Exploring by bicycle

30 miles in New York City and 1 crazy squirrel

Can you name the 5 islands on this bike ride?

My training for the two Week-a-Year rides is slowly kicking into gear. Sunday I got on the train early to join the East Coast Greenway’s 5-Island bike ride. And what a ride! What a crowd! We’ve never had this many people on one of the New York one-day rides.

Here’s just some of the group at the northern tip of Roosevelt Island:

Yes, Roosevelt is one of the five islands we hit. Can you guess the other four?

OK — here’s the answer; Manhattan, Randalls and Ward islands and Queens. Plus we were in the Bronx, entering via the High Bridge and passing within a block of Yankee Stadium before reaching Randalls Island via the new Randalls Island connector. I have to say the High Bridge is nicely done and sorely needed by area residents, but it’s not exactly offering one of those beautiful vistas — unless looking down on lots of railroad tracks is your thing. In other words, I still want to get to the Walkway Over the Hudson in Poughkeepsie.

For those who do the crazy full 5-Borough Bike Ride, we saw more of the Bronx than you did.

The big crowd (and red lights) slowed us down. It got chilly. It even rained a bit. Some people got impatient. Others found it hard going as the miles mounted. But Roosevelt Island was worth the wait — especially because of this, the crazy squirrel. This one had clearly learned that humans = food, and he knew how to beg. And he also did something I have never seen a squirrel do: jump onto a bike:

TWO bike rides this year!

I’m riding twice for the East Coast Greenway this year — from the Canadian border to Portland, Maine, and from Raleigh, North Carolina, to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

The East Coast Greenway’s Week-A-Year ride continues to roll down the coast — and another effort is starting from the top.

So I’ll be going from Raleigh to Myrtle Beach in October AND I’ll be going from the Canadian border to Portland, Maine from July 30 to Aug. 6. Each ride will top 300 miles — the Maine ride is closer to 350 miles.

I’m looking forward to being part of the 2016 version of this photo:

Since we’ll be shuttled from Portland to the border that Saturday late afternoon, you know I’ll be crossing into Canada for a stamp in my passport to mark the ride.

Better yet, I’ll be riding with three of my best friends!

The Carolinas ride is Oct. 2-8. And when that’s over, I will have ridden my bike from Philadelphia to Myrtle Beach on the East Coast Greenway. The plan remains to hit Key West in 2019.

This route is 100% mapped, but as I’ve seen on previous ride, there are many gaps between off-road trails. Some are quiet roads — almost as good as a trail! But in other spots, a trail is desperately needed, both for local residents and for long-distance riders.

Please help close the gaps by supporting my rides. The fundraising page (and pitch) is here.

As for me, I will still have gaps in my personal East Coast Greenway after 2016. My training goals this year include closing some of them. I want to ride several of the East Coast Greenway trails in Connecticut and go from Newark’s Ironbound section (Portugal!) to Metro Park’s Oak Tree Road (India!) and on to New Brunswick. Any interest in joining me? Or on another training ride?

Who are the riders?

The people who join the East Coast Greenway’s annual ride are an amazing group.

Some are staff members, and several are on the board. But many of the others are local advocates with great stories to tell. My roommate, Donna, for example, heads a local group that is building “Air Line South”, a spur trail to the East Coast Greenway. (The northern section is part of the route). Why is it called Air Line Trail? The name comes from the old railroad line that was to connect Boston and New York by the shortest distance possible via New Haven.

Then there’s Steve Mitchell, who came with a fold-up bike that promptly had a mechanical problem that couldn’t be fixed, at least locally. So he bought a new bike in order to keep riding. It’s the 10th between himself and his wife, going back to the bike he rode cross-country in 1977. Here he is with his latest:

By the way, Steve’s a big car dealer. You don’t have to like one or the other.

Another thing I love about this group is how low-key the riding is. No “teams” that are zipping by you in a pace line, intent on finishing early and then just sit around the hotel. No cliques.

That’s not to say I didn’t ride with a core group most days. And Bob, Ed with his Ed-rated banter and newcomers Sherri and Sue (plus their lipstick) were a great group. Looking forward to riding with all of you again next year!

Another question I got: when do we start riding? On our long days (those 70-milers), we started at 7:45 a.m. or so — once there’s plenty of daylight. Sometimes we have an event early in the day (a group photo for a newspaper, for example, or a meeting with a governor last year). We stop along the way, perhaps for lunch, perhaps for an event like the one in Lawrenceville for the Tobacco Heritage Trail. On shorter days, we were more inclined to sightsee early.

Trail angels in the Triangle

Pickles are a thing on North Carolina bike rides. Really.

More kindness in North Carolina:

The “stuff lady” — Stephanie Loyka of GoTriangle (sorry, I had mistakenly credited Triangle Bikeworks previously) — came with a bag of front, back and spoke lights. We got to pick one. I’m trying out the spoke light. Thank you!

Two local rest stops. Who knew that pickles are a thing on bike rides? Apparently they (or at least the pickle juice) is good for fighting cramps. So are a couple packets of yellow mustard. (I have yet to test this last idea, but I did try a pickle.) Mount Olive, NC, east of Fayetteville, is a big pickle area, but it looks like it might be too far east of the East Coast Greenway route we’ll be biking next year (to Fayetteville, Wilmington and along the coast).

And then these homemade cookies! I admit I can’t resist a chocolate chip cookie or three, but if there’s oatmeal in them, then they are healthy, right?

Thank you to everyone who helped with these two stops.

Seems like someone else couldn’t resist either:

Day 6 – Love those trails in the Triangle

I fell in love with the American Tobacco Trail and other trails in Durham, Cary and Raleigh.

This was our last day — and what a glorious day it was. It was sunny and warm, I had a chance to catch up with a friend over 7 or 8 miles before he had to peel off — and then those trails!

They connected from Durham through Cary to Raleigh with almost no time on roads. They were straight, they curved, they swooped, they climbed … great variety. And they were well used, not only by cyclists.

I immediately fell in love.

Oh, if only more cities thought the same way.

Continue reading “Day 6 – Love those trails in the Triangle”

A glimpse of Durham

We made it to Durham, North Carolina.

Cool — our hotel is right next to the Durham Bulls baseball stadium. Just too bad there’s no game.

We found another bull, though:

This was the time for usual last-night group dinner. With one day left in the fifth Week-a-Year ride, those that have done them all are more than halfway to Key West (that’s the 2019 goal). We also heard how the development of the American Tobacco Trail, which we will ride on Friday, was instrumental in revitalizing Durham. Tobacco is gone, but the old buildings have been converted into multi-use spaces. DPAC, the big performing arts center, is next to our hotel. And our hotel has eight u-shaped bike racks out front!

A short walk way was our barbecue place for the evening and another hopping restaurant across the street.

And we’re still a few miles from Duke, so I feel we’ve barely scratched the surface of this city. I’m curious to see more.

Day 5 – Welcome to North Carolina

We got an unusually warm welcome to North Carolina.

Today we finally reached another state!

Once again, we had a lot of quiet country roads, at least for the first half of the 61-mile day. But unlike Virginia, the route was well-signposted with East Coast Greenway markers. So nice not to be wed to our cue sheets! (Why almost no signs in Virginia? The explanation is after all the photos.)

We also had a special North Carolina welcome from Mary, who actually lives in Virginia and was part of our Tobacco Heritage Trail welcome back in Lawrenceville two days ago. Just after crossing the state line, this man was waving us over to the left. I was thinking: “doesn’t the route go straight?” But a bunch of us followed his directions anyway, into a park, and there was Mary. She’d set up a table with Gatorade, granola bars and even a vase of flowers. Behind it was a lake and her favorite view.

What a wonderful thing to do for us! And love that Virginia-North Carolina bike flag!

The area in front of the orange rope/marker is the swimming area .. only thanks to Joaquin, there is no beach. The depth markers show the lake is 11 feet deep at the orange marker. Before the storm, it was just two feet deep, she told us.

As nice as those quiet country roads are, we got a look at what the future of the East Coast Greenway. The vision is to convert this abandoned railway line from Clarksville, Va., to Oxford, NC, (our halfway point) into a rail trail.

Back to those East Coast Greenway signs. Why are there none in Virginia outside of Richmond? The explanation I got is that that Virginia DOT requires outfits to use a particular sign company and to have an expensive maintenance contract with that firm. The only way around is to be a VDOT program. And being recognized by the Department of Natural Resources as one of the state’s half-dozen long-distance trails doesn’t cut it.

So Adventure Cycling, whose U.S. Bicycle Route System is being developed with the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, gets its U.S. Bike Route 1 and 76 signs, and the East Coast Greenway (which prefers trails) still has to jump through some more hoops to be signposted on quiet roads.

Paah (that’s pie with a southern twist)

Well-earned dessert.

Yum! Wednesday night .. I’m one of those who couldn’t resist:

Building more of the East Coast Greenway

Another section of the Tobacco Heritage Trail is under construction.

We rode another stretch of the Tobacco Heritage Trail on Wednesday, this time on the edge of Boydton, the county seat of Mecklenburg County — and population 431 in the 2010 census. Yes, we are biking through small towns, towns that certainly could use an economic boost that cyclists using the East Coast Greenway could provide.

We saw some trail under construction east of where we picked up this stretch of the Tobacco Heritage Trail, and it will eventually be another part of the East Coast Greenway. It’s always cool to see the East Coast Greenway become more off-road on these rides. But Tobacco Heritage Trail organizers, why wait to get some basic information onto the kiosk?

The stretch of trail we rode Wednesday was just one mile long. Once we rode into Boydton, we essentially doubled back halfway on the road to our lunch spot. Hope the Copper Kettle puts up some yard signs by the trail to attract some riders. After Boydton (we saw one restaurant near the main square), it’s empty back roads (and no food) until Clarksville.

How empty?

This is from when gas sold for 65.9 cents a gallon:

Virginia’s tobacco history

A look at the South Hill’s Tobacco Farm Life Museum of Virginia

With Wednesday just a short day, many of us opted for a late start so we could visit the local museums in South Hill. After all, tourism is part of bike touring.

I passed on the doll museum (a local woman’s large collection) and the train museum (the layout of the local club plus part of another collection — I was told it was impressive) and just went to the tobacco museum for a bit of education.

Tobacco is still part of the area economy, but with the help of machines, three people can plant an acre in an hour or two, not the full day it took a century ago. Back then, you used a wooden peg to make the hole for the plant (not too different, really, than I sometimes do in my garden), then use this metal contraption that would drop a seedling into the hole and add water.

Leonard, who runs the museum, gave me a peek into the sheds where they once dried tobacco leaves, a process that took days and a fire that kept the space around 120 degrees. My bet is that today, those men would be barbecue pit masters.

It sounds like a hard life.

Some more pictures from the museum:

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