I run out of time and still want to ride.  I want to stay off the well traveled road and the rail trail is the easy route.   A mile from my house, up Central, down Second, cut through the Fish Market parking lot, up the rail trail ramp.  Its not long enough.  The Augusta section is fun also, but a different flavor.  It has an unpaved section that is not great for road bikes.  It is a quick dash down Main St in Hallowell to connect the sections, save enough, but always interesting.

At the Gardiner end, the River park is progressing and will be a wonderful addition.  It is not connected to the rail trail, but it seems like a natural progrssion.  the Augusta end has their own Riverfront Park, which is finished and unfolds naturally.  The whole of downtown is oriented away from the river, which seems backwards.  The pull of the river is that it varies infinitely, unlike main Street, which maintains a constant level of boredom.

 Our route is Hallowell, Central st to Outlet Rd to Spears corner to Plains road in Litchfield, Pond rd in Gardiner to the rail trail.  We see few cars, more fishermen and joggers.  We are extremely lucky to live in biking paradise.

The graduation speech was on moving through awkwardness.  What I realized that Beloit was a campus of characters, all slightly out of place, but finding compromises together to get through awkward phases.  It was a wonderful experience for Ruby, who had several mentors., who helped her focus and find her place/

The end is near, the dirt is showing more and more and raggae weekend can not help.  Scott and I are probably going to brave the cold and hung over revelers on Sunday and hunt for the best snow, the most lift in the turns.

I convinced Scott that he should come biking with us.  40 miles I promised.  I made a wrong turn.  Hills and steeper hills.  We stopped a few times.    Most notably to refuel in Richmond, not at our usual coffe shop, but at the Country Store.   Pat was on top of his game and we dragged Scott past his endurance point.  He trekked on despite being past a reasonable long distance, and wearing a long sleve cotton shirt.

It was a late spring day in early spring, 73 degrees, balmy and beautiful.    We traveled from Hallowell to So Gardiner, Litchfield,  Richmond, Gardiner and then the rail trail.  We ended up right around 50 miles and a little sore and tired, glad to have an early long ride.

The ice is out, not even the end of march and it is melted and swept down the river to elsewhere.  However, being a Mainer, I can’t help thinking there is one more snow storm, let alone countless rain storms of epic proportions, just around the corner. 

Sugarloaf  got 5 inches this last snowstorm and they need cold weather to groom.  We need a hard freeze that turns the sloppy snow into ice crystals that will grind and groom and then turn into corn snow on a warm day.  I hope I get too busy with work and can only ski on the weekend, maybe one afternoon a week.  Then I want meditation gardens to take off.

I love Verrazzano bride, the longest suspension bridge in the US.   I thought the Tampa Bay bridge was the longest, but I am wrong.  I’d like to walk it some day.

We came to see Ellis Island, and as much walking around on a wet rainy day as we could do/

       And then their was Geppettos for a break from bad lift lines, or poor visibility.  I stategically took breaks,  maximizing my runs, and resting from the vigorous physical activity.

It’s fun to ruminate on a sunny, warm february day. on the strength of early season warmth. 

I never thought I be biking in Feburary but we’ve had days of sun and no snow.  The snow melts and less heat is radiated back, warming the air.  The ice jam is still there.  The rail trail is cool, shaded, narrow and wet, but spectatular with the ice jam, melting snow.