Old Benchmark Ride...

Well... Today I "was" going to do the "NBW-098 North Country Fifty" ride out of Greenville, RI. However a number of factors came into play such that I had to forgo that ride.

1. My daughter was sick
2. My driveway was being overtaken by our Forsythia Bush.

So I didn't want to be away from my sick daughter for the better part of the day. She has a Coxsackie virus and she was experiencing a lot of pain in her throat.

I also needed to reclaim part of my driveway from overgrown vegetation.

So I revisited a modified version of an old benchmark ride that I haven't done in a number of years. It is a 16 mile route that encircles Franklin. I used to do a different version of this route when I just had my 1990 Specialized Rockhopper for a bike and I would cut through "unpaved" areas. I still have this bike. I plan on transforming it into a commuter friendly bike.

I never used to see bikers along Maple Street (runs north-south along the Franklin-Bellingham border). I always thought, "this is a great road to bike on". It is relatively wide for a back road and has light to moderate traffic. It is also nicely surfaced. Well today I saw at least 4-5 other bikers riding on this road :-)

I shouldn't be surprised at that since I have noticed more and more bike club route markers appearing on the roads in the past couple of years.

Anyway, at least I got a short ride in today...