Minuteman @ Flickr

The new Minuteman @ Flickr link under Trail Information gets you photos tagged with "Minuteman" and "Bikeway" at Flickr, sorted by date. Just in case my Picasaweb album hasn't got enough trail photos for you.

Today: 14 miles. This year: 848.3 miles.

Beautiful Morning

Hurd Field, Arlington

Today: 13 miles. This year: 834.3 miles.

Robo-Mower Returns

Yury wanted a picture of Bedford's robot mower, mentioned here back in May. I saw it this morning on Wiggins Avenue, fifty yards off the trail, so now I can oblige.

Bedford's verge mower

Today: 13 miles. This year: 821.3 miles, just over half-way to Stillwater.

After the Downpours

I didn't see any major damage following yesterday's storms, just every kind of water-borne hazard. The only novelty was a temporary stream running westbound along one side of the trail in the wetlands area east of Hartwell Avenue.

Conditions were excellent above the ground today. It was cool for late July and dry compared to yesterday's torrential rains.

East of Hartwell Avenue

Today: 10 miles. This year: 786.8 miles.

Trail Conditions and Markings

The first acorns have fallen near the wetlands east of Hartwell Avenue. They're small, few, and early.

The Bedford end of the trail was a mess yesterday, slightly less so today. It's the victim of some very zealous mowing that scattered clippings, leaves, fir needles, twigs, and branches all along the last mile of the trail.

A thoughtful trail user has marked many bumps, dips, and cracks with orange spray paint. The marks run at least as far east as Grove Street in Arlington and as far west as Wiggins Avenue near the Bedford line. Lexington Center was skipped -- there aren't any markings between Hayes Lane and Fletcher Avenue, for example, though that stretch could use quite a few.

Today: 16.5 miles. This year: 742.8 miles.

Trail Traffic Survey

A woman in a lawn chair was watching the trail from the Lexington Depot platform this morning. That seemed odd until I saw a man doing the same thing near Wiggins Avenue and realized it was a traffic count. The fellow near Wiggins told me this is part of a periodic state survey of trail use over several days. I should have asked where earlier survey results might be found.

Census taker (right) and coordinator at the Lexington Depot

Today: 16.5 miles. This year: 693.3 miles.

Summer Training

From the New York Times: "To Beat the Heat, Learn to Sweat It Out". The quick summary is that acclimation helps, you're going to sweat like a cold beer bottle, you need to rehydrate, and you will be slower. This morning's cooler temperatures and drier air reminded me of this week-old article. It wasn't really cool or dry today, but after being roasted these last few days it felt wonderful.

Today: 13 miles. This year: 635.8 miles.

Lengthy Message

That message took about a quarter mile inbound, ending just short of Bedford Street.

Today: 13 miles. This year: 596.8 miles.

Widespread Cleanup

All the bikeway towns are working to keep up with the damage and debris from these daily thunderstorms. Tuesday I saw Lexington town workers shoveling off the worst of the sand. Wednesday a motorcycle patrolman was surveying storm damage near the Bedford end. Thursday Arlington workers were clearing debris with leaf blowers and Lexington had their tractor-mounted blower running.

Broken tree in Bedford.

The tree trunk broke twenty feet up.

Yesterday: 16.5 miles. This year: 583.8 miles.