May 19, 2024
To Newport RI
The clouds haven't left us yet. At least it's dry and the scenery is pretty as we ride out from Groton. This is the biggest hill day yet, and the biggest of them comes right away at the four mile mark, with grades that get up to 13 percent. I almost made it up that one.
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6 months ago
We ride by some nice homes in Old Mystic. I'd love to spend some time at Mystic Seaport which is two miles further south, but our agenda is long enough today. Maybe we'll stop there on the drive home after we wrap up the tour next week.
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6 months ago
6 months ago
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Around mile 20 Barry breaks another spoke. It's one of the spokes that was scarred when he dropped his chain last week. There are a couple of bike shops ahead in Newport where he'll have time to deal with it tomorrow. He sure has had more than his share of mechanical problems this trip.
Halfway to the Jamestown bridge we have to leave the peaceful roads behind and get on noisy U.S. 1. There's plenty of room to ride here on the shoulder. A stiff breeze is coming right at us though. Now that we're closer to the water there's not as much cover to break the wind. Near Charlestown we get off the highway for awhile on Matunuck Schoolhouse Road and find a great deli for lunch.
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There are two big bridges between here and Newport. The first goes to Jamestown Island. The second one is a suspension bridge from Jamestown to Newport. Heatmaps on RidewithGPS show that that people have ridden across both bridges but I don't see bike lanes. There's a ferry from Jamestown to Newport so at least we can avoid the second bridge.
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As we pedal towards the first bridge to Jamestown, Mike checks in from the ferry with a warning that we'll have a tough time getting across that one. He says there's sign there that bikes aren't allowed on the bridge. There's a very narrow pedestrian path thar you have to bushwhack to get to. He managed to ride the path but thinks it'll be very hard to ride or walk it on the recumbents with our wide loads. The guy running the ferry says the only way across is in a car or bus.
We get ourselves to a gas station close to the bridge, call for an Uber XL and hope for the best. Ideally it'll be a minivan. It's a good 20 minutes before I get confirmation that a driver is on the way, in an SUV. The driver isn't too happy when he sees all our bikes and bags. It's tight but after removing the front wheels we manage to shoehorn everything in.
Now that we're in the car it seems silly to just get over the Jamestown bridge and then shell out $60 for the ferry to Newport. It's getting colder since the wind has picked up. We give the driver the address of the motel in Newport and a good tip for the bike hassle.
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6 months ago
I don't want to travel anymore tonight. We're getting a pizza, delivered. We can play in Newport tomorrow. Looks like we'll have some sun!
Today's ride: 59 miles (95 km)
Total: 2,351 miles (3,784 km)
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