Ed Bolton

Newton, NH
Professional Mechanical Engineer.
Photographer and Road Cyclist
Interested in most things.
Drop me a line

I am a road bicyclist.

I raced bikes with my college team in the late 70's. RPI was a strong intercollegiate team in those days, and we were one of the few college teams that also raced USCF races. I got some very good coaching.

I have been a member of the North Shore Cyclists (in Massachusetts) since it's founding, and was heavily involved for many of those years. I've been President, Vice President, Treasurer and Newsletter Editor/Producer at various times. At this moment, I consider myself 'retired' from bike club organizing.

For years, I commuted by bike between Essex and Salem in Massachusetts, and later between Merrimac and Groveland, also in Massachusetts. I used to do the Essex-Salem commute year round. I tend to avoid bad weather and night riding, now.

I've done some self supported, loaded touring. I've ridden my bike to Acadia National Park and back twice, once from Essex MA and once from my current home in Newton, NH. I've also done some memorable bike touring in Pennsylvania and the Finger Lakes region in New York.

I got the chance to ride some of the Virginia section of the Blue Ridge Parkway a few years ago, and it was awesome. I'd love to ride more of it.

I was off the bike from the day my son was born (in 1991) to 1998. In my one ride during that period, running an errand in 1992, I fell and broke my left shoulder blade, leaving that arm permanently weakened. After the 2006 road season, I contracted "frozen shoulder" on the right side (unknown origin), and was off the bike and in PT for the whole 2007 season. I now have no good shoulders, but have resumed riding again at the start of the 2008 season with minimal difficulty, other than being out of condition.

UPDATE August 2008
I've stopped riding, at least for the time being. I started off this year horribly out of condition, which makes it miserable trying to hang on to the athletic riders I prefer to ride with. My shoulder would throb after a length of time riding. Because of my awful state of fitness, I was getting dropped, riding home alone with a throbbing shoulder. The riding alone I could deal with. The throbbing shoulder was nothing new. Both together, it was more misery than I wanted on my discretionary time. I'd be daydreaming of things I'd rather be doing, or worse, things I should be doing, while riding home slowly with a throbbing shoulder. In an unexpected development, the more I rode the worse it got. I was getting dropped earlier and earlier in rides, an indication I was not improving as fast as everybody else was improving. Given that I was starting from a lower point in the curve, I should have been improving faster than everybody else. In times of poor fitness in the past, I've always improved dramatically with more riding, but not this time. So, I called it a year in late June. I might try riding next year, or maybe I'll sell my bikes, I really don't know at this point. Maybe I'll see you on the road, maybe not.