Bear Brook State Park and my muddy misfortunes

"He chose poorly"

- Guardian of The Holy Grail

After the long month of April, when air temperature never exceeded 70F (21C) and frequent rains soaked the soil like a sponge, the warmer weather has finally arrived. Unfortunately, plenty of sun and clear skies mean that now, in the middle of Covid-19 pandemic and after sitting at home for weeks, everyone wants to be outside. This presents a major problem - how to enjoy cycling, yet stay away from people?

Obviously, the solution is to ride somewhere where people don't go. That's easier said than done. Here, in Eastern Massachusetts, we simply don't have enough non-urbanized space and truly remote locations.

For this reason, last weekend I decided to travel just across the border, to New Hampshire, and visit places around Bear Brook State Park. I figured that this forested area is large enough that even if more people show up later in the day, I should be able to social-distance myself just fine.

It all started quite well. I drove up to Auburn, NH and left my car right next to the popular Rockingham Recreational Trail. At 7AM the trail was still empty and after a short ride, I left the trail to move north, along Tower Hill Pond. At the early hour I encounter only a few guys fly fishing and a couple of dog walkers. However, then my route took me by North Candia Rd into Bear Brook State Park and this is where things started getting dicey.

Routes through the parts are something like a cross between dirt roads and hiking trails and can get very muddy and rocky in places. I can't say I enjoyed "roads" consisting entirely of ankle-deep mud or those very steep trials looking more like someone just dumped a truckload of rocks there. I didn't enjoy them because you can't really ride your bike there. I had to do quite a bit of walking instead.

The situation has improved once I reached Podunk Rd - a fast, wide dirt road. Then, I continued along Lane Trail, which turned out to be a popular mountain bikers' destination, judging from tire tracks in the sand. Fortunately, the trail was still empty, even though it was already close to noon time. As such, I kept maintaining a proper social distance.

Soon enough, I left the park and arrived at Epsom and at that point I thought the rest of the route should be easier. But I was wrong. Once I reached North Pembroke Rd things went south really quickly. As it turned out all roads around Whittemore Town Forest are actually ATV trails - very frequently used ATV trails, to be clear. That makes them completely ruined for anyone not on an ATV. Look, I realize that ATVs are "fun", but from a perspective of a cyclist (or a mountain biker) they are scourge to anyone who doesn't share the same type of fun. Honestly, I don't like drowning in mud or wading across giant puddles just because someone thinks cutting deep tracks in soil with massive tires is the best way to kill some time.

I was really glad I finally reached safety of Route 3, even though it was a bit busy with the usual car traffic. At this point I was really tired of muddy trails and I was glad to be rolling on a regular road - Chester Turnpike. Unfortunately, the regularity of this road quickly became much less regular and became a very rough, muddy (again!) ATV trail. Even worse, a good chunk of it was completely flooded so I had no choice but to take shoes off and carry my bike over.

Chester Turnpike (no kidding!)

Once I was through this mess, I entered Tower Hill Pond area again, but since it was early afternoon and very sunny, the place was then packed with cars and people. No chance of maintaining any social distance in such conditions, so I evacuated myself ASAP and went back home.

 

Thanks for the advice!

In my search for new places to ride and places that are free of cars and people, I have a bad tendency to choose poorly. Too often I end up in the middle of a swamp. Too often I have to walk my bike. Eastern Massachusetts is not exactly famous for open dirt roads with no car traffic - somewhere where you could just ride and enjoy the view. My only option is to either embrace the paved road or venture out farther. Much farther.

Version 2.0

This new virus reality sucks. It's been 7 weeks of social distancing so far and it doesn't look like end of it is near. I'm trying to find some positives about this situation but there aren't many. Not being able to attend family parties every weekend is actually one of them.

Another one is cleaner air. When car traffic dropped dramatically, many cities reported a significant improvement in air quality.  People in India can see the Himalayas, while citizens of Los Angeles have the longest stretch of clean air since 1980.

 

Before and after - cleaner air in India due to reduction in car traffic (Source: CNN)

 

When I see pictures like this I think that people are the virus and Covid-19 is the cure. You can get roughly the same impression from this excellent short animated movie - What On Earth! 

 

Anyway, I realize it's increasingly challenging for many folks out there. Unemployment is through the roof. Economy has slowed down to a crawl. In my case though, my work keeps me very busy and one thing I regret is that I cannot simply do things I love as much as I would like.

 

Going on a bike ride is difficult. We are having a cool April, which means that every warm and sunny day results in hundreds of people going outside, walking, riding bikes, running, and playing. Everyone is waiting for warmer weather, but on top of that, people don't want to be stuck at home forever so they go out - all at once.

It's not easy to find safe places to ride. Ideally, I should just visit a deep, remote forest (not many of those here in Eastern Massachusetts), otherwise there's no guarantee I won't encounter a large group of "roadies" riding together (I guess they didn't hear the news), just like this morning.

After this virus is over, we need to restart into a newer, better reality. We need Version 2.0.

Cancelled and postponed

Day 23 of my quarantine.

 

Everything is cancelled or postponed but after the early panic period things seem to stabilize a bit. It's easier to find food in grocery stores and some toilet paper rolls. I could never understand why one of the first items to quickly disappear from stores were cooking oil, ketchup and toilet paper. Seriously, how many liters of oil do you think you need to keep at home to survive?

Apparently, with the weather getting warmer we can count on the situation to improve, since the virus doesn't live too long at elevated temperatures. Unfortunately, it would have to be well into the eighties (or over 30C) to have a meaningful effect, which means we may need to wait until June.

I guess that in order for things to get better, they will have get way worse first. Something tells me we are still about to reach the peak of this pandemic and judging by people's behavior, I don't think I'm wrong. Since all playgrounds and play fields are closed, on every warmer day there are masses of people going hiking in parks and forests. The tiny Whipple Hill Forest in Arlington must be packed on weekends, as evidenced by the number of cars parked all over the place.

Because I have to visit my workplace on some days, for limited time, I went back to taking the Minuteman Bikeway to work again, ... only to abandon it ASAP. It feels strange to write this, but now, with so little traffic on roads, it's actually safer to take a road without any proper cycling infrastructure, than to ride on the Minuteman Bikeway. All because the roads are empty, while the Bikeway is packed with people. Social distancing? Not so much.

I understand that in order to retain any level of sanity in the current situation one must go outside once a while. Even in the middle of pandemic I don't want to completely give up on cycling. Given the situation, the best thing I could do is to ride in more remote places, where I know I won't likely see anyone.

Stay safe. Stay healthy.

What happens at deer camp, stays at deer camp

What a weird time to be alive. I've been sitting at home for what feels like forever (actually just over a week), things have been pretty quiet outside, no school, low traffic, people trying to avoid each other and, of course, ... shortages of toilet paper.

Anyway, the last weekend I had a long-planned trip to Vermont and at first I questioned whether I should still go. I would be spending 2 full days in a group of 10 people after all - and that's maybe not the best idea in times of social distancing. But then, I thought that since most of these people would be from rural Vermont and I likely have a higher chance of catching any illness by just going to my local grocery store, I decided it should be safe to go.

The "2020 Eira Experience" organized by Analog Cycles, was originally planned as a fatbike ride through the snowy Green Mountains of Vermont. However, since this winter has been unusually warm, there was no snow left, not counting a few frozen patches deep in the forest. We did face plenty of very mushy mud though and some flooded trails.

Since I don't own a fatbike, I decided to rent one and generally, it worked great. We rolled through some soggy snowmobile trails and often (ok, way too often), we pushed bikes uphill. Basically, it was lots of pushing and crawling.

Finally, we reached our camp for the night - a hunting camp in "secret location". It was cozy and warm, with a large wood-burning stove in the middle.

We ate tacos, shared stories, drank bourbon laced with maple syrup and sat by the fire. (Plus some of us decided to consume mezcal grubs for a midnight snack.)

The next day morning was noticeably colder, with only 23F (-5C) outside. We had breakfast, slowly packed up and head back to the shop. It was a great way to break up this winter, even though it unfortunately had to happen in the middle of virus outbreak.

Let the warmer days arrive.

How to deal with the size problem?

Looking at the recent news, it's becoming very clear that our cities are having a serious size problem, that is, cars became too large, to the point when they present a serious danger to anyone on the outside of a car.
 

Just look around you the next time you're out on a street. It feels like at least a third of all cars are "Stadtpanzer", as Germans call them - "city tanks". Their drivers may feel safer, even though this large size doesn't necessarily translate into excellent crash test ratings. However, these massive SUVs are 28% more likely to kill other drivers in a crash (which is still an improvement as it used to be 132% more!).

For pedestrians, these numbers are a lot higher - if you're hit by a small, lightweight sedan, chances are you end up with broken legs and you would be thrown on top of the hood. But if you're hit by a large SUV, your torso gets crushed and you typically end up under the car. One doesn't need to be an expert to picture what is worse.
 

Then, there are trucks - something Americans just love to death. The death of anyone who happens to end up in front of the hood, of course. American trucks may be dependable workhorses, but unfortunately they were not designed for city use.

The 2020 Chevy Silverado HD (seen advertised during this NFL football game) seems specially-designed to make people in front of this wall of truck invisible. pic.twitter.com/FibNLs2cUF

— big trucktural change (@bikepedantic) January 12, 2020

The biggest problem with American trucks are their ridiculously high hoods - often as high above the ground as a roof of regular sedan. This may work fine on an open highway, but is extremely dangerous in crowded cities. The blind zone ahead is simply enormous. In a recent experiment, KidsAndCars.org showed how large this blind zone can be by placing sitting children in front of a typical, large family SUV.

It took 9 kids, sitting in a row, to finally notice the top of the head of the last one of them, from behind the steering wheel. This really gives you a good idea how badly our modern SUVs are designed. And pick-up trucks are even worse.

No wonder more and more cities are planning on banning large SUVs. I read earlier about Berlin limiting access of "Stadtpanzer" into the city center. Then European Transport Safety Council has urged all cities to do the same.

But that's in Europe. Here in America we are still in love affair with cars - the larger the better. And nothing seems like this romance is going to end. Just yesterday, GMC decided to revive the most obnoxious, anti-city tank ever introduced - the Hummer, as a 1000hp electric vehicle. Coming soon to your neighborhood street.

 

When it comes to cars, we are still taking a completely ass-backwards approach.

Happy (Christmas) Holidays (unless you're stuck in traffic)!

It's this season again when if you really have to go to the mall, better go there by bike. Otherwise, you are at risk of being stuck in heavy car traffic for a half an hour just to enter the parking lot, only to wait another hour to find a parking spot.

Anyway, as I mentioned before, I think the best time to try to ride your bike in the city in exactly now - between Christmas and New Year's Day. Last night I was on my way to a liquor store to pick up some wine for the Christmas dinner when some dude in a pimpmobile yelled at me for slowing him down by roughly 3, maybe 4, seconds. I think he yelled "Move!", although I could swear that from the outside of his car it sounded a lot more like "I have a small d**k!".

Everyone seems rushing these days, especially right before Christmas, but drivers are always impatient. It's almost like once we sit behind the steering wheel, we stop to notice anyone else on the road. If you're on a bicycle - you lost. If you're a pedestrian - forget it. You may as well stay home, since crossing American streets is a sport for only the very patient and determined ones.

My mom, my sister, and her 4-month-old trying to cross a street in Chattanooga, TN.

Unsignalized crosswalks are a decades-long gaslight perpetrated by traffic engineers on America's pedestrians. pic.twitter.com/JKZQ4odWiX

— The Pumpkin Spice Must Flow (@WarrenJWells) December 18, 2019

Neighbors near Arkansas Ave. and Varnum Street have been asking to make the intersection safer and tonight I saw why. pic.twitter.com/K5SRvF8aB1

— Janeese Lewis George (@Janeese4DC) December 13, 2019

You may think, in the future we won't have this problem - autonomous cars will automatically stop for pedestrians at the crosswalks, but I wouldn't be so sure. Apparently, car companies now basically program their AVs to kill you. That is - to kill you if you're a pedestrian. They don't want to harm their clients - the drivers. Something tells me that if you take a self-driving car to your destination, dying in a crash due to software error should be a calculated risk you should be signing for. It was your choice to "drive" after all.

But that won't happen anytime soon. We will have to wait longer for all new cars to come with a massive door sticker "Driving kills". Which is why my idea for automated red light pop-up bollards at every intersection and crosswalk should be implemented ASAP.

Meanwhile, we could just start with banning cars on at least the most walkable streets in the city. After living in the Boston area for the last 15+ years, I still don't understand why neither Newbury St, nor Hanover St (to give just two examples) are not permanently closed for cars (any thru-traffic).

Or we could take the highways out of our cities...

But we won't, because as Michelle Wu said - barriers are almost entirely political:

My takeaways from today’s @GlobeSpotlight #SeeingRed:

🛑 We’re not imagining it. Traffic really is that bad

🚍 Our transpo system is in crisis but we know how to fix it! Even small shifts have a big impact

🕴The barriers are almost entirely POLITICALhttps://t.co/PRqhzazDwg

— Michelle Wu 吳弭 (@wutrain) November 20, 2019

It's true. We're not trying to push boundaries in some antimatter research here - we know what to do: solutions exist and good examples are plentiful. But until the leadership changes, we will stay stuck in traffic, wait for the bus that never comes and be yelled by an impatient pimp with an undersized wiener.

Twelve Days of Christmas

The Christmas season is upon us, which means that here we go again - it's time to play the same old Christmas songs that we all know and honestly have enough of. Not only we have to listen to the same oldies wherever we go this time of year, but also those songs often feel outdated and don't represent the true Christmas spirit of modern times. Which is why I decided to update the lyrics of one holiday classic. Sing with me!

On the twelve days of Christmas my bike ride gave to me,

Twelve drivers speeding,

Eleven drivers texting,

Ten cars idling,

Nine trucks passing

Way to close to me!

Eight near misses,

Seven drivers vicious,

Six blocked bike lanes,

Five delayed trains,

Four that smelled like pee!

Three trucks coal-rolling,

Two that ran on red,

One person dead,

And our Mayor in a SUV!