Hank – We left Woonsocket, Rhode Island and got on the Blackstone River Trail headed to Providence. What a pleasure to be out of traffic and enjoying some scenery. We had very light rain sporadically throughout the day, a far cry from what we experienced yesterday. While on the trail I noticed all the walkers coming towards bus in the right lane. The ones  going in the same direction as bus we’re on my left. “What’s up with that?” I thought. Then I saw the signs telling them to do exactly that. So instead of calling out “On your left” we played chicken. Unless, of course, they were on the left lane, which is the right lane. Then I called out “Passing on your right.” As expected, there were some who didn’t follow instructions and I’d call out “On your left” because they were in the right lane, which is the wrong lane. 

A couple miles from Providence we peeled off the trail and got back on the road. We rode through the downtown area and stopped to eat at a cafe. The cafe had some pretty cool art work in the bathroom. Downtown was full of very colorful and diverse people, which is to be expected since the Rhode Island School of Design, Brown University, and other schools are located here. After eating we headed west, eventually getting onto the Washington Secondary Trail. It’s a rail trail that provides more relief from traffic and being as tree lined as it was, also provided protection from gusting headwinds. We followed that for 10-12 miles before getting back on the road to cover the last 4 miles to the hotel. My butt is still complaining about the saddle time. I expect it’ll be quiet in a week or so. Such is the hazard of taking a long break.

Kathy – Our 35 mile ride today was pretty good. It was a warm 80 degrees and very muggy.  The headwinds are normally not our friends but today it did help to cool us down.  There is so much traffic on all the roads around here.  This can be related to the vast number of people living in the northeast.  Getting on the paved trails twice today was really nice.  Seeing all the green trees starting to change to yellows, oranges and reds was a treat for us.  The two trails we rode today were old railroad lines that have been converted for cycling, running and walking.  It is always good to see people being active and enjoying these trails.  My legs and bottom are a bit sore after our second day back in the saddle.  This gets better after a week or so, for now we tolerate the uncomfortableness.  There is a bad thunderstorm heading our way tonight with pretty gusty winds so we opted for a hotel.  We are relaxing tonight before our couple of thousand feet of elevation greets us in the morning.