The weather today couldn't decide if it was a strong mist, a drizzle or really rain.
It was clear when I came to work, although it had rained overnight enough to wet the pavements.
Then I rode to a site meeting (I love doing jobs in the city!) and it was picking up, enough that I got some drips off my helmet brim, but my raincoat was plenty of protection and I was just as dry as if I'd walked.
By the time I headed home, it was a bit stronger still, but not enough to be the kind of down the back of the neck rain that drives you indoors.
So, I decided to take a detour into western Brighton to the Martignetti liquor store to try some wine that had been recommended to me. I rode out via Western ave from Central Square, which other than the tough bit over the bridge was actually perfectly fine. On the Cambridge side there's a bike lane, and beyond the bridge, it's a road in need of a diet, as there was not quite enough room for two lanes, but plenty of space for a "virtual" bike lane. Traffic was light, and I pedaled along, damp but happy. The problem was that this store is on Soldier's Field road which is essentially a freeway, with people going 50 mph and not expecting a cyclist. So I came around the back, became a pedestrian, took Gilbert "off road" down an embankment, and got into the parking lot from the back side.
On the way home I rode the freeway part on the narrow little excuse for a sidewalk (with posts in the middle of it every 20 feet) and then did a little more VC to get through a massive interchange and then back on Western Ave, home.
By this point I was damp around the edges (my tights, the hem of my skirt, my shoulders where my raincoat wasn't quite up to its task). Time to warm up with a nice glass of wine and radicchio-prosciutto polenta. Perfect for a cool damp fall evening.
You're pretty hardcore. I hate that area for biking. Did you notice how some of the intersections around there don't even have curb cuts and crosswalks? Pretty much a big fuck you to anyone on a wheelchair.
ReplyDeletethe Vietnamese have a wonderful phrase for the fine mist that roughly translates into "rain dust"--that is precisely what it felt like between the episodes of frank rain and "freckle rain".
ReplyDeleteAgree with Herzog--hardcore!
yeah, I hardly ever shop in that plaza*, but when I've had to, I've crossed the River at Arsenal instead of Western, then come in the back way from Market Street to North Beacon.
ReplyDelete* - most of our alcohol needs are covered by either Federal Wine & Spirits, near the office, or the local wine store that's a couple of blocks from our house. The only time that I've gone into that plaza is to hit up the Staples; and even then it's a toss up between that and Alewife as to which is more annoying to bike into.