Doesn't get much better

I missed riding much of the best couple of weeks we have here due to flu symptoms for two weeks. I've only ridden 40 or so miles in the past couple of weeks, and the fall foliage is a little past peak color right now. But today would've been perfect if it was peak color. The sun came out around noon and the temperature went up to 70 degrees. Just a great day to ride this time of year.

I didn't want the flu to come back so did an easy pace ride around the Brentwood loop.

Pumpkins for sale on Route 111

Maple on South Road

South Road

I'm not sure how Beech Hill Road got its name. I would've named it Maple Hill Road. It is always one of the prettiest roads around during peak color.

Top of Beech Hill

September's Gone By

I've been very lazy or maybe just busy enjoying riding my Aero. I started doing longer rides at the end of August and through September. On one ride I was at the 35 mile mark and just didn't feel like stopping. Seemed like 35 miles was getting to be a shorter ride.

I rode the Granite State Wheelmen's Seacoast Century. A very popular century that goes through three states. I hadn't done the full century for a few years now, but was in good shape and completed the entire 103 miles without feeling bad at all. After, a number of riders went over to Hoyts Lodges where John and Ann were gracious enough to let us invade their yard and have a Bar-B-Q. Rich Pinto of Bacchetta Bicycles and his wife Ann supplied the food and drink despite Rich  receiving a few insults during the day. Not from me, maybe one or two, because he didn't have a CA 2.0 Aero waiting for me at the start. He can design fantastic bicycles, but starting the grill required a little help! We had a bright, sunny day with temps in the low 80's. As the sun was setting in the West we were treated to a beautiful view of the light shining on the Isle of Shoals just off the coast in front of the lodges. Wish I had taken a picture.

Nubble Light in Maine

It did feel good to see the Van after 103 miles

Today, I went out for a lunchtime ride of approx 34 miles. It just felt good. There was a solid cloud cover of alto cumulus clouds, temperature in the upper 50's and a good wind. Felt like winter was not far away.

Exeter River on Linden Road

Dry Summer

After the heavy rain and floods early this spring, we've had a dry summer. I stopped by Packer's Falls on Friday and walked down to the river. I only had my cell phone camera to take a few pictures of the river in August.

Here are a couple I posted in February.

Friday was great day with deep blue skies and the trees seemed to have a dark green color.

Packer's Falls bridge looking towards Durham

Packer's Falls Road looking towards Newmarket

Didn't go as planned

Last Friday I decided to ride Bay Road to Durham and make my way back via Packers Falls Road. When I approached the light at Route 108, I noticed a couple on a tandem studying a map. I stopped and we talked for awhile. They were from Ontario, staying in Epping and on their way to Portsmouth. I helped them with directions and we went on our way, with me thinking, Argh! I should've taken a picture for the blog.

I get to the hill on Bay Road, just before Adams Point. I'm doing 35 to 40 mph down the hill and hit a bump on the bridge that goes over a stream entering the bay. I hear something sliding along the road and realize its my water bottle. I hit the brakes, turn around thinking how hard can it be to find a big water bottle. Of course, it was going 35 to 40 when it hit the road, slid a long ways and found a great hiding spot over the bank. It took me 10 to 15 minutes of hunting through the tall grass to find it.

So now, as I started climbing the hill away from the bridge, I'm 30 minutes behind schedule for my lunchtime ride with a water bottle whose mouthpiece is full of dirt. I decide it's best to head back. But since I'm at the entrance to Adam's Point, I decided to salvage something and take the short ride to the point. I hadn't been there for a few years.

Jackson Estuarine Laboratory

Great Bay near the boat launch

It was low tide, I crossed the road to take a few pictures and walked out onto the "sand" to get closer. It wasn't sand. The black areas are where my feet sunk down way over my ankles into smelly mud.

Wasn't Sand

Smelly Feet

I made back home without any further surprises, and got the hose out.

Chicago and Florida in a week

We took a one week trip to visit Amy and Elliott in Chicago, then onto see Ellen in Florida. While we didn't do any riding in Chicago, we did get to see the Lakefront bike path there. Lots of cyclists, walkers and rollerbladers were using the path. As well as swimmers, getting their workout by swimming parallel to the path. Here are a few pictures with the path in the background.

And the trail winds around to a park along the lake.

Park along the Lakefront Path

While we were in Orlando, we took a day and drove up to Winter Garden, where we rented some bikes and a trike. We rode a few miles west on the West Orange Trail. The salesman warned Brian that the trike (a Trailmate delta style trike) was slow, but he wanted a trike. Turned out that it wasn't as much fun riding that trike as he thought, and we switched off on all of the bikes. We had a single speed tandem as well. The temperature was in the upper 90's and it was humid, but there were many people using the trail.

West Orange Trail near Winter Garden

Dynamic Duo on the tandem

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The West Orange Trail is nice and I recommend it if you are in the area. But, it sure was nice to get back to 80 degree weather and ride the NH Seacoast roads again.

Ride to Chelmsford, Ma

I rode to Jane's 4th of July cookout in Chelmsford MA. About 54 miles total. The beginning of the ride was a nice cool temperature, but by the end I was hot and running out of fluid. Glad I brought that extra bottle of Gatorade, and especially glad that I had frozen it the night before. The drink in my water bottle (what was left ) had become pretty warm. I've done this ride at least once a year since 1997 when I got my first recumbent, a Rans Rocket. I have been changing the route over the years to find less traveled roads, and tried some different roads this time. They turned out to be less traveled, although it seemed like there were more hills. And I did get lost between Boxford and North Andover. There was junction with a couple of options and I had not printed out a map of that junction. I was just suppose to follow Great Pond Road to the end, but I couldn't figure out which was Great Pond Road. Of course, I picked the wrong one and ended up in an area not on any of my maps. I few minutes of riding in both directions (I picked right first, which turned out to be wrong ...... again), and I found North Andover commons. After that, I was in familiar territory and had no problems, other than hydration.


South Road in East Kingston, NH

The Merrimac River in Merrimac, MA and some welcome shande. You can see the bridge I use cross the river in the distance.

Sperrys Pond in Boxford, MA along Main Street.

Boxford, MA at the junction of Main Street and Route 133

Dodging Clouds

The radar showed that there were possibly some storms in the area, but it looked ok for the moment. Headed out west on Route 27 keeping an eye on a dark cloud to the north. I couldn't tell if it was moving east or southeast towards me. I had been caught in a thunderstorm a few weeks ago and ended up under the overhang of someones garage. It was raining so hard that it was difficult to see and branches were being blown off the tress above me. So, I decided this time I'd turn around and head back. When I got back to my driveway, the sun was shining brightly and it turned out that the cloud was moving east. I didn't want to stop, and didn't want to head west into the bright setting sun, so turned east on 87 and rode a 4 mile loop through town. By the time I was on the last leg of the loop, clouds had returned blocking the sun, so I kept going west on 87 to do another short loop on Jacobs Well Road. It ended up being a fun 24 mile ride, with lots of nice views of large cumulus clouds including a rainbow over the farm fields on Jacobs Well Road.  Sometimes the rides that seem like they are a lost cause turn out to be some of the best.

The New Hampshire Coast

Usually I've done a number of rides to the coast by this time of year. But this year .... today was my first. I only rode a few miles along the coast, because this was a lunchtime ride. It's 15 miles to the coast and 15 miles back, so there's not a lot of time left. The temperature was near 80 inland, but felt like 70 once I got near the ocean. The New Hampshire coast has a variety of scenery, from sandy beaches to a rocky coastline. There's also the honky tonk areas in Seabrook.

I went out Route 101E to Hampton and road north to Route 111 near North Hampton State Beach. The pictures were taken near the Ocean Blvd and Route 111 junction.

Turning left onto Route 111

And you get one more view of the coast before heading inland.

Bacchetta Seat Foam Cover

Bacchetta bikes came out with a seat foam cover this year. I received one and have had a few rides with it on. The first time I sat on it, I was concerned that I would be slipping off while riding. That was not the case though. It makes the seat even more comfortable, the bike look more refined, and is easier on the material of the cycling shorts. And it doesn't feel slippery while riding at all. It has a zippered opening in the bottom, that the foam slides into, then you place the cover onto the seat, matching the velcro strips.

Very nice. They have two versions, one for the Euromesh seat and one for the Carbon Fiber seat. I think they are the same, other than the placement of the velcro strips on the cover to match the seat's velcro.

Suprisingly Well

Only 5 people showed up for volleyball last night and one had to sit down early with an injury. That leaves 4, which means doubles. I hadn't played doubles in years and wasn't sure what was going to happen. But, it went surprisingly well. Having Lew as my partner certainly helped. Doubles means much more jumping and running, especially when you are getting picked on because they don't want Lew hitting. We play to win and its more fun that way.

I wasn't expecting to feel like going for a ride today. I'm usually pretty sore and tired the day after playing. Today was a gorgeous day, temps in the mid 60's and a strong breeze. I couldn't resist. I decided on a route mostly lined with trees to minimize the wind and hey, I ride a recumbent, so the wind doesn't have as much affect on me as the other bikes. I wasn't sure how this ride was going to go. It seemed like I had zero energy on Tuesdays ride, but todays ride went surprisingly well!

I headed out to Bald Hill road.

Just after taking the picture above, a rider on one of those other bikes turned onto Bald Hill. I hopped on the Aero and followed him, not trying to prove anything, but didn't want to make a bad showing for recumbents. After awhile, I caught up with him and said hello. He had headphones on, but took them off to talk. Why does everyone have headphones on all the time now? I have no interest in listening to music when I'm riding. I'd rather listen to what's going on around me. Not just the oncoming cars, but all the sounds. The wind in the leaves, birds, cows, goats, and a little girl yelled out hello to me today as I was passing by. The other rider didn't seem that interested in talking, so I went on ahead. He followed me out to the end of Tuttle Road, where I decided I wouldn't push it today and turned around.

Here are a few pictures of Tuttle Road on the way back.

I stopped at the Lamprey River near Waldeigh Falls to take a picture where it was flooded back in February. This is the same spot where a picnic table was wrapped around the tree on the right of this picture.

And looking back down the bridge.

The last stop for a picture was the same spot where I took a picture of a field on Jacobs Well Road. Looks like they are getting ready to plant. I will have to stop here in August to get some fresh corn. I don't know if it will be growing in this field or another one, but will keep an eye on it.

The ride turned out to be one of those rides where I'm really glad I got out and rode. I did much better than expected. Perhaps the extra weight lifting I'm doing with my legs is paying off.

Wednesday Evening Ride

Since I have been able to work at home 2 days/week, I haven't been riding in the evenings as much. I usually go for rides during lunch on those days and ride on the weekends. Tonight, I got out  and did the Brentwood loop. I enjoy the evening rides. Don't have to worry about sunscreen and the roads seem to have a little less traffic. But, you do have to be careful not to ride into the setting sun on roads with no shoulders. Here are some pictures from the ride.

Route 111A

Over 2000 people met in Brentwood for a peace rally in protest of Jame Madison's war of 1812. They thought the war would effect the shipping industry, which it did.

Junction of Lake Road and South Road

Rockingham County Complex

Blue sky and cumulus clouds

I walked out my door, looked out towards Pawtuckaway Mountain and saw a blue sky with bright white cumulus clouds. Great day for a ride. I rode out Drinkwater road again from Exeter through Kensington and into Hampton Falls.

Then Crossed over to Brown Road.

Along the Bay

Sunday's ride was along Great Bay starting with New Road from Newfields to Newmarket, through downtown Newmarket and onto Bay Road. Sunday was especially warm for early April. Temps were in the upper 70's and very little traffic on the roads. Bay Road offers some enjoyable rollers with good runs down some hills that can carry you most of the way up the next hill. I ended up in Dover for the family's Easter gathering.

Great scenery along the way.