DAYS 1&2 - The Blog, The Mood, and the Ride

In the previous blog, I talked a lot about the physical world. I talked about where I went, what I did, and, most importantly, how my bike was doing. I wrote the blog that I wanted to read when I first set out, and focused on the biking part of the trip. It is not true that I am no longer learning about my limitarions and preferences (today I learned how much I prefer roads over stone dust paths), but I do feel like I did a good job mentioning these things in my last blog.

As before, I'll post pictures with short descriptions, and I'll post some maps too, but the main body of the blog will be more of just rambles about biking, and the occasional bit of too-much-honesty to bear.

When I first started the ride, I was excited to break my personal records of daily time-on-bike, total kilometers, and number of days in a tent. If you would have stopped me at the side of the road on kilometre 90 of day 1, I would have told you that I'm prepared to ride all night, sleep as little as possible, and arrive in Toronto on Friday evening. Today, if you would have stopped me at the side of the road on kilometre 30 of the day, I would have told you to please airlift me back home.

It took me almost 10 hours to do a 4.5 hour ride, and the reason was (mostly) psychological. I started out along a trail, and after riding for eternities sandwiched between longer and longer breaks, I finally broke down at Danbury, my halfway point for the day. Things were going unbearably bad. The trail until then was mostly flat, downhill, stone dust, and a dedicated bike path. It was mind-numbingly dull. If I wanted the same experience, I'd go to a gym and put on a VR headset.

This made me realize that I like the hills, the abandoned barns, the friendly convenience stores, and the signs. I really like the signs, because it gives me a kind of an idea of what the people might be like. The bike turns what would have been a blink town into a short story. At first, the story is just a point on the map - a landmark, a checkpoint x km away. As one gets closer, one sees that each story has a lead-up, with road signs displaying distances, or campaign signs for some local election, or a school, or a church. Then more and more houses come along, and residential roads start splintering off of the main highway. After this, a pizzeria, or a shopping center comes by, and one really has time to read each and every sign. Then there's a big welcoming flower arrangement off the side of the road, bragging that this place has been settled for 300 years. Then come the lives of the people in the town. Maybe a weekly church group, or a yard sale, or the times and dates of farmers' markets. There are never big buildings, only houses, businesses, and churches. The town square, with a bit park and a large war memorial, is usually surrounded by a post office, a county clerk office, and maybe a library. People are walking around, and as one circles the town square, there's a moment to check the GPS, and to find the next destination. After leaving the town square, everything just reverses, until there is nothing but trees.

The smaller towns tell an even more heartwarming story. All there is to mark them is a gas station/convenience store/restaurant/sweet shop, where the entire town takes place. Everyone knows each other on a first name basis, and just chat about the day from across the room. The doors, walls, and sometimes even the bathroom are covered with trinkets, wood carvings, and old framed newspapers advertizing the town's claim-to-fame. This town had the first railroad in New England, that town is "home of the world famous gophers", this town was where a 60's sit-com once filmed an episode.

Many of these towns lost their value after the transition from railroad to cars. I wonder if they will suffer another loss if cars are replaced by some high-speed rail.

Yesterday, I biked 124km, and today I biked 97km, so I guess I'm not gonna do 100+km/day, but I will do it on average... Here's a map of what I did in the last two days:

Obligatory start picture:

It didn't take long to get to New Hampshire. Actually, it did take long, but I was in a good biking mood, and took no pictures of suburban Boston.

Find the number of British names in this picture:

I woke up too early, and had to take a nap. I found this patch of grass between a gas station entrance, and the highway, and managed to sleep here for two hours:

I took a picture of this railroad bridge being reclaimed by nature:

I climbed a big hill, and saw this food truck. I thought it was pretty

I didn't expect to see this flag so soon:

I don't remember why I took this picture. Maybe mountains?

Please don't get me started on modern day slavery in the US. There is a happy part to this, just after I took the picture, I biked closer to the front gate, where someone was exiting with a clipboard. He crossed the highway, right into the arms of a woman who was waiting for him with her car. They hugged tightly for a long time.

Some of these towns have funny names... Like Penacook:

After passing by Concord, I continued into the Northern Rail trail. As with all bike trails, this one was converted from an old railway bed. I'm so thankful for railways. The workers did so much work to flatten ground and make excellent trails.

This portion of the trail was quite scenic. The sunset made it even more beautiful

I set up my tent on the corner of a baseball diamond, right by the forest. Actually, the forest was just about 1m of trees which separated the northern rail trail from my tent. After setting everything up, I was surprised by a visitor:

I fell asleep quickly, and had an eventless night. I woke up ready to go, but it was so foggy!

Is this where baby trees are made?

The northern rail trail had some signs about its history. I found this one funny

I stopped to eat a peach near this ruined turntable. Though it looked like some kind of stonehenge from afar, before I read the sign

Bikes beware?

Some pastures:

Toddler toys next to adult toys

Some old rail on the northern rail trail! I wonder where this leads...

Ah yes, of course! I should have recognized that footprint. Wheelprint? I don't know, that joke sounded funnier in my head, and I'm too exhausted to come up with something else.

Along the side of the trail, every few meters, there is a pile of square lumber. Can you figure out what they are?

Okay, so I have no idea what these things are. I saw them a few times, hanging really high up above the trail, and to be honest, they kind of freaked me out. Gave me a creepy feeling, like it was some kind of spike trap, or that they were gallows... I tried avoiding going under them where I could.

I had lunch in Danbury, NH, whose claim to fame is that it's the only county where public drinking is allowed. Allegedly, this is where people meet up to do it. Sounds kinda silly if you ask me, but the hundreds of T-shirts for sale with the name of this tiny hill (which I already managed to forget) maybe say otherwise?

Okay, has science gone too far?

Insert your favourite political joke here:

I saw this purple cat just as it started raining

Moses' lament:

And then it started pouring. I got to Lebanon, where the local cafe was just closing as I arrived. I needed to charge electronics, eat lunch/dinner, and dry off to plan my next move, and found myself in this bar

Food was awesome, waiters were super cool, and I stayed there for like 3 hours while drying off, waiting for the rain to stop, and deciding to change my destinaton to Montreal instead of Toronto (will talk about this more next post). Anyway, after Lebanon, it was a short ride along the *paved* northern rail trail to get to West Lebanon. I crossed the Connecticut River into Vermont.

I couldn't find a "Welcome to Vermont" sign, so here's the best I can do:

Okay, so here's some proof that I've left New Hampshire. Look at the sign behind the "Welcome to New Hampshire" sign, and notice that only peple under the age of 18 need to wear seatbelts. This is because in New Hampshire, people live free then die. In Vermont, on the other hand, they hate freedom and death equally

Anyway, this is where I'm staying tonight. The sign is super retro, and my room contains a bed, which is exactly what I need right now.

Back to index