Tag Archives: Hough’s Neck

MUSICAL CYCLIST

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CHECK OUT THE LATEST MUSICAL CYCLIST VIDEO:

If you live in or around the South Shore and happen to hear an array of tunes at a moderate volume traveling by your home at about 8 to 25 miles an hour (depending on the incline), don’t jump to conclusions and prematurely scold your teenager who has a habit of blaring music as he peels out of the driveway. If you live in Merrymount, Hough’s Neck, Germantown, or Adam’s Shore and hear what seems to be an early morning alarm clock playing music in a distant room, go back to sleep because it is not your alarm (or your neighbor’s). It is me, the mysterious musical cyclist, the girl who speeds around like I am still a bike messenger. Now, however, I have added features that I did not have when I was earning my money pedaling the streets of Manhattan…I HAVE SPOTIFY AND A JBL WIRELESS SPEAKER!They work like magic (aka: bluetooth via my phone, which I still don’t really understand). The phone and speaker fit so perfectly into the back pockets of my cycling shirts, as if the pockets were put there for this very purpose. I can listen to whatever artist I want, depending on my mood. In other words, on any given day, you could see or hear me pedaling at a leisurely pace to Billy Joel’s “Piano Man,” beebopping gleefully to Stevie Wonder’s “Superstition,” smashing my pedals in rhythm to a Nickelback, Guns n Roses, or Lynyrd Skynyrd song, and almost universally ending my ride with Eminem kicking me in the tail with “Till I Collapse” or “Lose Yourself.” I cannot imagine a world without music and movement, and I am incredibly blessed that I have the ability to feel and utilize both. So I apologize in advance if you are enjoying your morning meditation and having a zen moment, which then gets interrupted by the Musical Cyclist pedaling by to Pink’s “Sober.” If so, just smile and wave. If I am traveling at a speed of 35 miles per hour or above, don’t wave because I might get distracted and crash.

Biking to Beyonce video

If your would like to donate to Liz’s Bike to Build at NBSS Fund, click here.

 

 

 

WARPED PRIORITIES PERHAPS, BUT TRAINING HAS BEGUN…

My overhauled bike overlooking Quincy Bay

Old yellow checking out the Boston skyline

To make a contribution to Liz’s Bike to Build at NBSS fund, click here.

So old yeller (OY) is back, fresh off the repair stand at Bicycle Link, and it is riding fine. One flat tire fixed, two new Bontrager tires, adjusted hand brakes, wheels trued, and the derail, hub and bottom bracket adjusted. Old yeller’ is feeling like a new woman.  I find it a little ironic that the moment my tire went flat and my gears started to skip a bit, I rushed OY into the bike infirmary and got her nursed back to health. My 2007 Hyundai Santa Fe is a different story, as I am probably a couple thousand miles overdue for an oil change, the tire pressure light has been trying to get my attention for a good 9 months now and goes away every 7 to 10 days when I visit the familiar and friendly attendants at Shell and they kindly add air to it AGAIN…and then a friend nicely pointed out yesterday that my car interior looks like a recycling center with all the diet pepsi cans and water bottles. Does this mean my priorities are a little out of whack? OY says not.

So my training started officially today and unofficially yesterday. I dragged my overstuffed body (from a fabulous lunch at Granite Links) and forced myself to put on my cycling gear aimed for winter riding…typical for Massachusetts in late April. The cloud cover was thick, the rain spitting more than I would have liked, and temperature cool…so fortunately the wind was nearly nonexistent. I did my usual short route down along the water through Quincy Center, Merrymount, Adam’s Shore, and Hough’s Neck…only about 10 miles door to door….it was enough to make me feel pumped because the training had begun, but not enough to wipe me out.

Unfortunately, the ease with which I rode yesterday is not so much a result of my tip top, tight cycling physique, but more a result of the knowledge that I am now a blogger on wheels. Knowing now that I am maintaining a blog to track my riding, fundraising, and lots of other quirky unessential aspects of my life has changed the way I ride. When jumping on my bike yesterday, instead of just loading up the essentials (gear to change a tire and liquid to hydrate), I found myself packing my camera and planning where I could stop and take pictures. Stop? I don’t normally stop on a bike ride, unless it is 30 miles or more. Take pictures? A real cyclist who earned her stripes as a New York City bike messenger doesn’t take pictures along the route. I have some internal tapes to change, as you can see…and I will be focusing more on enjoying the journey rather than riding as hard and fast as I can.  So my normal 40 minute ride  stretched to about 60 minutes the last couple of days, but I smelled more of the flowers, heard the music of a variety of bird species, and I snapped a few shots for people to see.

Enjoy the journey!

Don't do this at home...taking selfies while riding a bike :)

Low tide and empty chairs

 

Where I belong

Boston landmark

The ROCK

Hill is coming soon

Hingham through the spokes

Washed ashore by the cold

Not so skilled with selfies

To make a contribution to Liz’s Bike to Build at NBSS Fund,        click here.