Sunday 1/15/2017
Out n back to Worcester MA
(~95 miles)

After a six week hiatus from riding, it felt good to get back on two wheels today. Recent rains washed away all of the snow and most of the salt in SE/central MA, and it was a clear sunny day peaking in the mid-30s, downright balmy after the rapid temperature drop over the last couple days. My sisters invited me for coffee at BirchTree Bread Company in Worcester, giving me a perfect opportunity to stretch the ST’s legs and test out the new Shoei Neotec helmet I picked up last month.

Left the house with the sun just starting to warm things up from the low 20s. Heated gear and layers kept me pretty comfortable for the highway ride to Worcester. My new helmet performed very well:

• It’s SO much quieter than the Bell Vortex I’ve been sporting for the past few years. I almost always wear earplugs while riding and wasn’t really expecting to notice that much of a difference, but it was definitely a huge improvement.
• Pinlock! I mean holy cow…. no fogging whatsoever despite the sub-freezing air temperature, my warm breath and the warmed air from my Gerbing jacket liner pouring upward through my collar into the helmet.
• The pull-down sun visor is great. I had a Transitions-style photochromatic face shield on the Bell, but this visor seems a bit darker and made it very comfortable riding with the low winter sun beaming at me.

I didn’t need to play with the modular feature (flip-up chin bar) today on such a short outing, but I’m eager to see how convenient it will prove for longer trips and grabbing a quick bite or drink during fuel stops, etc. Not to mention ventilation on those steamy summer days that seem like another planet right now.

* * * * *

I’d never heard of BirchTree Bread Co, but apparently it’s quite the spot on Sunday mornings in Wormtown as it seemed the entire city’s population passed through it at some point while we were there. It’s a nice coffee/bakery spot carved out of one of the old industrial buildings at Kelley Square.

My sis, being a local, knew that we needed to arrive prior to opening to avoid the lines, so we ended up with a great table by the window (so I could keep an eye on the bike) and live piano player who played a few sets as we dined. 

The food there is a bit froofy (no standard diner fare here) but delicious, most dishes based on their homemade breads. I opted for the “breakfast sandwich” on a bacon-fat brioche roll…mmmm, bacon. Lots of art on the walls for sale from local artists. A place with a boxer painting can’t be all bad.

Kelley Square is pretty quiet on a Sunday morning.

 

While suiting back up for the ride home, spotted a couple nice murals from the parking lot. Worcester looks a lot nicer that it used to.

We’d spent a couple hours chatting over coffee and the sun had warmed the day up nicely since my chilly ride over. I headed east to pick up MA 140 for a mellow ride home on dry and mostly unsalted roads. Not a bad outing for mid-January.