55 Mile Ride to Plum Island and Back

Tuesday’s weather was quite good.  Just warm enough to wear shorts and a short-sleeved shirt.  The wind was strong and I knew that I’d feel it especially because Plum Island was my destination.  It was a side-wind as I approached the beach and I had to really watch myself not to be blown into the street.  I pretty much battled it head-on coming home but that’s a minor complaint for what was a very nice ride experience.  I always love going onto the freely accessible beach and gazing out on the ocean while enjoying my endorphin buzz.

The route I chose allowed me to almost ride entirely different roads coming and going.  1A is not my favorite but I rode a good stretch of it before taking Cross Street to get to quieter roads.  I prefer hilly riding and was able to squeeze in a couple decent ones on each end of the ride but, unsurprisingly, riding near the ocean is mainly flat.

I’ll let the photo captions tell the rest of the story of my ride.

The route: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/27321299

The Jennie Lagoulis Reservation is a nice place to stop on Boston Road.

There's a nice path through the woods.

The public and free access point to Plum Island beach.

Enjoying the warm sun and sand.

The sky was getting a little milky but it was still mainly a deep blue.

I found a nice little place to sit in the rocks out of the wind.

This is at the end of the peninsula that Northern Blvd takes you to.

The bridge leading to Plum Island.  It was low tide.

There is much farmland along 1A. This is Tendercrop Farm.

Crossing over the Parker River.

Almost home - the twisty ascent of Hill Street is ahead.

Danvers to Quaker Cemetery in West Newbury and Back

It was quite windy and the sunshine got less and less as the afternoon wore on but overall, it was a nice day for a ride. I enjoy the roads around Turkey Hill in West Newbury very much. Excellent pavement, beautiful surroundings, and almost no cars. The old Quaker Cemetery is an nice place for a stop. It's kind of tucked away but there's a path through it. The photo captions explain more.

This was the 55 mile route:
https://ridewithgps.com/routes/27270876

Much of the route is pretty flat but it is punctuated by some decent hills. With all the flat sections though, the feet per mile elevation gain only comes to around 43.

On Middle Road just after Governor's Academy.

Colby Farm. In late summer it will be a sea of sunflowers.

The long flat straight section of Turkey Hill right before coming to the Quaker Cemetery.

More Turkey Hill - Such a nice area to ride.

The entrance to the Quaker Cemetery. The white sign spells the word correctly. The old sign behind it does not.

A closer look at the misspelled word "cemetry".

Another of my favorite places to stop. That log is perfect to sit on. It's just a short walk down the dirt path. It's a very quiet location in nature with the water and woods to enjoy.

I usually bring my bike onto the trail to get off the road. There are probably around 25 grave stones in the cemetery. It's fascinating to read the names of these settlers from so long ago.

I particularly like this section of Turkey Hill road as it looks like a one lane road even though it's not.

The intersection of Indian Hill and Cherry Hill.

This was taken on the fly as I approached the Moulton reservoir.

Coming back on River Road.

The river is very high after Monday's deluge.

Danvers to Haverhill and Back Hitting the Hills

With light winds and fairly warm temperatures, it felt like spring today.  There's still a lot of snow left to melt so I took my beater bike.  I'm glad I did because it got pretty messy.

Today's 53 mile ride topped out at close to 57 feet per mile elevation gain which is pretty hilly for the North Shore.  Despite entering Haverhill, almost all the roads are quiet on this route. All in all, a great ride.

The route: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/27112720

About to do the twisty Howlett descent on the Topsfield side.

Looking back on the Main Street hill.  It's not huge by any means but I regularly take it from both directions and it serves as a good interval.

A picturesque area by the Brooks School.

Looking back on Bradford Street.  The pavement is bad on much of this road but it's lightly trafficked and not usually hard to find an okay line.

Looking forward with a decent sized hill ahead with the water tower on top.

Just ahead there's a descent that ends by joining route 125.  There's a good sight-line to your left so it's possible to see if there is traffic coming before taking the right onto 125.  Care must be taken.

The water tower.  I often seek routes with these as they are usually the high points.

This is on Willow.  How's the ice cream at Crescent Farm?  Usually I'll take the right at the intersection past this but today I went straight across on Chadwick.

About to descend on Uptack.  There's a nice twisty section which can be taken close to 40MPH with some strong pedaling.

You can eke out a little more vertical on Baldpate by taking the entrance to the hospital.

I often see people fishing here.  Two weeks ago, the water had flooded over the road by a few inches.

This hill is aptly named Great Hill at least by North Shore standards.  Unlike most hills around here, I usually stay seated for this ascent as it's a bit too long to power up by just standing.

42 Mile Ride the Day After the Storm (Ferncroft/North Andover/Boxford/Topsfield)

Just because the region got 18 inches of snow yesterday, is no reason to not ride the next day! Today’s ride was far less sketchy than other rides I’ve done this winter. Most roads had no snow at all on them and many were even dry. I went by Ferncroft and then circled through North Andover and Boxford before heading back to Danvers through Topsfield. The captions on the photos tell the story of the ride and identify the locations.

The 42 mile route: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/27022495

The elevation gain is only 45.6 feet per mile but by hitting the hills hard, it's possible to get in some decent intervals.

The captions on the photos tell the story and locations.

Near the beginning of the ride passing in back of the Hogan center.

The Ferncroft hill is a fantastic place to ride. Here's the place where you have to decide if you want to ascend via Locust or Village. I usually take Locust and then loop around and descend Village but Village makes for a fine ascent as well. I don't recommend descending Locust because you have to come to a hard stop whereas Village allows you to keep all your speed from the descent which can be considerable.

About to plunge down Village. Care must be taken with cars exiting and entering Ferncroft but as long as you're aware, you can pretty much go all out on the descent.

Sharpeners Pond is completely clear of snow.

Even Lacy/Brookview was almost totally clear which is often a spot that stays snow-covered longer than other roads.

On Foster.

Even the little turnout on Foster had been plowed out. It's a good place to stop. By the way, those are shorts I'm wearing not a skirt as the photo makes it appear!

I like this section of Winter street with this cool marsh area.

A closer look at the marsh.

Looking up the Howlett ascent from the Topsfield side. The picture doesn't do the hill justice. It's a great hill to power right up.

Looking back the other way on Howlett.

A Makeshift Boot to the Rescue!

Notice that cut tire in the first photo? Not something you want to have happen 19 miles into a bike ride! I don't know what I hit but my tire/tube went immediately flat. I looked around and still didn't find anything sharp.

Usually I'll have a couple dollar bills with me or an energy gel packet. Either would work as a boot. Unfortunately I didn't have them so I looked around and fortunately there was some litter on the side of the road. This was a big slice so I'd need a good sized piece of plastic something to even have a chance of it working.

I found the perfect thing! Something labeled 'purple haze' that I think was for cigar wrappers. I tucked it into my tire and inserted a new tube. I went back to my house the quickest way I could which was 12 miles and, miraculously, it held! The last photo shows how much it was bulging out by the time I got back.

Usually getting a flat is a pretty routine fix but this required some ingenuity and luck to work.

A very large cut in the tire.

A makeshift boot to cover the sliced area of the tire.

It fit perfectly.

Not sure how much longer that would have held.