Day 69, Sept 30. Kenilworth, NJ to Princeton, NJ

This morning arrived wet and cold. Once ready, we cycled by John's boyhood home in Cranford, NJ. It is proof that you can't go home. Always susceptible to flooding, the current owners raised the whole house 10 or 15 feet higher to keep it from flood waters. The top floors are the same split level home, but it's definitely not as he remembers it. We had already walked by his boyhood haunts and home of friends, long gone the day before, so we just cycled by without stopping.

We are in a let's just get there phase of our trip, so we're riding, no matter the weather - within reason, of course. We'd like to be in Alexandria, VA to see our son and his family by October 6th. It will be a split trip. On October 12th we fly home to Grand Rapids, MI to see the grandkids, check on the house and the practice John works for. We'll leave behind our bike and trailer in Scot and Becky's garage and return to it on the 24th. October is going to be a family filled month :) .

Most of the day was cool with a drizzling rain. Toward the end however we had 16 miles on the Delaware and Raritan Canal State Park Trail. It is a packed dirt and stone dust trail that runs between the Millstone River and the Delaware Raritan Canal. For the most part, it was a welcome relief from the city riding we have been doing (going through NY City and Newark was interesting to say the least), but toward the end, it got really muddy. We arrived in Princeton caked with mud and had to slouch off the bike and trailer for fear of creating a huge muddy mess in our room. A shower and delivery calzone later, all is good.

Pictures later, the computer is being recalcitrant.

Day 67 and 68,Sept 28 and 29. Elmsford, NY to Kenilworth, NJ and a rest day

Our ride was a day of contrasts, plus we entered New Jersey, our eighth new state.

About a tenth of a mile from our motel we got on the South County Trailway. This is a paved rail trail that threads its way down the course of the Saw Mill River between two busy highways, the Saw Mill River Parkway, and the New York Throughway. The effect was rather surreal, as we rode through dense greenery with the roar of a three lane highway on both sides.



 Sometimes the roads got closer.
 

 After ten miles on the trail, it transition to the Old Putnam Trail in Van Cortland Park. Yikes!


After two miles of dirt and the occasional puddle, we entered New York City on Van Cortland Ave. The sign points the way.       Pretty church as some @#&%! cuts us off.





Finally we got off the island of Manhattan via the Washington Bridge over the Harlem River, and the George Washington Bridge over the Hudson.

View of Harlem River from the bridge.


Some pictures around the GW Bridge.
 



 

Once in New Jersey we got a nice look back across the river.
 

For our rest day we plan laundry and a trip to the Cranford Hotel for a Taylor Ham sandwich.

Day 66, Sept 27. Stratford, CT to Elmsford, NY

The Long Island Sound.

Expecting rain this morning, we were pleased to see that the storm system had arrived early and passed over us in the night. We set out for Elmsford, NY, riding along the coast of CT, past the Long Island sound. Soon we entered New York and the urban environment that accompanies it.

Egrets?

While Google Maps did a great job keeping us off of the busy roads, it can only go so far. As we entered White Plains, just north of New York City, the roads became congested to say the least. The 4 miles spent on Westchester felt like we were riding on an interstate highway. Tomorrow we go to Kenilworth, NJ. Another state and John's hometown.

Three lanes going each way with highway entrances and 

exits. Yike!

Day 64/5, Sept 25 and 26. Meridan, CT to Stratford, CT

Nice easy ride today. Left Meridan at about 10 AM, but we only had 38 miles to do today. Our route followed the Quinnipiac (have you heard of a poll by this name?) River to New Haven, home of Yale University, and former home of the Winchester Repeating Arms Company.

When not in New Haven or downtown Stratford, most of our ride looked like this.





































Neat looking house in New Haven.

We reached Long Island Sound a bit further south in West Haven, and turned south west along the shore until reaching Stratford.















Imagine this beach on a Sunday just one month ago.




 This is a moment of zen from Margaret on the Long Island Sound

The "no fun" police are ubiquitous, but the seagulls ignored their signs. No wild animals, really?
 


We are staying tonight and tomorrow for a rest day at the Quality Inns and Suites. After four days of riding, a rest day is always welcome. Besides, we have no more clean riding outfits. Laundry is an absolute imperative.

Day 63, Sept 24. Willimantic, CT to Meridan, CT

After a Fab 4 breakfast- eggs, crispy cheese, bacon and an english muffin, at the Lighthouse Cafe, we headed out for Meridan, CT. All was going well when I spied a cool pedestrian bridge. After a bit of exploration, we discovered it was the Hop River Rail Trail. We altered our route and are better for it. The surface is hard packed sand and powered limestone which makes a peaceful crunching sound as our tires roll over it, but it was the scenery that stole the show. Canopied trees lined sheer drop offs and rolling hills. Soon we were riding through solid rock blasted away to make way for railroad. Part of the East Coast Greenway, the trail goes from Vernon to Mansfield, CT
This is a must visit  trail. (trail info) The trip through the cut passes are breathtaking, like something out of a movie. I've ridden through some beautiful landscapes, but this one takes the cake. Do yourself a favor and visit.

As beautifully as this picture turned out, it pales in comparison to the real thing.

It took us 3 hours to advance 15 miles, because we

It's the East Coast, so of course there is a 

history lesson to be learned.

kept stopping to gawk and take pictures, but eventually we had to leave the trail and make our way to the hotel. The trail had been an uphill climb, so we were rewarded with a long glide down. The rest of the way there was a "bit more" climbing, but that is a story for another day.

Day 62, Sept 23. Coventry to Willimantic, CT

Bicycle trails can be such variable things. We did over 20 miles on two lovely paved bike trails yesterday. A very nice day. Today we started out with 8 miles on the Washington Secondary Trail, the best rail trail I have ever seen.
 

The first trail morphed into another, narrower trail, the Coventry Greenway Trestle Trail.


Then we had a 3 mile break on local roads, and were directed to re-join the Trestle Trail, but the trail had ceased to exist. Piles of sand, choking piles of brush, but no defined trail. Google, which we use for directions, REALLY wanted us on that trail. No.

Finally, about 8 miles outside of Willimantic, we were directed to the Airline North State Park Trail. This trail was packed sand and limestone. Kind of spooky and isolated feeling, but an interesting interlude before getting to the busy town of Willimantic.


The trail was surrounded by a white cedar swamp.
 

 


We are staying tonight at the Hop River Motel. We have hit a new bottom in motels. The lobby reminded me of a security cage in a check cashing business. Note that "no refunds" is prominently displayed. Once we got to our room, we understood why. Clean, but 8x10 room. No room to bring the bike into the room.

 

Tomorrow we ride to Meridan and take a ferry across the Connecticut river.

Day 61, Sept 22. Newport, RI to Coventry, RI

When I asked Guy what he does with the fish

 he catches, his face screwed up and he 

announced that he hates the taste of fish! 

He gives them all away.

One of the best aspects of this trip is the conversations we have with folks who ask where we are headed or where we came from. John and I are approachable people. Strangers rarely hesitate to approach us on any random day; perhaps because we like to help or share stories with the people we meet. Add to that, our unusual bike and old bodies in Lycra, and the welcome mat always seems to be out. 

Most are amazed, inspired, or flat out think we are nuts, but this morning was special indeed. We stopped in the parking lot of a Lobster Pot restaurant next to a lovely bay to take a couple photos. As we were walking away from the bike, a gentleman who was pulling fishing gear out of his trunk announced, "Nice to see young people out on bikes together." 

We smiled and started taking photos of the bay.  One thing led to another and the gentleman began asking the usual questions. He was amazed and asked if he could take our picture. "I have to show this to the guys, they won't believe it!" he gushed. 

It really was a beautiful day.

Turns out the gentleman's name is Guy, and he fishes in this bay everyday. In his words, "What the heck, I'm 88 and retired, I can do what I want." I wanna be Guy when I'm 88. 

Tomorrow we will enter our seventh state, Connecticut. Later next week we'll be in New Jersey visiting some of John's Jersey friends.

Day 57-60, Sept 18-21. Fairhaven, MA to Newport, RI

There is a blogger on the DALMAC blog that has as his tag line, "The wind; a hill you cannot see." Oh my, yes. We only had a 32 mile ride today, so we were a little lazy, and got a late start. We didn't look at the weather forecast. If we had, we would have seen a prediction for winds out of the southwest at 20 mph with gusts to 30. To add spice to our life, we had two flats, and a climb that topped out at 9.4% This was a long day. We were going south and west.

The route: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/16741371

The bridge across the Acushnet river which divides New Bedford From Fairhaven was almost closed when we came up to it.


Fairhaven is an interesting city. FYI, all Titlist golf balls for the Americas and Europe are made here. This is also the port that Joshua Slocum sailed out of on his sailboat, "Spray" to begin his never before done, solo circumnavigation of the globe.

Leaving town, we encountered our first hill. More of these to come.


Today's lessons learned: 1) Schwalbe Duranos are not a good tire for a loaded touring tandem. We will be going back to Schwalbe Marathons in October. The Durano lasts less than 1,000 miles, the Marathon over 3,500. 2) It's not just the total amount you climb, 1,650 feet today, but the number of miles you have to climb it. Today felt like climb after climb even though the altitude gain was not all that much.

Interesting stuff along the way. This was just before our second flat.


I really do love Newport. I was stationed here when I was in the Navy, and I also attended several Newport Folk Festivals in the 60's and 70's. Have also been a tourist. Margaret has been very understanding of my nostalgia trip here. We went to the Black Pearl bar that I frequented when in the Navy, but now it is much more up-scale, and we ended up not eating there. I did get to have more Little Neck clams, and finally today some Cherry Stones. All raw. My memory told me to get Cherry Stones, but I found I liked the smaller Little Necks better.

Our first rest day here it rained all day so instead of seeing the town, we took care of bike maintenance and such. The next day we took in the sights, but could not get to all I wanted to see. Margaret suggested we stay an extra day so we could finish my list of must sees.

We visited two mansions of the many available to tour in Newport, the Breakers, and Marble House. Rather than inflict amateur photos on you, I will direct you to the website. http://www.newportmansions.org/explore The Breakers is the largest at a little over 138,000 square feet. The Marble House cost the most to build, constructed between 1888 and 1892, it cost about $11,000,000, or roughly $290,000,000 in today's money. Remember that the Vanderbilts only stayed in their Newport "cottage" for six weeks out of the year. They had five or six other opulent houses spotted about the world.

We also walked the Cliff Walk. http://www.cliffwalk.com/ 

It starts out rather gently and paved.  

 But it eventually becomes rather rough.

They do provide helpful signs.

 Tomorrow we ride to Coventry, RI and our last night in the state. It will also be the first day of fall, and we need to get ourselves further south.

Day 56, Sept 17. West Yarmouth to Fairmont

The view from Martha's Vineyard

Friday, we had a wonderful evening with Bill, our Warm Showers host and two other cyclists: Haymitch(sp?) and Angus. Haymitch and Angus came over from England, and have been cycling together for the past 5 months trying to see America's National Parks. They started in Los Angeles, and they are almost done. They will be flying home later this month from Boston. Over Bill's delicious smoked pork dinner and some wine, we managed to solve most of the worlds problems. It was interesting to get the guys' impression of  America.

This morning we boarded another ferry, this time to Martha's Vineyard. We were able to see a bit of the place since our ferry to New Bedford was not due to leave until 12:45.

Like the rest of New England, Martha's Vineyard has some pretty

spectacular architecture.

Tonight we are at the home Of Bill and Paige in Fairmont, across the Acushnet River from New Bedford. Tomorrow we head to Newport, RI

Day 55, Sept 16. Provincetown to West Yarmouth

Mostly a nice ride today. The exception was eight miles on US 6, which was very busy. No pictures there; survival took precedence.

Our day started at Maria's with a breakfast sandwich of egg, cheddar, and linguica, a Portuguese sausage. Wonderful. The view wasn't bad either.



If you can get to Provincetown, do so. This is where the Pilgrims first landed. They have a tall monument in town to prove it.



 Of our 47 miles today, over half was on the Cape Cod Rail Trail. Paved! The state wants to extend the trail all the way to where we had to get on US 6. Maybe next time we are here, they will have done so.





Our Warm Showers host was also hosting two 20 something guys from England. What a great dinner conversation. They had begun their ride five months ago in Los Angeles, and are two days away from completing it in Boston. Interesting stuff.

Tomorrow we make another double ferry hop from Hyannis to Martha's Vineyard to New Bedford. Will probably ride less than five miles. Life is good.

Day 54, September 15, 2016: Salem, MA to Provincetown, MA

We cheated. We decided to "ride" to Provincetown, MA via ferry, actually two ferries. We boarded the Salem to Boston ferry at 7AM, arriving in Boston a little after 8AM. Next we grabbed the 9AM Boston to Provincetown, MA ferry. The seas were a bit rough, but I made it without seasickness. Yeah!

P-town, as the folks here call it, is like no other seaboard town I've been in so far. For the Michiganders, picture Mackinac Island's downtown on a crowded summer day. Now make it several blocks longer, replace the horses with cars and shrink the street's width to the size of a generous alley, that's P-town, and this is off season! I don't want to think of it during peak season.

Boston

Once we got oriented, it was fun. Lots of shops and restaurants; all the touristy stuff you would expect plus a working pier. Down at the pier you can get a boat to take you whale watching, fishing, parasailing, or out for a sunset sail. The parasailing appealed to me except it was in the low 60's. Brrr.

Day 52-53, Kittery, ME to Salem, MA, and a rest day.

So many good things have happened in these last two days: Both brakes on the bike work. Route 1A, especially in New Hampshire, was beautiful, and even in MA, where it becomes fairly busy, 1A is still a good ride. No flats. We found a temporary fix for the rear skewer problem (more later).

After the motel free breakfast, which was worth the price, we headed south into Portsmouth, NH on US 1.



The US 1A bridge is permanently closed awaiting replacement, so this was the only game in town. Was  a nice crossing with a good bike lane, and under Margaret's usual, accurate direction, we headed out of town.

Shortly we rejoined US 1A for an eleven mile stretch along the Atlantic coast. Beautiful! I grew up on the east coast, and there is just something that speaks to me when I am near the ocean.



This house was typical of the ones that were just on the other side of the road from the berm protecting them from the sea.



The construction style is called "saltbox," and is typical for New England. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saltbox



Ah, the skewer problem. Since day two, our rear skewer, which holds the rear wheel in place, will spuriously open. We may notice a bit more noise from the back wheel, or we may notice nothing. It all becomes obvious when we stop, for whatever reason, and put up the kick stand which raises the rear wheel off the ground. This causes the rear wheel to fall out of the rear drop outs and jam the rear derailleur. We have finally given up on looking for a cause for this. The lever for the rear skewer is now secured in place by a zip tie. Seems to work. We will look for a new skewer when we can.

We continued down 1A. We have seen sign after sign as we have traveled that promise MOOSE, or DEER, and we have seen none. A friend has even told us that the poop we thought might be moose, was in fact bear. There were no signs for BEAR. Today, we saw a new sign.


No SEALS in evidence. We have seen a ton of turkeys, which scatter before we can get a picture. No signs for TURKEYS, of course.



















We did see a great number of little birds hanging out on the electrical wires. Perhaps someone can tell us what they were.






Salem is proving to be an interesting and fun town.

At lunch today.



We are trying to experience all the culture that we can.



If I can take my tongue out of my cheek for a bit, Salem was one of the original, major seaports that built this country. She was once the premiere port for exports to Great Britain. Only with the rise of Philadelphia, Boston, and New York was she eclipsed. We will visit her again.

Tomorrow we take a ferry from Salem to Boston, and then a ferry from Boston to Provincetown. We might ride as much as four miles.