To the End of the World and Back - August 2, 2023

 RIDE REPORT

Wednesday, 2 August 2023, "To the End of the World and Back"

Ride Leader:  David Wean

27 mi, 10:00 am start from Hingham, MA

Riders (24):  David, Barbara Jacobs, Bill Perry, Cynthia Zabin, David Goldberg, Don Buchholtz, Elsa Lawrence, Frank Aronson, Gary Williams, Gene Ho, Gerry Sheetoo, Janusz Wicher, John Kitchen, Judy Perrin, Linda Moraski, Marie Keutmann, Melissa Norton, Richard Vignoni, Steve Bogue, Susan Sabin, Ted Nyder, Zach Woods, and first-timers Brian Meredith and Paul Loiselle.

After the first few miles on the road, we began our “tour de parks.”  We started with Weymouth's Osprey Overlook Park and then climbed through Great ("more than just pretty good") Esker Park (where we had a mishap - on the downhill side, one of the riders had a spill after hitting one of the water bars which are meant to divert water from the path, but can divert cyclists, too.  This resulted in a number of scrapes that were quickly addressed with band-aids provided by another rider).

We then meandered through Hingham's Bare Cove Park along the other side of the Back River estuary which divides Hingham and Weymouth.  Continuing by road through downtown Hingham, we made our way to World's End (admission fee, but fortunately we had enough Trustees memberships between us) where we enjoyed the water views from this fantastic park.  About half the group chose to ride the couple of miles of gravel paths all around the two hummocks that make up the park, while the others used that 45 minutes to stroll the sections closer to the entrance.

From there we cruised the smoother pavement on Jerusalem Road and Atlantic Avenue in Cohasset, passing lovely homes and enjoying some dramatic views, including a glimpse of a 1938 house designed by Gropius and Breuer.  In Cohasset center, most of us stopped for lunch at the several picnic tables in the park, with sandwiches from a few of the local restaurants, including one that had opened since the last time we ran this ride and another that is finally in full swing post-COVID.

After a couple more road miles and one last hill, we rolled along the stone dust Whitney Spur Bikeway, which led us back into Wompatuck Park to finish the ride.  Low average speed, but high average enjoyment.  Thanks to Zach for sweeping the ride, including the World's End paths, and to Barbara for her first aid supplies.

Report by David Wean.