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Bostréal

We rode bikes from Boston to Montréal over five days to raise $ for the Boston Cyclists Union

Protip: read the alt-text on all the images

Consolidated ride report: https://tanagra.space/blog/2025/06/Bostreal%202025.html

Day 1, Saturday: Boston, MA to Otter River State Forest, MA

Weather: chilly, mostly cloudy
Of note: some nervous energy, minor body malfunctions, but jovial start

Day 2, Sunday: Otter River State Forest, MA to Townshend State Park Campground, Townshend, VT

Weather: chilly, mostly cloudy
Of note: off road (trails) option was well worth it

Day 3, Monday, Memorial Day: Townshend, VT to Lake Dunmore, Branbury State Park, Salisbury, VT

Weather: warm, partly cloudy, a couple of rain events
Of note: climb all the hills

Day 4, Tuesday: Lake Dunmore, Branbury State Park, Salisbury, VT to North Beach Park, Burlington, VT

Weather: warm, sunny
Of note: sunburn on calves, surprise at arrival

Day 5, Wednesday: North Beach Park, Burlington, VT to Montréal hostel/hotel

Weather: very warm, very sunny
Of note: super-flat most of the way, bike ferry, no shade at the border, difficult-to-spot entrance to rail trail in Quebec, shadflies along St Lawrence seaway

#Bostréal

Day 1. A gathering of cyclists at a park in Concord, MA. There are red and grey bricks that perimeter a grassy and tree-inhabited park, and there is a stone-encased drinking water fountain. There are about 20 cyclists, most wearing a red-and-white jersey that says Bostréal 2025 on it, and they are socializing and getting snacks out of a white van that is parked adjacent to the park.

Day 1. A cyclist wearing a yellow and grey jacket, black pants, and riding a yellow bike with purple rims is riding on a rural road that a single yellow line down the middle for a little distance before a town line when the yellow line ends. In the distance are two other cyclists. This is at the edge of Concord, MA and Carlisle, MA on Strawberry Hill Rd.

Day 1. An outdoor campsite in Otter River State Forest that has been set up as a group dinner location. There are over 20 people sitting and standing around the food tables, campfire, camp grill, and in areas to socialize and chat. The food table has an assortment of prepared, uncooked food and aluminum foil which acted as both cooking vessel for the grill and bowl/plate.

Day 2. A cyclist wearing a black HUP kit jersey, yellow and grey jacket, black pants, and riding a yellow bike with purple rims is riding on a rural road and waving to a cyclist wearing high-visibility jacket and light blue bike going in the opposite direction. There are forest trees to the left of the road and the Ashuelot River to the right.

Central Mass Rail Trail, walls of rock

#NewEngland #CentralRailTrail #cycling

A cyclist is riding on a packed-dirt rail trail path that has signs of erosion and muddification. There are rock walls on either side of the path, and the rocks are wet and covered in green moss, grasses, and ferns. There are trees above the rocks and the image looks like the rectangle is segmented into four triangles, the bottom triangle is the path and rider, the left and right triangles are rock walls, and the top triangle is a canopy of trees.

_Internet void strongly approves_

Pink lady slipper orchid

#NewEnglandForest #wildflower

A picture of a pink lady slipper orchid with the flower on the left half of the image and its leaves on the right half of the image. Low-angle sunlight is illuminating the flower and casting a shadow of it on to one of its wide, floppy leaves that has length-wise creases on it creating shadows of their own. The flower itself is a darker pink with dark veins on the left-most edge where it is slightly opened up, and the right side is the back of the flower, when in its whole looks like it's drooping down and being held up by the stem which takes a U-turn like a hook, as if holding a slipper by its inner heel. The stem itself reaches left-wards across the ground from the leaves for about an inch before sharply turning vertical.

A couple sharing a moment in front of the steaming Grand Prismatic Spring in Yellowstone

#yellowstone #NationalPark #moment

Two people are sitting close to each other on a bench, they are silhouettes in front of sunlit steam coming from in front of them from the Grand Prismatic Spring in Yellowstone

The image looks black and white although it is in color, the sky is partly cloudy and melds with the rising steam which is brighter than the sky

We very nearly started Spring, but then...

#NewEngland #winter #snow #forest #path

Fresh snow an inch deep covers trees that still haven't formed leaves for the year, as well as low level brush and a walking path that cuts through the brush.

A path through some dense, thin trees that are all covered in snow. There is a canopy formed by trees bowing overhead.

A hemlock grove that has partially protected the ground from having a full blanket of snow on it. The visible ground is earthen and covered with dead leaves, needle leaves, and stones covered in rich, green moss.

A larger tree has provided some protection for the ground with a blanket of snow covering areas outside of the tree's canopy. White snow covers 75% of everything in frame, and the section of ground that is protected by the nearby tree is brown leaves and rocks with green moss.

Biking 37 miles, mostly unpaved or gravel, with 3k feet of climbing - yep, that's how we spent our Friday training for our Boston->Montreal trek in May

Ride report:
https://tanagra.space/blog/2025/03/Bostreal%20training%20Climbing%20and%20Climbing.html

Help me raise funds for the Boston Cyclist Union: https://secure.qgiv.com/event/bostreal2025/account/1958669/

Two cyclists resting and snacking with a hill top farm view around them. It's early spring in New England so there isn't much growing, barely any green showing, and the trees are still bare.

A picture of me after the bike ride, holding a can of Grillos Pickles V8 Dill Pickle Bloody Mary mix which I drank to "replace my electrolytes". There's some trees and brown leaves on the ground behind me because we're in the woods.

New game: scroll ~half way through your photo library and pick an image to share

This is from a cyclocross bike race: "Monstah Cross" at Adams Farm Preserve, Norwood, MA, USA, 2015-11-14

#NewEngland #CycloCross #BikeRace #SandTrap

Picture from a cyclocross bicycle race with a few dozen racers competing in one of the mens races. This section of the race is a sand trap using a "beach volleyball" court with a tight turn. Most racers are running with their bikes through the difficult terrain, one cyclist in mid frame is riding through it.

Brisk, windy ride that we cut short of the intended full length, but it was a joy to have ridden and been surrounded by nature

#NewEngland #biking #trails #gravel

A dirt trail in New England woods. It's early spring and most trees and flowers haven't started their growth. Evergreen trees on the right hand side provide some green color, the trees on the left side are all grey bark, and the path is first and brown, dead leaves.

Two cyclists pause on a path to take photos and selfies. The path is in New England woods just out of winter season, the colors are mostly browns and greys with the only green provided by evergreen trees. The cyclist on the left has a white helmet with stickers on it including one of a rocket ship and another that reads "you are beautiful"; there is also a safety-orange colored flag strapped to the helmet for visibility. The cyclist on the right has a dark grey helmet with a sticker for Hub Bicycle.

A path in New England woods with a downed tree crossing it, slightly suspended above the path by the height of the embankment on each side. The middle of the tree has the bark worn off where there appears to have been foot or other traffic crossing over it.

A picture of the gravely ground out of focus. In focus is a wide bicycle tire that has a small pinecone embedded in the tread.

[0] boosted:

Seen around Cambridge.

In which we rode our bikes to visit the mystical Ponyhenge

Lincoln, MA, USA

#NewEngland #Massachusetts #HobbyHorses #AsFoundInAtlasObscura

There are two concentric rings of hobby horses, different sizes and styles, including two with conical party hats on their head. The hobby horses are arranged at the side of the road next to a farm as an attraction called "Ponyhenge", located in Lincoln, Massachusetts. There are some cyclists who are visiting the site as it is on some common, local biking routes as a featured attraction.

Ice was formed on the walking trails from the snow compaction and a few cycles of warm+rain followed by quick freeze. I can't wait for that to melt away so it's safe to do a bit of running on the trails again.

Moss, lichen, mushrooms growing on fallen trees with the last of the snow waiting to melt

#NewEngland #forest #MorningSun

Moss, lichen, mushrooms growing on fallen trees with the last of the snow waiting to melt protected by the shade

Still winter

Been warmer for a couple of days, snow is very dense and "packy", covered by hemlock needles and sticks/branches from recent wind and storms

#NewEngland #forest #hemlock

A sunlit hemlock grove in a New England forest, a small blanket of snow still covering the ground and on top of the snow debris of hemlock needles and sticks or branches from recent storms

From when we visited a piece of the Berlin Wall, now located in Boston

#history #Boston #BerlinWall #TearDownThisWall #LearnToNotRepeat

Two bicycles are propped up in front of a piece of the Berlin Wall, now located in front of Hult International Business School in Boston, MA, USA. The piece of the wall is protected by glass barriers, and the graffiti on the wall depicts a person with a blue hat, with partial texts reading "Quick (2 min", "ME", and "FILA".

It is summer and there are green grasses, bushes, and trees also in the frame.

A sign with blue background and white lettering describes the wall piece: "On November 9, 1989 the citizens of both East and West Berlin joined together to destroy the cement barrier that had separated them since 1961. This small section of the Wall was once located near Bernauer Strasse, a street famously bisected by the border. The side emblazoned with graffiti faced West Berlin and the bare side, East Berlin. EF Education First dedicates this important piece of history to those throughout the world who share our commitment to opening the world through education. September 25, 2000 EF"

I'm sorry you were treated that way

Blanket

#NewEngland #winter #snow

A snowy scene of a path leading into woods, medium-sized trees with no leaves buffeting both sides. Snow about 3-5" deep blankets the trees and branches, obscuring them.

Leaf pocket with ice

#NewEngland #forest #winter

A mostly-beige, dead leaf still held to its branch has curled around the length of itself and is holding in its "pocket" some snowy-ice.

Sun and ice covered branches

#NewEngland #ice #storm #sunlight

$The sun, obscured somewhat by high and thin clouds, is refracted through the ice of tree branches that criss-cross most of the frame.$

Ice covered branches

#NewEngland #ice #storm

$The end of some tree branches are filling half the image coming from the left. Light-blue sky fills the rest of the image. The tree branches are all covered in ice, about a centimeter thick, and sunlight is reflecting and refracting through the ice. There are also little icicles formed off the branches.$

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