You can read my interview here.
Thanks so much to BromptonUSA for contacting me and running this feature. I had a great time answering their questions.
Showing posts with label new england. Show all posts
Showing posts with label new england. Show all posts
Saturday, August 13, 2016
Sunday, April 15, 2012
Creating Spring Colors
And then it was spring!
"That sure doesn't look like spring," you may say, "look at all those bare trees!" I took this photo in Housatonic -- an old mill town in the Berkshire Hills of western Massachusetts. I was out there on business and brought my bike along with me for a brisk afternoon ride.
How about this photo then?
.JPG)
That's a dam along the Housatonic River, the town's namesake. I rode along the river for a number of miles as I made my way back to my car in Lenox, Mass. Still not very spring-like, you say?
Here's another one, again from Housatonic:
.JPG)
O.K, now I'm having fun! But only a little, because there's something about a bicycle that changes the whole way we look at spring.
Early spring in New England does have a black-and-white quality to it. It's a kind of quiet interlude between the dark days of winter and the burst color that is yet to come. But we cyclists love it. We love it on an impossible-to-explain elemental level, as if the very first bicycle ever created was forged in some dark furnace deep in the hills on a cold April morning, and we're just now reconnecting with our beginnings.
Maybe it has something to do with the simple aesthetics of it all, the image of a bicycle -- a streak of bright color -- set against a monochrome background. Or maybe it's the idea of the epic ride, the thing all serious cyclists strive for. Cycling through a grey landscape, I feel like I'm adding my own color to those trees with every pedal stroke.
The pros have the early-spring bug too. Just think about the great March/April races like the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix, winding their way through old WWI battlefields. Those races would loose their soul if they were held in summer. You need that film of grey hanging over it all, reminding us that a bike race is a beautiful, peaceful thing in itself.
Even when those racers ride on cobblestone through green fields, it still has a wonderfully bleak feel to it. Cleaning my apartment the other day, I came across an unfinished watercolor I painted of those cobbles:
.JPG)
Pretty lonely, right? But we cyclists would like nothing better than to ride that road and make the unfinished painting a masterpiece.
So getting back to Housatonic...
Across the street from the local post office...
.JPG)
... the townspeople have put up a mural:
.JPG)
It's green and cheery, and it reflects the creative spirit that is so strong in the Berkshires. Very cool! But on that particular afternoon, I was just as happy to enjoy the pleasant shades of grey.
"That sure doesn't look like spring," you may say, "look at all those bare trees!" I took this photo in Housatonic -- an old mill town in the Berkshire Hills of western Massachusetts. I was out there on business and brought my bike along with me for a brisk afternoon ride.
How about this photo then?
.JPG)
That's a dam along the Housatonic River, the town's namesake. I rode along the river for a number of miles as I made my way back to my car in Lenox, Mass. Still not very spring-like, you say?
Here's another one, again from Housatonic:
.JPG)
O.K, now I'm having fun! But only a little, because there's something about a bicycle that changes the whole way we look at spring.
Early spring in New England does have a black-and-white quality to it. It's a kind of quiet interlude between the dark days of winter and the burst color that is yet to come. But we cyclists love it. We love it on an impossible-to-explain elemental level, as if the very first bicycle ever created was forged in some dark furnace deep in the hills on a cold April morning, and we're just now reconnecting with our beginnings.
Maybe it has something to do with the simple aesthetics of it all, the image of a bicycle -- a streak of bright color -- set against a monochrome background. Or maybe it's the idea of the epic ride, the thing all serious cyclists strive for. Cycling through a grey landscape, I feel like I'm adding my own color to those trees with every pedal stroke.
The pros have the early-spring bug too. Just think about the great March/April races like the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix, winding their way through old WWI battlefields. Those races would loose their soul if they were held in summer. You need that film of grey hanging over it all, reminding us that a bike race is a beautiful, peaceful thing in itself.
Even when those racers ride on cobblestone through green fields, it still has a wonderfully bleak feel to it. Cleaning my apartment the other day, I came across an unfinished watercolor I painted of those cobbles:
.JPG)
Pretty lonely, right? But we cyclists would like nothing better than to ride that road and make the unfinished painting a masterpiece.
So getting back to Housatonic...
Across the street from the local post office...
.JPG)
... the townspeople have put up a mural:
.JPG)
It's green and cheery, and it reflects the creative spirit that is so strong in the Berkshires. Very cool! But on that particular afternoon, I was just as happy to enjoy the pleasant shades of grey.
Sunday, October 23, 2011
Saturday on the Minuteman
It's autumn in New England, and the Minuteman Bikeway just gets more and more beautiful with each ride.
Beginning at Alewife Station in North Cambridge, the "Minuteman" is an old rail line that was converted to a bikeway in 1993. Remnants of its passenger train heritage still exist, such as this "W" marker which directed engineers to blow the train's whistle...
...and this old railway car at the trail's Bedford end:
On weekday mornings the Minuteman Bikeway is one of the country's busiest rail-trails, and for good reason. Running 11 miles through the towns of Bedford, Lexington, Arlington, and Cambridge, it's a fast and direct car-free route from the historic western suburbs to Boston's Red Line subway. I like to think this makes the Minuteman uniquely "New England"; it's as practical as it is scenic.
Although shared by cyclists, runners, skaters, and people simply out for a stroll, the Minuteman Bikeway's smooth surface and yellow center-line make it easy to pass slower traffic. In fact, while the path's multi-use purpose rules out high speeds, on quiet early mornings we cyclists can still pedal along at a pretty good clip, which is quite thrilling without having to worry about cars.
The Minuteman Bikeway isn't very close to where I live, but there are two great ways for me to get to the start of the path from my home on the South Shore.
The best way is by bicycle, of course! It's a spectacular 25-mile ride, running by the beaches of South Boston...
...the ships in Boston's Cruiseport...
...commercial boats on Boston's Fish Pier...
...on bike lanes into downtown...
...through Boston's historic North End...
...and on the Charles River Bike Path.
The other way for me to get to the start of the Minuteman is to take my bike on the Red Line subway (the "T", as we Bostonians call it).
The T allows and encourages bikes on most of its lines. If you're reading this and live in the Boston area, check out the T's guidelines here.
Within the past three weeks, I've both cycled and taken the T to the start of the Minuteman. Yesterday morning I chose the T, since I wanted to get to the Bikeway as soon as possible to ride its full length and then continue out beyond its western end.
Arriving at Alewife Station around 7:45 am...
...I entered the Bikeway, which is just across the street.
I then rode the entire trail...
...taking a short detour through the center of Lexington...
...and stopping to admire the Minuteman's quirky mile markers along the way. This one indicates Mile 7. Can you figure out how?
(Hint: Think Roman numerals!)
Reaching the end of the Minuteman in Bedford, I then rode on extraordinary tree-lined roads out to the nearby town of Billerica and back.
Feeling the need for that most favorite of cycling beverages (coffee), I stopped in Lexington's Ride Studio Cafe on my way back down the Minuteman (you can read about the Cafe in my Oct. 17th post). It was full of cyclists! I enjoyed a great iced coffee while chatting with an amateur racer relocating to the Boston-area from Pittsburgh. Thanks so much to the Ride Studio for putting my Oct. 17th post on their facebook page!
After enjoying about a half-hour at the Ride Studio, I got back on the trail, rode to Alewife Station, and took the T home. Not a bad way to spend a Saturday morning in New England, don't you think?
Beginning at Alewife Station in North Cambridge, the "Minuteman" is an old rail line that was converted to a bikeway in 1993. Remnants of its passenger train heritage still exist, such as this "W" marker which directed engineers to blow the train's whistle...
...and this old railway car at the trail's Bedford end:
On weekday mornings the Minuteman Bikeway is one of the country's busiest rail-trails, and for good reason. Running 11 miles through the towns of Bedford, Lexington, Arlington, and Cambridge, it's a fast and direct car-free route from the historic western suburbs to Boston's Red Line subway. I like to think this makes the Minuteman uniquely "New England"; it's as practical as it is scenic.
Although shared by cyclists, runners, skaters, and people simply out for a stroll, the Minuteman Bikeway's smooth surface and yellow center-line make it easy to pass slower traffic. In fact, while the path's multi-use purpose rules out high speeds, on quiet early mornings we cyclists can still pedal along at a pretty good clip, which is quite thrilling without having to worry about cars.
The Minuteman Bikeway isn't very close to where I live, but there are two great ways for me to get to the start of the path from my home on the South Shore.
The best way is by bicycle, of course! It's a spectacular 25-mile ride, running by the beaches of South Boston...
...the ships in Boston's Cruiseport...
...commercial boats on Boston's Fish Pier...
...on bike lanes into downtown...
...through Boston's historic North End...
...and on the Charles River Bike Path.
The other way for me to get to the start of the Minuteman is to take my bike on the Red Line subway (the "T", as we Bostonians call it).
The T allows and encourages bikes on most of its lines. If you're reading this and live in the Boston area, check out the T's guidelines here.
Within the past three weeks, I've both cycled and taken the T to the start of the Minuteman. Yesterday morning I chose the T, since I wanted to get to the Bikeway as soon as possible to ride its full length and then continue out beyond its western end.
Arriving at Alewife Station around 7:45 am...
...I entered the Bikeway, which is just across the street.
I then rode the entire trail...
...taking a short detour through the center of Lexington...
...and stopping to admire the Minuteman's quirky mile markers along the way. This one indicates Mile 7. Can you figure out how?
(Hint: Think Roman numerals!)
Reaching the end of the Minuteman in Bedford, I then rode on extraordinary tree-lined roads out to the nearby town of Billerica and back.
Feeling the need for that most favorite of cycling beverages (coffee), I stopped in Lexington's Ride Studio Cafe on my way back down the Minuteman (you can read about the Cafe in my Oct. 17th post). It was full of cyclists! I enjoyed a great iced coffee while chatting with an amateur racer relocating to the Boston-area from Pittsburgh. Thanks so much to the Ride Studio for putting my Oct. 17th post on their facebook page!
After enjoying about a half-hour at the Ride Studio, I got back on the trail, rode to Alewife Station, and took the T home. Not a bad way to spend a Saturday morning in New England, don't you think?
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