Minuteman Bike Traile with the new Burley

Saturday morning I was lucky enough to meet a wonderful couple up in New Hampshire who were selling a Burley bicycle trailer that was in excelent shape. Like new in fact. I bought it and quickly made arrangements with my wife and another trailer-towing couple to head for the Minuteman Trail to try it out. We met yesterday morning at the Bedford end. It was colder than I would have liked for my baby's first bike ride but we bundled him up and at the end, he seemed no worse for wear.

The Burley Encore trailer went together in a jiffy and was very sturdy. The nylon covering was tight and there were no rips or tears any where on the trailer. The only design flaw that I saw was that to use the flag there had to be a small opening where the cover did not fit all the way on the frame. Not a big deal unless it was raining, which it wasn't. On the trail the width took some getting used to. The weight of the trailer, and The Bruce, was noticeable but not overwhelming. Once underway it didn't really slow me down all that much.

The trail, on the other hand was a but of a disappointment. I had expected something wider and nicer from the grand-daddy of the Mass Bike tails. It was crowded, but not overly so, with walkers and joggers. There were PLENTY of recreational cyclist and families out too. The little ones trying out their first little bikes with their training wheels were adorable. We had the only two trailers that I saw. Honestly, I wish that there had been a lot less traffic out there as I was still just learning how to maneuver the Burly.

I have a pet-peeve about cycling and that is Road Bikers. Not a guy on a road bike, or even a couple of people out on road bikes together. NO, the thing that scalds my butter is when a gang of six, ten or twenty of the lycra-clad once a week cyclists with bikes that cost more than my car spew out of the suburban bike shops lots to clog the roads and (yes) sidewalks pretending to be some European TT star or whatever fantasies are being played out under those $300 lids. As obnoxious as they are on the roads, at least they are in an environment where people walking their dogs or letting their children ride little tricycles and stuff. These people with their inflated Egos and low self esteems do NOT belong coursing down the MUP at twenty miles and hour in big gangs. They didn't bother me any or I would have been in the news this morning instead of typing this but the behavior that I saw was atrocious. A few years ago I had a Harley Davidson motorcycle. I loved that bike but in the and d I couldn't STAND the Harley "people" and did not ever want the "real" motorcycling public to think of me as one of those Hayley Guys. I sold it. I smell the same smell coming off the Road Bikers as I did the Harley Guys. I love my Vintage road bikes but I'm not sure any more that I will by buying a modern one any time in the future. They come with a smell that is distasteful to me.

Salisbury Paths

I noticed that there was a new, paved MUP in Salisbury a couple of weeks ago and decided to look into it more. According the web site this was part of the Coastal Trails Network and that "Salisbury’s Coastal Trails provide an integral link in the Coastal Trails Network that connects Amesbury, Newbury, Newburyport and Salisbury." Well, not really. You see, the trail in Amesbury is separated from the Salisbury trail by a major highway (Rt. 495). None of the trails in Salisbury connect without riding on roads that are not marked as bike routs nor without crossing over Rt. 110. Newburyport's paved trail is separated from Salisbury's paved trail by a small thing called the Merrimack River. Other than that last one, these obsticals are rather minor and any one that is fairly confident about riding on the road can string together a nice little trip that ends with a rather dramatic view of Newburyport and the river from the point where the trail would have crossed the river when it was a rail line.

Previously, we rode the Amesbury part of the trail. Although paved, it was quite hilly for what one would expect of a "rail trail". It was a medium-scenic peddle through a quaint New England town. Today we rode the Salisbury part.

The Salisbury Point Ghost Trail is said to be hard-packed gravel and to "pass through beautiful woodlands". Well, today found that the gravel was pretty loosely packed and quite difficult to peddle through. Surrounded on wither side by scrub forest, marshy ground and the refuse-strewn back sides of commercial buildings, construction yards and private homes. There were benches and planters along the way and it certainly had the potential to become a scenic ride but for the time being I'll just have to give cudos to whoever wrote the grant. I rode this section of trail several years ago before the hippies gentrified it. At that time it was not passable by a recreational bicycle rider but it was passable by dirt bike! Well, the trail today has been graded since then and....... that;s about it. Other than the installation of the above mentioned benches and planters there is not much different about the trail or the view since then. Some body got a lot of money out of somebody else for very little work.

The second part of the non-interconnected trail is called the Old Eastern Marsh Trail. This is a flat, wide, paved fairly straight MUP with a nice little down-hill at it's head. The scenery along this trail was much nicer than along the Ghost Trail encompassing rolling woodlands, vast salt marsh and the aforementioned view at the end of the trail. Rumor has it that eventually the old railroad bridge will be modified to allow the MUP to continue onto the paved trail on the other side of the river which is clearly visible from the overlook.

Overall it was very enjoyable to be out WITH my wife for a change. She had fun and we both got a little exercise. While the "Trail" was actually "trails" and did not quite live up to the billing, it IS a great start and a welcome and relatively safe way to get out cycling. If the cyclist is moderately comfortable riding "transitions" on the street, there are a wide variety of relatively easy and family friendly cycling opportunities that rise from these trails including a trip the the Dairy Queen a nice little playground and the bike rout to Salisbury beach and the state reservation.