Rain or shine

Rain is not enough to deter the Sloan Riders! Peter and I headed out today for a quick loop around the Charles River:

U.S.S. Constitution

It was 77 and sunny at the end of October, beautiful day for an afternoon ride. Howard, Michael, Pai-Ling, and Matt headed out at 4:30 to the U.S.S. Constitution in Charlestown.

Doubleheader

We thought we'd try a ride at the end of the day, and then Howard said he could only go at lunch. So we had two Sloan Riders rides totaling 22 miles!

First off, Howard and I did an extended Tour de Charles into Watertown:



Then Pai-Ling, Michael and I hoofed it to Jamaica Pond. (Slight self-interest here as JP is on my way home.)



Quite a day for SloanRiders! And as for me, including my ride in and home it was a 50-miler...

bike path tour

One of our riders was short on time today, so we just took a quick 5.5-mile tour of Boston bike paths:



This includes
1) traditional right-hand lane bike lanes over the Longfellow bridge (though with no parked cars to worry about)
2) left-hand lanes on Commonwealth Avenue, snaking under Mass Ave to Kenmore Sq (and door-zone bike lanes from there to the BU Bridge)
3) on-sidewalk "cycletracks" along Vassar St
4) separated bike paths along the Charles River in front of MIT

We lost Bill halfway through but saw him on the other end

Deer Island

This was a *great* ride. From Sloan across the Longfellow Bridge, then take the blue line from Bowdoin to East Boston and ride southeast to Deer Island. Breathtaking views of the city!



for next time:
1. remember where the Bowdoin stop is. easy to miss from the west!
2. wait until Orient Heights to jump off instead of Maverick (saves 2 miles each way)
3. head to the top of the hill for the very best view possible

Biking breakfast

This should keep you full for most of a 50 mile ride. Might want to carry a Clif bar for the last hour or so, but this should get you most of the way.

Spray a skillet on full heat.
Grab a fistful of spinach, rinse it. Under the tap, and throw it in the skillet.
Slice up a sausage link and throw it in with the spinach, if you're not using precooked sausage, put it in the skillet before the spinach!
Take a slice of low fat cheese and throw it on top of the spinach. Don't worry, it'll melt.
Grab half a cup of precooked brown rice from the fridge and throw it in once the cheese has started to melt.
Stir until ingredients seem warm. Then crack two eggs into the skillet and stir them along with everything else. Cook until eggs aren't runny.
Salt and pepper to taste.
Total time should be less than ten minutes, assuming you have some rice to start with. I find brown rice works best as it sticks wit you longer than white rice.

Mystic River Reservation

Well, due to a number of conflicts it was a small turnout. So instead of our planned route I took the oppty to explore the Mystic area. I used to live in Everett, so the roads were familiar, but I had never spent time up by Mystic River Reservation.

It's a nice ride, though some of the motorists are less than nice!