a new route

With the new office location has come a new route to and from work. This one is asymmetrical, to avoid left turns onto or off of Middlesex Turnpike: I ride out along mostly the same roads as I used to, taking in the rolling ascent of Springs Road past the VA Hospital in Bedford that makes for such good interval training, and the distance is only slightly less than it used to be. Riding home, I follow the other side of Spring Brook (whose source is more or less in my office park) to the Shawsheen River at Page Road, and then climb 170 feet in just under a mile to the top of the hill and Grove Street near the Lexington line before descending to the Paint Mine, climbing another 60 feet or so into Lexington Center, and then following Mass Ave and Broadway home as I did before. It's a mile and a half shorter than my old ride home, has much less traffic (and fewer traffic lights), deliberately goes right over the top of a hill instead of going around, and generally makes for a great workout. Sprinting the whole way up Page Road is just at the edge of my ability, but when I manage it the ride home is over 20 mph door to door.