CLICK HERE for the route map
I invited a friend who is relatively new to bike riding to join me on the Blackstone River Bikeway in Rhode Island.
“How long is the path” he asked.
“Ten miles”.
He rides quite a bit but never on roads and usually does 5-6 miles. After riding for about an hour, Larry mentioned that this seemed like more than ten miles. I looked at my GPS and said we had gone a bit over nine. “Yea, but we still have to go back”, he quipped.
When we got to the end of the bike way, (the halfway point), I offered to show him some cool sights in the city of Woonsocket, Rhode Island. It’s a hilly city and we did two or three miles on the moderately busy streets.
“Why don’t you ride on the sidewalk in the city” he asked. I told him how in RI and MA the streets are designed to be a few feet wider to accommodate bicycles. It’s always been like that. Cars can pass bikes on most main streets comfortably without crossing the center line. Although there have been so many bike riders for so long that drivers give plenty of room without giving it a second thought.
The 10 mile (each way) bike path is such a scenic ride that Larry rode 22 miles today with no problem. Bike riding is easy when your distracted by the joys of riding.
A Midnight Rider 
Interesting photos. Riding a bike is nice on a day that it’s not too hot, but 22 miles in one day, that’s some miles, here in NZ we are in km’s, used to be miles a long time ago, so I’m guessing that would be some 15 Km’s that still some ride.
All the best in your future bike riding challenges.
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Twenty two miles is a moderate distance for those of us who ride a lot. We all started out doing five or six and gradually increased to as much as 50 on a normal weekend ride.
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Great closing line – so true!
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Thanks. One never know when inspiration will make it’s appearance.
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You’ve nailed it! What your friend was saying is what I hear all the time, even from people who ride a lot. I’m talking about that thing of the fear of the riding on roads. I don’t hear the sidewalk thing except from non-cyclists. Your friend also found out he was in better shape than he thought he was. You’ve probably helped him discover some things about himself in that and the floodgates have been opened on his own possibilities. Cool story.
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Too cool! That must be a great feeling, knowing that you helped someone go beyond what they thought they were capable of on a bike-while having a great time. I hope I can help some friends and family members do that this year…
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