Town of Andover

64.22 miles, 2666 feet. This morning was a foggy, muggy, gray start. The first half of the ride was lots of climb on mostly highway. There was a Dunkin Donut stop early on. However, most of of us have decided that Tim Horton's is better!

At mile 30ish we arrived at the Northern Rail Trail. The railroad was built by Irish immigrants in the 1840's. Much of the now rail trail is built on a high berm with 50+ feet of drop off on either side. I am amazed at how much rock and fill must have been moved without modern machinery. We rode 24 miles of trail which had a good canopy and was relatively flat. It was hot and we were glad not to be on the highway in the sun and climbing hills.

Just as we were leaving the trail to return to the highway we encountered a large number of tourists taking a ride on pedal carts on the tracks next to the trail. They were blocking the road where we needed to cross the tracks, so we chatted with them for a few minutes. It was a 6 mile out and back ride and it looked like a lot more work than our bicycles.

Tonight we are in Loudon on the east side of Concord, the state capital. Two more days of riding! We are almost there!Read more