Today had some of everything: a train ride, the 8th state capitol, small hilly roads, busy roads and the 10th motel so far owned by a Patel.

Last night I fixed the slowly leaking front tire. I also went to UPS and mailed home a few things to a friend in the neighborhood. Not too much weight, but nice to be just a bit lighter

I took the train to backtrack down the Maine coast before going across to New Hampshire. There are five trains per day, each taking ~2 hours to my destination. The first train left at 4:30am and the second at 7:10am. I expected a somewhat long day of cycling but decided 4:30am was just a bit early – so took the 7:10am and then expected to start cycling later than normal.

Where to put the bike on the train? I asked the conductor. Normally on this train, bikes have their front wheels removed and are suspended from the back wheel in that rack in the back – a bunch of work particularly if you also have a big luggage bag. The bike itself was in front of me and I kept it from sliding. The train itself was listed as only 30% full. This all worked well until a different conductor came by at the Portland stop and reprimanded me for not following procedures. I explained that was what the first conductor had arranged. The second one groused that “this wouldn’t happen the next time”…

Otherwise uneventful train ride. A little hectic to make sure everything got off the train (no Hatem Bridge replay this time). Here is the train leaving.

My stuff is deposited and ready to be assembled. About 9:30am by the time I was changed and ready to go, about three hours later than normal.

I started on the UNH campus, but within a few miles I was on these tiny back roads. I had spent some time with Komoot working to minimize the worst hills but there were still some steep ones hidden. However, it was a beautiful back roads ride.

A woman stopped, rolled down the window and asked for directions. I explained I was from out of town though I did have enough mapping I could help her get to where she wanted to go.

This rock is on the side of the road just before the road climbs a steep hill. A good excuse to stop, get a bite to eat. I did still walk up that hill.

I was amused that the nudist park needed to explain they had seasonal sites. NH winters can be rather cold…

Good things come to an end. At 24 miles, I came to the major highway US 4. This had shoulders that varied between 2.5 feet and 6 feet and sometimes one lane, sometimes two each way. It was occasionally busy so I was watching my mirror. However, it also avoided even more hills so was an OK choice.

I took the road to the left, since US 4 on the right turned into restricted access Interstate road. After this my road also got more strip mall development and became busier.

All this brought me to the NH State Capitol in Concord. Hooray!

I went north for another 9 miles. Along the way was this Veanos to go. What is a Veano you ask? As I was photographing things the guy in the white car pulled up. Veano is the name of the family. They have another restaurant in Concord (Veano’s) and this is a spot to get to go food.

This brought me to the Elmwood motor lodge. A slightly dated motel. Owned by a family named Patel (the 10th one I’ve stayed in). Haven’t seen other guests.

Strava tells me: 46.70 miles in 5:32:37 for an average of 8.4 miles/hour. There were 2346 feet of climbing and 3928 calories burned.

The next few nights could bring my first camping of the trip (so perhaps delayed blog updates). Tomorrow I am going to start trying the Northern Rail Trail – https://www.traillink.com/trail/northern-rail-trail/ The distance is 59 miles and supposedly surfaces are better in the first half, so I might alternate between trail and highway.

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