Adventure!
I love Boston. I enjoy living right next to Boston.
I also apparently enjoy spontaneous bike trips. This morning, I was thinking about how to get in my long run today, which I really didn't want to do near the city, with stoplights and stuff, but then so if I wanted to run at a park, I would probably have to bike to said park, and I would have to take my ID, my keys, and my phone with me, but I couldn't take a backpack because I wouldn't want to run with that.
My thought process takes too long - tl;dr, I went into Boston today to find an REI to buy a Camelbak.
However! I was biking home from REI, attempting to generally go in the direction of Cambridge, when I look up and see this before me:
It's the Citgo sign! And you know what is right next to the Citgo sign?
Fenway! I'm not sure yet exactly what it is about Fenway, but any Red Sox fan, or actually any respectable baseball fan could tell you the magic of the ballpark. And I was just generally excited by the spontaneity of the fact I was biking by Fenway. Just casually, making my way through my new hometown, and that just so happens to include the best ballpark ever. I really want to go see a game - I've been to a game at Fenway once and it was the best.
So that was exciting - but it's not the end of my adventures today!
Pause/rewind: this morning I went to a church called Aletheia, which I also went to last week. I hadn't been planning on returning, but then I found out that the pastor who gave the sermon last week wasn't the regular guy; the pastor this morning was on par, though - I think he used to do comedy, and he was really funny, but he also has awesome ideas concerning faith and I wasn't being a cynic the entire time he was talking because the things he said were so good. Apparently the church is going to spend the next thirty weeks (thirty weeks?!) on the book of John, this morning beginning with 1:1-18. I think I'll keep coming back.
Back to the scheduled programming: more adventure!
After I finally got back from my church / Camelbak-finding trip, it had gotten late and I probably should have abandoned my park-finding idea and gone for a run down the Charles. But I hadn't bought the Camelbak for nothing - so I got some water in it, grabbed a Clif bar, and biked off on my Great Adventure.
When I left Simmons, it was about 4:30. I wanted to be back by 7:15, because that was sunset and I don't feel comfortable riding my light-less bike around in the dark. Also it started raining at about 8. I figured my ride to where I was going would take 30-40 minutes, so I would get there by 5:10, I could run for an hour, and then ride back.
I don't guesstimate bicycle-time very well. Have a look at my course:
The bike-ride took me about an hour. By the end I started to become discouraged; I hadn't actually looked up anything about the Middlesex Fells Reservation, I just saw it was there and started biking towards it. I had hoped there would be signs announcing it or something, but eventually I just found a semi-trail off the side of the road and hopped into the park.
I didn't have time to run, really - I didn't see anywhere to lock up my bike effectively, and was just in too much awe of the place I had found to bother. I'll have to make up the mileage later in the week, but honestly I think I'm okay with that. Look!
And then these two pictures: I took them because the terrain around the pond reminded me so much of the Appalachian Trail. I could be anywhere along the Appalachians and you couldn't know the difference. It reminded me so much of home, of the hikes in the George Washington National Forest (Priest and Three Ridges, Spy Rock, Crabtree Falls). Also I tested out my Camelbak running up to the top of the hill and felt like a cool trail runner.
I managed to make the bike-ride back in about an hour as well. It seemed to go quicker - maybe there was a little more downhill, and I knew where I was going. The best is passing this sign and knowing that I'm almost home. That this is becoming, home. Cheers.
I also apparently enjoy spontaneous bike trips. This morning, I was thinking about how to get in my long run today, which I really didn't want to do near the city, with stoplights and stuff, but then so if I wanted to run at a park, I would probably have to bike to said park, and I would have to take my ID, my keys, and my phone with me, but I couldn't take a backpack because I wouldn't want to run with that.
My thought process takes too long - tl;dr, I went into Boston today to find an REI to buy a Camelbak.
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| Proof. Makes me feel like running an ultra just by putting it on. |
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| The Coca-Cola sign / Gate E |
Pause/rewind: this morning I went to a church called Aletheia, which I also went to last week. I hadn't been planning on returning, but then I found out that the pastor who gave the sermon last week wasn't the regular guy; the pastor this morning was on par, though - I think he used to do comedy, and he was really funny, but he also has awesome ideas concerning faith and I wasn't being a cynic the entire time he was talking because the things he said were so good. Apparently the church is going to spend the next thirty weeks (thirty weeks?!) on the book of John, this morning beginning with 1:1-18. I think I'll keep coming back.
Back to the scheduled programming: more adventure!
After I finally got back from my church / Camelbak-finding trip, it had gotten late and I probably should have abandoned my park-finding idea and gone for a run down the Charles. But I hadn't bought the Camelbak for nothing - so I got some water in it, grabbed a Clif bar, and biked off on my Great Adventure.
When I left Simmons, it was about 4:30. I wanted to be back by 7:15, because that was sunset and I don't feel comfortable riding my light-less bike around in the dark. Also it started raining at about 8. I figured my ride to where I was going would take 30-40 minutes, so I would get there by 5:10, I could run for an hour, and then ride back.
I don't guesstimate bicycle-time very well. Have a look at my course:
I didn't have time to run, really - I didn't see anywhere to lock up my bike effectively, and was just in too much awe of the place I had found to bother. I'll have to make up the mileage later in the week, but honestly I think I'm okay with that. Look!
This is Wrights Pond, Google Maps tells me. [Edit 6 Sept 14: With extra research I now believe this is Spot Pond Reservoir.] It was gorgeous - I saw some people out in the distance kayaking and canoeing, and I really just wanted to go swimming but I saw a sign advising against it and also a park ranger, and I kind of wanted to get home tonight.
Proof that I was in the beautiful place and didn't steal these pictures from a nature website. Geez, it was gorgeous. Excuse the "I-just-rode-a-bike-for-an-hour" face and hair. The goofy grin on my face is because I was so in awe of the pond. I mean, really it's just a pond, but I think it was more that I had always taken being around forest, water, creation - I'd always taken it for granted. I'd spent all summer living at a summer camp in rural Hanover County where we focused on outdoor living skills. I missed it so much!
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| Okay, I said I didn't swim - I didn't, but I might have waded in and taken this picture. It was so nice. |
I managed to make the bike-ride back in about an hour as well. It seemed to go quicker - maybe there was a little more downhill, and I knew where I was going. The best is passing this sign and knowing that I'm almost home. That this is becoming, home. Cheers.
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