Got this in the email today

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First Day of Spring Neponset River Ride
Date: Saturday, March 20, 2010
Time: 10:00 am
Start: Castle Island concession stand in South Boston
Distance: 20-25 miles
Terrain: Flat and scenic
Leader: Doug Mink, dmink@masspaths.net
Web site: http://www.masspaths.net

We’ll ride along Boston Harbor and up the Neponset River to the
southern edge of Boston and back to the start. The new bike
path upstream from Mattapan Square is almost done! This ride
is cosponsored by MassBike’s Metro Boston Chapter and the
Boston Natural Areas Network. Helmets are required, and it
is a bit long for kids unless they’re in a trailer or on a
trail-a-bike or tandem with an adult. There will be a map
and cue sheet on the web site soon, hopefully tonight.

Saturday, May 16th, 10:15am, Literary Cambridge
Cambridge Bike Committee’s Spring Ride, Literary Cambridge, will pass and stop at former abodes of literary notables, like cummings and Nabokov. Other highlights will include the Love Story house and Grolier’s Poetry Bookshop. Grub poet Ethan Gilsdorf will be doing some of the poetry readings along the way. For more information go to www.cambridgebikes.org/Spring2009/index.html.

Law school exams are sort of like that space between comfortably drunk and black out drunk. Okay, that’s kind of a big range, but you know that phase that starts when everything goes numb and the room spins a little. That phase when that booze-fueled fog that’s making bad decisions for you clears for a moment and you realize that that shot waiting for you at the bar is totally unnecessary, but you take it anyway.

The last time I did that, I went home in a cab around 7pm [yeah, we started early] and I was puking my guts out until 3am.

I thought I was going to die.

The next morning, I patched together pieces of the previous evening, only remembering hours later that I had literally crawled from the elevator to my sister’s apartment that night. All those embarrassing moments, slowly filtering in, like your memory won’t let your ego die of shame by bringing it back all at once.

That’s kind of what exams are like. Really. It’s a numbing three hours where at the end, you’re not even sure what happened. And in a lot of ways, I don’t even want to know what happened. I have three more exams coming up; how well I did [or not] is a question gladly deferred until my ego can handle it.

So when I walked out of my tax exam around 1pm today into a warm, sunny afternoon, I couldn’t resist the longer ride home. A day this beautiful can’t go to waste, especially when I have the handy excuse of “well, I need to clear my head after that exam totally effed me in the a.” And so, I mercilessly exploited that excuse, riding through Watertown then heading through Cambridge, stopping to see flowers and trees with [green!] leaves on them and groups of friends or happy couples strolling lazily with coffee cups in their hands. And cruising past it all, I gulped in the fresh, spring air, trying to clear my lungs of the cobwebs and dust that’s forming in them.

I sucked in more air when I stopped by Cambridge, and stomped around in my Sidis, running inside and out. But that’s for tomorrow; for now, coffee [and maybe a little more law] calls.

Not enough sleep. Not enough motivation. My two persistent problems this week.

Last night I blocked off time slots for studying. 8am to noon on Saturday is for Con Law, Tax, and Evidence. 12.30 to 5pm for outlining, reviewing, etc., etc., etc. It felt organized and good; at least it looked good on Google calendar. The unorganized mess is actually executing said plan.

And said plan is already being derailed. I woke up this morning and couldn’t wait until 4.30pm – because when it’s this warm out, I’m definitely leaving the library early, taking the long way home, and stopping at a few bike shops along the way.

I even had a post planned – well, half planned – about how gorgeous it is outside today and the fact that my gigantor thighs are no longer wrapped in Underarmour. I was then going to go on and say boring and mundane things about spring and how everyone should go out there and ride their bikes. Yeah, notice how I said “half planned.” I am emphasizing the “half” here.

So with this weakly formulated post, I figured I’ll try to boost interesting-ness with good pictures. Something nature-y, so people see that Boston actually has seasons other than “bitterly cold winters.” Something that doesn’t consist of the shots of Comm Ave that I love to take. Somethi-

W. T. F.

I screeched to a halt, just managing to wrench a foot out of my clips as I fumbled for the camera conveniently nestled in my pocket. With one foot still clipped in, I hopped/dragged my bike closer, zooming in on the turkey that decided to show up in the bougie streets of Newton. Seriously? I mean, I know this happens, but it’s 8.30am and this is Comm Ave…! I almost reached out to tug the sleeve of an invisible friend and finding none, was left to sort of look around in amazement.

So, yes, I saw a wild turkey this morning. That means that, at the very least, it’s going to be a good day [but with bike shops involved, how could it not be?]. It also means that everyone racing Battenkill tomorrow is going to have an awesomely good time.

Good luck, guys – I’ll be there in spirit, eating a turkey drumstick!

Until about a week ago, my friends [other than my IBC crew, obviously] who got to see progress pictures of my bike would constantly ask me when it was going to be done. It was more out of politeness on my friends’ part though, as most of them don’t ride bikes; and it’s a too-easy topic of discussion that’ll make me blatantly happy. A friend put it bluntly:

“Your face just lights up when you talk about that bike. Like what normal girls do when they talk about shoes.”

I was sort of glad, though, that my lack of funds and thus, parts, was slowing down the whole process. It was still legitimately cold out when I bought the frame [in mid-February], and the days of alternating snow and icy rain kept me from wanting to jump on that bike ASAP.

Late nights in the library and a lack of lights for the Dolan are keeping me from riding it to school this week. But as I chased down a guy on a fixed gear this morning – white bike, spandex, some awesome kicks, and thighs that looked like tree trunks – I noticed something that made me smile.

Gasping for air as I attempted to keep pace with the fixed guy, I wasn’t tasting salt anymore. That’s become my barometer for full-on-New-England-okay-I’ve-had-enough-can-we-have-some-warmer-weather-now? winters. When my tires stop kicking up an invisible layer of salt dust grime, it’s officially spring. No more snow or ice. No more getting stuck behind those salt trucks just as they start scattering the stuff [which resulted in an inadvertent facial exfoliation via rock salt]. No more white flakes of dried saltwater peeling off my bike.

I understand it’s fairly disgusting to actually know that the aforementioned salt dust grime is going into my mouth. That’s not to say that getting a taste of cycling is always salty, though. Because bike shops will always feed you, and when it’s finally spring, Easter M&M cookies become not only muscle fuel, but also sweet promises of summer.

I’m already getting hungry [again].

[Thank you Bud and Mrs. Barry for the delicious cookies!!!]

I got this news today, looks like a fun ride. Neponset River Greenway Spring Ride: March 22nd 2008

This ride follows Truman Parkway north along the Neponset River, then cuts through Milton along the river to Dorchester Lower Mills, where we’ll cross the river and bike through Olmsted-designed Dorchester Park. We’ll follow John Adams’ commuting route, turning off it to go over Ashmont Hill to Boston Harbor. After stops at Victory Road Park and Phillips’ Candies, we’ll follow the Neponset Trail back to Milton and ride a bit of the Boston side of the river to Hyde Park, where we will cross back to Truman Parkway and return to the start.Click here for more details