Snorklewacker on Wheels

This morning—which was a Sunday, I might add—Swami and I got up at 6:30 to make it downtown in time for the Hub on Wheels ride. It’s a charity bike ride that starts at City Hall Plaza and tours the Emerald Necklace parks and cemeteries: Fenway, Jamaica Pond, Arnold Arboretum, Franklin Park, Forest Hills Cemetery, and the Neponset River. Then the ride swings up along the coast and back to City Hall.

It was a blast! We took the 30-mile loop (the longest route was 40) and managed to avoid crashing into any of the thousand other riders who were out there. Support was great: cops at every intersection, snack stops, and arrows indicating the route. (This was a real pleasure here in the town with virtually no street signs.) There was a blue heron near Longwood, standing in a stream and staring at all of the people crazy enough to go cycling at the crack of dawn in iffy weather; lots of patient motorists waiting for us to pass by (and of course a few impatient ones); the completely impressive JFK Library, which I had never seen before, much less cycled by; a Navy ship in drydock; and incredible views of Boston and the harbor from several angles. Sorry I don’t have pics, though, because it was a little too wet to risk the camera.

The only question mark was, as I mentioned, the iffy weather. It showered on and off on us a few times, and it wasn’t anything close to warm, but at least the real rain held off until after. (And then it freaking poured.) But next year, I gotta try for the full 40 miles. Hm, this is turning into a cycling blog, isn’t it?