The storm passed, the sun began making it’s way through the clouds and the sky began to turn blue. It was 3:30 in the afternoon and it was time for a bike ride. The road bike got a tune up from Scottee’s Bike Shop in Westport. It was my second visit and I couldn’t be more impressed with the quality of workmanship, the friendliness of the wrenches and the reasonable prices.
Most of the regular road bike riders were done for the day. There was one unusual group that I ran into yesterday and today they passed me just at the right time. A couple more roadies on this route but basically it was me,some horses and a fruit stand.
Everyone is back to school or working on weekdays. It’s just me and my camera riding here and there.No one around for biking or tennis during the day. Continue reading “There Is No One To Play With”→
We will be feeling the effects of Hurricane Hermine for ta bit here on Cape Cod. The forecast is for high winds and rain for the next two days. Nick and I took advantage of this sunny Labor Day Sunday to do a 40 mile ride. We thought of going further, to the Cape Cod canal, but we both agreed to turn back at the 20 mile mark.
Today felt very melancholy and the ride matched the feeling. We took our time, averaging 12 MPH over the 40 miles, stopping every so often to take in the atmosphere and capture the moments.
Left the camp ground at 6:30 with a nearly dead phone and Garmin. I tried to charge my phone at the Camp Store, left it charging for an hours and got 5%. It seemed odd. I tried again in the camp bathroom building again with no luck. When I left the camp ground, I looked up the directions with my 5% and wrote down the turns. Naturally I got lost, and never found the first turn. I stopped a rider on the trail and he got me pointed in the right direction as far as the lake.
I plugged my phone into the extra socket for the ice machine at the general store, hung around for an hour and still go next to no charge. I decided to look up directions from here, got them and when I plugged in again for a little more charge I saw the warning. “Using the wrong cord will cause extremely slow charge. Use the cord provided with your device.” I was using my Nikon camera cord.
I rode the Cape Cod Rail Trail to the access point in Dennis. On the way, I stopped at a bike shop and the owner gave me directions to RT 6A. I wrote them down. When I got to the terminus of the bike trail, I again asked for directions from two guys just beginning their ride. “You should have gotten of the trail a few miles back” 6A was only a short distance away”. I knew I needed to cross the mid cape highway and that’s where I spotted the police station. The officer at the desk put me on the right track and once I got to 6A there were no more turns. Just miles.
Tunnel on the Cape Cod Rail Trail near Orleans.
I asked along the way about how far I needed to go to get to the Canal. The woman at the market said around 10 miles. I rode for a while, stopped at another store and got the same 10 more mile answer. Finally, after riding for a couple of hours, I got the correct answer when I stopped for a snack and soda. 10 miles.
Yesterday I told a riding buddy that when I got to the canal, I would most likely camp out for the night. He said your only 25 miles from home when you get to the canal. Once I did get there, I got a surge of energy and decide to finish the ride.
On the first day, we crossed over the canal using the Bourne Bridge and rode along the canal on the Cape side to Sagamore. Today I crossed the Sagamore bridge and rode the mainland side to Bourne. As I was climbing the bridge a youngster crested approaching me with a skateboard. When we crossed paths we spoke about being on the bridge. I told him my story and his was that his family was camping along the canal in Bourne and he was bored. He skated the mainland path to Sagamore, and was going to skate back to Bourne on the Cape side and walk over the Bourne Bridge.. It was a great day for biking as well as skateboarding.
It was a 27 mile ride to the start of the Cape Cod Rail Trail.
I didn’t start riding till after 11 this morning because I was updating this blog. After a decent breakfast of a wonderful home made mixed berry and nut muffin I set off in the wrong direction. It took a mile, but the nagging of my Garmin Touring device finally got me to look at it telling me to turn around. I did see the sign to busy US Rt. 6 West which was the direction of my destination but Garmin had a better route. It was very scenic, quiet with gently rolling hills. I did have to ride a couple of short miles on 6, and soon was on the quiet back roads again.
Garmin beeped for an approaching turn onto an unpaved road. I thought of asking one of the two bikers who rode by me as I was taking a photo of the road. However the device said this was only 300 yards. What it didn’t say that in 300 yards was another unpaved road for a bit, then another and another. Garmin also didn’t say that this whole mile plus shortcut was unpassable for most vehicles. It did cut ten miles off my ride but added over an hour. I have had better days on my bike than slogging along pushing a loaded touring bike on soft puffy dirt, in the humidity. Really, I’m not kidding. I have had better riding days.
Hmmmm? It’s a shortcut according to GarminA ten mile short cut that added over an hour to the ride. It was more than a mile of walking pushing a loaded bike. Hot, humid and buggy.
I finally arrived at the start of the Cape Cod Rail Trail. After stopping to fill my water bottles and a couple of freeze pops to cool me off, I made my way to another shortcut. A 10 foot dirt path leading from the parking lot to the MUP. As soon as I hit the dirt, my bike slid out from under me. I tried but couldn’t unclip from my pedal and went down hard. Two nearby men began walking toward me asking if I was hurt. “Only my pride” I answered. I did get a cut on my leg, but that that was minor.
I checked into Nickerson State Campground and got the last site for a mere $22. Most other states have free hiker/biker camp areas but not in Massachusetts. I asked about that and the Ranger stated that there are so few hikers and bikers checking in that it’s never been an issue, and I was the first this season to ask about it.
The shower area, a half mile further than my camping area was my first stop. It was without a doubt, my best shower experience in a long time. I really needed this one mostly to clean off the blood. Both legs had dried blood streaks from small cuts and scrapes I got mostly from getting off and on my loaded bike. There was also a camp store at the shower area that got me a much need large can of ginger ale and a bag of cheese curls.
Camp site in Nickerson State Park. Brewster, MA
After setting up camp, I rode the mile or so to the nearby Laurino’s Italian Restaurant. The hostes seated me at a table near an outlet so I could charge my phone. My server, Bran from Macedonia and an engineering student in Slovakia was great company. Over the course of my three PBR’s and tapas, I asked how he chose Cape Cod as his summer work assignment and he said the word is that the Northeast is the most friendly toward foreign student on summer work visas. He also asked for a service job because he knew the tips were very good. Smart kid.
Tomorrow I’ll ride the 70 miles home. There are no charging places in the camp ground. Lets hope I can charge my devices on the road early so I’ll ride in that direction for most of the day.
A Midnight Rider 