Season 2 Episode 6 (9/13): Sophie’s (bad) Choice! Wells Beach, ME through NH to Newburyport, MA –

Season 2 Episode 6 (9/13): Sophie’s (bad) Choice! Wells Beach, ME through NH to Newburyport, MA – 

52 miles. 1,180’ climbing. 

The forecast was for thunderstorms in the early afternoon, so we woke up at 6 a.m. to leave by 7, racing to arrive in Newburyport, MA by 1 p.m.  

It was very foggy, with a misty light drizzle as we left Wells Beach. My glasses kept fogging up and getting wet. In order to see, I lowered them down my nose and peered out over them. I could really only see the road immediately in front of me and not read signs at a distance. I should have worn contact lenses but didn’t. I was not happy! I feared this could be a very long seven weeks in this type of weather.

Drizzle and glasses lowered to see

Given the poor visibility, we stayed on the more direct US Route 1, and missed out on the more scenic, oceanfront ride by Ogunquit, York and Kittery. 

Thinking of Lenny and Ernie helped me get through this ride. (For any readers who landed here without receiving an initial email from Heather or me, we are riding to raise funds for the Reeve Foundation. We are inspired by the positivity of two friends, Lenny and Ernie, who live with paralysis. You can see our dedication letter and contribute here.)

Shortly after crossing into New Hampshire, it stopped drizzling, so we veered towards the ocean for the more scenic route. What a great call! Between Rye and North Hampton, we cycled by oceanfront mansions with front lawns the size of football fields that reminded me of the grandeur of Newport, RI. 

After crossing the very short stretch of New Hampshire that touches the Atlantic, we entered Massachusetts, our third state of the day. And just like that, the sun appeared. With this good fortune, we detoured to the Salisbury Beach State Reservation for some relaxing beauty.  

We arrived in Newburyport, MA, a charming city with a great vibe on Boston’s north shore. We had lunch at The Juicery. Heather raved about how delicious her Green Light specialty smoothie was (becoming more like me to my surprise) and offered me a taste. I believed her, but couldn’t bring myself to drink a shake that’s green in color from kale. And I do love crispy kale. 

Heather raved about the "Green Light"

We headed off to meet Marty, our Warm Showers host for the night. Marty is the kindest and most capable, jack of all trades kind of guy you could meet. He treated us to an incredible feast. After dinner, I went to the garage to get my water bottles from my bike, and noticed one of my bike shoes was missing. 

I know I can be a bit scattered, but there was no way I misplaced a bike shoe. I returned to the house and said, "We have a problem: Sophie, the dog, must have taken one of my shoes." I started thinking about my shoe being buried like a bone (do dogs really do that or just in books and movies?) or being mangled. 

Just earlier in the day while it was drizzling, I was consoling myself that at least I hadn’t had any dog chases yet. And now a dog found another way to get me - taking my shoe. Marty headed into the yard in the dark with a flashlight to look for my shoe. 

Sophie, who made a bad choice!

Heather gave me her look like this could only happen to me, not her, as she took her shoes to our room. 

Luckily, Marty soon found the shoe in the yard, and Sophie had not chewed through it.

This was one more instance of how things yoyo from low to high, back to low and then to high in a single day. 

Thank you, Marty! 

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