We had enough with the winter boredom, and were growing tired of the mostly coolish and somewhat rainy weather we were currently experiencing. Laura had the week off from school, and the forecast was calling for a couple of warm and sunny days. A perfect recipe for a spontaneous overnight bike trip. The original plan was to drive north into extreme northwest Massachusetts and ride up into southwest Vermont. I have always wanted to ride along the western side of Vermont. Something about the region between the Green Mountains and the Vermont/New York border has always appealed to me. Upon further consideration, however, we decided driving upwards of two hours to get to a start point was not really worth it at this time. Scanning the maps, Rhode Island started to take on some appeal. Considering some possible routes, we decided on a start location at Plainfield, CT, which is less than an hours car drive away, and a ride to Narragansett, RI via Wickford, RI, stay overnight, and ride back to Plainfield. I have been past Narragansett on Route 1 several times, but had never actually gone into the village and beach area of the town. Coupled with the prospect of riding through some of the more woodsy areas of Rhode Island and trying some bike trails that appeared on the map, it seemed like a good choice. And it turns out it was.
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| Starting location at a commuter lot along I-395 in Plainfield, CT where we left the car for the night. |
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| Getting ready to cross the Moosup River in Plainfield, CT along rail trail. |
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| Mapped route wanted us to continue down the rail trail which was no longer paved. We thought better of it given the amount of standing water and mud in evidence as we looked at the start of and far down the trail. |
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| The better choice, following the roads ... |
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| ...along marked sections of the East Coast Greenway. |
Finally being outside on the bike with Spring in the air was a delight to the senses. Birds were singing, flowers were starting to emerge, and the smells of blooming trees filled the air. Leave it to say it was an enjoyable ride on undulating terrain with a few short hills that got the heart pumping, but were manageable on the tandem. Within a couple of hours we had reached Summit, RI, an old railroad stop along the former Providence, Hartford and Fishkill railroad. Unbeknownst to us, this was also the start of a newly prepared section of the Washington Secondary Rail-Trail called the Trestle Trail that headed east in the direction of Narragansett Bay. What could be better?
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| Lunch stop in Summit, RI at the western terminus of the Trestle Trail. |
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| Identifying the Trestle Trail as part of the East Coast Greenway. |
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| The Summit General Store. A great place to grab a snack (or ice cream)! |
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| Cruising along the Trestle Trail. |
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| View along the Trestle Trail. |
We only had about 7 miles on the trail before it was time to divert off of it and turn more southerly towards the town of Wickford, RI. We passed through a variety of terrain and land use types before emerging along the coast of Narragansett Bay. It so happens at this point we took a wrong turn on a paved trail through a park and ended up at a boat launch offering us our first glimpse of the Bay.
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| Wrong turn that took us to Narragansett Bay. |
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| Boat launch at Narragansett Bay. |
We were already in Wickford at this point so it was a quick turn around and return to get us back on course. Taking a left out of a park we found ourselves at the center of Wickford. Wickford is one of those quaint seaside New England villages lined with cute colonial houses, little shops, and clapboard sided churches. Here we took a needed break, where we watched a horseshoe crab scour the harbor bottom, walked around a bit looking at houses and glimpses of the water between structures, and grabbed ourselves a smoothie to help us regenerate for the final leg of the days journey.
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| Looking into the harbor in Wickford. There is a horseshoe crab down there in the shadow if you look hard enough. |
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| Looking out over Wickford harbor. |
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| Catching a break. |
Heading down Route 1A for about 10 miles we reached Narragansett in under an hour on a fairly flat, wide and busy road. Being that it was wide, it offered ample shoulder to ride on, though there was quite a bit of debris that needed to be avoided. Earlier in the day we stopped to pick up a bungee cord I saw laying on the side of the road. Traveling down Route 1A, among the debris, I saw a cookie cutter in the shape of a cow. That got me thinking. How much usable "garbage" can be found on the side of the road? Granted the vast majority of the garbage is truly garbage, and not worth stopping for. There is, however, significant opportunity for financial gain through the collection of redeemable beer cans. Lots of beer cans on the side of the road. Also, lots of those small liquor bottles. What's with all of the alcoholic beverage containers on the side of the road? My guess is it is under age drinkers getting rid of the evidence. Anyhow, I digress, and no we did not stop to pick up the cow cookie cutter.
Narragansett was a pleasant place, still quiet before the start of the
summer tourist season. We spent a little time sitting on a breakwater,
watching the water splash against the rocks, and the few people passing
by. We then headed off to look for a place to stay the night. There were
a few options available to us, and a few more still closed for the
season. We settled on the Atlantic House Hotel which was right on Ocean
Rd. looking out over the entrance to Narragansett Bay. The price was
right for the location, and the accommodations comfortable. After
settling in we headed out to find some dinner. Walking the streets for a
bit we came across Crazy Burger Cafe & Juice Bar. It was an
eclectic looking place, and quite busy which we felt was a good sign. We
ended up sitting out back on the patio under the warmth of a couple of
gas heaters.. After dinner we walked around a little more before
settling in for the night. The curious thing we determined was the lack
of a shopping area in town. Given that it is considered a summer resort
town, we were surprised there didn't appear to be much to do other than
go to the beach. Maybe things livened up during the summer.
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| View towards the Newport Bridge. |
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| Arrival in Narragansett and view of the Towers arching over Ocean Rd. |
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| Ordering dinner at Crazy Burger Cafe & Juice Bar. | |
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| Where we stayed, the Atlantic House Hotel. |
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| View from our hotel room with the camera set to vibrant. |
The next morning following a breakfast of oatmeal and bagels, we headed out on our return leg back to Plainfield. The route would be slightly different than how we came in, heading more westerly then turning towards the north to get us back to Plainfield. We first took a casual spin around some more of Narragansett before trying to find our way onto the mapped route. Using our simple GPS device (Garmin Edge 500) that only provides a list of roads and turns, it was not as easy as I thought to get back on route. We took a couple loops around until the GPS finally agreed we were heading in the right direction. We ended up on another rail trail that took us through Wakefield to Kingston, about 6 miles. Turns out this was the former Narragansett Pier railroad which branched off of the main line in Kingston to service industries and passengers headed to Narragansett Pier. It was another enjoyable ride through old factory towns and woodsy back country, at least as back country as it can get in Rhode Island.
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| Tunnel passing under Route 1. |
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| Peace Dale, RI train station. |
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| View up Kingstown Rd. A trestle used to carry the railroad over this stretch of road. |
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| Trail side art work. |
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| Kingston, RI train station and end of the rail trail. |
Getting back onto road surfaces, we continued peddling along. At one point we noticed the sky becoming dark in the west. I was under the impression that we were supposed to have a nice day, not that I ever thought to check before hand. Accessing the weather radar through the smart phone revealed significant rain in Connecticut. It looked as though the rain was moving more northerly than easterly, so I expected we might make it before it hit us. We continued peddling. We continued to observe a lot of trash on the side of the road, somewhat surprising being that we were on rural roads without much in the way of development and people. Again, mostly alcoholic beverage containers, but an increase in Dunkin Donuts coffee cups.
Getting onto a busier Route 3, and while watching the scrap metal establishments drift by, I started to think it was getting to be time for some lunch. I was looking for a convience store type of place to grab a quick something to eat when we came across The Middle of Nowhere Diner. The name was too good to pass up, so we went in and grabbed a bite to eat. Good food at a low cost. Perfect.
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| Good use of some of that scrap metal. |
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| Lunch at The Middle of Nowhere Diner. |
Back out on the road, the sky was looking a little more dark. Checking the radar again, the rain was still falling in Connecticut moving more north than east, so I still felt we would make it to Plainfield in time. The route took us into more hilly terrain and became more rural still. We rode past the University of Rhode Island's, W. Alton Jones campus, skirted the Wickaboxet Management Area, and up to the West Greenwich Baptist Church which served as a place to take a break. The "up" was a short, but steep uphill, so we walked. Not because we had to, but due mostly to a gearing skip which caused us to lose our momentum. While resting, a car driving by stopped to check us out. The car was occupied by two nice older ladies who were headed home from lunch in Plainfield. They were curious as to what we were up to, and after a friendly conversation we both went on our way, headed in opposite directions.
The road continued to stay rural, eventually turning from pavement to gravel. Still passable. I verified on Google Maps that the road continued. It did. We continued riding. We were soon, however, directed by the GPS to turn down another road. This road, however, was questionable. It had a name with the word Road in it, but it was more of a sandy path. Being too soft to ride, we started to push the bike. Looking at Google Maps, it still indicated a road. We only had to go a mile. We could push if needed. This "road" ran straight into a pond of water. Looking around we noticed a trail that went off to the right around the pond. We took it as far as we could until the trail came to the stream that exited the pond. We either turn back, or cross the stream. It is an adventure after all, so we chose to cross the stream. Fortunately it was fairly shallow in places with a gravel bottom and a few places to plant your feet without getting wet (at least in theory). We wisely took off our socks and made our way across the stream back to the sandy trail/road. Pushing a little further we made it back to a gravel road. Turning left and proceeding down the gravel road in the direction that the GPS dictated, the road ended at a Private Property, No Trespassing sign on a gate across the road. This "road" was really a driveway, and there was no going through. Guess we were turning around after all. Referring back to Google Maps I saw we could get back on track by taking a short detour without having to go back down the sandy "road". Socks back on, we turned around and start riding.
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| Taking a break outside the West Greenwich Baptist Church. |
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| The "road" that was more a sandy path. |
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| The "road" beyond the stream. |
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| No getting through here. |
We finally made it back onto paved surfaces, headed in the opposite direction of the road we took the day before. This eventually got us to the Connecticut/Rhode Island border and in to Plainfield. The sky was still dark, but no rain. We felt satisfied with our little spontaneous bike ride to Narragansett, RI to chase away the winter boredom and we began scheming for more rides in the near future.
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| Old railroad bridge along a less developed rail trail that we decided not to take. |
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| Back to Connecticut. |
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