An auspicious start turned quickly as 5.7 miles into the ride our tour leader, Joyce, called me to ask if I was missing anything. Upon check of pockets for keys, wallet and phone I said: No.
Then she said don’t you feel lighter? And I immediately realized I left my backpack in camp. Not only was Joyce thorough in checking the campsite and finding the backpack on a far bench in camp, she was also willing toneide with it out to me about a mile and a half.
Which for me resulted in bonus miles and pushed my riding miles above 80.
Too tired to say more—or even think straight—enjoy the pictures of crossing from Massachusetts in to Rhode Island…
I rode with Steven most of the day.
The group is staying at the Providence Guest House and Hostel tonight.
Day 82 Start: Rochester, MA End: Providence, RI Miles: 81.12 / 1,324
Today was only a 72 mile day on the mapped route, but my back and forth to retrieve my back pack added 9 miles to my day.
No one in their right mind plans an 81 mile day, they happen as a result of desperation or stupidity.
What I’m Reading:
Political and religious polarisation, which appeared to be on the wane for parts of the 20th century, has increased alarmingly in the past decade . . . The world feels to me more like the 1930s and 40s at present than it has in the intervening 80 years.
— Margaret Atwood / from a speech at the British Book Awards
We biked bonus miles today due to a detour and resupplying a mile off the trail — a sort of there and back and off to the campsite in Rochester, MA.
But the day started chilly, windy, and sunny with a litany of favorite sites on the Cape Cod Rail Trail — like Seymour Pond.
Not much pedestrian or bike traffic on the rail trail early Monday morning.
Some of the touring group here getting started again after a 10-mile break stop, and heading toward the end of our time on the Cape Cod Rail Trail.
We bikes through some scenic communities like Yarmouth with its series of historic homes.
And nearby Yarmouth Port.
We had to detour around power line installation in Hyannis.
But found easy succor at Mary Lou’s Coffee down the road.
I actually ate my lunchtime sandwich in Sandwich, MA.
Here we’re getting ready to head on the second bike trail of the day the Cape Cod Canal Trail.
The trail covers both eastern and western sides of the Cape Cod Canal. Here Peter, Dan and Paula are headed toward the Sagamore Bridge—one of only two ways to get on and off Cape Cod on the road.
This is a memorable bridge crossing — not for its length or height …
… but because there is no guard rail between bicyclists and pedestrians from traffic roaring by two feet to the left.
This is the Saganore Bridge after crossing it and heading on the Canal Trail in the opposite direction.
And finally the railroad bridge at the end of the Cape Cod Canal Trail at Buzzards Bay.
Wickets Island in Buzzards Bay.
Christopher after an ice cream break at Guido’s Ice Cream in Onset Village.
Our resupply stop in West Wareham.
Day 81 Start: Brewster, MA End: Rochester, MA Miles: 60.22 / 1,243
Tomorrow 72 miles to Providence, Rhode Island.
What I’m Reading:
… An estimated 80% of banana exports which supply supermarkets around the world come from Latin America and the Caribbean — one of the most vulnerable regions to extreme weather and slow-onset climate disasters.
And yet the crop is under threat from the human-made climate crisis, and threatens a vital food source and the livelihoods of communities that have contributed virtually nothing to the greenhouse gases driving global heating.
— Nina Lakhani / “Climate crisis threatens the banana, the world’s most popular fruit, research shows” / The Guardian
The first day back was inevitably going to be short as the touring group was coming into my hometown and I was going to rejoin them at the Provincetown ferry terminal at the Boston Seaport.
My biking day didn’t start until 3pm—and other than 5.5 miles to the ferry terminal, and 3 miles in Provincetown—the lion’s share set of miles came from the 40 miles on the ferry.
All the bikes were lashed together—into a veritable horizontal layer cake of bikes.
We were all very pleased that the bikes made it across dry and sea water free.
We arrived in Provincetown just before dusk which gave us enough time to shop for groceries and set up our tents before it was dark.
Day 79 Start: Boston, MA End: Provincetown, MA Miles: 1,152
What I’m Reading:
We are You—Us is America, XY YX XXXY YXY, limitless Yes! Proclaim: P for peace, E for earth, A for all. Zero in on C for climate, E for equality. Our unity.
The climate crisis is threatening the future of the world’s most popular fruit, as almost two-thirds of banana-growing areas in Latin America and the Caribbean may no longer be suitable for growing the fruit by 2080, new research has found.
Rising temperatures, extreme weather and climate-related pests are pummeling banana-growing countries such as Guatemala, Costa Rica and Colombia, reducing yields and devastating rural communities across the region, according to Christian Aid’s new report, Going Bananas: How Climate Change Threatens the World’s Favourite Fruit.
— Nina Lakhani / “Climate crisis threatens the banana, the world’s most popular fruit, research shows” / The Guardian
The war left me only those who died to call friends. I bless night and light a votive candle so they pass through me in a dream, like a scalpel or a cough, it left me no heart as a window to hang on the wall of memories…
— Nasser Rabah / “To Whom Should We Recite the Time”
We will no longer be active on Twitter. We’d rather not contribute content and engagement, for free, to a platform owned by a paranoid billionaire who peddles in delusional misinformation, self-interested disinformation, and outright white supremacist conspiracy. (Not to mention all the DOGE stuff.)
If you are a literary organization of any kind, please consider joining us, along with Electric Literature, over at Bluesky.
@literaryhub.bsky.social
@electricliterature.com
— Johnny Diamond, Editor in Chief / “We’ve Logged Off” / Lit Hub
Know that when zebra finches felt the first pinch of climate change, they chirped to their offspring, still shelled, to warn, to insist, they hatch
smaller and fiercer.
— Amie Whittemore / “Future History of Earth’s Birds”
Acute food insecurity continues to rise at an alarming rate, with almost 300 million people at risk of death through starvation, new analysis reveals.
Escalating conflict and cuts to humanitarian aid along with climate and economic shocks forced an additional 13.7 million people into chronic food insecurity last year.
— Mark Townsend / “Almost 300m people at risk of death through starvation – report” / The Guardian
What we are attempting is dangerous: Building a bridge. Forging a bond. Helping one another. Let no one sway us otherwise. We must keep on loving each other through the killings.
— Essex Hemphill / “Meditations in a War Zone”
Christian Aid is calling on wealthy polluting nations most responsible for the climate crisis to urgently transition away from fossil fuels and fulfil their obligations to provide financing to help communities adapt to the changing climate.
“Bananas are not just the world’s favourite fruit, they are also an essential food for millions of people. We need to wake up to the danger posed by climate change to this vital crop,” said Osai Ojigho, Christian Aid’s director of policy and campaigns. “The lives and livelihoods of people who have done nothing to cause the climate crisis are already under threat.”
— Nina Lakhani / “Climate crisis threatens the banana, the world’s most popular fruit, research shows” / The Guardian
What I’m Listening To:
Though this world’s essentially an absurd place to be living in It doesn’t call for bubble withdrawal It’s said human existence is pointless As acts of rebellious solidarity can bring sense in this world La resistance! La resistance!
I’ve been back at home in Boston the last four days. I’ve had a streak of “the luck of Job.”
In case you’ve forgotten, over the course of 1,146 miles from Key West, FL to Georgetown, SC — and then from Calais, ME to Bar Harbor, ME — the only mechanical issues I had were 3 flat tires.
Fairly common.
But in the course of a week, last week, I blew out a derailleur (it got bent to hell) — and last Sunday my rear brake failed and warped into the brake rotor. I was left with only the front brake functioning in very steep terrain. And the rear brake was partially locked because the metal spring in the caliper / brake pad mechanism was bent into itself. See detailed images below:
Since I joined the group… if I didn’t have bad luck, I had no luck at all. Oy!
Seriously, I’ve just lived through two “freak” mechanical failures in a week.
My life partner-wife, Pattie, was kind enough to drive the three hours to pick me up in Thomaston, ME. I really didn’t want to rent a car and hotel again.
Again, luckily I biked these miles (from Boston to Searsport, ME) last summer, so I’m lucky to have the flexibility to wait for the group to bike into Boston to rejoin them. Which I will do this Saturday for the ferry ride to Provincetown, MA, for our ride through Cape Cod as we head south to Washington, DC.
I’m surprised at this last mechanical failure as I had the bike checked out and tuned up last month in Mt. Pleasant, SC.
As you see in the picture above, and in the penultimate post, Saturday’s ride to Camden Hills State Park, in Camden, ME, was a complete wash out. Rain with temperatures in the 40’s and 50’s — a fairly miserable weather day.
It cleared overnight and Sunday dawned a sunny day. A truly perfect riding day. A high of 60 degrees and light wind.
This (above) was as good as it got for me on Sunday. Coming down a short 12% to 15% grade (truly steep) — I lost my rear brake. I was advised that with the pitched grades we were riding it might be best to hitchhike ahead to Bath where an excellent bike shop is located. But I decided to get this sorted out at home instead.
As Thursday was a day off in Hampton, NH, and I’ve already ridden the 245 miles between Boston and Searport, ME, I chose to wait for the group here in Boston while I got the bike worked on.
I ran some water up to the Saugus, MA campground yesterday — where there is no potable water — so the group has drinking and cooking water today.
Day 76: Location: Boston, MA Miles: 1,146
In the meantime I’ve logged 2,042 miles on my bike this year. I’ve also prepared my old bike for the remainder of the East Coast Greenway tour in case my current bike acts up again.
My luck has got to change.
What I’m Reading:
How we move through our cities plays a big role in sustainability — but not every place makes it easy to go car-free. Today, Realtor.com® and Local Logic unveiled a new ranking of America’s Top Eco-Friendly Cities for Car-Free Transit, highlighting the places where walking, biking, and public transit are not only viable, but widely used. Leading the list are Hoboken, NJ, Cambridge, MA, and Brookline, MA, with the most top-ranked cities found in the Northeast and California’s Bay Area.
— Thao Tram Ngo / “America’s Top Eco-Friendly Cities for Car-Free Transit” / Local Logic
But now, capitalism has entered a radical and apocalyptic phase. There is no utopian vision in any of this. Instead, there’s a final battle. And this is where it gets really dark. The people who are advancing this agenda are also building their luxury bunkers and their spaceships to Mars. They don’t believe that there is a future. These people believe history is ending, literally. It’s end times! Get onto your rocket ship, or get into your golden city in the sky. And that is distinct.
— Naomi Klein & Tim Dickinson / “Naomi Klein: What They Want Is Absolutely Everything” / Rolling Stone
The picture postcard Goddess on my fridge has eight, one for every day and then some random crap will happen, the roof spring a leak, a dictator stink I’ll scream or just lie there in bed, slow draining blinking red.
— Sophia Naz / “To Bear the Right”
More and more, climate change denial is just taking the form of conspiracy culture. It’s: “Who started the fires in Lahaina? did they direct that hurricane to [North Carolina]?” It’s about feeding this narrative of paranoia about global elites wanting to take away your freedom.
— Naomi Klein & Tim Dickinson / “Naomi Klein: What They Want Is Absolutely Everything” / Rolling Stone
Grief felt fourth-dimensional, abstract, faintly familiar. I was cold.
The friends and family who had been hanging around being kind had gone home to their own lives. When the children went to bed the flat had no meaning, nothing moved.
— Max Porter / Grief Is the Thing with Feathers
My house had three stories that grew less and less finished as they rose, as if the builders had lost spirit the further they were from the soil.
— China Miéville / This Census Taker
We don’t think hope, the only tyranny we’ll never overthrow, will ever run dry.
— Fady Joudah / “Barzakh”
I don’t think it’s the time to give up. But time is very short. One area where there is — I don’t know if I would use the word “hope” — but where there’s some productive work to be done, is that this [Thiel/Musk] agenda is not the platform that Donald Trump was elected on. There’s quite a lot of vulnerability in the MAGA Frankenstein coalition around the extent to which Trump is not just doing the work of the billionaires, generically, but specifically the of tech billionaires. That is a place to break apart the coalition.
People who are in it just for the white supremacy are going to stay. But I don’t believe that’s everybody who voted for Trump. And the radicalism of the vision — if they have given up on the future — provides a basis on which to organize, and to oppose, that is incredibly broad.
— Naomi Klein & Tim Dickinson / “Naomi Klein: What They Want Is Absolutely Everything” / Rolling Stone
Fair enough start leaving Bar Harbor. Chilly again, in the low 40’s with a “feels like” temperature of 36 degrees at 7:45 am.
Climbing out of Bar Harbor on Eagle Lake Road, next to Acadia National Park, the first 6 miles were good climbs and the forecasted rain had suddenly evaporated. It would be a cloudy, chilly day but dry.
Paula had just passed me near the entrance to the park, and…
… Snap! Grind! Clang, clang, clang!
Let me explain: as you see in this photograph (below) from Thursday, during the loop shakedown ride—I got stuck carrying one of the group’s cooking pots—we share carrying Adventure Cycling’s cooking gear. Each one of us is tasked with carrying some piece of communal gear. I got one of the hated pots. It’s large, obtrusive, funky looking and just a literal pain in my ass, placed on my rear rack behind my bike seat.
See how it’s held down by two bungee cords I carry for instances that require carrying something outside the panniers?
Well, one of those cords tore in half from the strain of the stretch over the pot. Then ricocheted into my wheel, got caught in my chain and dragged into the jockey wheel mechanism on my derailieur.
This is what a normal derailieur looks like: you see the arm mechanism hanging down at 6 o’clock—it ferries the chain through the cassette and derailieur mechanism. (See above, see below).
This is how mangled my derailieur became in the incident: instead of hanging down, the steel arm was bent up and backwards into the cassette and a chain mash of metal.
I am astonished I didn’t fly over the handlebars, crash, or even fall off the bike. After a grinding halt, I looked at this mess in a daze. How is this even possible? no no no!
You can see the base of the bungee cord hook imbedded in the jockey wheel at 11 o’clock (top left).
image: Dan R.
What the hell? Why? On day three, after 6 measly miles of actually riding south, after so much time waiting for this ride to get going again.
After the daze wore off, I hired a car out of Ellsworth, and took the bike to the region’s most renown bike shop in Bangor, Maine.
Slipping Gears Cycling. After calling they said they had a derailieur replacement—the last one in stock compatible with my bike’s drivetrain.
I will say, these guys know what they’re doing. They saved my derailieur hanger—which is not easy or quick to source, and had my bike riding better than it started this trek 1,100+ miles ago in Key West, FL, back on the last day of February.
Thanks, Matt & Slipping Gears Cycling!
Luckily I had already cycled the section into Ellsworth, ME last week—and a good portion of southern Maine on the East Coast Greenway Trail last summer.
It was too late in the day to bike from Ellsworth to Bucksport, ME, where we were scheduled to camp last night. So in effect I’ll have a 40 mile gap (one day’s ride) that I’ll have to come back and complete later this year—probably in the fall.
But the good news is that I’ll meet up with the rest of the group in Belfast, ME—or thereabouts tomorrow—and continue on towards DC.
Bike Day 30: (Actually day 70 since Key West, FL) Start: Bar Harbor, ME End: Belfast, ME Miles: 6.09 (Actually 1,116 miles since February 28, 2025)
Oy! What an exhausting runaround day after only biking 6 miles. Crisis averted. Let’s move on with better luck from here on out. I got all the bad luck out of the way today.
Here’s hoping!
What I’m Reading:
The long day has ended in which so much And so little had happened. Great hopes were dashed, Then halfheartedly restored once again.
thee istsfor manity reader 