"If you can't be good, be safe."

Those are the wise words I received today from an old cigar-touting man in Lynn when I stopped to ask for directions to the elusive Myrtle St.

Points of the day:
-Cambridge to Gloucester and back
-82 miles roundtrip
-6 hrs and 12 mins on the bike, just over 8 with stops
-what do flashing green lights mean?
-for that matter, what does it mean when the red and yellow are lit simultaneously?
-relied heavily on the map on the way up; didn't use it once on the way back!

All in all, a great ride. Beautiful scenery and beautiful weather. Got a lunch and ate in a park I knew in town, overlooking the fishermen's docks and the harbor. After lunch, I took a little loop out to the eastern point and then headed back towards the city around 1pm. I definitely wasn't going for time, but was glad to finish 82 miles feeling tired but not wiped. If you ever drive up to Gloucester, I highly recommend taking the scenic route, specifically Route 127 (vs. I93/128). Great scenery and not much traffic on a Wednesday morning or afternoon.

Check out the pictures.

I'm Learning

40 more miles today, out through Concord again. I'm starting to get a little sense of direction in that area, though I'm not fully confident I could ride these roads alone - and certainly not at the pace we're keeping.

Today, we were led by Nathan again, but Andrea also joined us (from the Southern US trip). While we were on the Minuteman, an older man latched on to the back of our pack, drafting. He stayed with us all the way out to Bedford where the path ends and the road ride begins. We hadn't realized it, but he had riden with us all the way from Cambridge and decided to keep up the rest of the way. I talked with him briefly as I slowed down and my legs just wouldn't keep up with Nathan's. He (the older man) has riden cross-country twice. Once, the southern route through Texas, Lousiana, Mississippi, etc, and up through to New Hampshire. Another time, he went west-to-east through Canada. The guy was in his 60s and keeping up (and at times pushing me). Impressive.

So over the last two rides, I've noticed little subtleties that accentuate the benefits of getting out on the bike a lot before this trip. I notice where my shorts bunch up, when my muscles start to tense and my right big toe goes numb, I learned to keep my cadence high (90-100 rotations per minute). Another thing I learned yesterday (and forgot today) was to keep my eyes open and my head up. That sounds obvious, but sometimes (like today) I get so focused on Nathan's back wheel that I forget to look up and see what I'm riding through -- yesterday, for example, brought us through amazing old New England farmland. Both yesterday and today I noticed something that I'm coining "the fish-eye effect." I don't know if anyone has called it that before, but when my legs hurt from pushing all I can do to keep the pace up is watch the rear end of the bike in front of me. I become so focused on the spinning spokes, the spinning cassette, or the seat stays that it literally feels like the bike in front is stationary and the ground and my surroundings are whizzing by me. The fish-eye effect is what the whole scene looks like in my tired mind/body, like those photos with a fish-eye lens. Something like this:


I hadn't intended on writing all that, but oh well. Got to go plan tomorrow's ride.

Turkeys and Rabbits and Roadkill, Oh My!

Went out for a good ride yesterday morning with Nathan and saw all of the above. The weather was pretty perfect for biking - overcast, not too warm, although quite humid. The rain held off as we made our way around the Concord area, looping on a 10-mile time trial course, then back through Weston, Belmont, and Cambridge. All in all, the ride was 58 miles. After biking to and from a BBQ in the afternoon, I put 72 miles on the bike yesterday. Needless to say, last night I was feeling that good kind of exhaustion. In about an hour, Nathan and I and maybe others are going back out for another 30-40 miles. Putting these miles on the legs back-to-back is starting to give me a better perspective on what this summer will be like - challenging - but I love it. Maybe I'll bring the camera out today.

Side note: we will be able to receive mail on the road if you want/need to send anything along. Mail drops are posted here. I've also put a link to the mail drop list on the left side of my blog and list the places and dates here:

Bike & Build
ATTN: Terra Curtis
General Delivery
[City, State Zip]

* June 14 (day 8) — White Lake, NY 12786
* June 21 (day 15) — Franklin, PA 16323
* June 28 (day 22) — Troy, OH 45373
* July 5 (day 29) — Clinton, IA 52732
* July 12 (day 36) — Plainview, NE 68768
* July 19 (day 43) — Douglas, WY 82633
* July 25 (day 49) — Jackson, WY 83002
* August 1 (day 56) — Missoula, MT 59801
* August 9 (day 64) — Omak, WA 98841

A Touch of the Past

I've spent the past three days packing up my room in Cambridge, renting a U-Haul, packing up the truck, driving it up to Maine, cleaning out my parents' garage (no small task), and then unloading everything into my own little corner of the garage attic. This morning, I returned the truck, rode my fixie home, and I finally feel like "things" are in place and the summer is in sight.

While I was cleaning out the garage, I came upon my old purple Columbia bike:

Think I could make it to Seattle with this beast? After holding on to this trophy ride (I did actually win this with my killer bowling skills) for (how many years?), I have finally decided to pass it on. I have been trying to find a benefactor. If anyone knows of an organization like Bikes Not Bombs based in Maine, please do tell. It's a real gem, despite two flat tires and a really goupy chain.

Lastly, last week before heading up to Maine, I stopped by REI for about the 3,395,987th time and picked up a load of REI water bottles and a handful of 15% off coupons for the group. I'll be bringing them along to Providence on June 7th.

"A girl in Boston" is me!

Check it out.

A Building- and Biking-Filled Weekend

Although it was a bit brisk, we had nice sunny weather here in Boston all weekend. I was finally able to take full advantage of it, despite a bout of 24-hour flu that sent me to bed by 7pm on Saturday night.

I spent all day Saturday in Lawrence, MA at the Habitat build site there. We worked on a set of houses that were originally built in the 1880's on Market St. Lawrence used to be a thriving mill town, but has since become a pretty economically-depressed area of Massachusetts. We got a little taste of history itself, though, when a man walking by stopped in to ask if he could look around. Turns out his great-grandparents used to own the property we were working on. He was impressed and happy with the developments. I wasn't really aware that Habitat worked both on new construction and renovation projects, but as property values increase and availability of property decreases, it makes sense in some places to work with what you've already got. Both houses has been fully gutted down to the bare frame. I worked on installing fire-proof foam insulation all day using a pretty cool insulation gun. Everyone envied my job ;)

Saturday night I felt pretty ill for the first time in a very long time, so I laid low and went to bed early in hopes that I'd be able to go on the planned training ride on Sunday morning. After 12 hours of sleep and finally acquiring an appetite for breakfast, I felt up for the 40-60 mile ride a few of the Boston-area Bike and Builders had planned. We met at 10am at MIT and rode out to Weston, Walden Pond, Concord, and back through Cambridge and Memorial Drive (past the Walk for Hunger). The loop ended up around 45 miles and (thankfully) at the end I felt like I could have easily done more.

On the rumination side of things (spending 4 and a 1/2 hours on the bike give you time to think): two thoughts.
One. The human body is a pretty amazing thing. A healthy human body is incredibly amazing. How my body was able to, in a 24 hour period, go from feeling that each step taken was a labor and a decision, to being able to cycle 45 (could have been more!) miles blows my mind.
Two. Waking up early twice this weekend to go straight out to my bike and ride the roads before the masses made me so excited for this summer. I am starting to get glimpses of what it will really be like. Can't wait to make imagination a reality.

Important Dates

Since I've been asked a lot lately -

May 16th: last day of work at CFP
June 7th: Bike and Builders meet in Providence
June 10th: first biking day out of Providence
August 15th: arrival in Seattle

Also of note, June 2nd is the tentative date for a I'm-leaving-(not)-on-a-jetplane-don't-know-when-I'll-be-back-again party get-together thingy in Cambridge. More on that later.