Day One. Portsmouth New Hampshire to Worcester Massacchusetts

Today was going to be a 95 mile day, according to the tour itinerary on the AbB website; route rap last night gave it as an 88 mile day and in actual fact it came in at just over 94 due to some mis-navigation on both this and other riders' parts and the AbB cue sheet.


My alarm clock was set for 5.30am but my body clock woke me at 4.45am so I started to get up and make the last of my preparations. Today took a long time to get going. At 6am we had to get into the minibuses and go to the International House of Pancakes about 10 minutes away for breakfast; after that we returned to the hotel for a group photo then we finally got away about 8am.


The weather was perfect - blue skies and a pleasant feel to the day, even though the air was a touch on the chilly side.


The day was marked, however, by Dowling Tailwinds (see Glossary, right) throughout, that, whilst they were not too strong, would have been better as real tailwinds.


I started off riding with two men. Mr Gu from yesterday, who would prefer to be referred to as 'Donut' (as in 'Dunkin') - don't ask - and another, Scott, who said that he was pleased to see me as it meant that people probably wouldn't use him as a windbreak as they normally do. Can't think what he meant by that. Donut left us before the second drinks alarm and I rode with Scott for a while before I tagged onto an older lady from Florida on the basis that she would make me look like an absolute star on any hills that may come round. She was good company. She had a habit that when she did something she was pleased with, like managing to get the turn right on the route, she would let out a 'Yee-ha' just like Jessie, the Yodeling Cowgirl from Toy Story 2. I rode with her to the first SAG (see Glossary) then picked up with another group that I rode with for the rest of the day.


For the first part of the day, it was a case (if there is such a thing) of vu deja i.e. been here before but the other way round, as we went out along the route that I had ridden in on to finish the Cross Country ride last year; we passed a number of houses and roads that looked a little familiar and when I turned round and looked behind me they were very familiar.


The scenery today was beautiful and it was again easy to see why this area is called New England as the surroundings were reminiscent of home. We rode through high forests all day and whilst there were some hills, there were none that caused too much concern. We crossed from New Hampshire into Massachusetts at some stage but there was not State marker post to show we had entered the new one. I guess that's not much of a surprise for a couple of reasons, 1) if they cost like replica football shirts i.e. so much per letter they couldn't afford to have them made and 2) if they did manage to get the name onto a marker board, it would probably block the road.


Towns en route included Exeter, Chelmsford, Bolton, Chester and other such familiar names, and, of course, we ended the day in Worcester. Now that caused all sorts of pronunciation problems for the locals until their friendly interpreter stepped in.


We had lunch in North Chelmsford and as we were pulling out of the car park, a car horn tooted and the driver asked me about the ride. She was probably in her 60s and had an older lady who turned out to be 93 alongside her. Younger one told me that older one had been born in England in Lancashire County. When I asked her where she again said Lancashire County. I asked the older one and she told me that she had been born in Shaw and when I told her that I worked in Milnrow, 2 miles away from Shaw (though I didn't tell her what I got up to in Shaw) she was really pleased. Small world - certainly is!


I got into the hotel about 4.45pm which was my ideal time, after just under seven and a half hours' riding; I had averaged 12.7 mph and destroyed 12,800 calories. I was ready for a shower and a rest when a familiar voice called, 'I knew I should not have got here early. You were always the last one in last year. I looked up and saw Howie Davidson, who was one of the riders across the country last year and lives close by, who had come to see me to reminisce. We had a good chat then Howie joined us for dinner before heading home. It was good to see him and renew the friendship that last year created.


Sorry about the lack of photographs and the stats in the body of the day; I will try harder tomorrow as that promises to be a shorter, though fairly tough, day and I may get more time to sort everything out.


Thanks for reading.