Ill-advised biking

[dmaze]

I've been asked to evaluate bike routes to a particular office park in Waltham. I figured since it was comparatively warm today it might be clever for me to go out and try it. Conclusion: it's not actually that warm, I'm not actually that buff, and that part of Waltham doesn't actually want to be biked to.

I got to Alewife without too much trouble. From there I decided to try the Fitchburg Cutoff path. This alternated between mud and sheets of ice, so it wasn't really that bikeable. I was stubborn. From the other end of the path, I biked into Belmont Center. The map I had with me showed a hill leaving Belmont. This turned out to be more hill than I could handle. In fact, it wound up being quite a bit of continuous hill, more than that one little arrow implied. As in, I wound up two blocks on the Belmont side down Park Ave. where it intersects Route 2.

I foolishly pressed on. More hilliness. I made it to Concord Ave., which seemed okay aside from being a two-lane 40 mph road with a cruddy surface. (Everything has a cruddy surface now, though.) This led to another big hill, which I again walked up. But when I got to the top, I was at the corner of Pleasant St., which was where I ultimately decided to turn back.

Right on Pleasant, cross under Route 2. Follow it where it merges with Route 2, then turn right on Mass. Ave. I tried cutting over to the Minuteman trail, but this also screamed of icy sheets of death, so I just headed down Mass. Ave. to Arlington Center, then took Broadway back into Somerville and towards home. (For readers attempting this in reverse, you'd cut over to Mass. Ave. at either of the first two crossings after you reach Lexington; the second was just past the 4-mile marker.)

Comments

[ukelele.livejournal.com]

Belmont, between the hills and the hideous road surface, is an impossible pile of hell, and, even though I have been biking regularly from Arlington to Newton, much of my trip planning has been centered around avoiding Belmont (though I have, at last, failed in this).

I know something about the area, though (the useful bits you don't get from maps). If you tell me where exactly you're trying to get I may have some suggestions for how to get there.

[76trombones.livejournal.com]

My paper-recycling may still have a drawing of a bike route from a nearby office park to... probably near where you're talking about. If I've guessed correctly. :)

I can also tell you "it's uphill from the commuter rail" in case you were wondering!

Re:

[dmaze]

I suspect you have the correct context but they've moved since you were near them.

(I really dislike the "aliases for people" livejournal mechanic, but there also seems to be this culture of not referring to people by their actual names. Which sort of makes this sort of conversation annoying. :-)

[76trombones.livejournal.com]

You should feel free to use people's real names if you don't think they'd mind!

You're right. I knew they had moved, and I'm not sure whither.

Re:

[jadia.livejournal.com]

There are definitely multiple people who don't alias on LJ. You maybe don't read them though.