So it ended up being me and 6 friends who went on down to East Providence to try out the bike path. After a full week of rain, we were willing to ride out the 20% chance of showers. It ended up being a gorgeous day. The sun would poke out now and then but there was a nice breeze. Perfect bike riding weather.
The bike path starts in East Providence and winds its way along the water. On this side, it is gorgeous. There is a lighthouse, old stone bridges, old railroad trestles...lots of stuff to look at in addition to the water. On the other side of the water, it is all industrial with power plants, mountains of coal, smokestacks, etc. Best to keep your head down and look nearby.
We were only 2 or 3 miles in when the path started to get really crowded with walkers. How many times do you have to shout "on your left" before people will actually move over? Depends on how many people in the group...if it's just one or two people, they move right over. But if there are 5-6, you have to follow up your "on your left" with a "coming up behind you, on your left" and sometimes even a third attempt of "please move over, coming on your left." If the three attempts don't work, you have to jam on your brakes and unclip pretty quickly. It was pretty annoying. We got through a ridiculous amount of people and figured out there was some walk-a-thon type event going on. We thought we were in the clear until we got to the next intersection where all the walkers were congregating. Turns out some X Games athlete was doing a whole expo at the Carousel. Seems like it had the makings of a cool event but we went on our way along the path.
Michelle challenged me to ride the path in nothing but the big ring. We all know I need to work on my power, so I accepted the challenge and switched right into the big ring. Really, this path is so flat you need to be in the big ring. It was silly of me to be in middle ring. I just hadn't thought about it. So Michelle worked her magic and got most of us into the big ring. She was riding the front of the pack, got into aero position and yelled "go." We had no warning. Did not know she was going to throw down like that. She just took off. Game on. Pedal, pedal, pedal. Fast as you can. For miles and miles. It was super fun.
Around mile 12, we took a much needed break at the Audubon Society boardwalk. It takes you out off the path, across the marsh and cattails to get you a beautiful ocean view. It was quite a production to lock up seven bikes using only two locks, but we got it done. We walked out, had some snacks, took some pictures and then headed back to end of the trail. Passed through Colt State Park and made it to the end.
My trip back was much more leisurely then my ride out. I stopped to take pictures of things I had noticed on the way out. Around mile 20, we stopped for lunch. We found a little deli in Riverside and got subs to eat outside. I was famished and that turkey sub really hit the spot. Made it back to the car in no time. Three superstars from our group went back for a second loop. It was those three who got a well deserved ice cream/fruit smoothie break. The other four, myself included, headed home after one loop. Still long enough to count as my longest ride of the year.
All in all, I'd recommend the East Bay Bike Path to anyone looking for a leisurely ride with friends or family. Gorgeous views. Ice cream stands right along the path. Plenty of parking lots so that you can make the ride as short or long as you'd like. My only caution would be that it gets crowded. Plan to go early in the day unless you want to contend with a lot of people walking, running, rollerblading, skateboarding, fishing and biking.
Have you ever ridden this path? I'd love to hear your impressions!
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Stats:
27.27 miles
12.9 MPH average
23.5 MPH max (I told you it's flat!)
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~Cori
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