Rail Trail Bike Rides - Concord & Ayer

September 10, 2022 10:00

Although most of my bike rides are with the Worcester or Boston AMC chapters, it's fun to ride with friends when the opportunity presents itself.  Kate ant I have biked together before, back in 2019 for the 45 mile Hub on Wheels in Boston.  Since there was organized ride this year, we opted to get together and ride the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail.  Eventually, this trail will extend further south and connect with the Assabet River Rail Trail.  

I have biked part of this trail before with Troop 11 from Nara Park in Acton up to an ice cream place in Chelmsford center (with Mr. O, there has to be an ice cream place).  Last week, Kate did this whole 30 miles of the trail with another friend and we weren't going to do any less today.  I was uncertain about the bridge over Rt 2 because its official opening isn't until November.  However, Kate assured me that walking around the construction vehicles was a piece of cake.

We met the parking lot just down the road from MCI Concord.  The weather was very nice with a forecast for a high of 82.

I forgot to take any photos, but suffice it to say, our riding statistics were pretty impressive:

Distance:           31.17 miles
Moving Time:   2:27
Elevation:          441'
Avg Speed:        12.7 mph
Max Speed:       33.4 mph
Elapsed Time:   2:41

September 17, 2022 10:15

Since Kate took me on a "new" rail trail last week, it was my turn to take her on "new" rail trail this week.  I consider the Nashua River Rail Trail my "home" bike trail and Kate has never made it out past I-495 to go biking.

I act as the tour guide today and show her all the highlights:  the Buckingham bus company's lot in Groton, the bridge over Rt 225, the ice cream store in Pepperell center, and the New Hampshire state line.

Things have changed since the last time I've been to the end of this trail.  Instead of just ending on a road in Dunstable, the trail has not extended all the way to 94 Gilson Road in Nashua, where there is a small recreation area and parking lot.

  

Kate finds a great rock to rest on overlooking a pristine pond.

Here's the required selfie, to prove to you that I made this ride as well.  

This ride was a little shorter than last week's, but with fewer people to navigate around on the trail, our average speed was actually higher.

Distance:          25.12mi

Moving Time:  1:52

Elevation:         243'

Avg Speed:       13.4mph

Max Speed:       35.9mph

Thanks Kate for a couple great rides.  With the change of seasons, I'm not sure we'll have another chance to get out this year, but you never know.

AMC Paddle - Grand Tour of Hingham Harbor

Sunday Morning Paddle.  I've never paddled out of Hingham before, so this should be fun.

Paddled across the Hull Gut.  Watch the current!

Lots of time on Peddock's Island to explore Ft. Andrews museum.  They still have work to do there, but they have a start.  Saw some overnight campers, too.

Turned out to be a hot day.

• 11.64 mi
  Distance
 
• 3:53:50
  Moving Time
 
• 296 ft
  Elevation
 
• 1202
  Relative Effort

	Avg	Max
Speed	3.0 mi/h	8.5 mi/h
Elapsed Time	5:34:17

AMC Bike Ride - Alewife to Waltham

This was another opportunity for a unique bike ride.  It is another "city" ride, and while we are sometimes on dedicated riverside foot/bike trails, there are a lot of times we are on the the streets dealing with stop lights and motor vehicles.

This is another departure from Alewife "T" station (see my previous ride back on June 2). 

I had no idea where we were going, but some interesting things about this ride were:  

• We crossed the Fitchburg commuter rail line 3 times.  Ironically, the Fitchburg line goes right by Alewife station, but does not stop there.
• Our turn-around point was in Waltham, only 1/2 block from Moody Street.  It brought back memories of when I used to work in Waltham, and we used to go out to lunch occasionally in this area.
• On the way back, we utilized the Charles River Greenway that hugs the Charles River in Watertown.  The bike trail is actually part of a 22 mile path that runs all the way out to Milford, MA.  The river at this point is not that wide and the trail was almost completely under tree canopy.  The biggest challenge was watching out for the pedestrians.
• Heading back toward Alewife Station, we rode alongside Fresh Pond Parkway with Fresh Pond itself directly to our left.  

From there I thought we would just head along the road to get back to our start, but fortunately we avoided the heavy traffic and would our way back to the Fitchburg Cutoff Path (bike trail).

The photo above was an invitation for a friend to join us, but she was unable.  The weather was pretty warm, but we were blessed not be rained on.  

Our stats for the day:  15.59 miles, in 1:25, with elevation gain of 281'.  A nice flat ride.

Honey Paddle - Mystic River

 It is a beautiful day!  It's midsummer and a perfect time for paddling somewhere.  There is not AMC paddling adventure today, so we have some alternatives.  Betsy has the day off and so maybe we an go out together and have paddle adventure.  We talk about going to Mystic, which is always a good destination.  I've paddled the Mystic River a couple of times with Barry and the Connecticut AMC, so I am well prepared to take Betsy out.

 The best put-in spot is on the river road just to the north of the I-95 bridge.  

This was the first time the "pink boat" has been out all season.  
There's plenty of parking and the put-in at the river's edge is sandy, not muddy.

I think this is the one of many buildings of Mystic Seaport Museum. I think.
We paddled right up alongside the flagship of the museum, Charles W. Morgan.

We paddle through downtown Mystic, under the Rt. 1 bridge and past the marinas.
We need a break so we find a building that has a commercial look to it, but just in case, we pull to the far end of the private beach, so as not to intrude.

It turns out the "commercial" looking building was a private residence.  But the owners were wonderful people.  They offered us water and bathroom break and we chatted with them for a good 20 minutes.

We head back up river.  This cormorant is drying out on top of this pier piling.

The weather stayed great all day and we covered 5.44 miles.  Next up, we'll be looking for seafood dinner stop (where we won't have 60-90 minute wait for a table).  Great fun! 

Meetup Paddle - Quinebaug River Trail upstream from East Brimfield Lake

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• 8.69mi
  Distance
 
• 2:55:23
  Moving Time
 
• 0ft
  Elevation

	Avg	Max
Speed	3.0mi/h	14.2mi/h
Elapsed Time	4:49:28

RICKA Paddle - Wilson Park to Fox Island

It is a beautiful day for a paddling adventure.  There are not a lot of outings listed on the AMC website for the Narragansett Chapter these days, many of them also paddle with The Rhode Island Canoe and Kayak Association (RICKA).  Either way, this is a really great bunch or people to paddle with.

This outing is similar to one I did from Wickford to Rome Point back in June of 2018, however this excursion is a little shorter.  Every time you go out it's different:  the weather, the water, the people.  It's all fun.  Compared to that trip, we did a little more exploring off to the sides.  Nonetheless, some of the pictures will actually look quite similar to the earlier ones.

This residence is impressive every time we go by it.

On this trip we're actually doing it a little backward from my previous trip.  We round Poplar Point and then head toward the North Kingstown town beach.  These people have nice waterfront property just around the Point.

After a lunch break, we head to Fox Island, a private island in the Bay.

Behind the house is a big weather vane, probably part of a weather station.

The skies are clouding up a bit, but it doesn't seem to bother this extended family of ducks.

Before our take-out, we take a little extra time to explore Mill Cove, just to the north.
Lots of wildlife here including this pair of white egrets.

Out total distance was 7:64 miles covered in 2:16.  However, it may actually have been a little longer because my phone tracking took a little vacation after Fox Island due to snapping a photo.  Our entire time out was 3:51 which means we enjoyed a very leisurely lunch.

AMC Bike - Alewife Loop

Now for something completely different!

I'm always up for trying something new.  This was billed as a 17 mile ride from Alewife in Cambridge to Woburn.  At first, this seems like a pretty tall order, but what's funny is you don't realize how these towns fit together like a jigsaw puzzle.  Furthermore, a ride starting from Alewife Station is actually within reachable from Leominster;  it's just straight shot down Route 2.

Now, where to park?  It turns out there's a DCR parking lot right near the apartments just before the "T" station.  Hey!  Free parking.

Oh, cool!  We're travelling down the Mystic River Parkway and right past this beach.

This is just one of the really nice looking homes in Winchester.  The property was not huge, but it was nicely manicured.  Who can afford to live here?

If I look a little pained here, it's because we're stopping for yet another stop light. 
Riding in the city is not picnic. Not a lot of hills, but plenty of traffic.

This is "downtown" Winchester where the town offices, etc are located.
Even the buildings here are beautiful.

We're not lost, but we are getting a little more spread out.  This was a left turn around a traffic rotary.  
We regrouped on the other side.

We kind of lost our way a little when we got into the edge of Woburn, but we recovered and made it back in good time, travelling 15.33 miles in 1:31.  The elevation gain was only 465'.  The most challenging part of this ride was city traffic.  I guess I'm spoiled out here in the country.