Lost in Lincoln & Lexington

Woke up to rain---but by the late afternoon the sun came out, the roads dried up, and I high-tailed it out of the Seven Factory an hour after my husband did. Initially I had planned to try out my new kickers (Mike bought me new running shoes with his prize money from his race last weekend!)---but it was such a nice evening, and I knew Mike would be gone until the sun went down---so instead I suited up and headed West on my bike to enjoy some hours in the saddle.

Usually I am a morning ride kind of gal---but Mike keeps telling me that the traffic dies down in the evenings and I should try it sometime. He was right---and after I was out of Belmont, the roads quieted down a bit and I enjoyed the warm evening. Once I got to Concord square, I felt a little adventurous and decided to try a new route looping back home. I keep thinking I know my way around. But I really don't.

In any case, I managed to pass Emily Dickenson's house, Hawthorne's house and Waldo Emerson's house---all preserved in fine New England fashion. What a find, huh? But then there were all these "forks in the road"---which way to go? You'd think that simply heading East would do the trick. Sigh.

Suddenly I was in the Minute Men National Park. Wow is it green and beautiful! But I was getting hungry and it was nearing sundown. Now what? These racer guys passed by and I asked them if I was going towards Lexington. "Yup" they said, as they raced by. But even if I was headed the right way, nothing was looking familiar. Hmmm. These old guys on bikes past me and I said, "Do I look like I'm heading to Belmont?" That got their attention at least, they knew I was lost. One of them asked where in Belmont I was headed. I told him I didn't really know where in Belmont...but Belmont is next to Watertown and that's "really" where I wanted to go. So he rode with me and got me close (within 8 miles from home) to where I needed to be.

At the bottom of a slight incline he said to just go to the top of the hill and make a left when I crossed over Route 2. I was hungry and so I hoped it wasn't a big hill..Turns out what I think of as a hill and what folks out here think is a hill is different. It was just a little bump in the road...no biggie and suddenly things looked familiar again. I arrived home just before sun faded into the West.

The beauty of it all is I now have this beautiful new loop to ride through poetry, history and historic places. Now Mike and I just need to hire someone to cook for us so that we can both ride until dark every night. Yeah right. Luckily there is a really good and cheap pizza place right around the corner---East coast pizza is about as good as it gets. And getting lost in Lincoln and Lexington Massachusetts is a pretty nice way to end a Thursday summer's eve!

HAPPY FRIDAY AND HAPPY FATHER'S DAY THIS SUNDAY!