A warm mid 40s break in weather coincided with a trip to Boston - it was a lucky weekend! Arriving early afternoon on Saturday and learning the
Minuteman Bikeway might be clear enough to ride, my husband and I headed directly to a parking area near the trail.
Walkers and cyclists were coming out of hibernation - but not too many yet, considering the Minuteman is one of the busiest paths in the east - to make for clear sailing along the wet path.
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| Restroom stop at the Lexington visitors center. |
I opted to bring my folding bike for easy storage inside our vehicle. My husband removed his front wheel which enabled both bikes to avoid slushy, salted spray on the back rack. And, considering our city accommodation, it was a good decision for safety - storing the bikes without transfer to a hotel storeroom.
It had been 15 years since our first visit to the trail, so the sights rekindled our love for this amazing 10 mile linear park that spans Arlington, Lexington, and Bedford. There were numerous side footpaths, a winding trail already tracked by a bicycle, and lots of marshland.
We spied a group of 20 wild turkeys in the woods behind someone's house.
At the Bedford Depot, official northern end of the Minuteman Bikeway, we were set to turn around, but after inspecting signs and my husband talking with another Bridgestone owner, we continued onward to investigate a dirt connector trail that leads to Concord.
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| Minuteman Bikeway signs. |
The 4-mile
Reformatory Branch Rail Trail, unfortunately, was still snowed in, though there were fat tire tracks and foot prints. We turned around, opting for a quick side spin on a quiet road then bolting back to our car, as the time was growing short to get to a function in Boston.
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| Nashua River Trail |
On our drive northward the following morning, we found what sounded like an interesting trail near Nashua, New Hampshire, called the
Nashua River Trail.* It too, was still packed with snow - too slippery to walk on. However, a system of walking trails, Nashua Conservancy Land, provided ample space to explore on foot. Nashua River Trail - we'll be back!
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Trail Link is an excellent resource to locate trails near specific regions.
It is always good to get a pedal in during January.
ReplyDeleteI love an unexpected warm up in winter. Of course, in Memphis that meant we hit 60 today!
ReplyDeleteYee haw! There is light at the end of the tunnel...
DeleteHow fun to return to a path you hadn't been on in such a long time, and I'm sure it was great to get out on the bikes for a bit too! :)
ReplyDeleteOn a completely unrelated note, I am SOOOO happy to see that the RSS for your blog seems to be working in my links again!! Woo hoo!! I'm not sure how it happened, but I won't question the Google-gods.
I won't question the Google gods either - just happy that it's working again. This is one of the features that I really like about Blogger, that you don't need a RSS reader to read blog updates (and believe me I looked into this), it's built into the sidebar of Blogger blogs.
DeleteBrave Brave Annie! btw your feed is showing up on my blog reading list again hooray its fixed.
ReplyDeleteWoohoo, it's gonna be 40s tomorrow here. I plan to tootle around the city, but avoid the icy bike paths.
DeleteI had added my own blog to my blog feed a month ago when all this crazy feed problem began and I noticed "anniebikes" appeared this morning. I crossed my fingers and checked a couple blogs and sure enough it was showing up.
I always thought the Minuteman was a much longer trail. I'm missing reading all the riding blogs on my list. This was refreshing. BTW, I went out on the East Bay Bike Path in RI on Sunday. Like you said, it was a great day for a bike ride.
ReplyDeleteLooks like a lovely place to ride. I can imagine how good it felt to get back on your bike. Here in our part of the UK it is rain that has been stopping me riding (haven't got waterproof leggings).
ReplyDeleteI've read the comments about feed - I still don't have an understanding of RSS feed really despite having tried to!!! The penny definitely hasn't dropped.