Month: June 2015

Organized Rides This Weekend

100_0445
Longest Day of the Year Ride in Newport. June 2011. Register for this years ride HERE . It’s free.

Saturday 06/13/15 – NBW Cafe Ride (weather permitting)
East Bay Bike Path – from Fort Hill to Bristol Bagel and back (27 miles)
Leaves Fort Hill Parking Lot at 9:00 AM
Contact John Nery for more details

Sunday – June 14, 2015 – Morning Ride in Newport

8:15am meet-up, ride starts at 8:30am

Parking available at Bike Newport Parking lot located at 437 Broadway Newport

Directions: When entering Newport from Route 138, 437 Broadway will be on your left, right after Princeton Street.

 This ride is perfect for both intermediate and avid cyclists. The ride will follow the famous Newport Ocean Drive, Bellevue Ave and possibly a few side routes. There is no better way to see the sights than to do Newport by bike. Make sure to bring water, a snack and your helmet. For intermediate riders a 12 mile ride is recommended, for those who would like to go a bit further the group will continue to onto Purgatory Chasm and Sachuset Point Wildlife Refuge and add approximately another 8 to 10 miles.

Sunday 06/14/15 – NBW #058 – Wachusett Mountain Ride

24, 35, 63 & 85 mile rides
Starts in Uxbridge, MA

What’s new on this route this year
The old 62 mile route was blocked by construction on the I-190 overpass at River Road. This route was changed to use the Wachusett Greenways Section of the Mass Central Rail Trail. The 3 mile section that we use is a carriage trail (think of the carriage trails at Arcadia National Park) that gently loses elevation as we descend along the Quinapoxet River. This is a rail trail to visit, any season of the year

Towns & Villages we travel through
Uxbridge – Whitinsville – Sutton – West Millbury – Auburn – Cherry Valley – Leceister – Paxton – Holden – Rutland – Princeton – Sterling – West Boylston – Boylston – Shrewsbury – Grafton – North Grafton – Northbridge

Some of the landmarks we pass by
Whitins Pond – Purgatory Chasm – Singletary Pond – Wachusettt Mountain State Reservation – Wachusett Reservoir – Mass Central Rail Trail

Start:
8:00 AM Early Start
10:00 AM Regular Start
School Superintendent’s Office
The GPS address of 62 Capron St, Uxbridge, MA

GPS Files – RideWithGps format (free to use)
24 mile route with 1300 feet of climbing
35 mile route with 1800 feet of climbing
63 mile route with 3500 feet of climbing
85 mile route with 5298 feet of climbing

Martha’s Vineyard.

The Campgrounds at Oak Bluffs on Martha's Vineyard
The Campgrounds at Oak Bluffs on Martha’s Vineyard

We drove back to New England but were certainly not ready to end our bike tour. We decided to drive out to Wood’s Hole and catch the ferry to “the Vineyard” to do a day of riding, eating, drinking beer and sightseeing. We got all that accomplished.

A bit of fun with the panorama function on my camera.
A bit of fun with the panorama function on my camera.

One of the things that struck me was how much better riding is when it’s done in civilization. The GAP for me is rated a little below OK. With the stories we heard of the C&O conditions, I really think it would have soured both Brandon and I on bike touring.  MORE

Summer Bike Tour Completed

The Great Allegheny Passage
The Great Allegheny Passage

We planned on riding from Pittsburgh to DC but the second half of the trail was a mess.  People we met who were riding in the opposite direction were all telling us how bad and muddy the trail had

Close up of a diamond back rattler
Close up of a diamond back rattler

become from three days of rain.   Brandon and I decided to call it quits in Cumberland, MD.  drive back to Massachusetts and spend a couple of days riding around Cape Cod and the Vinyard.

We are home and heading off to the Cape tomorrow, Monday for a couple of days riding.

As always, the tour is written up on  the crazyguyonabike site.   CLICK HERE to read all about it.

All the photos are HERE

Bike Tour Day 1. Pittsburgh to Connellsville PAore

After staying in a wonderful airbnb, we took a Uber to the train station to unbox and assemble our bikes. Withing a few pedal strokes I knew I had severely over packed. I found a post office a mile away and shipped home all my cooking and some of the camping gear. Keeping only the tent and a pillow, just in case.

It was 1:30 by the time we got riding and we got in a slow 62 miles to the town of Connellsville, PA. We ran into a father and son from Alaska, Jeff and Finn who turned us on to a cheap motor lodge at the top of a pretty severe hill. Normally this would not be an issue, but after riding 60 miles on dirt, it was kind of tough.

Today we will continue into Myerdale, around 60 miles. More about today later today.  Pictures and all that stuff.

Bike Tour Travel Day

Red Roof Inn Baltimore Airport
I like Red Roof. It’s inexpensive. That’s the extent of the good things to say. You get the point.

I drove the the Red Rood Inn at Baltimore airport last night. Brandon is flying in from Austin this morning.  We will drive 30 miles to Union Station in DC, box our bikes and do the tourist thing while we wait to board the 4:30 Amtrak to Pittsburgh.

Tomorrow morning we begin our bike ride from Pittsburgh to DC on the Great Allegheny Passage and the C&O canal towpath. We will be mixing camping with soft beds and hot showers.