RIDE REPORT
Wednesday, 26 October 2016, Colorful Country Collage & ME Seacoast rides & LUNCH
Ride Leaders: Joanne Samuels & Ken Hablow
26 & 48 miles, 10:30 am starts from Joanne's house, Portsmouth, NH
Ride Leaders: Joanne Samuels & Ken Hablow
26 & 48 miles, 10:30 am starts from Joanne's house, Portsmouth, NH
Riders - 30 mi (12): Joanne, Bob Anderson, Carol Anderson Dale Ferguson, Don Mannes, Susan Sabin, Tom Lucas, and first-timers Jackie Terkow, Jane Harrington, Kathy Paradis, Lillian Hurn, and Peter Terkow.
Riders -48 mi (9): Ken, Bernie Flynn, Bob Wolf, Curt Dudley-Marling, Dom Jorge, Francie Sparks, Gene Ho, Julie Dodd, and Russ Keene.
Present at ride start & lunch: Helen Greitzer.
Present at lunch: Karen Saltus.
The Wednesday short ride this week started at Joanne's house in Portsmouth. We actually combined some of the members of the Tour de Tuesday group, that rides in NH on Tuesday evenings, with the Wednesday Wheelers to create a group of twelve. After practicing a few times with the leader-arrow-sweep system, we were well on our way and stayed together without incident. The weather was a bit on the cool side, with some wind. However, the sun peeked through and warmed us a bit along the way.
We rode through the towns of Newington, Greenland, North Hampton, and Rye to make a lovely, fall thirty mile route. The trees were just a tad past peak, but, with many of the trees losing their leaves, we were able to view the scenery which included Great Bay and large expanses of farmland. The climax of the ride was when we came upon the glistening Atlantic Ocean from atop a slight hill. The isles of Shoals were in perfect view. Then we headed home through the town of Rye for more color, on streets with few cars. There were no mechanical or other difficulties.
Once home, we gathered for three different kinds of soup and lovely salad and dessert contributions. People stayed for a while to chat and reconnect. It was a fun afternoon. Thanks to Helen for warming the soup, so it was ready for us we returned, and to all who contributed such delicious food items.
Once home, we gathered for three different kinds of soup and lovely salad and dessert contributions. People stayed for a while to chat and reconnect. It was a fun afternoon. Thanks to Helen for warming the soup, so it was ready for us we returned, and to all who contributed such delicious food items.
Report by Joanne Samuels.
There was a chill in the air. After all, this was the coldest day since last April. With the temperature for the day hovering around 44 degrees and moderate amounts of sunshine, nine of us started out on a rolling 49 mile ride. Once we crossed the bridge into Kittery we spent the next 20 miles along the coast up to Ogunquit. We had a slight headwind and lots of sun along the coast to offset the temperature.
It was near low tide. The beaches were devoid of people. The long expanses of wet sand were quite beautiful and a bit eerie. It was apparent that after tourist season all the public restrooms are shut down. Leaving York Beach, we rode up to Ogunquit on Shore Road which is twisty and rolling. We spied a great place by a pond, where we could get off the road and claim it a DPS (Designated Pee Stop) with a view.
It was near low tide. The beaches were devoid of people. The long expanses of wet sand were quite beautiful and a bit eerie. It was apparent that after tourist season all the public restrooms are shut down. Leaving York Beach, we rode up to Ogunquit on Shore Road which is twisty and rolling. We spied a great place by a pond, where we could get off the road and claim it a DPS (Designated Pee Stop) with a view.
The route back from Ogunquit took us inland on some very quiet roads with a few rolling hills, past the Stonewall Kitchen headquarters, and into a bit of Eliot, ME. With the promise of a great feed of three homemade soups and assorted salads, combined with the fact we never passed a place to eat that was open, we made a short “lunch” stop so people could eat out of their back pockets. Okay, Stonewall has a great restaurant, but we wanted to get back in time to miss the afternoon commuter traffic.
I have come to realize that we have two seasons in New England. Southern NE has Winter and Construction. That accounted for all the newly paved roads this summer. The northern states have Construction and Summer. We hit one single lane site in Portsmouth, going out and coming back. The next one we encountered was the last turn to Nubble light. Several of us got to this site before the others and there was a cop on a construction detail right at the turn. I stopped to ask her if she would direct the other riders in our direction - she laughed and was glad to do so. Going into Ogunquit we came upon a Road Closed sign which we promptly ignored. It looked like a water pipe installation and the right side of the road was a mess with lots of big equipment. There was a large Caterpillar front end loader blocking the left side, but the driver nicely backed out of the road and waved us through. Only in Maine.
With a small group, all compatible, we only used a few human arrows. Thanks to Gene for sweeping, which was a good thing since with seven riders in red, one in blue, Gene stood out draped in yellow with a yellow helmet. Along with his flashing headlight he was quite visible in my mirror. As long as I could see Gene, I knew that he could see the rest of the riders and where we were going. We did make a few regrouping stops at critical points.
Thanks to Joanne for the great spread she put out for the after-ride party at her house.
I have come to realize that we have two seasons in New England. Southern NE has Winter and Construction. That accounted for all the newly paved roads this summer. The northern states have Construction and Summer. We hit one single lane site in Portsmouth, going out and coming back. The next one we encountered was the last turn to Nubble light. Several of us got to this site before the others and there was a cop on a construction detail right at the turn. I stopped to ask her if she would direct the other riders in our direction - she laughed and was glad to do so. Going into Ogunquit we came upon a Road Closed sign which we promptly ignored. It looked like a water pipe installation and the right side of the road was a mess with lots of big equipment. There was a large Caterpillar front end loader blocking the left side, but the driver nicely backed out of the road and waved us through. Only in Maine.
With a small group, all compatible, we only used a few human arrows. Thanks to Gene for sweeping, which was a good thing since with seven riders in red, one in blue, Gene stood out draped in yellow with a yellow helmet. Along with his flashing headlight he was quite visible in my mirror. As long as I could see Gene, I knew that he could see the rest of the riders and where we were going. We did make a few regrouping stops at critical points.
Thanks to Joanne for the great spread she put out for the after-ride party at her house.
Report by Ken Hablow.
Long ride photos courtesy of Russ Keene.
Short riders at lunch (photo by Don Mannes)
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