Day 3: Manchester

Day 3: Manchester, NH
 
June 15, 2016

Miles: 47
 
Average Speed 9.6 mph

Concord to Manchester


We arose at 7am this morning and went upstairs to partake of the complimentary breakfast offered by the Best Western.  I had some scrambled eggs, home fries, a bowl of cheerios, a bowl of oatmeal, a hard boiled egg and I washed that down with a couple of glasses of apple juice and multiple cups of coffee.  Bike touring is a license to eat.  Di had oatmeal, cheerios and a hard boiled egg.  Obviously, she retains a sensible approach to eating, whether riding or not.  "Missed opportunity" is what I say.

Di at breakfast

We went back to the room and let our food digest before beginning our ride.  At least that's what we tell ourselves.  Really, we just like lounging around.

Di showing the correct lounging posture

We were on the road by 9:15am, which is stunningly early for us.  Its far better to get an early start to the bike touring day.  You never know if the day will bring a time consuming event such as a flat tire, or bad weather, or getting lost.  For this reason, its common for bike tourers to be on the road by 7am.  That kind of schedule takes preparation and discipline.  I lack both, which explains why we consider 9:15 an early start.

After riding for a little while we came to a great bike path, the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail.

Di at the start of the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail

You may wonder how I remember the names of the places we visit.  Well, I have a great memory.  Its called my camera.

How to remember the name of the bike path

We rode on the bike path and then took a break at  Heart Pond Beach.  Its hard to pass up stopping at a lake or pond.  For me, its hard to beat taking a break while looking at the water.

Taking a break at Heart Pond

And yes, I had to find the picture I took of the sign indicating it was Heart Pond.

My memory at work

  

 We rode through the town of Chelmsford and past a cemetery of people who died a long time ago.  Or lived a long time ago if you are an optimist.

Gravestones of people who lived and died a long time ago

1769! Interesting, if this is your kind of thing.

 If you bike, then you know that street names containing the word "hill" are warnings.  The warning is, "There is a hill coming your way."

At the top of the aptly name street

I started thinking of all the street names that give bikers pause.  Hillside, Overhill, Ridge Run, Old Mountain, etc.  I concluded that the worst is probably Mountain View, because not only are you going to climb some mountain, but you are going to get close enough to the top to have a good view.  And wouldn't you know it, just then we came upon that very named road!

Biker's street sign nightmare

Okay, we were in eastern Massachusettes and not Colorado, so it wasn't really that bad.  But still not as good as Flat Land Drive.

We rode alongside the Merrimac River - pretty

We rode through busy city roads - not pretty

We took a break at Rivier College in Nashua

At this point we had ridden over 30 miles and were looking for a place to grab lunch.  There weren't many places to stop because we were riding through farm country.

Farm country

Fortunately, we came upon Wilson Farms and saw they had a produce stand and barn.  They had freshly picked strawberries and they looked awesome.  We just had to buy those strawberries and they were awesome.  I also bought a quart of chocolate milk, which I needed to replenish lost eletrolytes.  Did I mention that bike touring is a license to eat? 

Forcing myself to drink chocolate milk to maintain my energy levels

Di enjoying the strawberries

Michelle, who works at Wilson Farms and coordinates the CSA, came over and introduced herself.  She asked about our trip and then gave us some information on the farm.  The farm has over 500 acres and also has a collaborations with other local farms, so their farmstand includes produce from other local farms as well as their own vegetables.  Michelle offered some sweet peas from Wilson Farms for us to try and Di and I loved them.   

Michelle from Wilson Farms

Michelle introduces us to the sweet pea!

 We could stuff ourselves no further, so we left Wilson Farms and rode on to Manchester.  We arrived at our hotel, La Quinta, a little before 4:30pm.  I told Di that after 3 days of riding I felt great and wasn't even tired.  Less than 5 minutes later I was sound asleep and had to be awakened by Di at 6pm.  Maybe I was a little tired.

Colleen, who has been friends with Di since their high school years and now lives near Manchester, came at 6:30 to pick us up for dinner.  Colleen brought us to Fratello's Italian Grille and we had a great meal, but the best part of the evening was talking with Colleen.  She is a very entertaining conversationalist and kept us laughing all evening.

Di seems happy to be riding with Colleen (and not biking)

Colleen and Di at Fratello's

Tomorrow is a rest day.  That means sleeping in and hanging at a coffee shop.  Can't wait.

Day 2: Concord

 

Day 2: Concord, MA

 June 14, 2016

Miles: 39
 
Mansfield to Concord

I woke early, but couldn't get up.  I heard voices - Ed, Mar, Ally and Steve.  I wanted to get up to join them, but I just rolled over and slept some more.  After about and hour or so, I heard noises that resembled food preparation. I woke again and got up. Morning breakfast was gluten free pancakes with fresh pear and cherries on the side.  So worth getting up for - yummy!

Healthy and Hearty

The forecast said bright sunny skies - about 80 degrees.  A perfect riding day, all but the heavy NW winds.  We wanted to get an early start; we left by 10:15a.  Ok, not so early.  We said goodbye to Dixon.

Dixon takes it easy

On our way out, we were met by gypsy moth caterpillars.  Lots of them.  Ed is doing his best to control them.  What you see below are deadpillars.

Ed said the black dots are caterpillar poop - thanks Ed!

More deadpillars that didn't survive.  They like to feast on the leaves of hardwood trees like maple, elm and especiallly oak.  Ed didn't like this and neither did Mar or Ally, so Ed took care of them.

More deadpillars

Finally we left, but not before collecting the $1 bill that Ed gave me last night.  He carefully selected it for me from Citizen's Bank where he works.  Said it was a winning card.  He was right. For those who know how to play liar's poker you will understand this.  A game the friends like to play.  No one more than Ed.  He is a great contender, but I am better. Sorry Ed, but you know it's true ;)

Five 0s

Beautiful and sunny!

Two bikes and Steve

Not too soon after, we stopped for an iced coffee.

We just couldn't resist

We stoppped by Walden Pond.  Apparently the same Walden Pond written about by Henry David Thoreau in his 1854 book - Life in the Woods.  I didn't know of Walden Pond or the book, but Steve did right away.

Steve dying to get in

Reflective Beauty

Steve enjoying the beach

We rode on a bike path for about 3 miles today.  Normally this would be a good thing, however it was the bumpiest bike path ever.  We couldn't wait to get off.  I am breaking in a new seat, or should I say it is breaking me in.

Ouch!

We made it into Concord about 4:30p.  We checked in to the Best Western, the only hotel with rooms available in the area.  We have realized that getting reservations in the Northeast cannot be last minute.  We had the same problem again tonight, however we did manage to reserve a room in Manchester for tomorrow night and the next night thereafter.  Unlike on last year's trip, this trip we will need to plan and book ahead of our arrival.

Luckily Paparazzi's was next door.   The same restaurant chain as the Paparazzi that was in Garden City.  Steve had veal parmigiana and I ordered one of my mom's favorite dishes - salmon over beets, yukon potatoes and arugula.  Now I know why my mom loves this dish!

Steve finished every bit

And so did I

So here is our trip in map form.  The big loop - 11 states and/or provinces, 2400 miles, 62 days.  Sixty more days to go!

RI, MA, NH, ME, NB, NS, PEI, QC, VT, NY, CN

Tomorrow we head to Manchester, NH about 45 miles north.  We will spend our first rest day in Manchester.   Lets hope for a tailwind tomorrow!

Thank you again Ed, Mar and Ally for putting up with us last night!

Day 1 Mansfield

Day 1: Mansfield, MA

June 13, 2016
Miles: 49
North Kingstown to Mansfield

We began our 2016 bike trip today!  We vowed that this year we would start each day's ride early so we could spend more time enjoying the places we would end up for the night.  We reasoned that if we started our ride by 8am, then we could be at our destination by 4pm and have some time for exploration.  Well, we started our ride this morning at 10am.  So much for good intentions. 

 My packing progress late last night (may explain today's late start)

Di and I got a few new things for this year's trip, but for me, the best things I got were a new jersey and cycling gloves from Andy and Jen.  These were an early Father's Day gift and are greatly appreciated, especially by Di, who won't have to see me in the same yellow jersey day after day.

 Old gloves compared to new (I guess it was time)

We are ready to start

It was extremely windy!  Wind can blow in so many different directions, so why did it choose to blow directly in our faces?  We had decided to ride a slow and steady pace of 10 miles per hour today to make sure our first day was easy.  But the wind made us work hard just to ride at 8 mph.  Stupid wind.  We took our first break at the Dave's in East Greenwich because I had to adjust my chain.  A stiff link kept causing the  chain to hop from one gear to another.

 

Roadside repair in front of Dave's

We took our next break at the 20 mile mark because we were getting tired and hungry from fighting the wind.

Di is eating turkey jerky. Yum!

 By this time we were on the bike path in Cranston.  Andy's workplace is located right next to the bike path, so we texted him to tell him we were rolling by.  It happened that he was enjoying lunch outside with Paige at that very moment, so they walked over to the bike path to intercept us.  It was great to see them!

Andy and Paige find us on the bike path

We stopped for lunch at 2pm at the Garden Grille.  We had ridden 27 miles by this point into a steady wind and were ready for a break.

Leaving the Garden Grille

I apologize for not providing pictures of our breakfast or our lunch.  Breakfast was a toasted gluten-free bagel with almond butter and cream cheese.  It did not make for an appealing picture.  Imagine a very large raisin cut into two halves with almond butter and cream cheese smeared on it.  That is what the gluten-free bagel looked like.  As for lunch pictures, I forgot to take any.


We were on the road again at 3pm and had 20 miles to go.  We rode into Pawtucket, then Attleboro, and maybe some other towns, and finally, arrived in Mansfield around 5pm.

The cemetery has lots of flags

We took a little break in the town park and then it was on to Ed and Marianne's home.  Their house was only 2 miles from the center of town and by 5:40pm we had arrived.  Ed was outside already and soon  Ally came out to greet us also. 

Ally welcomes us to her home

Ed welcomes us to his home

We are happy to be at our friends' home

Mar and Ed prepared an incredible meal for us.  We had salmon, smashed potatoes, grilled veggies and hot spicy sausage.  The food was awesome!

Mar making it look easy

Bon appetit! (At last I have a food picture)

 A pleasant surprise was that Kathy drove up to join us for dinner.  It was great to sit among friends at the dinner table.

We look happy to dive into the great food

As if the great meal wasn't enough, Mar presented Di with a gluten-free birthday cake.  I have to admit the cake was very good, despite its lack of gluten.  Mar had thoughtfully provided gluten-laden cupcakes for those of us who still enjoy some gluten in our dessert. 

Di and her birthday cake

Di and her mysteriously candled cake

After a nice cup of tea it was time for bed.  Thanks Mar, Ed and Ally for being such gracious hosts and opening your home to us.  Thanks for the great food, the interesting conversation, and the warmth of your hospitality.  And Ed, thanks for explaining the four larval stages of the gypsy moth.  We didn't know our bike trip was going to be so educational.
 

Epilogue

Epilogue

Yesterday Jen called to congratulate us and as the conversation went on, she warned us that we could not end the blog cold turkey. She said that the kindest thing we could do was to wean off the readers slowly, or else something bad might happen. So it was this conversation that inspired this final blog entry that I have called the Epilogue.

Let me first start by saying thank you to all for your honest comments, your enthusiam, and genuine interest in our journey. We just loved that you followed along each day and encouraged us to continue to write and upload pictures of the places that we visited and the things that we saw. This blog became more than just a way to document our journey.  It became our life line to family and friends. It motivated us in ways that cannot even be described. It focused and helped us keep track of the little things, and to take an abundance of pictures along the way, so we would have them for the blog at night. To say that we looked forward to each and every comment is an understatement.  We received not only comments as part of the blog, but separate text messages, emails and phone calls from those who could not successfully leave a blog comment.  

To all our family and friends – especially Steve (Hanson) for seeing us off in San Diego, Jen and Ben for visiting us in Colorado, Michelle and Brian visiting us in St. Louis, and Andy and Paige in Nashville, and Toni-Ann and Bruce in Virginia and for taking vacation time to spend with us; it made us appreciate just how lucky we are having all of you in our lives!

The Blog

Something you may or may not have known, but perhaps you figured out.  Steve and I had to set a few rules that provided us with some structure for this blog early on – like on day 1. We thought setting some simple rules would ensure integrity of the blog, provide two different perspectives and to keep this little competition between us fair and exciting.

First:     We both would contribute to the blog equally and independently

Second: We would alternate nights to post our entries

Third:    We could use any literary device we wanted

Four:     Neither one of us could change or modify one another’s post

Five:      To keep it fun, interesting and honest

Things We Will Never Forget

In California - for the scariest, most exciting moment when flying down the descent through Devil’s Canyon.  How we stayed on our bikes with 50 mile an hour crosswinds - I still don’t know.

In Arizona - for the gorgeous sand dunes and the vast beauty of the grand canyon.

In Utah - for the spectacular canyons and Bryce hoodoos, and the chance to breathe in fresh clean air, experience quite and peacefulness everyday.

In Colorado - for the rocky mountains and roaring rivers that remind you of just how alive we are.

In Kansas - for meeting the kindest and most genuine people you will ever want to meet.

In Missouri - for the amazing St. Louis Arch and the chance to ride up to the top in the tight, four-seat tuna can.

In Illinois - for the many, many rolling hills that were both frustrating and exhilarating at the same time.

In Kentucky - for walking and stepping ¾ of a mile down into the Mammouth Caves surrounded by structures both exciting to navigate and creepy to look at.

In Tennessee - for giving us Johnny Cash and the spectatcular restaurants and delicious food selections right when we needed it most.

In Virginia - for giving us the ocean, and chance to swim and enjoy the crashing waves for hours in Virginia Beach.

  

Top Eleven Things I Loved

11.  I love that we discovered Arby's turkey sandwiches and the Waffle House

10.  I love that I can admit that I really don't like sleeping in a tent all that much

09.  I love that we saw different types of wildlife, small and large, every day or 95 days

08.  I love that we were outside in the sun, and sometimes the rain, breathing in the fresh air and living in the present every day

07.  I love that Steve loved the yellow jersey that Andy and Jen gave him for father’s day and because it came from the kids, he had to wear it everyday thereafter

06.  I love that Steve told me the story of the Princess Bride, a favorite movie of his, Andy and Jen's, scene by scene one day when we were riding

05.  I love that Steve would sing lyrics to different songs everyday as we rode our bikes

04.  I love that Steve would recite different dialogue and have me try to quess the film

03.  I love that as Steve's beard grew, it got softer and softer

02.  I love that Steve and I could spend every second, of every day together, without anything more than a frustration and usually only if we got lost 

01.  I love that I felt safe everyday riding with Steve by my side

Beard and Hair

Over the past three months, we have gotten a few comments about Steve’s beard and no comments about my hair.  Yes, I mean the white streak. I guess I can understand why.  Steve is adamant that he will shave his beard as soon as we get home.  As for me, I’m not sure yet. It has been quiet liberating not to have to care about the color of my hair, but at the same time, I am not sure yet if its time to go Au Natural. Surely, I am entitled to take a few more days to think about this, right?

Our Journey

Total miles                               3781

Total states                              10

Total days                                 95

Total riding days                       74

Total rest days                           21

Total rain days                            8

Total steepest climbs                 14%-16% grade (Escalante UT, Vesuvius VA)

Longest climb                            50 miles (Utah – Hanksville to Hite)

Total feet climbed in one day     6300      (VA, Vesuvius and Blue Ridge Pkwy)

Longest day in miles                   82          (VA, Ashland to Williamsburg)

Shortest day in miles                  18          (VA, Williamsburg to Yorktown)

Number of flat tires                    0

Our cross-country journey

So when and where are we headed next? As of right now, we are fairly confident that there will be a next summer bicycle tour adventure; perhaps not as long, but we would like to explore different terrain and a different culture; perhaps somewhere that takes us back to our roots!  What I can say for certain is that our blog will have a sequel, but the story is still in development!

A photo passed along to me by my Aunt Lois