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Bike: New Hamster
Went 35 miles, from Ayer to Nashua, NH, then down to Lowell to take the train back. Nashua River Rail Trail was nice. Odometer clicked over 500 miles in Nashua. My preschool is attached to a UU church with rainbow banners out front; how cool is that? Also, never go to Lowell.
The Nashua River Rail Trail starts on the north side of the main road through Ayer. Getting off the train, you want to walk towards civilization towards the sign that says "bike trail". Do not follow the crazy guy with long hair walking off the other way, even if he has a bike. No, the bike trail is not on the other side of that train. Even if it's coming up from Worcester with cars. And is waiting at the signal for no discernable reason (well, beyond the signal being red; I was hoping for an explanation for that).
The trail itself is fairly nice. All paved, regardless of what the bike map says. About the same bike density as the Minuteman but without the insane rollerbladers or SUV-grade baby carriages. Much nicer scenery. Against my expectations, it was uphill all the way to at least Pepperell (so, the first eight miles). Occasional mile markers, but not regular ones. If you're into random stone markers, there's one at the Groton/Pepperell town line; there was also a "W 34" mile marker (from Worcester?).
From Pepperell I cut across to route 111 (there's a covered bridge on the bike map, IIRC). 111 goes straight into downtown Nashua. I rode north on Main Street through the downtown area, then turned right on Canal Street, past White Wing School, and ultimately across the bridge into Hudson. In Hudson I followed 3A south, crossing back into Massachusetts in Tyngsboro, crossing the Merrimack again, and heading south through northern Chelmsford.
Southern New Hampshire has changed quite a bit. West Hollis St. (111 west out of Nashua) is basically lined with named housing developments. Also, 20 years ago, the bridge between Nashua and Hudson wasn't safe for me to bike across.
In Chelmsford I turned left off of 3A "to 110". I ran into the train tracks from Littleton here; if I had been an hour or two earlier I probably could have caught the cars coming up from Worcester. The track layout was basically a triangle, with interlocking signals at each corner. This seemed odd, since the triangle otherwise wasn't large enough to hold a train of any length on one of its edges. There didn't seem to be much sign of any signalling infrastructure beyond that up there, though.
Lowell is confusing, and pretty run-down. I stumbled across the train station by sheer luck, and even then saw a sign, rode towards it, and discovered that the only thing you could do at that driveway was enter the garage. The station itself was small but furnished; you had to go up, cross the freight tracks, and come down to get to the passenger platform. There were barricades at the north end of the passenger platform, which was odd given that the tracks continued past a signal to meet up with the main line (to either Nashua or Littleton).
The one thing I noticed a lot today was the difference between jointed and welded rail. Older/cheaper rail is made of segments 39 feet long and bolted together, which make the characteristic clicking noise; newer and expensive rail is made of longer segments welded together, which is much smoother. The train back from Lowell was all jointed rail and it was pretty bouncy. Two-track CTC from Lowell to Winchester, then two-track ABS from Winchester to the Lowell St. interlocking in Somerville and CTC again in to BET.
Left Ayer at 1:23, got to Lowell around 4:20, went 35.34 miles for an average of about 12 mph. Counting the ride home from West Medford, my bike says 2:38, 37.93 miles, 14.3 mph.
The Nashua River Rail Trail starts on the north side of the main road through Ayer. Getting off the train, you want to walk towards civilization towards the sign that says "bike trail". Do not follow the crazy guy with long hair walking off the other way, even if he has a bike. No, the bike trail is not on the other side of that train. Even if it's coming up from Worcester with cars. And is waiting at the signal for no discernable reason (well, beyond the signal being red; I was hoping for an explanation for that).
The trail itself is fairly nice. All paved, regardless of what the bike map says. About the same bike density as the Minuteman but without the insane rollerbladers or SUV-grade baby carriages. Much nicer scenery. Against my expectations, it was uphill all the way to at least Pepperell (so, the first eight miles). Occasional mile markers, but not regular ones. If you're into random stone markers, there's one at the Groton/Pepperell town line; there was also a "W 34" mile marker (from Worcester?).
From Pepperell I cut across to route 111 (there's a covered bridge on the bike map, IIRC). 111 goes straight into downtown Nashua. I rode north on Main Street through the downtown area, then turned right on Canal Street, past White Wing School, and ultimately across the bridge into Hudson. In Hudson I followed 3A south, crossing back into Massachusetts in Tyngsboro, crossing the Merrimack again, and heading south through northern Chelmsford.
Southern New Hampshire has changed quite a bit. West Hollis St. (111 west out of Nashua) is basically lined with named housing developments. Also, 20 years ago, the bridge between Nashua and Hudson wasn't safe for me to bike across.
In Chelmsford I turned left off of 3A "to 110". I ran into the train tracks from Littleton here; if I had been an hour or two earlier I probably could have caught the cars coming up from Worcester. The track layout was basically a triangle, with interlocking signals at each corner. This seemed odd, since the triangle otherwise wasn't large enough to hold a train of any length on one of its edges. There didn't seem to be much sign of any signalling infrastructure beyond that up there, though.
Lowell is confusing, and pretty run-down. I stumbled across the train station by sheer luck, and even then saw a sign, rode towards it, and discovered that the only thing you could do at that driveway was enter the garage. The station itself was small but furnished; you had to go up, cross the freight tracks, and come down to get to the passenger platform. There were barricades at the north end of the passenger platform, which was odd given that the tracks continued past a signal to meet up with the main line (to either Nashua or Littleton).
The one thing I noticed a lot today was the difference between jointed and welded rail. Older/cheaper rail is made of segments 39 feet long and bolted together, which make the characteristic clicking noise; newer and expensive rail is made of longer segments welded together, which is much smoother. The train back from Lowell was all jointed rail and it was pretty bouncy. Two-track CTC from Lowell to Winchester, then two-track ABS from Winchester to the Lowell St. interlocking in Somerville and CTC again in to BET.
Left Ayer at 1:23, got to Lowell around 4:20, went 35.34 miles for an average of about 12 mph. Counting the ride home from West Medford, my bike says 2:38, 37.93 miles, 14.3 mph.