North from Kittery Point & cookout - May 18, 2016

RIDE REPORTS

Wednesday, May 18, 2016, North from Kittery Point & cookout

Ride Leaders:  Karen Saltus & Ken Hablow

32 & 52 miles, 10:30 am start from leader's home, Kittery Point, ME

Riders - 32 mi (6):  Karen, Carol Anderson, Dale Ferguson, Russ Keene, Selig Saltzman, and Susan Sabin.

Riders - 52 mi (17):  Ken, Adena Schutzberg, Barbara Martin, Bob Wadsworth, Curt Dudley-Marling, Dave Balaban, Frank Hubbard, Gardner Gray, Gene Ho, Greg Stathis, Jack Donohue, Larry Kernan, Mary Kernan, Rich Taylor, Rick Lawrence, Robin Frain, and Ron Cater.

Present at ride start & lunch:  Helen Greitzer.

Short Ride Report:

Six of us left a few minutes after the long ride group under beautiful, partly sunny skies.  We stopped briefly in York Harbor where we viewed interesting metal sculptures in a small park overlooking the ocean.  (I had cycled past there many times and not noticed these small figures, until I was riding one day with Bob and Carol Anderson and they pointed them out.)  A few minutes later the longer ride group passed us. (Ken told me later that they stopped at a scenic spot before the park, but, since it was off the route, we didn’t see them.)  They were leaving Nubble Light (aka The Nubble) just as we were arriving.

We stayed for a few minutes and then continued riding north, unfortunately getting caught on a stretch of torn up road that was being worked on.  Smooth pavement never felt so good after that bit of rough road . . .  We took a slight detour through a neighborhood with beautiful oceanfront homes and then turned inland.  Selig was interested in climbing Mt. Agamenticus, but wanted to get home to Boston before it got too late, and so didn’t take the eight mile detour.

At the Kittery/York reservoir, we stopped for a little while, soaking up the sun and beautiful scenery.  Then we headed back to the leader’s house for food, folks, and fun.

The leader was a little nervous leading her first ride for the WWs and wishes to thank everyone for making it such a positive experience.  It’s an absolute pleasure to ride with such courteous and safe people.  Thank you!

Report by Karen Saltus.

Long Ride report:

This was a picture-perfect day.  With a light south wind we rode as a group at 16-18 mph on the very pretty coastal roads up to Ogunquit.  This time of year there was no tourist traffic, so we flew along York Beach up to Nubble Light.  After a diversion on a coastal road with a beautiful view of York Harbor, Shore Road took us to Ogunquit.  Some of us made a short diversion into Perkins Cove.  Those that elected to strictly follow the GPS route went on ahead, so we were now separated into two groups.

Everything came back together at the top of Mt. Agamenticus - some of us thought that this was a much more difficult climb than Mt. Wachusett, in that it is constant up with some grades over 15%.  The view from the top is spectacular, with the ocean to the east and several mountain ranges to the north.

After the descent, Sandy heard a crack and stopped to find a broken spoke - he made it back fine.  Since we were all pretty close together we seldom needed arrows.  Whenever we got a bit spread out, we stopped to collect everybody.

Thanks to Greg for sweeping, and to our “local tour guide,” Bruce, who is a neighbor of Karen’s.  There is nothing better than local knowledge.

We got back to Karen’s earlier than expected and enjoyed a great lunch, with Karen flipping burgers and rolling dogs, lots of yummy salads and vegetarian dishes, plus cookies galore.  Kudos to Karen for putting on such a nice “feed” and offering the use of her home.

Report by Ken Hablow.

Long Ride Pictures