Monday, July 29, 2013

Riding on the Cape

We went to Cape Cod for a week again this year and stayed in Chatham.  While it's not my absolute favorite part of the Cape - I marginally prefer Wellfleet, particularly the Gulf of Maine side - it makes a lot of sense as my wife's aunt and uncle live there, another aunt, uncle, and cousin were also renting there, my wife's sister and family were also renting close by, and other aunts and uncles live nearby.  And Chatham does have its nice points, besides getting to spend quality time with Heidi's extended family, some of whom live pretty far away for most of the year.  These include the warmer water of Nantucket Sound, proximity to Chatham Light Beach and Monomoy Island (we will walk down the island one day when the boys are older), and Bridge Street, which the boys really enjoy.  This year they loved the bounce they felt when the trucks drove over the drawbridge and the older boy enjoyed another family catching crabs.  They did this with a stick with a string tied to it, with the string tied to a close pin.  The close pin held a piece of a squid and the crab grabs the squid and the child lands it in a net.  It was fascinating for the older boy and a little scary for the little guy.  So Chatham is really nice and very family friendly, especially for our family.  One day we will take two trips to the Cape and one will be in the more remote Wellfleet area, assuming we can afford it.

In any case, we did bring 3 bikes to the Cape: my Surly, my wife's child carrying Miyata 215 mixte, and her road bike, a 1999 Cannondale.  We ended up using all 3 bikes.

We did a breakfast ride from Marion's Pie Shop (parking here is not really possible so don't try it).  The route was lovely until about 8.5 miles into the ride when we were forced  to take Route 28.  I had done a similar ride last year but started at 5:30 and didn't hit traffic.  We started at 8AM this time and traffic was fast on the state road.  We intended to get off 28 at Bay Road but bailed at Training Field Road because of the traffic.  We found our way to our intended destination, the Corner Store for breakfast burrritos.  The ride back on Route 137 was predictably harsh.  We should have bailed at Morton Road, which intersects the bike path just west of 137.

I got out on my own one day when the boys were entertained and well taken care of by family.  I did the basic bike path route from Marion's out to Rock Harbor and back.  It was an overcast day so traffic on the path was light, except near Nickerson State Park and Orleans.  It was a 34 mile ride, done at 14.0 MPH.  I enjoyed the ride and it is always fun to see Rock Harbor.  The tide was out when I was there:


I rode my Surly and packed more than I needed:


We also did a short beach run on the two child carrying bikes, the Miyata and the Surly.

My wife was not thrilled with riding on the road and I can't blame her.  The roads are narrow and the traffic is fast and heavy.  You can get away with road riding early mornings but you need a lot of resolve to do it when traffic is heavy.

Total miles for the year: 1639.


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