Memories of touring Prince Edward Island

Ah, home again. I have wonderful memories of my trip to Prince Edward Island floating in my head, and there are also images from Hopewell Cape in New Brunswick and Acadia National Park in Maine.

You can share those images by looking in my Wandering along the edge photo gallery at http://denise.smugmug.com/Travel/114285.

Here are a few photos to whet your appetite:

Flowers that have gone to seed can still be very beautiful.

Ah, it's time to head out from Charlottetown. My bike is calling me!

A beach along the north coast of PEI, in the Greenwich section of Prince Edward Island National Park.

Daylight?

Home again from vacation, and the shorter days are really jumping out at me. It's not like the early disappearance of sunlight is a surprise - after all it is the first day of fall. But I think that the contrast with Atlantic Time (from my vacation in PEI) plus facing the fact that my bicycle commuting days are over for the season really struck me today.

I'm sure I'll get used to it. The days are going to continue getting shorter though, and I'd prefer that they not do that. It's funny, whenever I think of moving out of the northeast, I think west. But I won't get rid of this lack of daylight problem unless I move someplace like Hawaii!

Come on Denise, you'll get used to the change in seasons. You always do.

Wandering along the edge

Looking for me? Surprised that there are no new blog entries? I'm headed to Prince Edward Island with my bicycle for a tour around the island, and while I won't be posting new blog entries here while I'm on the road, click to my tour journal.

A short but delightful ride

My goal for this last weekend before an eleven-day biking vacation was to do some biking but also to get some rest. In keeping with that goal, I headed up to Maine to ride in the southwest corner of the state.

I had a sunny start to my ride, but the clouds managed to roll in. I was lucky though. I rode through some sprinkles, but as I got closer to where my car was waiting, the road was absolutely soaked. (And yes, I did need to clean my bike when I got home. Somehow wet roads mean that all of the dirt comes flying off the road and sticks to the bike...)

I started my ride in Kittery Point, and rode along the coast as far as the Yorks, wandering down side roads to visit beaches and Nubble Light. It was a very enjoyable ride, short but sweet.

There are some fabulous wood carvings outside of the Kittery Trading Post - I just love this critter with his paw protruding from the tree trunk!

Somehow it wasn't possible to get both the flower and the bee in focus. Almost though, and I can't believe that I managed to capture this very busy bee.

An across-the-water view of Nubble Light

3003 miles!

I made it! A few weeks ago I looked at the miles I had covered on my 2-wheeled transportation so far this year, and I set a goal of riding 3000 miles before I headed off to Prince Edward Island to wander around the island on my bike. It was a bit of a stretch, and it not only required some higher mileage than normal weeks, it also was dependent on decent weather. With the weather forecast at the beginning of this week it was very possible that the mileage would be just beyond my reach. But - the weather wizard cooperated by providing rideable weather from Wednesday afternoon on, and my mileage for the year so far at the end of today's ride is 3003 miles.

You're right, it was a somewhat silly goal - but it feels really good to have those miles under my wheels!

Last bike commute of the season

Today was my last commute to work by bike of the season - by the time I get back from my PEI adventure on September 21st there won't be enough daylight to support a full day's work plus riding my bike in both directions. I'll have to rework my exercise schedule to go back to riding only on the weekend; guess it will be time to start going back to the gym!

Today was a fabulous day for riding though, sunny, and very reasonable temperatures. The bell captain at the Marriott came out to greet me and told me to bring my bike in to the hotel entryway instead of locking it up outside; he promised to watch it for me.

I think my bike must have known it was her last commuting day of the season - although I can't understand why she would be upset since she will be my transportation on Prince Edward Island. When I parked my bike in the closet at the office for the day, the chain was exactly where it belonged - sitting on the chain rings and cluster. When I went to get my bike to head home, the chain was off. Now tell me, do my bikes have the kind of power where they can remove a chain on their own?

Bailey is in charge...

...really! After all he is the "person" who decides what direction to walk, isn't he?

Oh, you haven't met Bailey yet? He is the dachshund who lives with my parents; actually I think he runs the house.

I wonder if this somewhat wacky dog can tell time. My folks live on a big hill where the part below the house is much steeper than the part above the house. The daily morning "walking the dog" activity heads up the hill from the house, and often the afternoon walk heads down the hill where Mom & Bailey meet Dad on his way home from work and get a ride back up the hill. Not a bad deal... Well today in the mid-afternoon Bailey insisted on walking down the hill even though Mom really wanted to head up the hill. Do you think he can tell time? Do you think he thought he was meeting his ride back up the hill? Whatever he was thinking (do dogs really think?), apparently he was guite happy to prance down the hill and back up again.

Yes, that's me hiding behind our crazy Bailey - a self-portrait of the two of us...

You can find more pictures of Bailey here.

Bicycle conversations

The weather wizard finally decided on a dry and sunny day so it was a bicycle commute to work today. As I walked in to the Marriott (heading for the health club and my very welcome shower) I stopped to talk to one of the hotel managers who is often in the lobby in the morning. This morning he told me that I didn't need to lock my bike to a light post outside, that I could wheel it into the entryway and he would keep an eye on it. Now I really don't mind locking it up, but what a nice offer!

Then as I walked by the hotel restaurant I said hello to a guest who was walking out. He said hello, then asked if I commute to work by bike and asked how far. With those questions I was sure I was talking to another cyclist. He turned out to be from the Washington DC area, and he commutes to work year-round. I'm only a summer (and around the edges) commuter since riding in the dark with the crazy drivers around here scares me, plus I can't handle the really cold (and wet) weather. He pointed out that Washington has more of a southern climate, and that you can get used to riding in the dark, with good lights, of course. I think I'll stick to my daylight commute, although I'm sure I'm going to miss riding in to work when I get back from my tour of PEI.

Calm before the storm

I'm getting a forced rest from cycling so far this week - dictated by the weather. So far it has been mainly gray and wet. I really could have ridden this evening since it wasn't raining, but the ground was very wet and the sky was very gray so I decided to walk instead. I'm still hoping to meet my pre-trip mileage goal of 3000 miles by next Monday. I believe it is possible, but it's really dependent on clearing weather.

From my Monday morning walk - before the gray overrode the blue sky

Late summer flowers

Pricing surprises

Sometimes I'm amazed at the prices for items in grocery stores. Well, maybe I should say a lot of the time...

I regularly shop at both a 'standard' grocery store and at Whole Foods. Produce tends to be better at Whole Foods, although it can be more expensive. But the two items with prices that really surprise me are actually cheaper at Whole Foods. Kashi Go Lean cereal is $2.50 at Whole Foods and between $3.50 and $3.69 at regular stores. And Luna Bars - my current favorite energy bar - are 99 cents each at Whole Foods, $1.39 each at grocery stores, and $1.25 each if you buy direct from Luna. Very interesting.

It really makes me wonder who sets the prices!

A visiting day

How nice that there was a conference in Portsmouth that my dad needed to attend. That means that I was able to have a nice visit with my folks not too far from home!

It was a beautiful day for wandering, sunny and comfortable. We started at some of the outlet stores in Kittery, enjoyed a nice lunch at an outdoor spot in Portsmouth, and then wandered around town for a bit. It was definitely an enjoyable day.

Hey mom - I think I finally got a picture of you that even you will like! This moose hat is priceless...

Disappearing sunlight

Why is it that the addition of more sunlight to each day as spring approaches seems slow, and the disappearance of sunlight as fall approaches seems fast? I'm enjoying what I believe are the last two weeks of the year for commuting to work by bike (OK, only 2 to 3 days a week, but still!). I'm leaving on September 7th for a 2-week vacation wandering around Prince Edward Island on my bike, and by the time I return there won't be enough daylight to support both a full day of work and my commute to work.

I just looked at the 'Sun and Moon' page on the National Weather Service's website, and the times they show for sunrise and sunset confirm my feeling that the daylight is in fact getting shorter quickly. On August 1st, possible hours of sunlight were 14:28, and by the end of August that has decreased to 13:12. When I'm back after my vacation, the sunlight has decreased to just over 12 hours - with a sunrise on September 22nd at 6:36 AM and a sunset at 6:42 PM. Considering that I usually leave for work on my bike at 6:30 and get home at about 7 PM, well I think it's back to a non-biking commute.

I'll enjoy the rest of this year's biking commute though. Here's hoping for decent weather for the next week and a half!

Fog, mist, wet!

This was definitely a good riding week, although there were times during my ride yesterday when I wasn't too sure about that! My choices for a ride destination yesterday were a loop in south coastal Maine, or a jaunt along the New Hampshire coast.

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.

See what I mean by a bit foggy?

This is before my glasses got too water-splattered to see through. They were bad, but not too bad yet!

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.

What fun!

I was blown away - as in surprised, but very pleased - to find this entry in today's email newsletter from Adventure Cycling!

VICARIOUS ARMCHAIR DREAM ADVENTURES...
...straight out of the Department of Redundancy Department. There's a mother lode of great tour journals ready for the reading at the Ride Registry section of Adventure Cycling's website. Take, for instance, a thirty-four-pager by Denise Goldberg detailing her 2003 trip to the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The photos alone are worth the price of admission. In fact, if Denise's images of emerald-green hills and fields, quaint towns, and narrow, low-traffic roads don't make you want to go cycletouring on the wrong side of the road in Eire, then you must be immune to the travel bug.

Awesome - a link to my journal!

The case of the missing sock

...and yes, you did read that right, I said "sock", not "socks"!

The day dawned as a beautiful day for riding, with temperatures in the mid-50s for my commute in to work. After getting scared away from riding to work last week by the everyday forecast of afternoon thunderstorms, it felt really good to ride in this morning - even with the need for wearing knee warmers!

The interesting part came when I was getting ready to ride home again... When I get in to the office, I put my pannier under my desk and use it as a drying rack for my cycling clothes. Well, except for my socks, which I lay across my shoes. At one point in the afternoon I noticed that one sock was across my shoes and the other had moved to the floor - but not too far from my shoes. I picked it up and put it back on top of my cycling shoes. At that point, I still had a full pair of socks. Then came time to get ready to head for home. I grabbed my shorts and jersey and headed to the rest room to change into my cycling clothes. Back in my cube, I deposited my work clothes in my pannier, then went to put on my socks and shoes. At that point, there was only one sock on top of my shoes. I looked all over my cubicle, checked the trash, walked to the rest room (retracing my path) in case I had inadvertantly picked it up and dropped it somewhere. Nope! No where to be seen...

Luckily for my feet, I keep a pair of running shoes along with a pair of socks in my desk drawer for the times when I need an outside escape during the day.

I'd love to know what happened though. Hey, you silly sock - where are you hiding?

I wonder, is it possible...

...to hit 3000 miles on my bike for the year before I head off on my cycling vacation to Prince Edward Island?

I actually think it's a bit of a stretch, but I can dream, can't I? As of today, I have biked 2451 miles so far this year. 3000 is within sight, but that's 550 more miles in just 3 weeks. I leave for vacation after work on September 7th, and I plan to take the 6th & 7th as biking rest days. Hmmm...

Hot, hot, thunderstorms...

My riding (or lack of riding) this week was definitely dictated by the weather wizards. Forecasted thunderstorms every day stopped me from commuting to week by bike. I managed two after-work rides, but on Thursday and Friday the weather decided to go along with the forecasted rain.

Saturday dawned very hot and very humid - as in, the temperatures were in the 90's. That combined with high humidity helped me to change my plans of doing a 50-mile ride along the southern coast of Maine. Yup, I stayed close to home, and did small smaller loops so I could get home (relatively) easily if the heat started to get to me. I managed a 38-mile ride, and I was pretty soaked and pretty tired when I got home. It's amazing how much the heat changes things, isn't it? My riding time on Sunday was about 10 degrees cooler, but still pretty humid. Even so, I managed 43 miles on my purple bike.

I guess all things considered, I shouldn't be too unhappy with my mileage for the week. Yes, I want to make sure that I'm in good shape for my upcoming trip to Prince Edward Island. But really, I think I'm in decent shape now, and another 3 1/2 weeks of decent length rides should keep me ready!

Now? The rain has finally arrived, and I'm listening to the rain and the thunder. The temperature dropped a good 15 degrees very quickly when the rain arrived, and the forecast (after tomorrow, that is) is for dry and cooler weather for the week. Here's hoping...

On my walks this week I saw flowers in their summer slendor...

...and trees that didn't seem to understand that it was still hot, hot summer - with patches, sometimes small and sometimes large, of their autumn colors!

A sign of things to come

I find it hard to believe how fast the sunlight seems to retreat at the edges of the day. I've really noticed the loss of light as I'm riding in the evening - either completing my commute to work, or out for a short spin on those days when my car is the vehicle of choice for my commute.

My end-of-the-day road - the one right outside of my house - has a heavy tree cover, and even on sunny days I've noticed it feels much darker (than it has been) by 7 PM. We're still well over a month away from the autumn equinox. That's just the official "look the sunshine is getting shorter" notice, but I'm clearly noticing it now.

I guess I need to face up to the fact that my bicycle commute-to-work days will be over in just 3 short weeks. That takes me to the Labor Day weekend, and in middle of the following week I'll be off to Prince Edward Island for 2 glorious weeks of cycling. I think that when I return home there really won't be enough daylight to pull off a commute to work in full daylight. Bummer.

Loops & rollers

...and tired!

It was a good riding week last week, but it has left me with the need for a rest day. I managed 193 miles on my bike, which would be light mileage if I were on a tour and riding full time. When it is combined with a full work week, that's a lot of miles! Looking at the weather forecast for this week, it appears that today is going to be the best commuting to work by bike day, but my body is insisting on a rest. Of course that doesn't mean I won't ride at all today - energy permitting, I may take a short spin after work. But it does mean that I drove my blue car to work today instead of making my body do the work!

The weekend? Somehow it seemed that I never stood still, between riding and other activities. Saturday's ride was a series of loops close to home. I started out with the intent of riding to Lowell and back again, but somehow my bike kept turning in other directions. I managed the same distance that I'd planned, just without a destination.

Yesterday I rode with Robyn and Steve, starting from their house and heading towards Groton. There is some beautiful riding in that area, and they really know the back roads so our ride was mainly on little quiet two-lane roads. It included a fabulous section of rollers, short relatively steep hills (for this area anyway) that you could fly down and use momentum to carry you almost back up to the top again. Nice!

Toward the end of our ride we were stopped by a freight train. The crossing signal started flashing red just as Steve arrived at the railroad crossing. He could have made it across safely, but Robyn & I were far enough back that we needed to stop, so Steve waited for us. Funny thing, as the train slowly approached the crossing, the engineer started blowing the whistle. I know that is necessary, but it was amazingly loud. So loud that I was standing there with my hands over my ears... The engineer looked out at us as the train passed by, smiled, and threw his hands up in the air in apology for the noise. And that definitely made me laugh...

Here's hoping that the weather cooperates and awards me with a couple of ride-to-work good weather days this week.

A vacation decision

Rather than follow my normal vacation planning habit of planning more than 1 trip (for the year) at the same time, I deliberately waited until the successful completion of my first bicycling vacation this year. I wanted to make sure I was really back to myself again...

While I'm still cycling at a slower speed than I was pre-crash, I really do feel like I am back. My trip to Maine at the end of June definitely was a successful tour, and while I haven't been actively planning a second tour for this year, I have been tossing some ideas around in my head. Rather than travel across the Atlantic or to the western half of the country, I've decided on a tour a little closer to home. Remember, I said "a little"!

My choice? I'm going to head to Prince Edward Island in September. I'll be taking 2 weeks off, which will give me 11 days for the biking part of my trip. As far as I can tell, the bridge to PEI is about 600 miles from here, and I'm going to drive to the start of my trip.

I'm going to go back to basics in a sense because I'm not going to plan each day in advance. I believe I should be able to find B&Bs and hotels there without too much difficulty, so it will be a credit-card tour - no camping this time. And my intention is to ride around the island. All I have to decide now is the general direction - clockwise or counterclockwise!