Our 13-mile route was mostly on trail, giving the six of us a chance to chat rather than keep a mindful eye on motorists and making sure we didn’t miss a turn. Even better, we got to explore a section of the D&L Heritage Trail that is now fully open to Bristol, unlike our (still-fun) experience last year that involved following some dirt trails to get around blockages. Plus this will soon officially become part of the East Coast Greenway. What an improvement on the Trenton-to-Philadelphia route we rode a few years ago! (For a fresher report on the route to Philadelphia, click here.)
We found beer made using spontaneous fermentation and the technique of the ancients. And then (modern) ice cream.
Last month’s bike ride to Screamin’ Hill sparked a discussion of other area breweries — places I, as someone who doesn’t love beer, hadn’t heard of. But, hey, they make good bike-ride destinations. And the one four of us cycled to on Sunday definitely is out of the ordinary.
You see, the Referend Bier Blendery in Pennington (or perhaps it’s really Hopewell Township) believes in using the bacteria in the air for spontaneous fermentation. I’m not going to claim I understood everything about this approach, which goes back to the ancients and has at its core “as little interference as possible” in the process. But even I know that using a truck parked outside to house “The Coolship” is out of the ordinary.
A camping option smackdab between New York City and Philadelphia.
Lots of space!
There are plenty of places to stay along the East Coast Greenway — unless you want to camp. That’s one of the challenges of a route that goes through densely populated urban areas as it connects some of America’s largest cities.
So add this camping option to the list — and in New Jersey no less, the most densely populated state. Mercer County, smackdab between New York City and Philadelphia, has just opened 10 camping spots in one of its biggest parks. Cost is $20 per night for no more than seven nights.
Three days, about 170 miles on the East Coast Greenway. Plus another 40 miles around Portland.
Live by the Garmin, die by the Garmin.
We certainly needed the help of our electronic gadget to find a few trails that are part of the East Coast Greenway on the second half of our P2P (Providence to Portland) adventure.
I’m especially thinking of one with an unmarked, overgrown entrance on curve of a neighborhood street and another spot where it helped navigate us from Somerville’s Assembly Point neighborhood to the start of the Bike Trail to the Sea in Everett (though we still struggled with the MBTA parking lot and roads surrounding it — how about signage for the benefit of area residents, never mind strangers like us, Everett?)
But we also opted to follow the Garmin’s directions over East Coast Greenway signs, and that led us to this “road” in North Berwick, Maine:
We decided to take a long bike ride on the East Coast Greenway — from Providence, Rhode Island, to Portland, Maine. So P2P. Only you can’t leave a car overnight on the streets of Providence and we could leave it in a friend’s garage just outside Boston. Small change of plans. Part 1 of our trip would be a two-day ride south to Providence. Then we’d take the commuter train back to Boston, see our friends again and then head north to Portland.
We met three of our fellow riders from the annual Week-a-Year riders at North station and headed out. It was a gorgeous day and lots of other people were out on the Charles River Esplanade or out on the water. The path itself is decades old and not as wide as you’d build it today, so not a place for fast riding. And those who prefer a more direct route may be annoyed at following the curves in the Charles River and the zigs and zags of the Blue Heron Trail.
One of the day’s highlights: seeing a section of the Mass Central Rail Trail under construction. This is what was once a 104-mile railroad line that ran from Northampton to Boston; 47 miles are open as a trail. Getting more miles open will be a big step toward completing the East Coast Greenway in Massachusetts and giving cyclists an alternative to some busy roads, both for recreation and for transportation.
This should be open in a few weeks.
Refueled with dumplings and, later, lemonade from some entrepreneurial fourth-graders, we reached the Assabet River Rail Trail. And when there is a crosswalk leading to an ice cream spot, well, how do you not follow it?
This is two scoops at the appropriately named Reason to be Cheerful just outside Hudson.
And if that wasn’t enough ice cream, there is a microcreamery in the cute downtown of Hudson. We didn’t stop there, so someone else can decide which is the better choice.
Good thing we did take a break, though, because we soon moved on to quiet roads and hills. And hills. They didn’t stop until we got to our hotel in Worcester. A 58-mile day. (Train service back to Boston for those who want it.) Think I earned the mountain the bbq nachos (yes, so large a portion that the waitress asked if I was sure I wanted the full portion and not the half portion like the guy at a nearby table. Not like I didn’t have two people to help me. And then there’s always leftovers for breakfast.)
Day 2 took the three of us who remained through the Blackstone River Heritage Corridor. The vision is a 48-mile trail from downtown Worcester to India Point Park at the southern end of Providence (and the start of another trail). So far just 17 miles have been built, mostly in Rhode Island, and we rode most of them. Massachusetts, this is another project that would go a long way toward completing your part of the East Coast Greenway. And based on how busy it was in Rhode Island, it would be a popular project.
Is this a new section of the East Coast Greenway at the southern end of Worcester or just a spur of the Blackstone River Trail?
And check out this mural on the side of Walmart in Worcester:
We picked up the trail in earnest in Millville, where we also met up with Jack, a former WAY rider, and his friend Ethan. It was all flat from here, across the state line into Rhode Island and through Woonsocket, Central Falls and Pawtucket into Providence. Most impressively, whenever there were gaps in the trail, the on-road segments were well-signed. Note the distance in this one to both Calais, Maine, and Key West — all that’s missing is an East Coast Greenway sticker!
Speaking of signage, that’s another task for Massachusetts, where we saw only a handful of East Coast Greenway signs. The organization is working on this, but local communities should think about mileage and directional signage for their own residents.
Love this one:
Leave it to Jack to find a sweet ending to our 55-mile day.
The B&A Trail uses an old rail line that connected, well, Baltimore and Annapolis. Today it’s a well-used 13-mile trail along part of that line that ties into the BWI Trail around the airport with the help of a short connector. Loved seeing the private connections from yards to the trail!
The East Coast Greenway’s 2018 edition of its Week-A-Year Tour is over after 369 or so miles across 6 days. But some of us weren’t quite ready to get off the bike, and so we joined Titusville residents for a 10-mile fun ride on its trail and its Chain of Lakes Park.
Props to the 7-year-old in the group. Not only did she ride the whole way, but when her handlebar grip went flying off, causing her to lose her balance and tumble onto the grass, she bounced up with “don’t worry, I’m fine” to her mother. That’s the attitude!
We northeners remained fascinated with alligators, stopping twice for photo ops. What a big one! It hung around for a while before tiring of our gawking, lifting itself up and waddling into the water.
Roundabouts on a rail-trail? Found ‘em in Florida. And
What a day!
This is the last full day of the 2018 edition of the East Coast Greenway’s annual Week-A-Year fundraising ride, and we spent much of it pedaling on quiet roads or trails— including 34 straight miles on the East Central Rail Trail, part of the Coast-to-Coast Connector that will stretch from Titusville on the Atlantic side of Florida to Tampa-St. Pete on the Gulf of Mexico side. (It’s 80% complete.)
The sights and sounds of the fifth day of the 2018 edition of the East Coast Greenway’s annual Week-A-Year Tour.
The most memorable sound of day 5 of the East Coast Greenway’s Week-A-Year Tour: the boom from the SpaceX rocket launched this afternoon at Cape Canaveral that we heard (and felt the rumble) 60 miles away in Daytona.
Second sound of the day: the roar of the ocean, heard from the hotel room balcony. (If only it was warm enough to feel like we should be playing on the beach.)
Yes, we are in the spring break capital of America. And we are hearing that Daytona Beach wants to change its image, attract more people like .. us. That would be adults on bikes.
Fabulous riding in Florida, aided by a powerful headwind.
We were blown down the coast of Florida today, propelled by a strong tailwind that had us hitting close to 25 mph on flat road while pedaling seemingly effortlessly. That’s a casual pace for the Tour de France, but a speed we mortals can’t sustain. Wow! (And so glad we weren’t trying to go north.)
Florida is quite the contrast to Georgia. Lots more money. Lots. The East Coast Greenway route took us down the coast, so start with normal beach towns. Then ramp it up and up and up some more as you hit Ponte Vedra Beach. We took the residential road one block in from the beach that ran for miles, and the estimates for the value of these mansions kept rising — a million or two dollars at a time. All ginormous. As for their beauty, well, it’s a matter of taste. One rider called it F-you money. As for me, I wondered how many of them take advantage of taxpayer-subsidized flood insurance. Not that they would see it as a handout, of course. And who does the work maintaining their yards and cleaning their homes?
But let me start at the beginning of a great day. We pedaled a few miles from our hotel off the main drag in St. Mary’s to the historic part of town, where East Coast Greenway had chartered an hour-long ferry ride across the St. Mary’s River to Fernandina Beach, Florida. Folks in St. Mary’s want to turn this into regular service, and I hope they succeed. There’s certainly a well-connected and enthusiastic cheerleader for the area. Amelia Island in Florida was beautiful, and more trails are being developed; St. Mary’s needs to find a way to lure tourists — in this case, cyclists — across the river. What story can it tell?
The 
The most memorable sound of day 5 of the 
Exploring by bicycle 