I don't generally
transport my bike by car to set up a ride, but an unwonted visit from the Spirit of Practicality had me doing just that this morning, and I drove up to visit my grown daughter in Wenham.
Traffic was such on I-93 and Route 128 that I told myself jokes about making better time if I had ridden the bike there, and believed that for several seconds at a time. After I arrived, we studied our options for a ride (as usual, this was starting later than was absolutely ideal), and headed North, following Route 97 and the Wenham, Ipswich, and Topsfield sections of the Border to Boston Trail to a contingent and exploratory route on back roads in Boxford, Georgetown, and Rowley, along the way stumbling on the
Kelsey Arboretum, fascinating in its own right, and a good place to stop for lunch. After poking at the
"Temporarily Closed" Boxford section of the Border to Boston Trail at several intersections, we hit the other happy accident of the ride: Pingree Farm Road, an "old way" crossing the waist of the Georgetown-Rowley State Forest, now closed for most automobile traffic, with paved, gravel, and dirt sections in turn, all good riding on the bikes and tires we had, a beautiful ride in the woods that quite unexpectedly had its very own fly-over for I-95, now covered with relatively pleasant graffiti. After leaving the Forest, we made our way through Rowley and Ipswich, past a CSA and an old burying ground, connecting again with the Topsfield Linear Common and thus back the way we had come.
24 leafy miles through Wenham, Topsfield, Boxford, Georgetown, Rowley, and Ipswich, a pretty even mix of pavement and not-so-pavement.
Rolling along the Topsfield Linear Common, more like singletrack.
Exploring the Kelsey Arboretum. Rhododendrons and Mountain Laurels were in bloom today, safe behind the deer fence ringing the whole 4 acres.
The Georgetown entrance of Pingree Farm Road, paved, with an aisle of trees. An auspicious beginning.
Soon the pavement faded...
Riding in the Forest...
Then a little pavement again, and a useful and decorative bridge.
Back to gravel on the Rowley side, and soon enough out of the Forest and into working farmland, including the
Mehaffey Farm CSA...
Old Linebrook Cemetery, Ipswich, dates from 1725. A sign admonishes: NO RUBBING.
I could get used to roads like this...
Back on the Topsfield Linear Common, we meet a turtle.
rod