I've been concentrating many of my recent rides on the Neponset River Trail, which cuts a path along the boundary between Boston and Quincy, and then between Boston and Milton further upstream. It's not as well-known as the much longer Minuteman Commuter Bikeway further to the west, but the Neponset River area has unique charms all its own, such as the 1940's-era streetcars that rumble by the path (still in everyday use by the MBTA)...
...historical and whimsical murals...
...and the former Baker Chocolate Factory at the Lower Mills area of Dorchester and Milton:
I then continued along the new bike lanes in Milton:
On Saturday, in addition to riding all of the above, I did a loop around the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library on Boston's very scenic Columbia Point:
I've also been experimenting more with acrylics while watching the Ardennes classic races on TV. So I just finished a painting of the riders crossing the river Meuse in the finishing town of Huy, during the Fleche Wallonne race in Belgium:
And ... I finally joined a cycling club! I'm now a member of the Charles River Wheelmen. It's one of the largest clubs in the Boston area, with multiple rides every week, century rides, a newsletter, and more. I'll be honest, the only reason I hadn't joined the club earlier was because of its name. Of course there are both women and men in the organization, so "wheelmen" feels so old-fashioned (although it's still a fairly common name among long-running cycling clubs). But once I discovered all the great things the club organizes -- and I saw that both women and men are in leadership positions (its newsletter is called "wheelpeople") -- I then happily joined up. I guess old names die hard, like YMCA, where the only letter that's still relevant is the "A". Anyway, I'm looking forward to taking part in some of their rides, and maybe making some new cycling friends in the process.
So, a good weekend!
Nice to see a new-to-me trail.
ReplyDeleteI can understand your reluctance to join a cycling organization. I had a bad experience here in Burlington with GMBC, not once but twice. On a touring ride, not one member stayed with the the slower group, which consisted of only my husband and me. We tried one more ride with the club. It began with a two-hour drive to Montreal, where the club never met up, or cancelled the ride. We were never sure which it was. Since then we've given up on that group and ride on our own or with a couple friends. My husband and I went on to explore Montreal on our own and had a spectacular time.
Thanks for the heads-up! I agree, the group-dynamic of a ride is always a bit of a worry. I'm hopeful with this group though, since they seem to offer many different rides for different levels. So we'll see how it goes. I figure with only a $15 membership fee there isn't much to loose. :-)
DeleteThe Charles River Wheelmen seems like a pretty active kind of club...it's great to see that they say that they are a social club rather than a racing club and with over 1200 members there should be plenty of choice on rides.
ReplyDeleteMy club is one of the larger clubs in the South of England but still only has 196 members!!
Yes, I was pretty impressed by the huge membership as well! I'm looking forward to saying, "I'm off to a ride with my club." :-)
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