Day 120: second time is a charm

I tried the loop I will be guiding on Saturday for the second day in a row. After getting lost so much yesterday, today was much better - I didn't get lost!

It is a really fun loop and I am looking forwards to guiding it this weekend.

Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/295310017

My muse, the red house. :-)

Where the Fells and the road meet

Day 119 - you have no talent. I do. I can get lost with GPS

I went to pre-ride the NEMBA Adventure mountain bike course I am guiding on Saturday. I got lost.

With GPS.

It is a talent you probably do not have.

Proof that I am more talented than you:
https://www.strava.com/activities/294716480

A duck enjoying quiet lake time

The pink track is where I was supposed to go

The blue track is where I went I spent a lot of time in the lower right hand corner getting totally confused.

Day 118 - Oops - broken spoke and wheel

I had a good road ride today on Rippah Tuesday until I broke a spoke. And then it got worse because the rim was cracked in a different spot!

Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/294075181

Day 117 - easy offroad spin

I took an easy recovery ride on the mountain bike today. Nice and relaxing.

Steepness, New England style

Day 116 - no flat tires and fun riding at Harold Parker

I finally fixed the flat tire issues and had a great ride at Harold Parker. The first hour I rode solo and made it through the entire "lost trail" section without dabbing for the first time ever. Yeah new bike!

Then I met up with my friend Mark, and got a chance to demo my bike with the "stock" build kit, which was definitely different and more cross country oriented.

The light was great at the park early on for the first hour. It got pretty flat just an hour later. These were obviously from the first hour!

https://www.strava.com/activities/292869087

Clouds in the pond

Harold Parker pond reflection

Day 115 (April 25) - the frustrations of pesky rear tire

I went for a couple of rides - one at Georgetown State Forest, and the other in the Fells (kind of) to try to figure out why my rear tire on my new bike flatted as it did on Friday. Friday's ride and the first ride Saturday, I ended up having to swap a tube into the tubeless wheel - yuck. One problem according to my friend Rich was that the Ardent tire I was using needed to be cleaned completely prior to remounting it after inserting the tube. The second problem was that there was a small gash in the tire. 

I fixed the first problem, and then the gash I am currently "addressing" with a small piece of patch kit rubber over the breached area. I'll see how it holds up...

Rich guiding in Georgetown Rowley State Forest

Dramatic clouds as seen from the Fells. That look is not post processed - that's just the way they looked!

Day 114 - Muffin (easy) Friday ride

I went out with a few of the Rippers, the local road group in town, for an easy mountain bike ride. The company, trails, and views were great.

https://www.strava.com/activities/291592950

Cloudy sunrise

Day 113 - poking around the Fells

What I saw was better than what I captured!

I saw a huge heron take off at the beginning of my ride, and when I was shooting the panorama, I saw a big hawk circling for food. I'll remember that heron for a long time to come!

https://www.strava.com/activities/290989462

Day 112 - bike ride and a hike with Emilia and Anita

Today I started off with a good bike ride around the Fells and then did a lot of the same trails in the other direction hiking with Anita and Emilia.

Bike: https://www.strava.com/activities/290359373
Hike: https://www.strava.com/activities/290447013

Tree parasites

Winter's last gasp

Day 111 (April 21) - foggy morning at Horn Pond

It was pretty wet out, so a bike ride wasn't in the cards. Horn Pond in the fog, however, was a great place to take some photos.

Branches

The power station in the fog

Proud goose

Day 110 (April 20) - Medium Monday / Patriot's Day

On Monday, I headed out for a fairly mellow ride in the Fells. I spied some geese around a corner, and tried to sneak up on them. Oops - scared them off their spot.

Starve: http://www.strava.com/activities/289042680

The geese saw me and left. Sorry!

Day 109 (April 19) - relaxed ride on both sides of the Fells

My friend Mark and I met for a mellow ride in the Melrose side of the Fells on Sunday.

Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/288463783

Ready to ride

Boston from Melrose

Geese in the Fells

Day 108 (April 18) - Harold Parker mountain biking

On Sunday, we had a great ride at Harold Parker State Forest in Andover. Lame photos, though.

Starva: https://www.strava.com/activities/287858867

Day 107 (April 17) - first mountain bike ride in the Fells on dirt!

I've had some issues getting my photos imported properly to my computer recently, so I haven't been able to post to the blog for a few days!

Friday was my first day in the Fells on the new bike. It was a glorious spring day, and the geese agreed and were out courting each other in preparation for the arrival of baby geese.

The new bike has a lot more traction than the old one - the last photo shows a climb that I usually can only make once or twice during the summer, and I was able to clean it on the second try with the new bike.

Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/287372900

Geese courting

Happy geese

A tricky section of trail

Day 106 - first Rippah Thursday

First Ripper ride of the season was this morning. Mercifully, some people had a race this Saturday, so the pace was sane. Tomorrow will be really fun - my first dirt ride on the new Ripley in the Fells!

https://www.strava.com/activities/286455648

Hamming it up for the group pic

Sepia riders

Dark...

Day 105 - the commute from home to the new job

I did a better job on the photo end today than yesterday, not that the bar was set very high! I had never taken a good look at the memorial by Horn Pond before after riding and driving by it dozens of times, so today I stopped for a moment on the way to work to admire it.

Sun, wind, and time to contemplate the service Private Foley gave to his country

Day 104 (April 14)- trying the commute from the new job back home

I tried out the commute from work back to home on the road bike. I've done it in the past, and it is pretty straightforwards - about 30 minutes and 7 miles.

Unfortunately, I was totally lame on the photography end and the photo below if proof that you cannot perfume a pig successfully.

Yup - its my road bike hanging in the bike room. Yawn.

Day 103 - quick spin to flush the legs

Today started off with a beautiful spring morning, and even though I didn't have much time, I managed to hop on the road bike to flush some lactic acid out from a hard day of snowboarding yesterday. I didn't bother to take the camera and instead relied heavily on some post processing to capture this image of Sandy Beach in Medford during a stop in my one lap around the Mystic Lakes.

Starva: https://www.strava.com/activities/284569197

Day 102 - last day of snowboarding for the season

Katie and I enjoyed a superb spring day at Sugarbush to close out our "6 month winter" 2014-2015 season. Today was the best spring combination of superb coverage, bright sun all day, and warm high 50s temperatures.

We had lunch outside and spent time skiing with friends. And we even saw a bear in the trees. It doesn't get any better!

Day 41 of snowboarding

Absolute bluebird day! Straight out of the camera - no editing

Katie photobombing an attempt to photograph the trails of Sugarbush

This poor scared bear cub was up in the tree most of the day

Day 101 - spring skiing late in the day

Day 40 of snowboarding! It has been a great season so far and sometimes the scenery from the chair is just sublime.

Although we drove up from Boston and arrived at the mountain around noon, things were still  bit firm to start the day. After lunch, we headed back out, and the conditions had changed for the better and we kept doing the same tree run until just about the end of the day.

The sun peaking through the clouds as seen from the Superbravo chair

Day 100 Wright's tower with Anita

Anita and I headed to Wright's Tower in Medford from our house. Things were pretty sloppy in hiking in the woods, but the view at the top of Wright's Tower was pretty notable for its fogginess.

Spring is definitely making itself known - we even saw some wildflowers poking their heads out!

https://www.strava.com/activities/282650293

Tall gnarly tree in the Fells

Boston obscured by fog

Flowers emergent

Day 98 - checking out those dry bike trails on foot

Anita and I had a really nice hike along some of my favorite mountain single track today in the Fells. The trails are pretty darned dry - it is too bad there is a ban on riding them until the 17th.

At least the views were great and more and more signs of spring arriving were present.

I really liked the photos from today. Great light! Sony A6000 and Sigma 19mm prime lens.

https://www.strava.com/activities/281456629

Looking up a tree without its outer layer of bark

Snow is mostly melted

Spring tree, green moss

Dogs on the land bridge

Day 97 - first real dirt ride on the Ripley

I first got the new (to me) bike about 2 months ago. Due to the unusually deep snowpack and cold winter, it has taken a really long time for the snow to melt enough to the point where I could actually ride it without studded snow tires. Today was the day!

I drove over to Burlington Land Locked Forest, where I went for a short but fun ride and got a bit lost in the beginning of the ride due to the very same tan / grey color of the place. The usual contrasts between the trail and trees and the signage was difficult to spot for some reason and I completely missed a few sections on the way out.

The bike was really fun to ride, and I am looking forwards to a very nice spring, summer and fall this year riding it on the local trails.

https://www.strava.com/activities/280918538/segments/6585507385

No bow hunting here!

Land Locked Forest - locked in by one side by Massachusetts State Route 3

Day 96 - given up on 30 days of biking but not regretting it

I don't think I'm going to make the 30 days of biking this year. I'm just going to concentrate on getting to 100 days of activity with photography.

Today Anita and I went for a great hike on one of my favorite mountain bike trails in the Fells. Great spring scenery! And some turkeys!

Turkeys are out and about!

Crack in the ice

Red house in distance

Spring reflections