Writer's Notebook - James Rafferty Blog

Rolling on the Cape Cod Rail Trail

The sky is a pure blue, with bare hints of cirrus and streaks of white written by jet fuel as if viewed upon a global spectroscope. I sit at a picnic table by my hotel, beneath a canopy of twisted pine limbs and an overspread of maple and oak trees above. Across the way, I see glimpses of bicycle riders as they roll silently by. It's a Cape Cod morning and it's already been a fine day. 

My wife and I are staying for a long weekend at a hotel located strategically by the Cape Cod Rail Trail. We had a relaxing start to the day, taking in the continental breakfast offered by the hotel. Once fortified by coffee, juice and light food items such as muffins and fresh bananas, we were ready for the next step.  

I took my time and had a nice chat with a neighbor from a nearby room; like me, he has a background in the telecom world, so we briefly compared notes about the transition from that work into some form of semi-retirement. Both of us were getting ready for a bike ride, but at a leisurely pace.  

I listened to the last minutes of the Saturday edition of CBS This Morning, hearing an energetic song of gospel inflected blues rock performed by Mavis Staples and her band, and pulled together my supplies for the bike ride.  Some fifteen minutes later, I was ready. By this time, the reader may wonder, is there a point to this post or will it simply meander. To which I'd say, that's one of the joys of a visit to Cape Cod; there's no schedule, no need to rush out or, for example, to roll up 50 miles on one's bike. But yes, let's begin the tale of the bike ride. 

I got onto my bike and rode a short way on a path through the woods. Moments later, my tires hit the pavement of the path. I turned right and headed south in the direction of Orleans. I haven't been riding a lot this spring, but as I rode down the path, my leg muscles felt limber. I enjoyed picking up speed and feeling mild breezes brush against my face and legs. Just last evening, we'd experienced fierce winds at sunset, but that phase of weather had passed. Since I felt very good, I decided to push ahead and see how much ground I could cover in about twenty minutes on the trail  For those who want to track mileage. stone markers appear at every mile and identify which town you're in and how many miles you are from the start of the trail in Dennis. 

Most of my ride was in the town of Eastham. Sights include the back side of the local transfer station, which now doubles as a massive solar farm, vestiges of departed businesses such as a fully overgrown golf driving range and a diverse variety of different micro eco-systems. On my way out, I was content to move along past all of that, but planned to view the trail-side flora and fauna more closely upon my return.  So I rode and rode.  The trail wasn't too crowded.  I saw one large group of teenagers in matching tee shirts, most likely a scout troop, various walkers, the occasional jogger and of course, bikers coming to and fro. My journey continued, past some of my favorite small lakes and ponds, across numerous intersections and the miles rolled up. 

As I approached my twenty minute goal, I decided to continue until I hit a major cross street. As luck and my route would have it, I naturally hit a stretch where there were no cross streets. I continued on, but noted how the terrain had changed to a mix of swamps and green lowlands;the scent of decaying vegetation filled the air. Finally, I saw an indication of incline on the trail just ahead. I continued until I reached that point, which led onto a bridge that crossed over into the town of Orleans. I'd taken that particular ride last year, but decided It was time to stop and begin my return back. My outbound ride had expanded from twenty to twenty-six minutes. I scanned the map at trail-side; the spot I'd stopped at branched off the trail to a road that led to Rock Harbor. Years ago, this had all been part of the rail trail, but a relatively new set of bridges and interconnections built since then now totally bypasses that segue.    

As I rolled down the hill, I noticed a mile marker and pulled my bike to a stop. The mark showed I'd reached the town of Orleans: 

And so the slower and more observant return began. I soon reached a group of elder women who were taking a walk and I guessed they'd be knowledgeable about the local birds. I was right. One woman quickly identified a white bird in the nearby marsh to be an egret and another called attention to a massive nest atop a power line tower:  

The nest, atop the middle stanchion, was the home of a large Osprey. The bird itself was perched on the top of the left tower. Quite a sight and one I wouldn't have noticed on my own. I passed along my thanks, bid adieu to the women and continued down the path.  

Along the way, I saw several of the lakes and ponds I'd passed on the way out.  

By now, my muscles were getting a bit sore, but I carried on toward my goal. Near where I began, a large stone marks a distance where the trail is 100 miles from Boston.  Here's a glimpse of when I reached that point.  

After this stop, I circled back to my hotel and concluded a perfect morning by writing about the journey. If you like nature and are visiting Cape Cod, be sure to check out the wonderful Cape Cod Rail Trail.  

 

Back on the Cape Cod Rail Trail

Over this past weekend, I got re-acquainted with the Cape Cod Rail Trail, which is one of the premier bike trails on the east coast. My family first explored the trail in the Nineties, but it's changed a lot in the time since with a variety of expansions and new trail segments. After a couple of warmup runs, I decided to head from Eastham south toward Orleans and see how far I could get in a one hour round trip.  

Much of this portion of the trail runs through wooded areas, which makes riding comfortable even on a sunny day. Here's a portion of the trail in one of those wooded stretches:  

One aspect I like about bike trails converted from rail lines is the variety of the surroundings. As I rode through Eastham, on one side I passed an abandoned golf range, complete with overgrown fields and the remnants of yardage markers, interspersed amidst the backsides of local hotels, various types of construction businesses, a large workout facility and more. A half mile up the road, I recognized the local transfer station on the other side of the trail; the landfill portion has now been augmented by the addition of many solar panel arrays, which look a bit like alien invaders who decided to alight upon these manmade hills.  

A little further on, I passed a local landmark restaurant, Arnold's, which is known for its fried seafood, though other options are also available. The parking lot was packed on a Friday evening, but mostly deserted on Saturday morning.  Next, the path crosses under Route 6 and the views get more rustic as the trail veers into residential areas, but also passes by several gorgeous lakes. Here's a glimpse of a lake that visible on the left as one passes through a mix of water and wooded areas that also feature jack rabbits, chipmunks and birds flying by. 

As I got closer to Orleans, the terrain changed and miles of wetlands were visible to our right and in some cases we could see all the way to the inner coastline on the bay side of Cape Cod. Here an earthy mix of fragrances emerged from fields that sometimes get bathed in sea waters during high tides. We had learned about this phenomenon during a visit on the prior day to the Wellfleet Audubon sanctuary a few miles further north. Other fields were drier, but still extended out in undeveloped areas toward the coast.  

Eventually I came upon a portion of the path which I didn't remember from my earlier trips. At one time, as one left Eastham, the next stop on the trail was Rock Harbor, but in order to get there, bikers had to go along the side of the road. Now, the trail continues and extends over a bridge which rises above the roadways below and connects the Eastham side of the trail directly into Orleans. In Orleans, we formerly would have needed to follow roads to pick up the trail again, but now the trail is set aside from the road -- akin to a broad paved sidewalk -- and after a few stop signs and road crossings, the uninterrupted portions of the trail resume. Soon after that, I'd reached the halfway point of my trip, as my stopwatch indicated I'd been riding for a little over thirty minutes. But I felt really good to have reached Orleans and connected with this new portion of the path.  

I turned around and after a short break, resumed my ride for the return trip. I decided to lighten up the pace and kept my eye out for scenes to photograph, some of which I've shown here. I also discovered that the path to Rock Harbor was still available, but was now off of the main bike path.  

By the time I returned to my starting point in Eastham, I'd been riding for just over an hour. I decided to go just a little bit further north. At one time, trains from Boston actually ran on the tracks which have now been replaced by the trail. Here is the stone that marks the one hundred mile distance from Boston.   

The Cape Cod Rail Trail has changed some over the years, but still provides an incomparable view of Cape Cod's many and varied terrains as one rides from mile to mile upon this paved path.  

Return to the Cape

This past weekend, my wife Cindy and I returned to the Cape Cod to celebrate our 28th anniversary. Our Cape history goes back to the early years of our marriage and it's always been a special place for us. Richard Russo wrote a novel called Cape Cod Magic and truly it's always felt that way to us. Going to the Cape brings back old memories, but there's often new bits of experience in store. 

After a scrumptious seafood lunch at Seafood Sam's on the Sandwich side of the canal, I dropped Cindy at a local beach and strode back up a hump-backed boardwalk to my car. A few young men in white shirts and ties were unloading a truck and I wondered what that was all about. I'd find out later. I'm not much of a beach person, so I drove to the nearby Sandwich village and stopped in at the local library. Outside I saw this stone plaque in the shape off a book. 

The inscription had always been a favorite of the pastor at our church and it was a reminder that we all have choices about how we spend our time now and going forward. I relaxed with a favorite pursuit - reading in the library for a while - and recharged my phone. Then I set out on walk through the village. For about five years, some close friends had lived in Sandwich. It's a classic New England village, replete with homes that go back over 150 years, cute cafes and a cornucopia of bushes, beach grasses, and other greenery filling the  nooks and crannies between houses and shops. At one time, Sandwich connected dIrectly to the mainland before the canal was dredged and along my walk, I saw this stone which dated from that earlier time.  

 

 A while later I returned to the beach. As I again followed the boardwalk to the beach, I encountered an attractive, young woman in a open-backed, white dress accompanied by several other young women in light tan outfits -- a bridal party. Just ahead on the beach, a crowd had gathered by the water.  I found my wife about 100 yards further down the beach and we watched briefly as the wedding ceremony began. Just another bit of that Cape Cod magic.   

We drove up the Cape to our hotel in Wellfleet. A while later, we donned our swim suits and swam in an outdoor pool whose waters had been warmed using an array of solar panels. Our stay at the Cape had begun. We had a fine meal that evening at Van Rensselaer's a few miles down the road, which began with the local specialty -- fresh Wellfleet oysters. The rest of the meal was equally good and we began to settle in for a fun weekend. 

The next morning, we took to the bike path. The Cape Cod Rail Trail extends from Dennis to Wellfleet, so we were on the final portion heading up toward Marconi Beach.  Here's a look at a view of the bay side looking out from the trail:  

I'll close this post with a view of the bike trail itself looking towards it terminus. We'd been on the Cape less than a day, but we were already much more relaxed as we let the beauty of the outdoors weave its spell upon us.