laid out a loop in the woods near the Kodak plant and rode it 3X, figuring that 10 mi. in the woods is about equal (to me at least) to 20 mi. on the road.  The loop is approx. 2.3 mi.  With a 1.5 mi. warm up/cool down to get there, it adds up to almost exactly 10 mi.

So, my best time of the day was the middle one  (of course) at 14:48.  That's my current PR.

The air felt like gulping down water today.  I had no idea how humid it was until I was out there.  Esp. the long sunny sections (duh) were hot and humid.  Don't know if it was my legs from being out of shape and riding yesterday, or if the trails were wet and it added rolling resistance, but I felt it all the way around all three times.  The downhills were fine, but the short, low speed anaerobic climbs were hellish.  And the hike-a-bike sections felt pretty horrible too.

I saw two small rabbits and two turtles, one of which was digging a hole, I think preparing to lay eggs.

I was wearing a cycling jersey and cargo shorts.  Going to see if lycra shorts make a difference tomorrow.

Oh, and lastly- one downhill where I couldn't get my foot into the pedal (the first of the loop my first time around, actually) had my heart in my throat- maybe it never quite recovered from that!

I thought...

i thought I wanted to start trying to ride 20 mi. a day on the road, but you know what?  Riding on the road is boring and kind of annoying.  Sort of re-thinking my plan, since the best part of my ride was seeing the marsh beside the road during my ride.  I'm not really an "urban cycling" guy.  Commuting is one thing, but riding just to rack up mileage?  This is why I quit riding a road bike.

Hmmmmm.

My Ten Miles: Salem, Lynn, and Revere

Heading straight out Highland Ave. you pass walmart, and the muffler place with the plane "crashed' into the roof.  Puleo's Dairy.  Then across the bridge and you're in downtown Lynn. 

A little more downtown and you enter a marshy area.  The Lynnway, maybe?  For some reason this section is beautifully paved.  Almost brand new.  Huge wide edges to the highway.  Flat and just pleasant.

Past a factory on your left, into Revere where you can see the castle church away off to your left, and at almost exactly ten miles is the small traffic circle you go through on the way down Rt. 1 to the airport (Rt. 60- with the sunoco?).

And then you turn around and head back.

Maybe I should work on loops?

I was passed near the very end by a Bianchi fixed gear rider with a Bailey Works backpack.  In the words of Phil Liggett, I kept the elastic from breaking but just barely- then it was time for me to turn for home.  His hipness didn't feel the need to speak to me, incidentally.

Fixie Dave Nice and the lost titanium wonderbike

Hey, our friend Dave Nice, who is planning to do the Great Divide Route northward was supposed to have started already, but Greyhound lost his bike!  How that could happen I do not know (wouldn't they just load it under you on your bus?  What else WOULD they do?  It makes NO sense.)

So he's at the starting line, but bike has yet to show up.  And is this something he could just pick up in any bike shop?  Well of course not.  Custom made for him, from titanium, every part chosen carefully by him for its weight, durability, etc.  Each piece of camping gear weighed and probably modified for this trip.  And Greyhound has lost track of it.

So I doubt if anyone out there is someone super important, but if you are, sure would be cool if you could pull some strings for this guy.  He's planning to ride the bottom to the top of the Great Divide, doesn't really need to be worrying about just having equipment!

Good Luck Dave!