Springtime in New England

It really felt like Spring today in Boston. In the fifties (F) with sunny blue skies.

A quick opportunity to get a short and leisurely 28 mile loop before temperatures plummet again and the rain moves in.

Unlike out west (Arizona), New England has the advantage of having a dense network of backroads. Given local knowledge, it's possible to put together a beautiful and relatively traffic-free ride in a major metropolitan area. A friend, Pete Hausner, showed me one such route from his place in Newton.

With a Garmin etrex Vista GPS receiver in my jersey pocket, I recorded the route for posterity (here mapped on Goggle Earth):

(Click here for a larger view.)

The satellite imagery really gives a nice idea of the surrounding urban density and green areas. (Notice how we skirted around Needham.)

And despite near total unfamiliarity, I can use the recorded tracklog again. With the street level mapping capabilities of the Etrex Vista, I can now re-ride the loop and not miss a turn anytime I want:

Thanks Pete!

How do you know when you're really in Boston?

I'm here in Boston for six months.

I've been here since January.

But at what point does it really hit home?

1. When you get your first parking ticket?
   
   You're parked in a metered spot. But you didn't notice the first Tuesday of the month there's no parking between 2am and 6am. Eh. At least you can pay online.
2. When you hit a pothole big enough to take out your front tire?
   (No pics. But it was dark and late at night in Medford. Coming around a corner. Wham!)
   Whacked the tire hard enough to put an (unrepairable) hole in its sidewall. $166.
   Bonus points: when AAA tells you it's the third one on that pothole that night.
3. A parking space right in front of the entrance for China Pearl on Sunday for dim sum.
   
   When you realize the chances of find such a space in Chinatown is essentially the same as winning the state lottery.

That's when you really know you live in Boston...

July 4th in Boston

I ran the Longfellow to Mass Ave bridge loop today.

First time I've run for about a month. Got a steady rhythm going the whole way. I felt good.

It was also July 4th. A small flotilla of boats on the Charles River. Lots of people picnicking on the Esplanade. Even Storrow Dr. was closed. Felt good to run along there car-free. Temperatures in the 70s, overcast skies.

The route. Just under 3 miles:

Surprisingly to me, this is less distance than a run around the main section of the University of Arizona's campus in Tucson.