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Bicycling My Way Through 2011 and into 2012 In the immortal words of James E. Starr, "Melancholy is incompatible with bicycling." Read on for a one entry a month photo tour of my year in bicycling. Hover over or click on the images below. 
JANUARY -
Cycling in Massachusetts in January isn't out of the question.
In fact, I logged almost 10 miles on my mountain bike on New Years Day.
But I failed to ride outdoors again that month until the final day.
On the positive side, that happened to be in St. Petersburg FL.
Check out the whole story--and arguably the sexiest mail box ever--HERE (1). Monthly outdoor mileage: 44.3; year to date: 44.3 
FEBRUARY -
February often sees more snow than January.
The picture at right notwithstanding, that wasn't the case this year--19" to the prior month's 44," with not a flake to accumlate the rest of the winter.
Clear roads be damned, only one day of riding for me in February, again on my mountain bike--a quick loop up to
SHERMAN'S BRIDGE (2) and back.
Month: 17.8; year: 62.1 
MARCH -
March heralded a marked (Marched?) increase in my number of outings, to five.
The first two were via mountain bike, one in Wayland, the other along the Charles River.
Mid-month, my road bike finally came out to play, with the Charles River Wheelmen (CRW), before I headed south to the Big Easy.
Sadly, the New Orleans Bicycle Club's Giro Ride didn't live up to my imagination--to learn why, you'll have to look
HERE (3). Month: 142.1; year: 204.2 
APRIL -
If there's a theme thus far, it's alternating months of exotic and less-so destinations.
April held true to form, no disrespect to Greenville NH or the CRW.
At 62 miles with almost 2,500 feet of climbing, though,
THIS RIDE (4)
(my sixth and final of the month) made up in challenge what it lacked in palm trees.
Month: 240.7; year: 444.9 
MAY -
One Friday a month from May through August, Bike Boston organizes "chaperoned" commutes from various "outskirt" towns the likes of Belmont, Somerville, Cambridge, Jamaica Plain, Newton, and Needham
into Boston, and specifically, to a festival at Boston City Hall featuring Boloco and numerous other local businesses.
I cycled this particular FOUR AND A HALF MILE COMMUTE (5)
from Somerville on my 16" wheel, single speed, folding fBike.
Stay tuned to learn more about fBike coming to a web store near you!
Month: 444.5; year: 889.4 
JUNE -
May saw my shortest ride of the year, so it was only fitting that June saw my longest ... and not just of the year, but of my life.
At just a shade fewer than 150 miles, the single day HARPOON BREWERY TO BREWERY RIDE (6)
is a New England--and perhaps even national--classic.
The ride departs the Harpoon brewery in Boston,
winds out through the northwest suburbs to the first of two major climbs around the MA-NH line at the 50-mile mark,
turns north to the second and harder Leviathan ascent at 90 miles,
parallels the VT-NH border on the NH side,
and with 6 miles to go, crosses the covered bridge into Windsor VT before hitting the home stretch to Harpoon's Windsor brewery and a well-deserved fermented beverage or two.
Month: 322.8; year: 1,212.1 
JULY -
By self-imposed rule, each month here features but a single cycling event.
July posed the hardest choice to make.
In the end, I simply couldn't leave out the
TOUR DE FRANCE (7), and specifically, the uphill finish of Stage 1 in the small town of Les Herbiers roughly a four hour drive south and west of Paris. Every cyclist should see a stage in person if the opportunity presents itself, and there's not much I'd trade this experience for. That said, tuning in to Phil and Paul on Versus (ideally, in the presence of a fine banquet) provides a far more complete viewing experience. And while I prefer the mountain stages, the spectacle of the finishing laps up and down the Champs-Élysées (or an alternate route) is not to be missed. Month: 432.9; year: 1,645.0 
AUGUST -
I first joined Team Fatty for a LiveStrong Challenge in
Austin in 2010.
The experience was rewarding enough on multiple levels that I participated again in
PHILADELPHIA (8) this year with a new list of cancer fighters tucked in my jersey pocket. Regarding the route itself, while not quite a match for B2B's Leviathan, LiveStrong Philly's Landis Hill climb is nonetheless memorable ... as is the rest stop at its top and the 40MPH+ descent that follows. Month: 307.0; year: 2,054.5 
SEPTEMBER -
The Granite State Wheelmen bill their
SEACOAST CENTURY (9)
as "flatter than The Flattest Century in the East."
Having not ridden the latter, I'll withhold comment on that point.
Where I will weigh in, however, is on the (imagined) beauty of the Seacoast Century.
I say "imagined" because much of it was obscured by heavy rainfall.
The frequent stretches along the coast bode well for the visuals on a more consistently sunny day ... I'm hoping that day is the 2012 edition.
Month: 412.5; year: 2,446.9 
OCTOBER -
As with July, this month's SELECTION (10)
is of the spectating variety.
But this spectating presented itself much closer to home.
Gloucester, to be specific, site of the (cyclocross)
Gran Prix of Gloucester.
For those unfamiliar with the discipline, it is, as best I can determine, a way to add a (muddy) 4th or 5th steed to one's cycling stable.
As its name implies, cyclocross racing is something of a hybrid between road and mountain bike riding.
Cyclocross courses feature a few paved pieces, mostly dirt sections, the occasional sand pit, and stair and other barriers sprinkled around for good measure.
I highly recommend the GP of Gloucester as a fascinating and approachable sporting event that you can follow with any one of countless seafood restaurants in the neighborhood.
Month: 182.9; year: 2,649.8 
NOVEMBER -
Despite my increasing mileage, the November ENTRY (11)
is yet another for which I didn't put wheel to pavement.
Bicycle tour creator Cyclismo Classic and
Seven Bicycles of Watertown joined forces
to describe their travel packages and show off their manufacturing facility, respectively.
Each tempted in its own captivating way, but given the funding necessary to come into possession of their high end products, they'll have to wait for another day.
Month: 184.1; year: 2,833.9 
DECEMBER -
My final REPORT (12)
sees my back in the saddle.
In Italy.
Lecce in the south, to be precise, right in the middle heel.
Start with a mid-range carbon fiber road machine.
Swap the frame material for beefy (baby blue) steel.
Change out the cassette for a single speed freewheel.
Deflate the tires a bit. Weld the seat in place--a very low place--with a heaping helping of strategically-placed rust.
And prove once again that "Melancholy is indeed incompatible with bicycling."
Month: 31.8; year: 2,865.7 |