Origin: Step
Aside BB- Village of Gagetown
Destination:
Rothesay Motel
Route
Description: The route had four distinct parts. All provided frequent panoramic views of the river valleys.
(1) The approximately 40km from start to Belleisle Ferry. New Brunswick Trail, suggested by google, will be fabulously beautiful when it rises from a generally invisible figment in somebody's imagination. Thus, we used scenic, rural routes 102 and 124,
using two cable ferries--the Evandale Ferry to cross the main flow of the St. John River and the Belleisle Ferry to cross Belleisle Bay (of the river). The road was cracked and patched with no shoulder, but traffic was rare. Hills were steep and numerous.
We saw more cows than people and didn't see a huge number of cows.
(2) The next 15km to Hampton on 845 had better road surface, gentler hills, and light traffic until the last few kilometers.
(3) Except for 1.7km of relief on Station Loop Road, the nearly 17km from Hampton demonstrated how wide shoulders can be part of a miserable ride. Rt. 100 here is also major highway 1 for much of the way. With heavy, high-speed traffic, under darkened clouds and rain, the ride was unpleasant. Is there a better cycling route from Hampton toward Saint John?
(4) After Hwy 100 divorces Hwy 1 to become "old" Hampton Road, not only are traffic and speeds reduced but bicycles are made welcome by sharrows and bike lanes along a rolling gradually urbanizing corridor.
We saw little sun all day. Rain started at 3pm. The porch at Bate's Landing at the Belleisle Ferry afforded pleasant shelter as we put on our rain gear. The rain was heavy for the remainder of the ride with side winds and a bit of head wind testing the performance of our yellow rain glasses (they served us well). We bicycled with lights on.
It was, indeed, a challenging day, but we have some good memories to nourish as we look back on it.
Awaking to the view of the river,
we enjoyed a pleasant breakfast and conversation with Elaine and chef Maurice.
The ride from the Village of Gagetown to the pleasant town of Hampton: we got a good sense of how beautiful would be the ride (despite the hills) on a sunny day. If a real New Brunswick Trail evolves, even better. There was Connie Denby,
having just returned from the home of friend-since-childhood who had died unexpectedly the day before, she offered us water, bathroom, and history. Across the street from Connie's home her neighbor of good humor pleases passersby with
her lawn sculptures: Boot Hill and Bridge over the River Dry. There was the pleasant stop at Bate's Landing. Everyone we met there displayed a genuine welcome and interest in our journey, including Diane Bishop who subsequently shared our trip on the community Facebook page and filled us in later by email about more area history. We were there quite a while, consuming bananas and ice cream and dressing for rain. There was our down-home hamburger first dinner (Chinese dinner later across from our motel) at Kozy Korner in Hampton spiced with multiple, brief conversations about the route behind and ahead. Then, the young man who stopped to offer directions, then offered to put our bikes on his bike rack for the last kilometer of our journey. Finally, the Rothesay Motel is a cute, pleasant renovation of a motel of a bygone decade run by a family pleased to see us arrive.
(1) The approximately 40km from start to Belleisle Ferry. New Brunswick Trail, suggested by google, will be fabulously beautiful when it rises from a generally invisible figment in somebody's imagination. Thus, we used scenic, rural routes 102 and 124,
(2) The next 15km to Hampton on 845 had better road surface, gentler hills, and light traffic until the last few kilometers.
(3) Except for 1.7km of relief on Station Loop Road, the nearly 17km from Hampton demonstrated how wide shoulders can be part of a miserable ride. Rt. 100 here is also major highway 1 for much of the way. With heavy, high-speed traffic, under darkened clouds and rain, the ride was unpleasant. Is there a better cycling route from Hampton toward Saint John?
(4) After Hwy 100 divorces Hwy 1 to become "old" Hampton Road, not only are traffic and speeds reduced but bicycles are made welcome by sharrows and bike lanes along a rolling gradually urbanizing corridor.
We saw little sun all day. Rain started at 3pm. The porch at Bate's Landing at the Belleisle Ferry afforded pleasant shelter as we put on our rain gear. The rain was heavy for the remainder of the ride with side winds and a bit of head wind testing the performance of our yellow rain glasses (they served us well). We bicycled with lights on.
It was, indeed, a challenging day, but we have some good memories to nourish as we look back on it.
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