Cycling Across America #2
Continuing the series of my attempt at cycling alone across America ten years ago, during an election year for the US. These snippets are from a handwritten and taped journal.
Day 1 saw me begin in Boston and finish 90 miles later in Connecticut. Ten years ago today, on day 2, standing in the rain I said these words to a tape recorder:
Milford in Connecticut. It’s twenty to eight in the evening and I’m waiting to get picked up - which is kinda like cheating.I think it’s Saturday. It is a cop out getting a lift but the suggestion was a good idea ’cause in the dark I’m in danger of going a touch astray in Bridgeford which has me worried. Or Bridgeport. Which is a shame - I’m only about fifteen, twenty, miles at most away and there’s no danger that I wouldn’t've made it in terms of mileage - I’m in good shape even though it’s been one hell of a day.
The bike’s not in such good shape. The welding job on the drop out is a touch out causing the wheel to be a touch out causing it to slip and jam. And the gears are all askew consequently.
The only problem with this is tomorrow I’m going to have to come back here really if I want to make this a continuous route, or line, one of joining the dots.
It was just an horrendous day - the landscape is just riddled with, I presume rivers that I never actually saw all that many of. I saw two. Big, with valleys running north to south and as I was going pretty much west, well south-west, but pretty much west, I was just going up and down and up and down. And it just completely saps you.
There’s a ferry that goes across the Connecticut River between, Chester is the west side. What’s on the east? East Hadlyme? There was only two cars there, with three people so we had the ferry to ourselves, a nice little ferry. The river was quite wide. High valley.
Actually as I swept down to it there was a beautiful swamp, large lake, I don’t know, maybe the size of Lough Owel or Lough Ennel and it was covered in reeds and rushes and lilies. It was quite nice, as once again it had been trees all day.
Historical marker when you get off gives you the history. I think it was seventeen sixty something, the ferry has been going continuously since - which makes it not the oldest but the second oldest ferry in continuous service in Connecticut.
Passed maybe half a dozen plaques today. The first ones I saw were of a husband and wife across the road from each other. Canterbury. The wife had started the first school for “Negro girls” as they put it, in 1833. What she actually did was she started the school and she admitted a “Negro girl”. Reading between the lines it seems that no white people would go, so you ended up with the first all Negro girl school. These plaque things were only put up a few years ago.
The next one of those placards I saw was a town called, what was it? It sounded Jewish and indeed it was. The meaning of the word was ’sheep pen’ or ’sheep fold’, and it used to belong to the Indians - but then didn’t all of Connecticut?Bozrah, and the main place in it was Bozrah Street. And it used to belong to Norwich, it said, which was next door. The signs around there were great. You’d get a single signpost would say Norwich this way, Scotland this way, Lebanon this way, Hanover this way.
The place I actually had lunch in was where the ferry went to. You came in, you sort of ambled up the valley and there’s Chester. A very historic town. It had a placard to itself which said that in deeds in 1660 it was owned by Indians, and it gave two spellings of the name. One quite, well a longer version really - which seems to happen a lot here. You notice it with lakes and towns and counties. You can see that there are actually longer versions.
The town was nice. At the cross-roads you had a big brick building with four columns at the front. A little Greek temple basically. The bricks were left whatever colour they were but the rest of it was painted brilliant white, which meant it stood out an absolute mile. At this stage I was thinking Connecticut was starting to look good ’cause it was looking different to what I’d seen up to now.
When you went around the corner, off the road there you had the main street and it was fabulous. There was loads of, pretty plain really, buildings, but they were coloured nicely. Pastelly reds and greens and browns. They all had wooden verandas. Some of them had chairs outside them. People were sitting in them just thrown around. They had a lot of local tourists. Wooden floors. A few little restaurants, cafes, shops selling ceramics. It was a nice little town.
Got some citrus sparkling drink, saving some so I could add it on to the water. Give the water a bit of a kick ’cause water, it can get a bit monotonous even though you’ll drink it but it’s particularly difficult to drink when it gets warm. But with something in it, a tiny drop, it makes a difference. This morning I added some apple juice into both of my water bottles. Yesterday cranberry. It also means I can probably buy full things of pure fruit and throw them into it. And perhaps not get hives which would be nice.
There was a field of corn today but it was way too high. I couldn’t see it. It was ten, twelve foot high. Huge things. When you’ve got trees on the side of the road, or even the few times they’re not there you’ve got houses - you never get a sense of space even though clearly there’s a lot of space for each house here. But I’m talking big space. I’m talking landscapes. And that’s why it’s such a joy to see a swamp through some trees. Or maybe they’re gone and there’s a reservoir. Look at some bull rushes and then to see for two miles.
Occasionally today as I went up and down and up and down these stupid hills, which were all running from north to south, I could see, at the high point I could see ahead and you could just see, because it was a very very misty day, you could see maybe three layers in front of you and you knew you were going to go up and down them, and many others in between them.
Eighty seven miles today. It’s been a good day.
Read the next stage of Cycling Across America.
Read from the beginning of the Cycle Across America
Eolaí gan Fhéile:
This sounds like an incredible experience and you’re only on day two.
It’s incredible that you’re reading all of it! It should get easier to read as we progress because it took me a bit to get the hang of documenting it while doing it. And the taped sections are unwieldy - but that’s me.