After a number iterations of a summer bikepacking trip, as I outlined in the update on the last post, I finally came up with a roughly week and a half trip that required very little bandwidth to plan, was logistically easy and was still interesting. It was essentially a continuation of the Different East Coast Greenway route I did two summers ago, up to Cape Cod.

I’ll recap the trip a bit here with what was different and interesting about it, but since so much of it was pretty well trodden ground that I have written about elsewhere, I won’t do too much of day by day recap. I used Reserve America to find and book the four campgrounds I stayed at. It’s a great resource.

The Route

The route starts at Lake Quassapaug and rambles through Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts out to Cape Cod and eventually back to Providence. This worked well because we drove up to Lake Quassapaug for a Snipe regatta (the annual Board of Governors, which we won). Lisa drove home and I rode from there the next day. The route also weaved in some family visits with my father in my hometown of New Bedford and my sister in Wellesley, west of Boston. I spent several days in New Bedford so for one of them I did a long day ride for my annual nostalgia fix. I eventually finished back in Providence and took the Amtrak NE Regional to BWI and rode down the trail home, which I also did last summer, so it was all easy peasy. Bikes on Amtrak make A-B routes much more practical, assuming they have service. I hope to do more of this in New England and even down to Florida this winter and let Lisa drive the boats down for a change, LOL.

While I didn’t follow the last part of the route as outlined in the Ride With GPS file, it ended up being basically 9 days of riding, each with about 60 (-/+) miles each and one family lay day. Here’s the recap with what was interesting about each leg. In addition to a few highlight photos inline below, I have an annotated Google Photo album of most of the shots I took: https://photos.app.goo.gl/yWHht2PH6VC11XtWA

Daily Descriptions

Day 1: Quassy to Devils Hopyard State Park

Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/12249101809

This was 59 miles on backroads in southern Connecticut. Very pleasant riding, but really punchy hills and at 5-15% some of them hurt even with a 36×42 minimum gear. Some very nice scenery of the local lakes and Devil’s Hopyard State Park was really nice. Despite being “primitive” (ie no water or electricity) it was a nicely sited grassy area next to Chapman Falls which provided a refreshing swim and way to clean up. The weather called for big afternoon thunderstorms (which smashed RI and the Cape) but fortunately, rolled by me with just a little rain.

Day 2: Devil’s Hopyard to George Washington Campground

Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/12259522180

Another 61 miles today with a nice lunch stop in the cute town of Putnam CT. Lots of local brew there but since I still had 12 miles to go, I thought better of it. Today was about 2/3 on the Airline Trail (the original direct rail line between NYC and Boston) which despite constant pedaling and a very varied surface, at just 1-2% was a nice change from yesterday’s punchy 10% +/- hills. George Washington State Campground in Rhode Island was a really nice spot with a great swimming lake and hot showers! The campsite I was on was a half mile “hike in”, truly hike-a-bike as it was too hard to ride fully loaded but was a secluded spot with a platform for the tent. I was a dummy and didn’t tie down my crocks well and they flew the coop over somewhere on the rougher areas of the Airline Trail. I went back to see if I could find them, but not having any idea when they came off, it was fruitless.

Day 3: George Washington to New Bedford

Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/12266985475

The day was 65 miles including the detour to Dicks Sporting Goods for a new pair of Crocks. It was quite a hot day as the afternoon wore on with an interesting mix of new and old ground. The first 20 miles was predominantly downhill from the RI hills into Woonsocket with a nice trail along the Woonsocket River into Providence. Then onto the East Bay Bike path (which I’ve taken all the way to Bristol last year) diverting East in Warren RI and eventually into Fall River, a place I’ve never ridden through. Some of this was very STROADy through Swansea and not very nice, but the pleasant surprise was the very wide separated path on the US6 bridge over the Taunton River (the I-195 highway over the river is the Braga Bridge). The Quequechan River Trail through the eastern side of Fall River was very cool. Even though it parallels I-195 a road I’ve driven hundreds of times, I had no idea it was there. Then just familiar turf through North Dartmouth (and the mall to Dicks) and then to my Dad’s house. It was cool to see some things up close that I’ve only seen from the highway between Providence and New Bedford, such as the underside of the I-195 bridges, the SUP on US 6 over the Taunton River into Fall River and the Quequechan River Trail through Fall river along Watuppa Pond.

Lay Day

Just hung out with family in New Bedford. Lexi and Andres came from Newport for lunch.

Day 4: A Tour of the Local Waterfront

Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/12283834059

This was 54 mile day ride, another part of the “nostalgia tour” that basically followed the coastline from South Dartmouth to Mattapoisett through New Bedford and Fairhaven. I also did a detour out to West Island a place I’ve never ridden my bike. I’ve ridden most of this before but it included the entire Covewalk and Harborwalk, the trail on top of the Hurricane Barrier as well as the Southcoast Bikeway now extended to Mattapoisett center (and eventually Marion). It was a spectacularly clear day just after a cold front and I took a ton of pictures.

Day 5: New Bedford to Shawme-Cromwell State Park

Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/12292538514

This was a bit of a shorter day at about 40 miles (my Garmin froze leaving Marion so didn’t record some of it), but it gave me a chance to have lunch with my friend Hew. I had planned on taking the back roads to Marion through Rochester, but since I learned the Southcoast Bikeway actually had a right of way into Marion, I gave that a whirl which was pretty rough and boggy in places but got me right into Marion. I had lunch with Hew and then wandered out to the Cape Cod Canal Trail through Wareham, Onset and Bourne. I’ve driven this in the past, but never by bike. The trail took me on the mainland side of the canal to the Sagamore Bridge which has a wide rideable sidewalk. Not fun but safe enough and once on the Cape, the campground was just a couple miles up 6A.This is definitely a full service campground that reminds me of a suburban subdivision with campsites. But it had nice facilities even if it was a bit on the pricey side (as a non-resident).

Day 6: Shawme to Wellfleet Hollow Campground

Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/12301444098

It was about 55 miles today from Sandwich to Wellfleet. I rolled early wanting to pack up before any predicted rain so didn’t eat breakfast at the campground. I stopped for a great breakfast at Beth’s Bakery and Cafe in Sandwich MA and had a nice chat with a couple from Quebec City. I got off 6A finally before too much traffic built and rolled up the Cape Cod Rail Trail which I’ve ridden many times to Wellfleet where the campground is right at the end. It was early so I headed to Macs on the pier for lunch (fried clam plate!). After a little tour around Wellfleet, I went and checked in to the campground, got set up and made a beeline for a local kettle pond (Duck Pond) for a swim. There was a bit of rain on and off all day but much better than 100⁰. Some steady rain just about the time I was going to eat, so just skipped it as I was still reasonably full from lunch. This cam ground is very new, purchased from private hands by the state in 2019 and is almost “glamping” with the amenities.

Day 7: Wellfleet to Wellesley

Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/12309472081

The run to Provincetown was familiar, pleasant and uneventful but the Ferry to Boston was packed and had a ton of cyclists returning from the holiday weekend. I rambled through the Boston burbs on the Charles River Greenway – the Esplanade, aka the “BU Beach”, especially was poppin’ on such a nice day – then down to my sister’s in Wellesley. About 45 miles not including the ferry ride.

Day 8: Wellesley to New Bedford

Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/12317430629

Fall in New England arrived with temps in the mid 40s this morning and the first use of knee warmers. It was a different route than the one my sister gave me last year and the gem was the WWII Memorial Trail south of Mansfield, which has a new 5 mile section that was almost completed. It was a beautiful 61 mile ramble through the southern Boston burbs of Dover, Medfield, Walpole, Foxborough, Mansfield, Norton, Taunton, Freetown, Dartmouth and into New Bedford.

Day 9: New Bedford to Annapolis

Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/12329061703

I basically retraced my steps backward to the Amtrak station in downtown Providence in the morning to catch a 12:30 Northeast Regional to BWI, then rode the trail home. It was a long but uneventful day with 63 miles between the two legs. It’s so nice to be able to take the train and ride up to your front door. Again none of it new, just nice riding on a beautiful fall day.

Final Thoughts

I’m glad I had a chance to do a longish trip this year after things sort of went sideways this summer. It felt good to do so much riding and get into the zen and routine of bikepacking, even if it was largely familiar territory. Furthermore, it was very easy to plan and I was able to see some new spots, sights and spend time with family in the area without a lot of stress.

I had a lot of time to ponder things on this trip, especially about future bikepacking and what lead me up to this point. After spending much of this trip alone, I think I have come to the realization that I don’t want to do a cross country trip solo, it’s just too long to be alone and away. The trick is going to see how I can incorporate other people into such a trip – could be a bike riding partner or somehow having parallel but intersecting adventures with Lisa – so it doesn’t feel lonely or that Lisa and I are apart for too long. When she retires, we’ll have to strategize on that because as I mentioned there are a lot of places I’d like to see via bikepacking, especially in the west. Just not all at once by myself!