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| Cones blocking bike path |
over 800 miles into our trek down the east coast with an estimated 2,000 cycling miles before we reach Key West. Urban cycling, tropical storm Henri and Hurricane Ida have hampered our progress.
We don’t think very much when we drive our car through an urban environment like Providence, Hartford, New Haven or Stamford. A bike rider does not have access to an interstate highway, but must find ways to navigate around, over or under these obstacles. Jay has been using the 
East Coast Greenway map that has reliable routes through these cities albeit on roads less traveled. Such roads are a mosaic of pothole patches, surrounded by hastily applied asphalt by construction crews, layered on an original road surface that is cracked by the ravages of time and extreme winter and summer temperature swings in the Northeast. Bicycle speeds rarely exceed 10 mph. However, such is the cost of seeing the east coast of America on a bicycle.
Hurricane Ida that pounded the Northeast with heavy rains had to be
accommodated. Jay split some of his long 70 mile rides into two-day rides to dodge rain showers. We were fortunate to find shelter from the worst of Ida at a hotel in Willimantic, CT. Willimantic, we discovered in our three day stay there, was once known as “Thread City.” Mills powered by the Willimantic River once dominated the town and were serviced by forty trains per day that stopped in this mill town. Who knew? There is also a legend about frogs, which led to the 11' high statues of frogs sitting on thread spools on the newest bridge in town.
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| Frog Bridge in Willimantic, CT |
The day after Hurricane Ida passed, Jay was anxious to get back on the road, but frantic warnings of flash flooding by the team on the Weather Channel, echoed by local newscasters further reinforced by warnings blaring on our phones gave both of us pause. Jay reworked his use of rails to trails (most likely under
water) to surface roads and reduced his mileage objective. He suggested we drive this new route in a car to check out conditions. Good thing! A major intersection at the start of his route was flooded. Since the sky was so clear and blue, Jay decided to try his shortened ride. He avoided the flooded highway section, but found other sections of his route underwater. Confidence on having unobstructed bike routes was fading.
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| Flooding on Route 6 |
water) to surface roads and reduced his mileage objective. He suggested we drive this new route in a car to check out conditions. Good thing! A major intersection at the start of his route was flooded. Since the sky was so clear and blue, Jay decided to try his shortened ride. He avoided the flooded highway section, but found other sections of his route underwater. Confidence on having unobstructed bike routes was fading.
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| Puritans had strict rules |
We spent Saturday night in Fairfield, CT. While Jay was cycling, Helen took advantage of some “time off” to explore. Checking out “Top 10 Things to do in (city)” on Trip Advisor is her go-to guide. The only thing that appealed was the Fairfield Museum. She spent a couple of hours there and enjoyed learning some local history.
Flooding is just one obstacle, but it is not uncommon for Jay to see signage reading “Road Closed.”
Such warnings, however, do not go unchallenged. Frequently a road closed to a car is passable by a bike.
In the meantime, we are staying warm and dry at the Marriott in Rye this Sunday afternoon of Labor Day weekend. The weather forecast for tomorrow looks pretty good; the chance of rain is 0-15%. Jay plans to be on his bike by 9am to cycle into Manhattan where we’ll have dinner with our friend Ida Cole.
Love seeing the photos that were taken. Especially the frogs on the bridge! They remind me of Turtle Cove!
ReplyDeleteGlad you guys are dealing well with the weather problems. That could be something that would get me down emotionally!