I was thinking of our good friend Lolo when I took these pictures; to welcome her back to New England and remind her that there is beauty on the back roads. KJ says that Lolo doesn't have internet access for a few days - but she'll see these pictures sometime.
This is a portion of the trail. The day started out with blue skies but rapidly got overcast - which I prefer for riding anyways. It was slow going on this trail - it's covered in sand and cinders and it was like bog riding. Took me 1 hour to go 5 miles - I felt like I had a brick tied to my bike. But I enjoyed the slow ride.
This lady was walking her dog - I liked her red shirt against the green....
A river scene. I'd love to be able to paint this.
At the end of the 5 long sloggy mile ride was the old freight building and depot. The depot is being restored but the freight building was completely overgrown with weeds and trees. We later read that it's been abandoned since the 1970's - but was built in the 1850's. Gorgeous old building which deserves better than slowly falling down but yes..where is the money to come from - I know...I know!!
There was a good old fashioned general store at the end of the road, so we had an ice cream and sat on the porch for awhile. OK - time to go back - I psyched myself for the ride back and found it to be a piece of cake! I flew down that road and it only took about 1/2 hour to get back to the car. I kept wondering if it was the ice cream but that didn't make alot of sense - I know sugar gives you energy but this was like an energy injection!We found afterwards that there was a slow constant grade upwards on our ride out and a slow constant grade down on the way back. You literally can't see this grade when you're riding - so of course I thought it was me being lazy and slow. Ah well...the ride back was lovely and we came home to dinner on the grill and a movie. Which I fell asleep in front of. Head bobbing and all.
Hope you all had a lovely Saturday. I'm off to meet up with Grace and the boys for breakfast - a highlight of the week and then off to PEI tomorrow.
15 comments:
what utter beauty, simple, clean and nature as it is meant to be. we miss this in a big city...sigh..thanks for showing us.
Love the pictures. Thank you for sharing them. We have lots of bike trails on our old railroad beds out here in Wisconsin. They get a LOT of use.
I'm about ready to get a new bike and try them out with my new knees!
:)Bea //dog-in-the-hole-studio.blogspot.com//
Oh, I think these are the loveliest sommer photos I have seen! Your ride, the sites (I first typed sights...both are right?) just make me feel good to be alive, and I wasn't even there!
Nice story.
I would have to be stopping to look at birds or flowers along the way Mim. That is my ploy to get time to rest on a difficult grade. tee hee.... It looks and sounds like an interesting ride. No wonder you slept so well.
How pretty and green it is there. Lovely pictures.
That is beautiful countryside - sounds like a very fun bike ride. I'll be looking for your painting of the river you passed.
where is my comment? blogger is an equal opporunity pain in the ass sometimes....
i love these photos mim, especially the lady in red. it seems your dh keeps you moving in a healthy direction--painful during but very affirming afterwards.
you know i have a bike now and i wobble on it esp. when cars or people approach. but i'll get better. jb is pushing me along too.
i like your comments on my blog about friendship. very insightful indeed/
xoxox!
kj
A wonderful post, Mim - thanks for taking us along! I love the old building and the general store.
Ah I feel invigorated reading about your bike ride. I did enjoy it and loved the treat at the end(s). Our walk on the headlands yesterday was invigorating too. Love the great outdoors and wish we'd have time to do this MORE. I hope you paint that lovely scene! Do it!!!
I bought all the stuff to tune up the bikes this week, and I've ordered a hitch receiver for the mustang. Not very sports car like-but I love my hitch rack and it won't scratch the car.
I have a friend who is going to start meeting me at a local lake for a Sunday morning ride.
Looks like a lovely trip.An ice cream at the end - sugar on top!
dear friend, there is an award waiting for you on my blog. please come.
You really live in such a beautiful area. It always makes me a bit ... ok a lot ... jealous when I see how amazing it is there while I'm stuck here in hotter than heck Texas.
Wow, Mim, I'm enjoying roaming through your blog this morning, what gorgeous photos these are. I once went on a bike ride on an old railway track that did just the same as yours, a gentle slope up all one way and down the other. Sadly we did it the other way round and coming back was purgatory!!
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