Made it to Providence!

Third day of the journey and I'm in Providence RI. The trek out here was gorgeous let me tell you.

But first thing's first; describing my departure from Provincetown.

I feel like there aren't enough words to describe my love for that town and the festival I was fortunate enough to be involved in. The energy of both cannot be matched. It's a town of unabashed openness and support and a place that I will hopefully return to every year to put on great theatre. 

The people that I have met in this town either as festival staff or year round townies have all been amazing to get to know and grow with for the third year in a row. It was hard to leave (thus my lingering on for a couple more days) but now that I have started on the journey it warms my heart to think that I can one day return to this spot and feel welcome again.

This past Thursday when I left my friend Kyle and I drove out to what we had been calling "The Causeway" which is this line of rocks leading out to a lighthouse on the very tip of the cape. We had been talking about going there for a couple of days and hadn't yet been so it only seemed fitting to stop there to dip my tire just before the trek. 

Afterwards I did one more trip by the dunes then took off down route 6A. The weather was great and there wasn't a head wind to speak of so for the next hour or so I had a great scenic ride along the coast to start things off right. The pack was heavy but by taking my time I was able to get everything settled in while riding. I was able to hop onto the Cape Cod Rail Trail in Wellfleet and for the next 20 miles or so had the enjoyable experience of flat terrain, great scenery, and no cars to speak of. It was pleasant to bike along this route and I'd highly recommend it if you're ever on the Cape and looking for a fun way to spend a day or afternoon.

After I reached the end of the trail it was back to route 6A which, for the most part, had sidewalks to ride on and was fairly safe riding. It took me through Yarmouth which contained street after street of beautiful colonial houses and great biking scenery.

I was able to make my destination (the Shawme Cromwell State Forrest in Sandwich) just before sundown and was met by two gentlemen who checked me into my campsite and relayed a story about their friend who had ridden her bicycle across the Canadian border by herself and had camped along the side of the road at night. They said that the only thing she was afraid of wasn't the potential threat of grizzly bears but the loggers who sped past her the gravel roads while she was riding on the shoulder. They were impressed with my undertaking as well and wished me the best of luck on my journey. They also were giving away boxes of free cliff bars and told me to take as many as I wanted. Score!!!

That night camping was beautiful and clear so I set up my tent under the stars and had a good night's sleep.

The next day I awoke at 8 and began to cycle again at 9. By 11 I was out of the cape and well into Buzzard Bay territory and by 12:30 I encountered my first rain storm. Luckily I was given a plastic bag to wrap my tent and sleeping pad in but lacking rain pants I ended up getting a little soggy. Luckily it wasn't too cold out so I kept right on at it until about 2 pm when I stopped for my first Dunkin Donuts pitstop. After a snack of pumpkin munchkins (I couldn't resist!) and coffee I was ready to take on the remaining 30 miles to Providence and meet up with my friend Katie Rourke.

During those 30 miles I encountered road upon road of gorgeous fall scenery with the leaves changing into every shade of orange, yellow, and red you can imagine. I even took a little video of what I could and posted it to my Facebook page. I want to take more videos soon or even get a live feed going for this trek but that will be soon to come. 

The back roads into Providence were ideal in scenery and lacking cars so I had a grand old time cycling away and before I knew it I was almost to the city. I got in just as the sun began to set and met up with my friend at around 6pm.

We ended up going to one of her friend's places for a cookout which was definitely a welcome end to the evening. 

Today is the day I am taking a break however. My left knee has been giving me some pain so before I press on and hurt myself I'm resting up for the day and letting it heal and get ready for the road ahead. I'm not too concerned about this as it was something that I had dealt with during my early days of pedi-cabbing and but I feel that at this point it's better to at least give it a day to get better. It bums me out that I'm not able to ride today as I was supposed to meet up with a friend of mine who just directed Evil Dead the Musical in Torrington CT at the Nancy Marine Studio Theatre. But that is life I suppose and not hurting myself this early on is ideal. 

So far my interactions with people have been awesome. I've been taking it easy on the backroads and everyone I pass either smiles or waves or nods at me. So far so good! I'm excited to see how the scenery changes as I head down south and across the US but for now I'm thoroughly enjoying the changing colors of the trees as we head further into fall. 

Tomorrow will be a great day to ride into CT! I can feel it!