Discussion: Mass Ave, Tufts, Fells

I wouldn't have guessed that Mass Ave would be the *good* route.

You went right by, or through, my alma mater. Whose cross country team often ran (presumably still does) to / in / from the Fells. Which is why I can claim to have been running in the Fells since 1970.

Although there was a bit of a gap. I don't recall running there between the mid-70s and about 8 years ago, when my dear daughter had established herself in the Boston area and got me to join her in a loop of the Reservoir (orange) trail (while my speedy son-in-law did Skyline in the same amount of time). I've since been visiting the Fells every few months, most recently Friday. Which brings me to the point that ties back in to your log entry: Every single time I go there, I make a wrong turn (or several). *Every* time. Even this most recent time when I printed out and carried a copy of the Fells trail map. (I was about to say the MDC map but that just shows my age again.)

I'm glad I'm not the only orienteer who finds it difficult even to follow blazes in the Fells! Also, your running streak remains impressive.

I feel pretty comfortable on Mass Ave, partly through familiarity. There's a bike lane the entire way, and even though it is generally a very mediocre example of a bike lane, it's a lot better than what I found on Main St. through Medford on the way back down. Plus it's a popular bike route so cars seem a little more used to bikes. The really good part about the route up was the Somerville/Medford section, which went on barely trafficked streets. Very low stress.

That's a really pretty bike. Good choice!

Yes nice looking bike. I am decades out of touch with bikes--white chains are a thing? Do they sell white chain oil for them? Do you ride on streets with white dirt? ;-)

The white chain seems to be entirely for sex appeal. I’m skeptical that it will remain white long. I’ll report as it fades or chips away (or not).

Is this a one size fits many bike? I didn't see an option for sizes on the web site.

Yeah, just one size so far. They claim it should fit people from about 5'3" to 6'3". It's got a more casual hybrid geometry than that of a road bike, which gives it a bigger spread, I think, since reach isn't as much of an issue.

I think I read somewhere that they would like to offer different sizes, they just haven't gotten there yet. The company started as a crowd-funded thing and it still sort of works that way—people pre-order and pay for the bikes, then they make them all and ship them out, then they iterate to a new version, take pre-orders, make, ship, etc. I guess more volume would make it easier for them to offer more than one size.

When he was in high school, my brother used to lubricate his chain by dipping it in molten paraffin instead of using oil. No ugly black marks on your calf if you bump into it, but I think it needed to be done frequently, and it's a lot more work.

I did the paraffin thing too. Probably around when Alan was in high school, or thereabouts.