Last year I signed up for and rode in a charity bike ride on Martha's Vineyard on Columbus Day weekend. It was 62 miles long....a hard 62miles (20mph headwind ALL DAY). I finished, but was exhausted at the end. Anyway, this year I have signed up for another one - this time to benefit Buzzard's Bay Watershed. It's a 75mile ride started in Westport, MA and ending in Woods Hole, MA. It's a one-day ride.
Since it's been about 8weeks since I got on the bike, I figured I need to get my butt back on it if I want to be able to ride 75miles in a day. So, this weekend I got back out on the bike. I tackled the Minuteman Bikeway stretching from Cambridge to Bedford (about 10 miles). There are a few off-shoots in Bedford...one to Billerica and one to Concord. All total I had figured my ride would be about 40 miles (I started a few miles from Cambridge).
There weren't many pictures along the Bikeway like I had hoped, but found this in Arlington Center:
It was a very nice ride. The Bikeway starts in Cambridge, at Alewife station and winds it's way through Cambridge, Arlington and Lexington before ending in Bedford. I got to Bedford a lot sooner than I expected. The end of the line in Bedford is at an old railroad depot:
From here, there are two spurs...one to Billerica and one to Concord. I attempted the one to Billerica, only to find out it is not paved. That was ok as it seemed to be packed dirt...then my tires started slipping and I was afraid I'd fall. So I turned around and was going to head off to Concord, but first I stopped in to the building above to see what there as to see. It was mostly a gift shop type of place, but I was talking to the man working and asked if he knew if the path to Concord was paved. It wasn't, and it was getting sort of late (5-ish I think), so I decided to head back to Cambridge. Plus, I passed a Trader Joe's on the bikeway and wanted to stop for bananas and corn on the cob.
I ended up riding about 45minutes in between rest breaks, which is up from 30minutes last year. I also packed trail mix to eat on the bike...preferring real food to energy bars. I think I might add some more dried fruits to it for more carbs next time. I failed to note on my map where the TJ's was, and ended up skipping a rest stop because I kept thinking TJ's was just up ahead. I was never so happy to see this sign up ahead!!!
So, by the time I got to TJ's my legs and me were pooped. There's a convenient bike rack just off the Bikeway, and stairs up to TJ's. It's still amazing to me that I could continue biking, but can't walk up or down a flight of stairs after riding. So I locked up my bike, took my valuables with (bike computer, wallet, phone, helmet) and off I went to TJ's.
I bought a few bananas and a couple ears of corn. Stashed them in my Camelbak and proceeded to unlock my bike. My first mistake was not putting the wallet and phone away first thing. I set my helmet (which had the phone in it) on my bike seat and went to unlock the bike. Can you see where this is going???? Yup.........the helmet fell off the bike seat, and the phone landed face down on the concrete. I am now the proud owner of a cracked phone screen!!! (it's not nearly as exciting as it sounds). Getting a new phone next weekend.
I got back on the bike and continued on my way back to where I started. All told, I rode about 30 miles in about 3.5 hours. It's quite a bit slower than I used to ride, but today's goal was about time in the saddle (or TITS as one of my friends calls it - awesome!) not about speed. Gotta get the butt used to the seat again - how quickly it forgets!!!
The plan is to ride an hour or so after work each night. Next weekend I'll be out again, and I think I'm going to work on speed this time. Planning to head out early in the am, rather than the afternoon like this time. Might even tackle the Bikeway twice if I'm up to it!
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