It's the Bike To Work Month so I took a day off to bike

Today is the Bike To Work Day in the middle of Bike To Work Month. Sometimes I wonder why May is supposed to be the month when we should all bike to work? It must be about weather (which isn't that great in May anyway), because it can't be about the great bicycling infrastructure that suddenly appears overnight on May 1st and disappears on May 31st. If anything, the little infrastructure we get quickly disappears under wheels of parked cars. Bike lanes are the new free parking spots - didn't you get the memo?

LOL the @NYPDnews parking lot in the Utica Avenue bus lane is so chronic it shows up on Google streetview @NYCMayor pic.twitter.com/GJmorscEDs

— TransitCenter (@TransitCenter) May 3, 2018

Anyway, we had a company safety meeting recently and in one of the examples our director asked who biked to work that day. There was only one hand up in the air (yes, mine) but I can't blame my 70+ colleagues for not using their bicycles to get to work, even though I know many of them live nearby. There is simply nearly no bike-friendly infrastructure in this suburban Boston town, but instead we have multi-lane high-speed arteries with no sidewalks on either side. These mini-highways send a clear message - "You better drive buddy or stay home. Walking or cycling is not allowed here".

Buses are allowed if you are lucky to find any, as many suburban American towns lack decent bus routes. Speaking of which, I missed the Town Hall meeting last Wednesday in my town, Arlington, where a new pilot program for rapid bus transit was discussed in detail. Apparently, there is a chance for designating a bus-only lane on Mass Ave during rush hours, which is something I wrote about in the past, so this makes me very happy. Unfortunately, it's only a pilot program and it will run for just 1 month (in October) and only in the morning rush hours. I'm hoping it will become permanent. Otherwise, what's the incentive of using a bus if it gets stuck in traffic more than private cars?

But now back to my main point. Last Friday I decided it's time for a day off. Yes, it's the Bike To Work Month but doesn't Bike Instead Of Work sound much better?

This time I decided to explore Cheshire Rail Trail running between Winchendon, MA and Keene, NH. I had a bit late start at 10AM, but fortunately trail surface is pretty decent and smooth enough that I reached Keene by 1PM.

Cheshire Rail Trail is 100% unpaved until it reaches Keene town line.

I didn't stop at Keene for lunch, simply because I wasn't hungry and decided to continue along the route. At this point I had two options:

1. take Ashuelot Rail Trail south to Winchester, NH and then back to Winchendon or
2. take the more adventurous route through Pisgah State Park.

Since after riding flat rail trail I felt like being more adventurous, I opted for the State Park trail. It was obviously much more hilly than the flat Ashuelot Rail Trail, more wet and more muddy - to the point that I ended up sliding down on mud on Beal's Rd Trail and landing on my butt in the wet pile of leaves.

At the Fullam Pond in Pisgah State Park.

On top of that, there are several flooded sections further down the road and I carefully weighed my options on what to do in such situations. The first time I managed to carry my bike through by hopping from rock to rock. The second time I had to take shoes off since there were no rocks and water was way too deep to ride through it. The third time I figured I could probably ride through, but I ended up with completely soaked shoes and socks. The fourth stream crossing... it didn't matter anymore. My shoes were wet at that point, which means I should've have soaked them much earlier and not worry about it. (Note to myself - next time ride in sandals.)

But the flooded trail was actually sort of fun. At least I could keep my feet cool and refreshed. Much worse were those muddy places like Purcell Rd or Bullock Rd (see the map). It was impossible to ride there and I had to walk my bike sliding on muddy "roads" made by and for 4x4 ATVs.

Purcell "Road" - used only by 4x4 ATVs. No normal vehicle would be able to ride there, I think.

Reaching Ashuelot gave me a much-needed rest. Next, I took the short section of Ashuelot Rail Trail to reach Winchester, NH.

They don't really like Norman here...

From Winchester, I planned to stay off-road as much as possible and take "scenic roads" towards Winchendon, but somewhere around Richmond, NH I had enough. It was getting late, I was getting hungry and I had enough of mud for the day. I decided to bail out, stick to paved Rt 119 and get back to the Cheshire Rail Trail.

After nearly 9hrs of riding I was back at my car. I guess it was the adventure I asked for.