In the mood for some hills

View 2011-09-03 18:04 in a larger map

Today was moving day for Elena. 7 hours of going up and down the stairs to her fifth floor apartment put me in the mood for some hills. That and the fact that we went to pick up her boyfriend, who lives on Parker Hill Road, and he mentioned that "you can get about half way up before you have to dismount and walk your bike." In all fairness to him, he has a clunky and probably very heavy mountain bike. Since I had already done this particular hill, and since by the time I was ready to go it was already getting pretty late, I decided I'd do a short but hilly ride.

First, I did Parker Hill Road three times, and in between I went up Lawn St. and Esty St., a short but rather nasty hill. Then I rode down Rt. 9 and went up High Street Hill. From there I rode across Rt. 9 on Cypress and wound my way up to Aspinwall Hill. As I wound my way down Winthrop Rd. toward Beacon St., I had to stop as a flock of wild turkeys was meandering across the road. Not something you see everyday, at least not in Brookline. I took a picture with my phone, but when I got home it was gone - not sure what I did wrong.

Finally, as I wound my way North through Brookline, I suddenly made a right turn from Corey Rd. onto Summit Ave, only to find myself staring at a nasty steep hill climbing up the back side of Corey Hill. Now, that was a test of my remaining strength, especially since my front derailleur is misbehaving and I can't get the chain to go down to the lowest ratios. That hill is a bitch, and the road is so pockmarked with potholes and patches as to be a real uncomfortable ride, even at the rather low speeds I was able to attain on the climb.

From there it was mostly downhill. I went north through Brookline into Brighton and Allston, up Harvard Ave. right on Cambridge St. and then hit the bike path along Storrow Drive and on home. All told the ride was shy of 14 miles, but I was more tired at the end of that ride than I had been in a while. Walking down the street to meet some friends for dinner I thought my quads might just cramp up.

Now it's time to go see if I can figure out how to adjust my front derailleur because on Monday morning I want to try the hill up to the Blue Hill Observatory...