My desire for simplicity - as in not needing a map or cue sheets - plus an iffy weather forecast made me choose the close-to-home option, the New Hampshire coast. I drove to Salisbury, MA, thinking to try for a three-state day. That would have required riding through Portsmouth, NH and then heading over the bridge to Maine - but the weather conditions drove me to stop a little short of Portsmouth. It was still a 40-mile round trip, not bad at all even though I'd hoped to do 50.
It was gray and foggy when my bike and I left my car, and it seemed to get foggier as I progressed further along the coast. There wasn't much visibility out to sea, although it wasn't totally socked in, as in I could see the cars and the cars could see me. But it got grayer, and it started misting. I can't say that it was raining at all, but the mist was so heavy that I had to keep stopping to clear my glasses. I finally gave up and rode without them, something I never do! The bike was pretty trashed from the road gunk spraying up, and finally when the water was dripping off of my helmet I figured that it was time to turn around.
In spite of the conditions, it was a beautiful ride, and a good picture-taking day. My only regret is that I didn't manage a good close-up shot of the egrets that I kept seeing in the marshes on the non-ocean side of the road.
And yes, my bike did get a bath and re-lube as soon as we (the bike & I!) got home.
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| See what I mean by a bit foggy? |
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| This is before my glasses got too water-splattered to see through. They were bad, but not too bad yet! |
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| I just had to stop when I saw this bird party. They must have been having a party - or I guess they just like hanging out together! |
More pictures from today can be found in my Along the New Hampshire Coast - 2005 smugmug gallery. The first page of the gallery is from a ride back in May; the rest is from today's ride.
