Pootled on my one year old Swift today, a pleasant jaunt from my house to the next town and back, via the river road, which runs alongside the Contoocook river. It was a pleasant 80 degrees or so, but quite humid.
Here's a pic taken of the Swift in my back yard. In the background you can see the water we live on, it's a small tributary leading to Emerald Lake just outside of Hillsboro, Nh. On the front of the bike I have my modified Igloo cooler. Found at a Yard Sale for 25 cents, it goes on and off the Nashbar front rack in seconds. It'll keep 6 of my favorite beverage cans cold....or, in this case, my camera, toolkit, and water bottle. Nifty velcro closure/flap on top too, for fast access to contents.



This is the first bridge I get to going from my house. It spans the Contoocook, and bac up the road about 5 miles is Peter John White's bikeshop. From here you can almost smell the Phil Wood grease ;-)




A couple of miles down the road now, as you can see the road is right on the river. Lots of people put in about here to raft, kayak or float in tubes down to Henniker.



A view in the opposite direction from the same spot. The river is at about "normal" height. If it ever floods, as it did 18 months ago, you can't get down this road.




Two trestle bridges where just one could comfortably handle the traffic!!! One is two-lane, the other single-lane.




In the outskirts of Henniker now ("the only Henniker on Earth"). This shot is from inside a covered bridge that goes from nowhere to nowhere, literally, on the grounds of New England College. In the far background is a stone arched bridge that carries traffic through the town center.



Parked outside Daniels Pub. I recommend the loaded Nachos. Eat them almost over the river. Gorgeous!!



The local bikeshop sign, cute.



And what we should all be doing.....





Finally back home. Swift is hanging with his/her siblings. This is a shot of the best bike room I have ever personally had. Most of the bikes are mine (the BF and one other are my wife's), and several were "saved" from sad lives of neglect or scrapping.



To fulfill my pootle requirements, I want to point out that I both ate and drank on the trip at a local cafe, and that my average speed was less than 10mph ;-)