Hub on Wheels

It's 21st Sept and Stuart and I have hired a car so we can drive to Boston to do the Hub on Wheels ride.

We still get a buzz every time we drive out of Montreal when we see the sign that shows us we can actually drive to the US!

We spend an hour and a half waiting to cross the border (ok driving can have its downsides too) so by the time we are State side it is almost time for lunch.  This gives us the excuse to stop in St Albans, Vermont! I've always wanted to visit as this is the name of my home town in the UK.  I smile to myself as we pass the "Historic" St Albans sign.  I can't resist asking the waitress how old the city is - about 200 years she replies.  I tell her that my St Albans originates from about 200 AD.  I don't think she comprehends my answer! (having just checked wiki, I find that the Roman settlement was even older, but St Alban himself was actually beheaded there in AD 324, so I wasn't far off for a wild guess!) I see the house prices in the window of a realtor - $149,000 for a detached plus 1 acre, and compare them to prices at an estate agent back home. £525,000 for a 3 bed semi! 

But enough about St. Albans!  We have friends waiting in Boston!  We meet up with Nathanial and Ann from Boston and Mark from New Jersey all of whom we have met on previous rides, plus Richard and Jackie from Edinburgh who we cycled with in the previous week on the P'tit Train du Nord. We arrive a  little late, for a great meal at Massiminos! 

 

Last year, Nathaniel said we should try the cannolis at Mike's Place, as they were the best in town, but the queue was so long we gave up!  This year we persevere, despite another around the block queue. It's been a long wait, but when I finally get my cannoli it doesn't disappoint!

 

 The weather forecast in the run up to Sunday, was pretty much cloudless skies and sunshine for the week before the ride, rain on Sunday and cloudless skies and sunshine for the week after the ride.

Damn the forecasters they were right!

Sunday morning we wake up to torrential rain.  We'd left the bikes in the car overnight, so whilst Stuart reassembles them, I wait in the car! (it doesn't make sense both of us getting wet!!!)

 

I'd be lying if I said the rain didn't dampen spirits, numbers were significantly down on last year.

 

Undaunted Richard, Jackie, Stuart and I are looking forward to the ride

 

 

 

On the map below there's a 50 mile route in red, which Stuart, Nathanial and Mark are planning to ride, and a 30 mile route in orange for Richard, Jackie and myself (I'm feeling lazy, and quite frankly worn out, work is intense and I have just found out my iron levels have plummeted to 6 (transfusion levels!) which explains a lot about my recent fatigue!

 

Here we are getting ready to take the separate routes

 

 

The ride around Boston is beautiful, it's a year since I'd been to the city and I'd forgotten how lovely the city is. 

 

 

 

Jackie points out the contrast to Montreal.  Boston is so clean and graffiti free, it really does make Montreal look scruffy (but I still love Montreal despite it being a bit shabby round the edges, and in the middle, and underneath.....!) In Boston the buildings are a delightful mix of wooden Coloniale and Brownstones and I forget to take any pictures (sorry!) but I do manage a picture in the park!

 

The parks are wonderful to cycle through and the roads very smooth and pothole free.  However, I had also forgotten how much of the ride was on roads that have not been closed to traffic.  I love doing city rides, when the cars are completely excluded, it feels so safe, so it's a bit disappointing to have cars on part of the route.

We have agreed to meet up at the final rest stop - Carson beach.  After waiting half an hour, Richard and Jackie decide to finish the ride, so they can return their rental bikes.  I wait for the boys to catch up and magically the sun turns up and stays with us for the rest of the day!

 

I wait and I wait.  Am I really that speedy now?  No!  Stuart had two punctures on the way round.

 

As we head back round to the finish, we have to stop at a particularly scenic photo spot to remind ourselves that our good friend Catty from Australia should have been with us!   She did the Hub on Wheels ride with us last year and we have a photo in the exact same spot with her last year.

Stuart and I are the last to arrive, and it was quite easy to find Richard and Jacky - they were in the beer tent!

 

 

Sadly, Anne couldn't ride with us, due to a hand injury, which was a great shame, as I had particularly enjoyed riding with her during the training for "The Ride"

 

See earlier blog

 

 

 

 After such a rainy start who would have thought it could have ended up such a lovely day!