jducoeur: (Default)
I don't bicycle during the winter, for a variety of reasons: in particular, it's a tad less safe, and I just plain don't enjoy it much when the temp falls below 50. And by the time we get around to spring, there is a very strong, "It's too much haaaassle" response -- in particular, trying to remember how to reinflate those verdammt performance tires. (I never remember the eensy-weensy little screw to open the valve, and wind up struggling with it for ten minutes until I get the clue.)

But that first good bike ride of the season -- a day like today, when it is clear and crisp, warm enough to be pleasant but not yet hot, going for a short 7-mile loop exploring a bike path I've never tried before (the one along Alewife Brook), seeing the sights and the people -- more than worth it. I really need to remember that going for a ride is a *totally* appropriate way to get my daily exercise, and I'm allowed to do it simply because it's fun.

And yay for the state getting it right: they have finally committed the funding to complete the Community Path over the next five years. This will effectively run the Minuteman Path (which runs into the Somerville Community Path) all the way to Lechmere, so there will be a more or less continuous bike path from Boston out to the suburbs...
jducoeur: (Default)
Oh, right. I may enjoy the elliptical machine, but bicycling has always, by far, been my favorite form of exercise. How had I forgotten that?

Zipping along the bike path. Leaning into the curves and getting the visceral thrill of pushing through them -- like driving a sports car, but more real and honest. Enjoying a day that would be just a *little* warm for running, but which is fabulous with a self-inflicted breeze in my face. Getting to watch the people -- from the runners (oblivious to everything except their iPods) to the endless variety of dogs being walked, to the families teaching their children how to bicycle, all of them apologizing unnecessarily for the four-year-olds on the wrong side of the path.

My heart working and my breathing heavy, but never difficult. Getting to speed up here and coast there as I feel like it, but still *moving* throughout. Afterwards, definitely sweaty and bone-tired -- but it's an honest and happy sweat, with nothing that really *hurts*.

And really, there's nothing quite like satisfaction of starting in Ball Square, Somerville, saying, "I think I'll get a little exercise" -- and the next stop is an iced tea break in Arlington Center, seemingly no time later. Knowing that, with a little more time, I could fairly casually jaunt out to Lexington and beyond is just *neat*.

I already liked our house, but now I am *seriously* appreciating our location. Being just a few blocks from the effective end of the Minuteman Bike Path (and its extension through Somerville) is *really* lovely...

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jducoeur

May 2025

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