such adventure, much blog, many words, wow.
- Thread starter axcxnj
- Start date
axcxnj
Hipster Keys
same reason i dont shit in my freezer. 😀
these blue bags were a solution to a big problem in mountaineering. apparently camp 4 at everest is basically covered in shit to some extent.
axcxnj
Hipster Keys
Cape cod bike tour
so as I mentioned in an earlier post, Aly and I have decided to celebrate every anniversary with a bike tour. We just hit #2. Our honeymoon was a tour through the florida keys, #1 was a tour around the Adirondacks, and #2 was decided to be cape cod.
for me, a good chunk of the fun of bike touring is the planning and map work. The inner adventure racer in me geeks out on maps, trying to find the best , or most fun route.
I found this site a while back www.mappingsupport.com . its an awesome resource for map data that goes beyond what google has to offer. There are multiple topographic maps, and even OSM cycle world, which is what I mainly used for this tour. As it turns out, there is a really popular bike route through cape cod, which we ended up following for a good chunk.
I have an uncle who lives in Cohasset, which is a few miles south of boston, so we figured to “start” and finish there. Saturday morning we got a ride to the port at boston and boarded the ferry for the 1.5 hour ride to provincetown, at the end of the cape. The weather was turning out to be perfect for our long weekend. I kept an eye out for whales..but unfortunately didn’t see any.
We made it to provincetown at 10 AM and were on a mission to get aly a pair of sunglasses because I threw hers out a few days prior. Provincetown was cute..but a little too tight and crowded. Prettymuch what I had expected. But it was nice to ride out of there and start seeing some of the terrain and other small towns.
we took a detour through a bike trail that wound through some of the sand dunes on the ocean side, but it was too vegetated for any views unfortunately. It was nice to get off of the busy road though.
Thankfully before too long the biking route left the main road for good, and took us winding through the hills of cape cod. This part was probably my favorite bit of riding. Narrow two lane roads that were totally empty, either going right, left, up or down, but never flat and straight. it made for great riding and we saw tons of foliage beginning to turn. Im glad we were out here after the main vacation season. The solitude was really enjoyable.
We cut back across the cape and came out on the ocean side, onto oceanview drive. Which gave us our first little bit of beach access, so we stopped for some snacking and picture taking. The steep bluffs lining the beach were pretty cool to see.
After the beach stop, the route took us off the roads and onto the cape cod bike path. I wasn’t sure what to expect from this, as a lot of the time, bike paths can get really boring and dull, and this one was 22 miles long. We saw a pretty good amount of people on the path, and it was very well maintained. I was kind of surprised when I found myself really enjoying it. It was nice to be away from the traffic and just cruise. Many of the businesses near the bike path had cut trails from the path to their storefront. It was pretty cool to see cycling be a bit more integrated into the community.
One thing that really stood out to us was the constant delicious smell of wild grapes. They smelled like concord grapes, and every time we got a whiff I would look around to try and find some..i wanted to eat them badly..but never found any unfortunately.
We ended our first day in Yarmouth at a nice ocean front hotel (yes, we were credit card touring….i make aly sleep in a van enough, I figured we could splurge for our anniversary)
I set my alarm for the next morning to get up and catch the sunrise. Aly stayed in bed and I took a few shots..then I went back to sleep for an hour. We were planning to get moving around 9 am.
Day 2 of riding was probably my least favorite day. We were away from the national seashore, and into much more populated areas. So all of the roads were a lot busier and we had to worry more about being buzzed by cars.
we had been riding past a lot of farms in the area, but I had a hard time telling what they were farming. Turns out I had never seen a cranberry bog before. I figured it out when we passed one that they were harvesting. There was a water restriction in the area because there hadn’t been rain in 8 weeks, so they were mechanically harvesting the cranberries instead of the method ive seen where they flood the bog and let the berries float up.
We crossed the canal that separates mainland MA from the cape and stopped for some lunch. The day was turning out to be a scorcher (85F I think) and it was nice to get a break from the sun. beautiful day..but I was fully prepared for fall weather, which we did not get lol. Another few hours of easy pedaling brought us to Plymouth, which was our destination for the day. We checked into the hotel cleaned up and went out to see the waterfront, which seemed like the place to be. It was a cool town. A bit touristy for my taste, but I guess that’s what things become. Seeing the replica mayflower ship was pretty cool. We had a fancy dinner the night before..so this night we ate at a sort of grungy looking fish market on the docks. I wanted something local, and this place was PACKED we got the seafood sampler, which was a plate of fried haddock, oysters, clams, shrimp and scallops. Then had a bowl of lobster bisque. It was good, but the two of us couldn’t finish it.
Day three we were excited for the continental breakfast at the hotel, of all things. We found the breakfast being overrun by a literal bus load of old people who were on a bus tour. It was funny. I don’t think ive ever seen the decaf coffee thermos be refilled so many times.
today the clouds rolled in and it was much cooler. Thank god, because the only clean cycling clothing I had left was a pair of knickers and a wool jersey. We got a bit caught up in the morning rush hour buzz, but side roads finally took us away from the hustle and bustle and we were back to cruising empty roads. We went from inland, to a small ocean town, which aly said felt like the setting of a bad lifetime movie, and then back inland. I found another bike trail to take which turned out to be a pretty fun dirt road that went from a sand pit to hard pack gravel, to singletrack. Its good to mix it up every so often.
Some more riding and we finally made our way into Cohasset and the end of the tour. The last stretch of road to get to my uncles house might be my favorite. It hugs the rocky coastline and you get that salty seaweed smell the whole time. The clouds started opening up for some sunlight to get through which was just icing on the cake.
All in all, very nice tour. Not particularly challenging, as we spread it over 3 days. But with all of the adventure racing I do, it was nice to slow down and enjoy the ride with someone special for a while.
so as I mentioned in an earlier post, Aly and I have decided to celebrate every anniversary with a bike tour. We just hit #2. Our honeymoon was a tour through the florida keys, #1 was a tour around the Adirondacks, and #2 was decided to be cape cod.
for me, a good chunk of the fun of bike touring is the planning and map work. The inner adventure racer in me geeks out on maps, trying to find the best , or most fun route.
I found this site a while back www.mappingsupport.com . its an awesome resource for map data that goes beyond what google has to offer. There are multiple topographic maps, and even OSM cycle world, which is what I mainly used for this tour. As it turns out, there is a really popular bike route through cape cod, which we ended up following for a good chunk.
I have an uncle who lives in Cohasset, which is a few miles south of boston, so we figured to “start” and finish there. Saturday morning we got a ride to the port at boston and boarded the ferry for the 1.5 hour ride to provincetown, at the end of the cape. The weather was turning out to be perfect for our long weekend. I kept an eye out for whales..but unfortunately didn’t see any.
We made it to provincetown at 10 AM and were on a mission to get aly a pair of sunglasses because I threw hers out a few days prior. Provincetown was cute..but a little too tight and crowded. Prettymuch what I had expected. But it was nice to ride out of there and start seeing some of the terrain and other small towns.
we took a detour through a bike trail that wound through some of the sand dunes on the ocean side, but it was too vegetated for any views unfortunately. It was nice to get off of the busy road though.
Thankfully before too long the biking route left the main road for good, and took us winding through the hills of cape cod. This part was probably my favorite bit of riding. Narrow two lane roads that were totally empty, either going right, left, up or down, but never flat and straight. it made for great riding and we saw tons of foliage beginning to turn. Im glad we were out here after the main vacation season. The solitude was really enjoyable.
We cut back across the cape and came out on the ocean side, onto oceanview drive. Which gave us our first little bit of beach access, so we stopped for some snacking and picture taking. The steep bluffs lining the beach were pretty cool to see.
After the beach stop, the route took us off the roads and onto the cape cod bike path. I wasn’t sure what to expect from this, as a lot of the time, bike paths can get really boring and dull, and this one was 22 miles long. We saw a pretty good amount of people on the path, and it was very well maintained. I was kind of surprised when I found myself really enjoying it. It was nice to be away from the traffic and just cruise. Many of the businesses near the bike path had cut trails from the path to their storefront. It was pretty cool to see cycling be a bit more integrated into the community.
One thing that really stood out to us was the constant delicious smell of wild grapes. They smelled like concord grapes, and every time we got a whiff I would look around to try and find some..i wanted to eat them badly..but never found any unfortunately.
We ended our first day in Yarmouth at a nice ocean front hotel (yes, we were credit card touring….i make aly sleep in a van enough, I figured we could splurge for our anniversary)
I set my alarm for the next morning to get up and catch the sunrise. Aly stayed in bed and I took a few shots..then I went back to sleep for an hour. We were planning to get moving around 9 am.
Day 2 of riding was probably my least favorite day. We were away from the national seashore, and into much more populated areas. So all of the roads were a lot busier and we had to worry more about being buzzed by cars.
we had been riding past a lot of farms in the area, but I had a hard time telling what they were farming. Turns out I had never seen a cranberry bog before. I figured it out when we passed one that they were harvesting. There was a water restriction in the area because there hadn’t been rain in 8 weeks, so they were mechanically harvesting the cranberries instead of the method ive seen where they flood the bog and let the berries float up.
We crossed the canal that separates mainland MA from the cape and stopped for some lunch. The day was turning out to be a scorcher (85F I think) and it was nice to get a break from the sun. beautiful day..but I was fully prepared for fall weather, which we did not get lol. Another few hours of easy pedaling brought us to Plymouth, which was our destination for the day. We checked into the hotel cleaned up and went out to see the waterfront, which seemed like the place to be. It was a cool town. A bit touristy for my taste, but I guess that’s what things become. Seeing the replica mayflower ship was pretty cool. We had a fancy dinner the night before..so this night we ate at a sort of grungy looking fish market on the docks. I wanted something local, and this place was PACKED we got the seafood sampler, which was a plate of fried haddock, oysters, clams, shrimp and scallops. Then had a bowl of lobster bisque. It was good, but the two of us couldn’t finish it.
Day three we were excited for the continental breakfast at the hotel, of all things. We found the breakfast being overrun by a literal bus load of old people who were on a bus tour. It was funny. I don’t think ive ever seen the decaf coffee thermos be refilled so many times.
today the clouds rolled in and it was much cooler. Thank god, because the only clean cycling clothing I had left was a pair of knickers and a wool jersey. We got a bit caught up in the morning rush hour buzz, but side roads finally took us away from the hustle and bustle and we were back to cruising empty roads. We went from inland, to a small ocean town, which aly said felt like the setting of a bad lifetime movie, and then back inland. I found another bike trail to take which turned out to be a pretty fun dirt road that went from a sand pit to hard pack gravel, to singletrack. Its good to mix it up every so often.
Some more riding and we finally made our way into Cohasset and the end of the tour. The last stretch of road to get to my uncles house might be my favorite. It hugs the rocky coastline and you get that salty seaweed smell the whole time. The clouds started opening up for some sunlight to get through which was just icing on the cake.
All in all, very nice tour. Not particularly challenging, as we spread it over 3 days. But with all of the adventure racing I do, it was nice to slow down and enjoy the ride with someone special for a while.
Pearl
THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING
This is so spot on. When we were up here last month, some of the roads felt like we were riding singletrack. Full coverage, no cars, short rollers and sweeping downhills, hell some of them were bermed. I'm sure it would get old after a certain point, but it was great to ride.
axcxnj
Hipster Keys
so the 2014 adventure racing season is coming to a close for me this weekend, and im pretty excited to be ending the season on a big race in a new location. Thursday night i fly out to North Dakota for the North American Adventure Racing Series championship race in and through the Badlands and surrounding areas.
I am really excited to be racing away from the east coast and in a new type of terrain. this year, the constant bushwhacking through the forest and lack of views has begun to feel a bit mundane at times, so its going to be great to experience a new area with totally different terrain features and challenges.
today we got a breakdown of the course layout. Its going to be very bike-heavy, with at least 50 miles on the mah-dah-hey trail (they have a 100 mile bike race on this trail every year)
the total course length looks to be 130 miles, and we have 36 hours. starting saturday morning and finishing sunday at 6 pm.
as far as the series standings go, we are a few spots back off of the podium..for a variety of reasons this year..but if this race goes well for us we have a shot of sneaking onto the podium, which would be an awesome way to end the year.
one thing im not too excited about is the warning about cougars from the race director. im going to be keeping my knife readily available.
I am really excited to be racing away from the east coast and in a new type of terrain. this year, the constant bushwhacking through the forest and lack of views has begun to feel a bit mundane at times, so its going to be great to experience a new area with totally different terrain features and challenges.
today we got a breakdown of the course layout. Its going to be very bike-heavy, with at least 50 miles on the mah-dah-hey trail (they have a 100 mile bike race on this trail every year)
the total course length looks to be 130 miles, and we have 36 hours. starting saturday morning and finishing sunday at 6 pm.
as far as the series standings go, we are a few spots back off of the podium..for a variety of reasons this year..but if this race goes well for us we have a shot of sneaking onto the podium, which would be an awesome way to end the year.
one thing im not too excited about is the warning about cougars from the race director. im going to be keeping my knife readily available.
axcxnj
Hipster Keys
the race director provided this link to read
http://www.mountaineersbooks.org/Assets/ClientPages/zz_CougarEncounter.aspx
no use in running, you want to be aggressive and scare it off. a knife will be handy if something actually attacks you. thankfully we will be in a group of 3. Im not really worried or anticipating any encounters..i think they have plenty of food out there to eat to keep them away from humans.
http://www.mountaineersbooks.org/Assets/ClientPages/zz_CougarEncounter.aspx
no use in running, you want to be aggressive and scare it off. a knife will be handy if something actually attacks you. thankfully we will be in a group of 3. Im not really worried or anticipating any encounters..i think they have plenty of food out there to eat to keep them away from humans.
the badlands is such an awesome place. the surrounding area is rolling hills, then its just like someone ripped out a massive chunk of the earth. looking forward to this recap
