Year 1 - Ride Day 11 - Fairhaven MA to West Greenwich RI - Sept 11
The motel said that due to COVID they stopped serving breakfast. Convenient for them, but the rate did not go down to reflect that loss of service. The desk staff suggested we go up the street a “little” way to the Phoenix restaurant for our breakfast. A little way was almost a mile and not in the direction we were going. This added two miles to an already 67 mile day!
The breakfast was worth it though. Our waitress commented that she had just purchased and rode with padded bicycle shorts for the first time in her life! She is a convert!
Crossing the bridge from Fairhaven into New Bedford, I couldn’t help but stop to take a couple photos of fishing boats docked there.
We were soon in Fall River looking at the Navy ships docked there. We unfortunately we did not have the time to take any of the ship tours, but enjoyed viewing and discussing the ships. We had the benefit of Dan’s Navy experience.
Soon after we got off the Fall River bike/pedestrian trail, we met our first Mass-Hole! I have been told they are legendary, but this guy really went to all extremes to show how big of an idiot he really was! We were in a very tight left turn, underpass, followed by another very close left turn. As I made the first left and proceeded through the underpass, I stayed in the left turn lane because of the almost immediate next left turn. That is when I heard the horn start sounding. He was laying on the horn for almost 30 seconds! Our GPS said take a left on Lindsey Street. I was in the left turn lane as the left turn arrow went out! So I stopped, because of oncoming traffic, when this idiot pulled up beside me in a beat up black pick up truck. He began yelling at me to “Get that (explicative) thing off the road! Then he sped off without even allowing me to ask what I might be doing wrong! Welcome to Mass!
We stopped at the top of the Washington Bridge over the Seekonk River near Providence. The most recently reconstructed bridge includes a very nice bike/pedestrian path across the bridge. There are two photos that describe the bridge through the years. The plaque that affected me the most was the large brass one that memorialized the workers that lost their lives building past versions of the bridge. It was heartbreaking to know that so many men died in construction accidents just on this bridge alone.
Going through Providence was not bad at all. A little tricky at the bridge entrances and exits doing the serpentine thing. After Providence, we got on the Washington Secondary Rail Trail. We rode that trail almost to the motel that night.
The motel driveway was probably one of the steepest hills we climbed all day. After 69.5 miles, the last thing we wanted to do was another steep climb, but getting off and pushing seemed worse! So up we went! Ahh the motel is in sight, no wait that’s not our motel, ours is further up this little bugger of a hill! Note to the route designer, check the elevation at the end of the route!
To make matters worse, the nearest restaurant was not really in walking distance, so we had to climb it again after dinner, but without all our gear!
Battleship Cove at Fall River is a treat. Sorry about the Masshole, could be one of my relatives!
ReplyDelete