The Middlesex Fells

I got in my first bike riding exercise today. I'm blessed to be living within walking distance of one of the world's finest urban parks, the Middlesex Fells. The Fells is over 2,000 acres of park land, with quite a bit of it located here in Medford. There's a wide variety of things to do in the park, including hiking and biking. The biking trails are varied and interesting, as you can go on any of the old fire roads that criss-cross the park.

The park is, unfortunately, bisected by Route 93, which makes getting across the whole park problematic, especially for me here on the eastern side of things. Luckily, there is one road that takes me underneath Rte. 93, so I don't have to risk life and limb trying to get around the Roosevelt Rotary that goes over 93.

So I like to take a ride during lunch. I have a Schwinn Sierra GS, which is a nice, easy to ride, hybrid. My wife and I each bought one for a wedding present to ourselves, and it has worked well. It is, however, probably time for me to get a new one, and when I bring it in for the annual tuneup, I might look around and see where I can go from here.

So I take a ride up the road and then turn off onto one of the many fire roads that link up to the pavement. I wasn't looking for a challenging ride today, this being my first time out. So I took the first one and headed off into the woods. I did try a short detour down a marked for bikes trail but it soon petered out, and I was left carrying my bike along a pretty narrow trail. Not sure what they were thinking! But I got out and made it back after a pretty good 30 minute workout.

One thing that is sadly lacking in the Fells is any legal swimming holes. There's a few ponds on the grounds, but none of them have swimming allowed, as they are all emergency water supplies. But luckily for Medford residents, there is Wright's Pond, which is a park area nestled in the Fells, with some pretty good swimming, and even lap markers laid out. So I'll often end my bike riding there, and swim a few laps, which makes for an excellent workout. But today, as I got started late, I decided to just come home and float in our new pool. As it is only 15 feet round and 42 inches deep, I'm not going to get much of a workout in it. But the water was cool and refreshing, so I'm not complaining!