Plum Island Ride

Yesterday, I finally had a chance to try something a bit more challenging. I rode my longest distance covered in one day so far - 167km (104mi) to Newburyport, MA and Plum Island, and back. For some of you riding 100mi in a day is not a challenge, I know. But since I explained before that I have no intention of riding longer distances than 150-160km a day, I wanted to see how my untrained body would respond to such a prolonged physical activity. Plus, Plum Island is a beautiful place worth visiting whether by bike or not. Sightseeing was certainly my other motivation on this ride.

I left my house at 6:30AM when the sky was still cloudy and it was pleasantly cool. I quickly found my way through Winchester and Reading and reached Harold Parker State Forest, a place I have never visited before. It was a real pleasure to ride a bike there early in the morning - roads were empty, quiet, it wasn't hot (yet) and views were very rewarding.

At the Stearns Pond in Harold Parker State Forest

 

I was moving forward at a pretty good pace, easily maintaining 20km/h average speed. Next, I reached Georgetown with its small town center and Byfield, which looks like some "sleepy hollow" village - it's tiny.

After that, I had to cross I-95 and merge with the southern part of Clipper City Rail Trail. This section is not officially considered a bike path, I assume. It is wild, narrow, unpaved, but it was a welcomed change from all those rural roads shared with other traffic.

 Bike dog - a sculpture at the Clipper City Rail Trail in Newburyport, MA

The northern section of the trail, beginning at Parker St in Newburyport resembles the Minuteman Bikeway in my town, except that it's much nicer, being smoothly paved and having a number of interesting sculptures displayed next to it.

Around 10:30AM I reached the waterfront in Newburyport. I could take a break and relax for a while. The sun was already up high in the sky so I had to find some shade (I usually overheat easily). Plum Island was next, but before I headed there, I decided to take a short walk through the downtown.

I really like Newburyport. It is a larger seaside town but a lot of buildings in the downtown were preserved with their original, industrial character. At the same time, once you leave the center of the town, you can find some wooden fisherman's cottages. It's fun to visit this place if only to walk the streets for a while.

It was time move again, so I started riding east towards Plum Island. The views from Plum Island Turnpike are spectacular thanks to salt marshes created at the mouth of Merrimack River and abundant birds living there.

My next stop was at the gate to Parker River National Wildlife Refuge on Plum Island. It's only $2 for a cyclist to enter this place. If you a beach person, you will be delighted. I am not, so I wasn't planing on frying on the beach and decided to focus on wildlife and views instead. My only problem was that Plum Island is like a large frying pan - there is no shade. I had to be careful and pouring some water on my cycling hat helped me staying cool.

Roughly half way down the island, the pavement ends and I started riding on gravel. That wasn't a problem at all (I am using 35mm wide tires on my bike, no skinny road slicks) but occasional passing cars put huge clouds of dust up in the air, which made my riding there a bit less pleasant.

I reached the southern tip of the island and I finally found some place to sit down in a shade. I needed a rest, not from riding, but the heat. I stayed there for a while and after that, it was time to start riding back. The way back north was actually much more pleasant. Not only sun was hitting my back, not my face, but there was finally some breeze coming from the ocean.

I took route 1A south towards Ipswitch and my cycling computer was showing me that I have just passed 110km (68mi) of my ride. My stomach was telling me it was definitely time for a lunch (I only had a couple of granola bars so far). It was difficult to ride those last few kilometers (due to hunger) to finally reach the Clam Box of Ipswitch. I had a chance to visit this place before and the seafood they sell is excellent. Unfortunately, I'm not the only one who knows about it. There are always long lines in front of the Clam Box and yesterday wasn't different. On top of that, every day around 2:00PM they take a 20min. break to replace frying oil, which means even a longer delay. I was there at... 1:50PM.

But I was lucky as the oil change was not scheduled until 2:30PM and after roughly half an hour I could enjoy a lobster roll with a salad. It was time to hop back on the bike but that's where I had a little crisis. Somewhere around the 120km (75mi) of my ride I felt very tired. My legs were fine so I think it was just a general exhaustion. I was still moving forward, still maintaining 20km/h average, but the ride wasn't as enjoyable as before anymore.

I reached Topsfield and entered Topsfield Linear Common - a narrow bike path in the forest. I don't know if the full length of this path looks like in the picture below, but this trail is pretty long, reaching south of Danvers eventually. I only rode a short fragment of it - I wasn't going to Danvers, but Boxford and North Reading.

Once I got close to North Reading and around 140km (87mi) I somehow felt better again. Maybe my body needed time to digest the food and replenish energy reserves, maybe I learned to ignore the feeling of exhaustion or maybe it was the sun that didn't feel as hot as on Plum Island.

I reached my house at 5:30PM, after 11 hours being away and 8 hours of non-stop riding. I was sweaty and tired but not completely exhausted. It was definitely a fun ride and I am glad I tried it. At the same time, I see that 120km seems better suited as my single-day distance, especially when it's sunny and hot.