Around Boston - September 21, 2016

RIDE REPORT

Wednesday, 21 September 2016, Around Boston
Ride Leaders:  Tom Allen & Fred Newton
41 & 32 miles from Larz Anderson Park, Brookline, MA

Riders - 41 mi (9): Tom, Bob Apsler, Dave Balaban, Ellen Gugel, Gene Ho, Greg Stathis, Selig Saltzman, Steve Bader, and Wing Chow.
Riders - 32 mi (10):  Fred, Chuck McWilliams, David Kobes, Dmitry Gorenburg, Gary Smiley, James Hsia, Janet Miller, Jeff Smith, Romaine Randall, Steve Bogue, and first-timer Kayo deOliveira.

As Fred notes below, it was an ideal September riding day with the last day of summer bringing a strong surge of summer weather with it.  The two groups stayed together for the first half dozen miles as we climbed the gradual slope of Bellevue Hill and schussed down Enneking and Turtle Pond Parkways.  Saying goodbye to the 32 milers at Readville, we started up the hill to Blue Hill and made a dehydration/rehydration stop at Houghton's Pond recreation area.

We were treated with lovely riding and exhilarating downhills on Chickatawbut and Wompatuck Roads.  Meandering through Quincy and Milton brought us to suburbia where we connected to the Neponset River Trail.  As the trail ended in Dorchester, we dealt with some more urban conditions getting to the Harbor Walk, around UMass Boston and the Kennedy Library, and on into South Boston.

The South Boston "Innovation District" was a riding mess.  I apologize to my (and Fred's) riders for the torn up condition of the roads and the resulting traffic.  We did work our way to the harbor path by the Moakley Courthouse and over the Seaport Boulevard bridge into downtown Boston.  Crossing into Charlestown via the Charles River Dam locks (See Fred's description below), we crossed under the Zakim Bridge and on over to the Paul Dudley White bike path.

Our group was surprised to find the we were nearly caught up with the short riders at the restaurant where a subset of us joined them for a pleasant lunch. (Others rode directly back to the the start or other destinations to keep schedules.)

Thanks to Greg Stathis for serving as sweep for the 41 mile route.

Ride Report by Tom Allen.

The shorter ride was a delight, with a perfect day and temperature of 73 at the start, rising to 84 - 86 for most of the ride, and spiking to 90 a couple of times.  We were cooled by a nice breeze once we hit the harbor and the Charles River.  Out of the 32 mile total distance, there were eleven miles of bike paths, free of vehicular traffic, including the Neponset Bikeway, Harbor Walk, and the Emerald Necklace paths.  The road traffic was fairly light outside of downtown Boston, but painted bike lanes in Boston helped keep us safe.

Thanks to Janet for suggesting, and convincing Tom, to omit the Washington Street bridge in favor of crossing the locks via Beverly Street, where we walked our bikes and enjoyed seeing the locks close up.  Also, thanks to Gary for pointing out the Charlestown Bells which most, if not all, of us enjoyed playing upon entering Charlestown.

Four of our group had a very tasty lunch at Audubon Boston and we were joined by four of Tom’s long group, who arrived about ten minutes after we did.  I recommend the veggie burger!

Thanks to Steve Bogue for sweeping the 32 mile route.

Ride Report by Fred Newton.