My first traveling day is over - I can't believe it!
I spent most of yesterday doing final organizing, but I had plenty of time to speak with friends and family. Barb and I had lunch at Legal Seafood. I needed to get a final fix of New England shellfish before I headed out. A Maine crab roll really hit the spot. I spoke to a lot of folks on the phone - my thanks to all who called to wish me well! My sister called to tell me she felt scared and excited for me. She said she started getting scared when she saw the picture of my bike and trailer in my journal. It's really OK Suze - my bike tells me it will treat me well on this trip!
It took a little longer than expected to get out of the house this morning - between running to the bathroom with a last minute case of nerves, cleaning out the refrigerator, and last minute organization, packing, and re-packing. I really shouldn't be surprised. I had hoped to leave between 9 and 10, but it was 10:30 before I made it out the door. And it was very weird leaving directly from my front door with no long plane trip to start my biking trip.
I made a couple of last minute changes. Last night Bruce convinced me to take a second pannier. That way I would have 2 partially full bags with a lot of extra space, and no lopsided balance issues. I know the panniers are there, but there isn't really enough weight in them to alter the handling of the bike. Thank you Bruce - I think in the long run I'll be happy to have the extra space - even though I have no intention of filling it up. I'm using my front panniers on the rear, so they are not too big. I also took out the long-sleeved long underwear shirt and replaced it with a second long underwear tank top. I think I'll get more use out of that, and if I made a mistake I'll just have to pick up another shirt! I think part of my clothing indecision is because the two other self-supported trips I took were so different from each other. The first had very very hot weather - even at elevations in the Rockies where it is normally cool - and very little rain. The second was very wet and very cool. I hope that this trip is a combination of the previous two from a weather standpoint.
It was a good first day, with nice weather all day. It was sunny this morning with totally blue skies, and the afternoon had some high, thin clouds coming in. It's likely that I'll get rained on later in the week, but it was nice to have a good weather day to start the trip. Of course if it had been pouring rain this morning, I probably would have been a baby and delayed my trip start by a day!
I had to stop and ask for directions twice - both times at T intersections with absolutely no signs. Oh the joy of Massachusetts road signs - it's a guessing game if you are not familiar with the area.
I started by cycling through Lawrence and Lowell, both old mill towns along the Merrimack River. Once I got through there, the terrain changed to gently rolling, with widely spread out tiny towns and farmland interspersed with trees. It's really pretty in this area of the state, and it's a place where I've never ridden before. I tend to head north, east, and south from my house because it's faster to get to pretty roads from there. I'll have to start doing some of the bike club rides in this area after I get home.
First day out, and what did I remember about loaded touring? First and most obvious is that I travel more slowly. I averaged 10.5 miles per hour today, and it was relatively flat. Toward the end of the day there were more hills - or at least it seemed like there were more hills, although it could have been because I was tired. I'm sure there will be some slower hillier days to come. Hopefully as I get into better touring shape I will be able to maintain that speed, or even get a little faster. But when I think about it - the only thing I need to do every day is bike - and eat, and sleep! Second, a loaded bike likes to fall over when you lean it up against something. I leaned the bike against a post, turned to walk away for a minute, and CRASH! It was down on the ground. No damage, but hopefully enough of a reminder for me to be more careful about how I lean it against things! Third - and I realized this last week, probably never really forgot it - I definitely notice the extra weight going up hills.No real surprises there.
I ended the day at a quiet campground north of Ashby. It may be quiet because it's a Monday night; there don't seem to be too many people in residence. Nice hot showers, and my tent is near a babbling stream - a sound that I find very soothing. I'm looking forward to a good night's sleep tonight, something that I didn't really get last night. Somehow I didn't get to bed until 1AM, definitely not my normal sleep time. But I was still up early this morning... probably from the excitement of finally starting my trip.
