Fall On the Western Greenway

As Fall descends on the Western Greenway, my singletrack commute home starts to take a little longer.

One Down. Two to Go.

The squiggly blue line is much more fun than the yellow lines.

I set three goals for my non-skiing adventures this off-season.  I'm happy to say that this week I checked the first of these off my list.

I mountain biked to work.

Beyond the Minuteman: Landlocked Forest Unlocked

Paint Mine Area:  Good place for biking.  Not so good for flying kites.

A short time ago I lived in a world where an evening ride at the Landlocked Forest in Burlington, MA required me to first drive through rush hour traffic on Route 128.  Well I’m happy to say that the world as I knew it has ceased to exist. 

In its place is a better world.   One where you don’t need a car to go mountain biking; where you can ride for hours while avoiding busy roads with drivers who would rather make you a hood ornament than arrive at their destinations thirty seconds later;  and a world where you DON’T have to listen to Metallica on the way to Yoga class.

Welcome to the world just beyond the Minuteman.

The Western Greenway Expands: A Dream Is Born

My mountain biking universe just got a little bigger.  Walnut Street used to signify the edge of my nightly ride in Belmont, but two weekends of volunteer trail work by NEMBA has changed everything.

April is Alive

Can you think of another month with as much going on as April?  After all, April sees the  beginning of the baseball season, basketball and hockey playoffs, Patriot’s Day and of course the Boston Marathon.  Unfortunately, I usually don’t get to witness any of these national holidays.  That’s because April also happens to be the one time of year that I can engage my two favorite pastimes: skiing and mountain biking.  And I’ll be damned if I’m going to plant my ass on the couch just so I can tell you if Beckett’s fastball has lost its pop. 

Trip Report: Belmont (Yeah, THAT Belmont...)

Sometimes alpine touring is less alpine and more touring.  Such was the case on a recent "trip" (five minutes from my door) to Belmont, MA.

My Evening Loop

Luckily they're all pinecones

So it's early evening on a weekday, and I can still hear the phone ringing in my ears.  I've got about two hours of daylight left and a mountain biking itch to scratch.  Where can I go to find a little piece of heaven?

The Middlesex Fells are close, but there's a lot of "forest service road".  The trails have a few technical spots, and the hills will get you in shape pretty quickly.  However, there is only one loop for mountain bikers.  I treat it like my time trial course: where I go to gauge the progress in my conditioning.  That is to say I like to avoid it because it reminds me what a fat wheezy creampuff I really am.