Dolly's Bike Blog

The cue/clue sheet was for 46.5 miles, I rode 57.68 miles – and loved every one of them!

The morning started a bit cloudy and gray, but that didn’t affect my excitement at biking along the coast. The first 7 miles were in Hampton Beach and North Hampton, NH, before heading inland at Rye Beach.  Part of that time we were in the midst of a bike race, so several of our turns were “protected” by the local police.

At mile 13, we entered Portsmouth, NH, and we followed suggestions to a local bakery – I enjoyed  a delicious sticky bun.  A couple on bikers who live locally made some sight-seeing suggestions, so I left my “cycle group” and wandered on my own.

Of course, I was alone when I arrived in Maine, so had to take a selfie at the sign. Also noticed the Maine Sailors and Soldiers Monument.

At mile 23, I entered York, where our SAG stop was at the Nubble Light House.  I was the last to arrive, but sag driver Nancy I. knew I was dolly-gagging and was pleased to see me.

As I pedaled on US 1 and US 1A, I took some fun beach shots.

About 4 miles outside of Kennebunk, I ran into 3 of our riders who had stopped for ice cream – and naturally I joined them.  Patricia from Colorado planned “to go rogue” and bike to Kennebunkport, an extra 7 miles or so – I too had such a plan so we went off together and enjoyed our explore.

Tonight was our last margarita party – 14 states!!  And we were joined at dinner by May Toms and Barbara Kautz from CCST13!

Mini CCST13 reunion!

A great biking and exploring day – one of my favorites!  And only 2600+ feet of ascent!

This will be short and sweet, just so everyone knows that I am alive and well and in the 13th state along the Atlantic Coast.  Our hotel has no internet service so I am using the hotspot on my phone – no photos, just a quick summary of the day.

We started the morning having to climb back 3+ miles that we had soared down yesterday afternoon – not one of our most popular activities.  We wandered along a ridge, then dropped down into the town of Ayer where we biked onto the Nashua River Rail Trail.  It obviously continued to Nashua, NH, but we left in the town of Groton, a very lovely area, continuing on through Dunstable and Tyngsborough, before crossing the Merrimack River and entering the state of New Hampshire.  Again, we found the hills less steep than in Connecticut though there were still a lot of ups and downs (4200+ ft of ascent, 4400+ ft of descent).

At mile 36, the van was stopped to pick up some riders, and Gail, Marilyn and I joined about 10 other riders for a little picnic – the sun was shining, we bought chocolate milk, and ate our PBJ sandwiches, ready to face the second half of the day.

Our route took us through East Derry, Danville, Kingston, and into Exeter – the original plan was for us to stay in Exeter but no hotel rooms were available (likely Phillips-Exeter Academy graduation weekend). So we headed another 6 miles and are staying in Hampton Beach, on the 20-mile Atlantic Coast that is in New Hampshire.

The afternoon breezes were crisp off the ocean, and we felt the chill, with actual temperatures around 52 degrees.

No margarita celebration tonight as the motel has a zero alcohol tolerance.  We found a circle area with some late sunlight and out of the wind – and enjoyed Cookie Daddy cookies for dessert.  Thanks to Alana, Tana and Tom for the treats.

Photos tomorrow…

Mileage today:  79.08