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Smooth Sailing

Here's a nice bit of irony...

May 31: I take an awesome bike ride in the rain -- but in the back of my mind I dread the gritty gears and gummed up pedals I would have to deal with the next day.

June 1: I go out for an afternoon ride, and my bike is running smoother than it has in weeks!

What happened in between? Well, the rain actually forced me to clean my bike! Oooo, it looks so nice now. I took a toothbrush to the chainwheels and rear cogs, brushed the sand and grit from cranks, cleaned the chain, and wiped down every inch of the frame. The next day I got on my bike, took a deep breath, slowly began pedaling, and ... yes! Silence! Not a peep out of the drive train below.

It was as if my bike was telling me: "Hey, don't worry about taking me out in the rain. I can take it. Just clean me afterward and we're good!"

And a good, sunny ride it was. The sea and sky were as blue as can be...

...and even the Egrets came out to say hello...

A Gray Morning in New England

This post is going to be a bit of a departure from my usual sunshine-filled photos. A couple weeks ago, I wrote about how much I dislike riding in the rain. Well, I've had a change of heart...

It was raining pretty heavily when I woke up yesterday morning. But I really, really wanted to ride. So I checked the forecast ... "gradually clearing". Good enough! I waited a half-hour until the heaviest rain let up, threw on my rain jacket, biking gloves and helmet, and headed out...



The light rain was actually pretty refreshing on this warm spring morning. I enjoyed hearing the swish of my tires on the wet roads. The rain ended after about fifteen minutes or so, and off in the distance the Boston skyline emerged from the misty gloom...

Inspired by the the beauty of the moment, I decided to ride out to Hough's Neck (pronounced "Hows Neck"), which is a rocky stretch of land extending into the southern part of Boston Harbor.




At the very tip of the Neck is "Nut Island". This was a true island until the late 1700's, when farmers built a connecting path to the Neck to give their cows more land to graze on (it's amazing how much influence cows had on Boston's landscape!). The path eventually became a causeway, and now the island is simply a little bump-out at the end of Hough's Neck.

At the far end of Nut Island is a long fishing pier. I got off my bike and walked out...




Pretty eerie, don't you think? Looks like a good place for a Cold War-era spy exchange (it wasn't actually as lonely as it looks though; there were some folks fishing just behind me). Standing there on the end of the pier, I looked out on the great expanse of Boston Harbor...



The air and sea were were quiet, but normally this is a place of constant movement. Planes roar overhead, tugboats pull in container ships from faraway places, ferries rush between islands, and speedboats leave foamy wakes in the paths. Beneath the water is a vast network of channels, drainage pipes, tunnels, and countless shipwrecks.

I thought about the unseen navigation grid that allows captains and pilots to move through this complex old harbor. Lighthouses, buoys, and the control tower at Logan Airport are its only visible signs. It reminded me that Boston Harbor is first and foremost a place of work. Thousands of untold stories are played out on its shores every hour of every day.

So the harbor did seem calm that morning ... but it was a deceptive calm. That's what makes this place so wonderfully mysterious.


Later that morning at about 9:30 am, I was sitting at a sandwich shop enjoying my morning coffee and bagel. The sun was shining brightly now; there was no hint left of the gray, atmospheric beauty that hung over the harbor just three hours earlier. That was a unique moment in time ... well worth a short ride in the rain.

Morning at the Harbor (and links!)

First a nice photo to get the post started...

This was from my Memorial Day ride. Such a beautiful morning it was. The temperature was in the mid-60's, with a light breeze ringing a ship's bell somewhere off in the distance.

I love marinas in the morning, seeing people preparing for a day out at sea. Sometimes I simply enjoy hearing the irregular rhythm of the boats bobbing in the water, tapping against the docks. After I took this photograph, I took my bike back out to the road, began pedaling again, and thought: this is a good morning.

On another topic ... I just added some blogs I like to my sidebar. What fun! The first is "Up in Alaska":

http://arcticglass.blogspot.com/

I'm so glad I came across this blog. Wonderful photos, so nicely written, and sincere. I'm still exploring it, but my favorite post so far is "First Day of Spring" (http://arcticglass.blogspot.com/2008/03/first-day-of-spring.html). Those photos of Alaska are incredible.

The next is "Pat's Bike Blog":

http://bikepat.blogspot.com/

I love bike touring logs, and this one is great. The tour itself is completed, so you've got the whole trip there for you to enjoy. I really like the early entry where he photographs his fully-loaded bike. He also has some interesting posts about Underground Railroad history.

And then "Cyclin' Missy":

http://cyclinmissy.blogspot.com/

It's a cyclist's journey toward riding her first century (a 100 mile biking event). Even though a century is out of my league at the moment, I can still relate to much of what she describes, especially her passion for riding. She writes so easily and honestly. Great blog!

Headwind/Tailwind

Does anything beat a nice wide shoulder to ride on?

When I took this photo at 5:45 this morning, I was riding back from having been on this same road earlier, going in the opposite direction. It's a beautiful causeway leading out to a semi-island of glacial till in Boston Harbor, surrounded by wetlands and the sea.

On the way out though, I had to fight a massive headwind. So I tucked myself low in the drops of my handlebars and spun around in a ridiculously small gear. But then coming back ... ah, relief! What was once an ornery headwind was now a magnificent tailwind! I could put the bike in a whopping big gear and fly away.

Such is the beauty of an out-and-back morning ride.

The only problem though ... the tailwind put me in such a confident mood that when I stopped to take the photo, I forgot to downshift beforehand. Ugh! Starting up again from a giant gear was no fun! It's a nice photo though...

Memorial Day Ride

It was a beautiful morning on this Memorial Day. Here are some sights from my ride...

With deep gratitude and remembrance. Memorial Day 2009.

The Rhythm of the Ride

Bike riding is all about rhythm ... the rhythm of the pedals going round and round, your knees rising and falling in a steady cadence, the gradual downshift as you move through the gears on a steep hill. Sometimes it takes a while for this rhythm to work itself into motion, especially if you have a lot on your mind. But then after about 15 minutes or so, the sights and sounds of the ride sink in and everything feels as if it's falling into place. You're back in the zone, and the horizon seems limitless again.

Sights you may simply pass by in a car take on a quiet kind of beauty in this bicycling zone. Like an abandoned mill...

Or the remains of a once-busy fishing dock...