“Good ride!”

It was breezy in the morning when we both awoke around six. Something must have gotten into me as I was particularly organized in eating, breaking camp, and loading my bike for the last day of our Northeastern Loop ride. For the first time in the last twenty days I had my bike loaded and ready to roll before Denny. I guess it was the anticipation of getting home and seeing Joan for the first time in three weeks. It usually takes about two hours from wake up to roll out when we camp. Today we cut a full half hour off that time

Winds today again were favorable for most of the day. They were mostly tail to cross. It was much cooler today than the last two days. Actually it was chilly in the morning until the sun came through the clouds from time to time on this mostly cloudy day. We were now in very familiar territory for me. Our route would be from the campground to the bridge over the Connecticut River and then northeast paralleling the Connecticut River to Middletown on Route 154. I rode this route before and have driven it a number of times. The river road (as I call it) was much improved from the last time I rode it about eight years ago. The road is wider, has good paving except for a section on the hill just before Middletown, and is lightly traveled. Denny, the map man for the trip, had the CT cycling map and it shows the river road as a preferred bicycle route. There was no trouble finding the route to the bicycle and pedestrian lane of the bridge over the Connecticut. In contrast to the bridge over the Thames River this one was clear as shown on the map and clearly marked.

We had our final second breakfast in Essex. It was odd that no one there asked about our trip, where we were going or where we came from. It was as if they knew that I was going to be home later in the day so it was no big deal. There were a few good pictures left to take and the ride up the river road provided a few good choices. There is always a tendency not to take pictures of areas close to home that you have seen before so I put myself in the mindset of looking for good shots. Denny helped by saying “Photo opp!” a few times when I might have passed one up.

Beaver lodge off the river road.

As we approached Middletown just before Airport Road I needed to take a nature break so we stopped at a Duncan Donuts and each had a muffin and coffee as well. On the way in we met John in the parking lot, who did ask about our trip and told us of his preferred way to travel long distances; by train. He gave us a few tips about long distance train travel. His daughter was at the service counter and I called her by name when we reached the counter. It was no surprise to her as she saw us talking to her dad through the window.

The only bear we saw on the trip.

From Middletown we took Route 66. It was a bit dicey with the traffic from the center of town to the shopping area as the traffic was fast and there wasn’t much of a shoulder. From there on the road is new and has good shoulders. This area has just completed reconstruction and they flattened out the hills a bit which helped as we traversed up over to the ridge line where I-291 begins. There is a way to avoid going through the center of Meriden which I ride two or three times a year. You would never know you are riding through a city even though part of the route goes through residential city areas. To me this was very familiar as we rode on my high school bus route and at one point we were less than three hundred yards from where I grew up.

The ride in.

We arrived at my home at around 2:30 in the afternoon with the final leg of our trip being just fifty-five miles. After we parked the bikes in front of my garage Denny and I faced each other, shook hands and simultaneously said to each other: “Good ride.” A good ride it was.

Jim

Cycledog (Ride the extra mile!!)

© 2007 - JNS