Foggy

By Hurd Field, Arlington

Backfill

I took a few pictures while I was busy not posting last year.

There's a modern concrete tie at the top of the ramp behind Sunrise Assisted Living in Arlington Heights. I can only imagine it was set aside during track maintenance and left behind when the rails were removed.

There's a cluster of B&M signs and equipment at Mystic Street in Arlington Center.

A young girl walked by with her father as I was photographing these stops on a siding near Water Street. She told me there used to be a railroad here. She stage-whispered to her father as they walked away, "He didn't know that."

The Mill Brook runs in a culvert under Arlington High School's playing fields and emerges just below Mill Street.

I met Big Bird walking on the Somerville Community Path a couple of blocks from Davis Square.

The picturesque atmosphere wasn't fog, but dust stirred by maintenance at Hurd Field.

Atop the stairs behind Trader Joe's in Arlington Heights.

Betty Boop was one of four classic cartoon characters posted along the trail west of Lexington Center last summer.

Not skating or running leaves time to look at smaller details along the way.

Clear and cold

The trail is beautifully clear, at least through Arlington Heights, and the ramps are not.

Out with the old

All the links on the right here are tested and working. I can't find Clear The Trail anywhere and I don't know what's happened to winter trail-clearing in Arlington. Friends of Lexington Bikeways look active on their main site, so I'm linking to that instead of their four-years-stale blog. I updated the links for Walking in Arlington and the Skate FAQ. The latter has some timeless content about learning, technique, and skills, which is fortunate because their front page describes the 2006 Disney Skate Expo/Marathon as "coming up". Dilatory as I've been lately, I'm timelier than that.

Pretty Pictures

It was just insanely nice this morning. So no skating, no running, only strolling and taking pictures.

No Hurd Field Parking Monday June 10th

From the Town of Arlington Notices:

On Monday June 10th the parking lot at Hurd Field will be closed to allow the Town to perform required bi-annual maintenance of the lot. Work will be performed between the hours of 7:00 a.m. and 12:00 noon. To ensure that the lot is free of vehicles the lot will be closed at dusk on Sunday June 9th and will be re-opened as soon as the maintenance is completed.

Today: 2.4 miles (running). This year: 177.5 miles (skating, running, walking).

Flex Brake on Kickstarter

A friend pointed out the Flex Brake project on Kickstarter, pointed out to him by an Inline Club of Boston announcement. The product is an add-on braking system usable on most four- or five-wheel inline skates. It can be installed on one skate or both and is activated by pulling on a strap. If you're comfortable crouching over your skates, the minimal version's strap passes over your laces. For the less flexible skater, there's a leash you can clip near your waist and pull while standing.

Do I want this? I'm not sure. I'm usually skating on a good surface where the standard heel brake works well. Crouching to pull the brake strap might be awkward and the leash might look dorky. On the other hand, better brakes could give me more confidence in the occasional tricky situation.

Watch the videos, read the blurb, and make your own decision.