I always love getting up to New England to visit family at the beginning of summer. We used to spend a week on the Cape every year with my sister’s family and all the kids and I still remember those days fondly. I was trying to find some time after Snipe Nationals to see family and possibly do another New England bikepacking trip like in 2023 and 2024. Furthermore, I’ve wanted to go the the Strong Towns National Gathering for a number of years given that I am a long time Strong Towns guy but have never been able to swing it during the busy month of June. Since it was being held in Providence RI this year, I started thinking a New England visit could start with the gathering and then head out on a bike packing trip visiting family. Problem was I would have to leave for Providence early on Monday morning after a 12 hour drive home from Atlanta the day before.

So to continue the family tradition of packing 10 pounds of crap into a 5 pound bag, I thought what the hell, I can make that work and right before Snipe Week started, I booked an early train (with my bikepacking kit!), registered for the gathering, got a hotel room with some points from Lisa and Monday morning at 7 am after being home less than 12 hours, I was on my bike riding to the BWI rail station. I had some loose plan after the gathering to see Lexi/Andres, my Dad/Roseann and my sister and her family, then ride through Massachusetts and end up somewhere back on the train 2 weeks later in time for the local SSA regatta on June 21-22. It was all pretty vague, but since I know the area well the first few days would be on autopilot and I would figure the rest out later.

The National Gathering was awesome and I’m still processing it. I’ll write about that separately, but suffice it to say it was a fantastic two days. However, by the end of it I was physically and emotionally tired (I’m an extroverted introvert so I can only take so much constant interaction) and was ready to decompress with some long solo days on the bike.

The afternoon of the last day, I checked out of the hotel, mailed a box of stuff home and set out on my bike to Bristol to meet Lexi. I didn’t ride all the way to Newport because I didn’t want to navigate the Mount Hope Bridge at rush hour given that it’s not legal to ride on. But I was tired so that was fine. I had dinner with my two favorite people in Newport at the all you can eat Sushi place in town and in the morning set out to New Bedford. I hung there for the day and the next morning set out for Wellfleet on the Cape. This now quite familiar riding having done it in prior years, so no planning of to any consequence was required, just “work the process”, old NASA-speak to more or less being on autopilot. The ride out to Wellfleet was a long day at 85 miles (I did it in two parts last year), but it was quiet, alone time with cool and sunny weather just what the doctor ordered. Jenny met me for the last 15 miles up into Wellfleet so that took my head away from it being a death March as we had a nice chill hour and a half talking and catching up.

Lisa and Ellie flew to Boston and took the Ferry to Provincetown so we all had a nice three days of “doing all the Cape stuff” of the past. I did one “wander about” ride around Wellfleet for fun and explored a bunch of unpaved roads north of Newcomb Hollow Beach that go all the way to Truro. I need to do more of that next time I’m there.

While there, the rest of the trip gelled and I planned a route from Wellfleet to Boston via the Ferry, out to central MA to camp, making my way west and then south to Springfield MA staying with the Adams, south to New Haven to stay with the Zackins and finally the train to BWI and the ramble down the trail home.

The trip to Boston was very familiar, but I took a different route northwest out of the city through Somerville which was pretty cool, then on to Concord on the Minuteman Bikeway, then due west through rural central MA to Pine Crest Family Campground in Oakham. It was another really long at about 90 miles, but not particularly hard until the hills at the end and during the last 25 miles it was legit raining. While I was very wet and dirty and had the typical squishy shoes, it fortunately wasn’t cold. Once I got there I was able to set my tent up during lull in the rain and finally get a hot shower. The campground was a little spendy at $90 but the hot shower and a dryer for my rinsed kit was gold. Plus there was a pavilion to cook under and a “packy” to get a step 2 just a mile from the site. A really nice Gucci camp experience, and sadly the only “real” camping day of the trip.

I woke at 5 am the next morning – it gets light at about 4:30 so far east – to light rain so read a little and fell back asleep. I was in no hot hurry to leave given it was still wet and I had a short-ish day at 50 miles with the hills front loaded. I eventually rolled out a little before 11 am. The rain was pretty much over, but still wet and I needed the long sleeve jersey. Despite the on and off mist, it was nice rural riding. Of course staying off the main roads meant not following the natural contours, so lots of punchy hills. But I like that, it’s much more pleasant and better training! I rolled into Springfield around 4 and had a nice evening with the Adams.

The next day I waited until rush hour traffic was over and set out to New Haven. It was a really nice ride south through rural land, across the Connecticut River, eventually connecting with the Farmington Canal Heritage Trail that runs from Northampton MA to New Haven CT. The day got significantly hotter and humid as it wore on but the mild headwind was cooling and there was a lot of shade on that paved trail. I stopped often for drinks but waited a bit too long for lunch and was ravenous and a little light headed by the time I found a local deli that had a decent sandwich. It was interesting to take that trail all the way to downtown New Haven. Once there, I scouted around a bit looking for an outdoor cafe to have a beer but it was an awkward time of day (3:30 pm) and nothing was open, so I continued up to the Zackin’s. We chilled and chatted and had a wonderful dinner at a local Italian restaurant. That part of New Haven (the Yalie professor neighborhoods) is a wonderful, turn of the century street car development pattern with some mixed use, lots of young people (on bikes!) and a vibrant atmosphere. My kinda place.

The last day was a quick ride to Union Station in New Haven, the usual Northeast Regional train ride south and a ramble back down the trail home. It was a fun trip with the riding days a bit longer than normal, but that’s what I was looking for as a way to decompress and it was great to see my New England family and friends.

“Some stats for the nerds” as Sam Westby would say:

Total Distance: 424 mi, Number of Day Riding: 8, Total Pedaling Time: 31:24

Ride routes and tracks:

Prologue (home to BWI): 23.71 mi, Strava

Providence to Bristol: 17.96 mi, Strava

Newport to New Bedford: 42.13 mi, RWGPS Route, Strava

New Bedford to Wellfleet: 84.18 mi, RWGPS Route, Strava

Wellfleet Wander About: 17.31 mi, Strava

Wellfleet to Oakham (Phase I): 15.26 mi, Strava

Wellfleet to Oakham (Phase II): 71.64 mi, RWGPS Route, Strava

Oakham to Springfield: 52.04 mi, RWGPS Route, Strava

Springfield to New Haven: 72.24 mi, RWGPS Route, Strava

Epilogue (Phase I to New Haven Union Station): 2.41 mi, Strava

Epilogue (Phase II BWI to home): 25.16 mi, Strava