Biking in circles

[dmaze]

Today we'll put the (route map) link early, because it's a good illustration of the "only two roads in Carlisle" problem. We left Arlington and went the usual way up the bike path, west on 225, down River Road, out up Strawberry Hill Road, and thence to Carlisle Center. I joined a small subgroup that went out via Great Brook Farm ("no dinosaurs and a mile or two shorter, but much prettier"), and we regrouped at the 4/225 split in Bedford. With an eye towards distance, we went west on 225 again, going straight to Carlisle, straight to Concord, and then back via Hanscom. From Arlington Heights I struck out on my own up Middlesex Turnpike to Lexington Street to Horn Pond, and came back from there, totaling 72 miles in all.

It was apparently an "on" day for me, and I was able to keep up with the group pretty well. The downside of this is that I burned myself out by about mile 50; I was on my own (but not last!) between Carlisle and Concord, and had to stop climbing the hill just inside 128. The extension to hit 70 miles was somewhere in between "tired, wanna go home" and "really should get in some distance if I'm doing a century in two weeks".

So next week I'm away, which means this is my last big ride before the CRW Spring Century. I should:

• Check that my bike fits in the car. (It should pretty straightforwardly.)
• Do basic bike maintenance; there's definitely one squeaky spot on my chain, and the front tire can probably use air.
• Raise my seat very slightly.
• Figure out why my frame creaks when I shift (!).
• Get my ass to the gym. It helps!