My Cycling Diary: Day 2 : Tue, May 22, 2012 - 62.46 mi [Cycling] : Provincetown to Hyannis

Tue, May 22, 2012 - 62.46 mi [Cycling]
62.46 mi in 05:31:08 hours at 11.32 mi/h on Trek .. [Cycling] Day 2 USA 2012 : Provincetown to Hyannis
Wet Throughly Wet is my memory of today ...
Well that's after the fantastic cycling this morning through the Beech Forest Trail in the sand dunes at Provincetown - among the best cycling I have ever done and I don't say that lightly ... and Provincetown is fantastic all arty farty and all that but a really chilled place - Its nickname is P'Town and after the last 2 days I think I know why as it was P'ing down !

Day 2 : Narrative
Well today started early again - despite yesterday's exertions I finally tuned in at 11:30 and was back up at 5:45 .. I think my body is still yearning for English time.

I looked out and after spending hours last night drying everything I was disappointed to see yet again .. RAIN !
It was fairly steady but by the time I had cleaned the layers of dirt off my bike from yesterday it was down to a steady drizzle .. so Off I set for Provincetown.
The town was lovely even I was was judging it in the wet - I called into a restaurant for breakfast but was disappointed they didn't do any so it was a coffee and a blueberry muffin for brekkie for me.
I cycled through town and took photos of the very New England collonial style houses which looked pretty in the rain with lots of colourful flowers in the gardens - it must look a picture on a sunny day.
Through town I headed for the absolute headland of Cape Cod which makes barrow in Furness look like a slight detour .. this is a 90 mile dead end on the Cape. I was disappointed the road seemed to go into a huge empty car park from which lots of footpaths went into the dunes - I was about to give up but cycled across the car park and spotted a cycle track :-) and boy what a track - there must be 20 or 30 miles of recently surfaced tarmac tracks through 100 feet sand dunes set in a beech forest - the fauna was beautiful especially in the rain - I took more pictures.
After spending about an hour in the dunes I headed out of town and the weather took a turn for the worst - the forecast said 0.2 inches and steady so it should be much better than yesterday's cloudburst.
Well it just got heavier and heavier and rather than a leisurely cycle back down the Cape it was head down and blast along the Highway 6 again with wagons spraying me in the break down lane I was cycling in.It took what seemed an eternity to clear Truro and reach Wellfleet where the safety of the cycle track awaited and after a few mis starts I eventually guessed the correct turn to pick up the cycle track ... say guessed because it just wasn't signposted at all.
Still raining I was cycling blind now because it had gotten into my Garmin and the screen had locked up and as I type this it still has a problem with the function buttons so god knows if It'll be working tomorrow.
At Brewster I passed a cycle shop so I stopped and bought a map and lots of stuff to keep the rain out which was just starting to ease off. The very helpful shop owner advised me the best way to go as I was going to follow the cycle path all the way till he pointed out there's a 5 mile stretch not built and it currently ends pretty much on a major interstate !
So I navigated off the cycle path at South Brewster and immediately found a convenience store which had a deli - so a quick stop for a chicken curry sandwich on wheat bread and a spicy chicken and rice soup and I was on my way along Tubman Road then Setucket Road down to Yarmouth where i had spotted I could cut the corner along Summer St onto Yarmouth Rd ... well a lovely road branched with a rough road doing right and a sign saying use it at your own risk and the tarmac continued left as I did.... Well after half a mile I was in a very nice reidential cul de sac ! -- Guess which road was mine !
I picked up Yarmouth road which is a feeder to the Interstate 28 and was very busy - coupled with a very very narrow bit of tarmac outside the white line and it was a scary next 2 miles with the edge frequently crumbling and flooded and at one stage I went down a rut about 6 inches deep soaking myself but just retaining control as a wagon went past.
Eventuall I was in town and plain sailing to ferry prot I thought .. i followed the signs then after 5 minues i sensed I was heading out of town - I turned round and sure enough found a sign pointing me backwards - I religiously followed the signs and after an particularly difficult left hand turn on a dual one way street I found mysef at ... The Bus Station !
I went inside and was eventually directed to the ferry terminal and as I type this I am crossing to Nantucket having just eaten a lovely Quahog Chowder. The fret is thick and the swell is starting to make me feel sick - it's also a bit worrying the ferry keeps blasting his horn - doesn't it have radar ???

Day 2 : Photographs

0 Miles : My Motel where I had stayed Night 1 after a very
late and murky arrival the night before - I washed all the sand
off my bike from the night before and was ready for a shorter
ride down to Hyannis and the ferry across to Nantucket.

1 Mile : Just along the road from my Motel was a sign showing
the Provincetown limits.

2 Miles : On the way into town was one of many pretty
wooden houses - this one was surrounded by lilacs.

2 Miles : A view down the main street in Provincetown.

3 Miles : At Wood End this is the view looking straight out
onto Cape Cod Bay.

6 Miles : This is Race Point Road a fantastic cycle path created
on the Provincetown headland - It as a fantastically smooth
cycle track that has been built through Sand Dunes and Beech
Forests - after overnight rain the Flora & Fauna was glistening.

6 Miles : Glistening Foliage on Race Point Road

6 Miles : More foliage on Race Point Road amongst
the Dunes.

6 Miles : More May Blossom on the Race Point Road.

6 Miles : I wish I knew the names of these flowers

6 Miles : These were pine needle thingies

6 Miles : Even the grasses looked spectacular after the
previous days rain.

6 Miles : A cyclist went past whilst I was in the undergrowth
- just got him disappearing down the Race Point Road cycle
path and soon I was following.

7 Miles : A sign showing the tracks along Race Point
Road and the Beech Forest trails

9 Miles : At about 9 Miles I spotted a Turkey like bird scratting
around in the undergrowth

9 Miles : More foliage in the Beech Forest

10 Miles : Number 584

11 Miles : just leaving town on the way to Truro I came across
these two visually stunning garages.

33 Miles : The rain had started again so I made an unpleasant
ride along state Highway 6 and with my Garmin not exactly
waterproof it soon locked up & I was guessing my route
Eventually I picked up the cycleway and stopped at a cycle
shop to buy a map and polythene bags to wrap my stuff in -
No sooner done and the rain stopped ... Typical