Labor Day with My Daughter...

Catherine

Biking With Catherine

Today I took my daughter Catherine over to the Milford Section of the Upper Charles River Trail. We parked at the Louisa Lake parking area on Dilla St. in Milford and biked east from there all the way to Route 495 (~1.2 miles). There we stopped and had some snacks on some stone benches. We chatted and watched other bikers past going in either direction.

On the way back we had to climb up a big hill (for a 5 year old). I thought I was going to have to push her a bit but she was determined to pedal up it. She was struggling 3/4's of the way up when I hear her chant "Pedal pedal pedal..." as she pushed herself to the top. I was a bit proud of here at that point :-)

On the way back we stopped again and hung out on a big rock. A nice change of pace from my normal rides :-)

My Old 1990 Specialized Rockhopper

I was riding my old 1990 Specialized Rockhopper with the big fat Maxxis Hookworm 26" × 2.5" tires on it. They are big, fat, heavy, and a bit silly. However, they are also fun tires to have on a bike :-). Eventually I will make this bike into more of a commuter bike that I can feel comfortable leaving at the train station. In the meantime, it makes for a great bike for the Rail Trails.

To Blackstone River Path and back via Southwick Zoo

A Half-Century Plus! (or "Almost a Metric")

The wife and kids were out of town for the day so I was free to ride as far and as long as I wanted. I couldn't find any local club rides, and even if I did, it took me a while to get moving this morning. So I got on my computer and mapped out a route for my self combining a couple of well known routes with the Blackstone River Bikeway's Rhode Island Section. I haven't had to pre-map out a route in a while as I am getting to know the area pretty well. However today I was going to bike along the Interim Road Route of the Blackstone River Bikeway and it goes straight through the heart of Woonsocket. I get confused driving through that city.

Blackstone River Bikeway [BRB]

In the past I've biked down to the Chemawa Golf Course in North Attleboro. Looking at the map I had noticed that it wasn't to far to go east from there and pick up the BRB in Valley Falls (just north of Pawtucket). I had not been this far south on the trail before. In the past I was prevented from going further south than Martin St. because of the construction there. I heard that the construction was completed and the trail was open all the way through.

Heading north along the southernmost completed section of the Blackstone River Bikeway.

The still scenic Blackstone River (It gets less scenic as you approach Woonsocket, less water and more muck.)

Manville

In the past the bikeway ended at Manville, RI. Today when I got to Manville, there was more trail. It was semi-open and still under construction. I when quite a way before I was forced to turn around (The trail ended abruptly).

New section semi-opened and, as you can tell from the raised manhole cover, still very much underconstruction.

The unfinished path abruptly ends. Time to backtrack.

Back to Manville...

First stop in Manville for more Gatorade. This store even had a couple of sets of 16" rims and tires for sale.

Blackstone River Path on road Interim Route

Woonsocket in an interesting city. I had less trouble biking through it than I had anticipated. Everybody must have been out of town because there was hardly any traffic during the early part of the Sunday afternoon when I passed through. Lots of triple deckers followed very quickly by a lot of large (old money) homes.

Time to Head for the Hills

As I crossed over the border into Blackstone, MA I found all the traffic that was missing in Woonsocket. Wierd. Anyway, I was approaching familiar territory and I was starting to feel the miles. I pressed on.

I guess Spiderman's and Superman's families get along so well that they can share a home in the Blackstone Valley!

Last Gatorade stop in Mendon. I stopped here on the NBW Club ride I did this past May.

To North Smithfield, RI and back (via Uxbridge)

Pushing Westward...

It has been a while since I have biked in the lands west of Rt. 495. There are a lot of very scenic, low traffic roads out there. In the past I have biked across the northern portion of Rhode Island west of Woonsocket. Today I decided to just dip into RI, buy some Gatorade, and jump back into Massachusetts.

It was a good ride overall except for some of the windy parts. I hate riding into headwinds. I passed a disproportionate number of "road houses" and billiard halls along Rt. 146a in Uxbridge. I rode along one of my favorite back roads from Uxbridge into Mendon. It parallels Rt 16. It is nice and quiet, shady, and scenic. There are also a couple of very interesting homes along this route.

Trying a new way back across Rt. 495

I decided to try an alternat crossing in order to get back east of 495. I crossed a little further north than usual on farm street in northern Bellingham. That road was nice but getting to it sucked. More hills and traffic than the usual way I go. So, I guess in the future I will stick to taking Rt. 140 into Bellingham center and making my way home from there.