Goring Green-Going South: Our Story

Photos by Joseph Insalaco

What makes a great bicycle trip?  Could it be fantastic trails, scenic ocean-side cycling, historic B&Bs with wonderful hostesses, unique trail art, friendly people, or a coffee shop barista with long tattooed legs?  Our travels on the East Coast Greenway offered up all of this and more.   

Our journey on the northern section of the East Coast Greenway began with my drive to Joe’s home in New York.  The next day we drove to Bangor, Maine.   From Bangor we cycled the East Coast Greenway to Rye, New York (I had planned to cycle home to Virginia but that didn’t happen.) The East Coast Greenway is a 3,000-mile bicycle route between Maine and Florida. The nonprofit East Coast Greenway Alliance was started in 1991 to create a north-south route with off-road and shared-use paths.  Over 1,000 miles of the route (35%) has met the off-road and shared-use criteria.

Our usual Yellow Bike travel stories are a compilation of our daily experiences.  If you want to read our daily entries, they are found at our Going Green Going South blog. Unlike other Yellow Bike articles, this one only focuses on the highlights of our experience on this trip.  These highlights include: Joe’s cycling determination, interesting lodgings, and some of our more positive trail experiences.

Cyclist Joe Never Quits

I have cycled with Joe for over 20 years and am continually impressed with his need and ability to cycle as planned, regardless of the circumstance.  Nothing seems to deter him once he sets a goal.  Here are 2 examples from this trip: 

I went into Afib on our ride into Portland, Maine and was miserable.  The next day it was raining and we had a 64-mile ride to Kittery, Maine. I decided to rent a car to take me to the next hotel.  However, Joe was not one to let a little rain deter him from his planned ride.  Joe cycled on unpaved trails in the rain and when he got to the hotel he looked like a swamp monster–soggy and covered in mud.  As he entered the hotel lobby, the manager shrieked and ordered him to go back outside.  Despite the manager’s displeasure, he did provide Joe with rags to clean up.  Undeterred, Joe looked upon his mud-soaked body and bike with pride. Joe, our official photographer, did not take any selfies. 

The second example occurred where our journey ended, in Rye, New York.  An extreme heat wave hit the nation and we still had several long days ahead of us.  I had planned to cycle home to Virginia over the next 7 days (3 of which were in the 70 plus range) and Joe planned to return home after 2 more cycling days with his ride home day planned at 130 miles.  Because of the high temperatures, I rented another car but Joe decided to cycle home from Rye.  Not even considering a car ride, Joe cycled 85 miles to his home in temperatures near 100 degrees.  He rationalized that this was much shorter than his planned 130-mile day home.

Lodgings

Our lodgings ranged from adequate to plush. Since we stayed in many cities, these stays were expensive.  Ignoring the adequate ones and those that cost a fortune, some of the nicer hotels included the one in Salem, Massachusetts that was in the heart of downtown.  It was ultra-modern and very roomy.  It was also convenient for a walking tour of the city's historic sites. 

Many of the nearby homes dated to the 1700 and 1800s.  In addition, there were many “witch” related things to see in this town famous for its witch trials.  

Another interesting hotel was in New Haven, Connecticut that was located on Long Island Sound.  We had a corner room on the 7th floor that overlooked the bay.  From our window we watched a street party with thousands of people feasting at food trucks and grooving to pulsating music. In Edcome, Maine we stayed at the Sheepscot Harbour Village where we had a suite with 2 bedrooms, living room, kitchen, a fireplace, and a  bath bigger than some of the rooms we stayed on past trips.

Hotels usually offer us better accommodations—2 beds and allowing us to keep our bikes in our rooms.  Sometimes hotels are not available so we seek out bed and breakfast options.  We found 2 on this trip and were delighted with our stays.  The innkeepers at both of these B&Bs were charming women who not only opened their homes to us but made us feel like we were special guests.  The first was the Clark and Currier home in Newburyport, Massachusetts. 

This historic home dates back to 1803 and was built for Thomas March Clark, Sr. who was a shipbuilder.  Currier, who next owned the home, was a successful Manhattan silversmith who purchased the house as a summer retreat. His more famous cousin was one half of the lithographer team of Currier & Ives.   Our room was large with 2 beds and an ensuite bath.  Our bikes were safely locked up in the back garden. 

At breakfast, we were greeted by Catlin, our lovely and charming host. She provided several fresh fruit choices, yogurt, breads and muffins, and poached eggs with a hollandaise sauce.  She introduced us to her 5-year old daughter and 4-year-old son. It was tough leaving there. 

Our second B&B was in Pomfret, Connecticut.  There we stayed at the Gwyn Careg Inn (“Gwyn Careg” meaning “pure stone” in Welsh) that is a Colonial Revival historic home, built in 1761.  In the early 1900s a Spanish Garden was created.  It is surrounded by a ten-foot stone wall with cascading fountains and water motes in the center of the Garden.

We were greeted by Rose, the innkeeper who was a marvelous host.  While we were the only guests that night, the house and gardens were being readied for a wedding the following day.  

Interesting Days

 

You have already gotten a feeling for our trails in Joe’s muddy ride to Portland, Maine.  While that was tough on Joe, it was not the most challenging trail and far from those fantastic trails we enjoyed. The trail taking us out of Newburyport, Massachusetts was the most interesting.  The trail entrance was only a short ride from our B&B.  However, it took us a long time to cycle that short trail.  The first mile must have had 20 sculptures and other artsy things.  It was full of trail art and Joe wanted a picture of each item.  Some of the items depicted nature and others were interpretive. 

It was difficult to say which one was our favorite. No sooner did we get off the trail and onto the road, we came across a classic car restoration shop.  

More pictures were taken of the cars, trucks, and hot rods.  Our first 4 miles took us 40 minutes.  Another day of smelling the roses.  It wasn’t much later that we stopped at a lake with dozens of swans, thus more pictures.   

Leaving Edcomb, Maine we cycled across the river to Wiscasset, Maine for breakfast at a coffee shop. It didn't open until 7:30 but customers were outside waiting for it to open--a good sign.  The offerings were “limited” to freshly baked pastries and coffee. 

The aroma was wonderful and we had difficulty making a selection.  However, the barista was more interesting than the pastries.  She had on a leopard print top, skin tight cutoff shorts and tattoos running up her legs. While we did not notice, the tattoos rose to her butt cheeks that were exposed by the short shorts.  The music was funky and she danced while she worked. After we had our order and sat down, one of us went back to the counter several times to get cream for his coffee, napkins, and to take pictures for our blog.  At least that is what was claimed. But, no photo of the barista was shared.  

Cycling into Lynn Massachusetts was delightful.  The trail took us along the bay and we watched the sun rise above the water. This part of the trail was busy with walkers and bikes. We were at the top of a gentle rise and stopped as a group of older women walked up the hill, taking up most of the path.  Behind them was another woman walking with a severe limp. “Were those her friends? Why didn’t anyone walk and talk with her?”  The walk up the hill was difficult for her.  I felt sorry for this disabled old woman.  Once she reached us I realized how poorly I judged her.  She stopped and gave us a big smile before asking about our journey.  She was delightful and animated, making us thankful that she took time to chat with us.

Our most enjoyable cycling day was from Kittery, Maine to Newburyport, Massachusetts.  We had nice weather, relatively short mileage, flat terrain, and plenty to see.  We smelled more roses that day than we thought possible.  We cycled through historic towns and villages, very expensive communities, and along the ocean for about half our mileage.  We stopped at several state parks and historic forts. Our 38 mile ride took us longer than the previous day’s 64 mile ride.  We finally stopped for coffee at a funky coffee place called La Mulita.  There we met Cliff and Bruce, 2 of the many local cyclists we saw along the way.  They are members of the 1A Cycling Club that got its name from the fantastic cycling that is found on route 1A.   

It is unusual for us to sit and be social, but we sat for a long time sharing stories and talking about bikes. 

Along the ocean we pulled off on many overlook spots to look at the water crashing on the beaches. 

We gazed at the swimmers and sunbathers and marveled at some of the large/expensive boats we saw.  We stopped for lunch at the Beach Plum, a roadside restaurant that served an unbelievable number of ice cream flavors and lunch options.  We cycled route 1A for most of the day and enjoyed every minute of it and wondered if we should turn around and cycle it again.

Rhode Island had many nice trails that we cycled to get to our hotel in Warwick, Rhode Island. Our hotel was only a block from the Blackstone River Trail that took us to and from Warwick.  Leaving the next morning the Blackstone River Trail led us to the Trestle Trail. 

These trails were in excellent condition and very popular.  One of the interesting things about the trails in Rhode Island is that walkers were instructed to use the left lane and face oncoming cyclists.  This trail rule is contrary to the “walk with traffic flow” rule on all the other trails we have cycled.  We were told that Rhode Island considers the trails to be “bikeways” and likens them to highways where pedestrians face traffic.  

Despite the need to shorten our trip because of the extreme heat, we had a great experience.  The East Coast Greenway offers lots of great trails and interesting things to see.  Some of the city traffic was challenging and some of the trails rough, but we would do it again, especially route 1A.