Massachusetts---"You'll get a shitload of fish. I've gone out before and motored back with so much stock little boys like you had to pack it in on the pier. I always find the fish, always! And I will this time!"

We got up early...I didn't want another long slog like yesterday. Denis offered to fix us some scrambled eggs from his and Jane's Barred Rocks and Rhode Island Red hens. There was homemade bread too. Thanks again, Denis and Jane.





We headed east and north towards Upton, Hopkinton, and Sudbury. Traffic was extremely heavy and shoulders were often nonexistent. The serendipity moment of the day was riding past Walden Pond. The pond wasn't easy to photograph, and I didn't spend any time in the visitor enter, but I am moved by some of the things that Thoreau wrote.

"I went to the woods because I wanted to live deliberately, I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life, To put to rout all that was not life and not when I had come to die Discover that I had not lived."





When we got close to Lowell, traffic became heavy again, road surfaces became terrible, and signage became confusing if it was there at all. We were pretty sure that Lowell is related to Berlin, New Jersey. I decided to ride farther south and avoid Lawrence all together. It ended up being a good decision.








For those of you keeping track, I got on the scales the other day and have lost 2 pounds, which means I have a net gain of 2 pounds on the trip. Maybe I'll try and keep track of everything I eat tomorrow, but it's embarrassing...it's a lot of food.


I ended the day with 100.2 miles, 4180' of elevation gain, and an average of 13.0. We headed north and east to Scarborough, Maine where Tom and Marie live. Yes, they cycle, but their kids are the impetus for their participation in Warm Showers. When they saw the way others had helped their daughter Emily on her ride from Maine to Florida, they wanted to help other cyclists. We're so glad they did! They shared dinner with us, let us catch up on laundry, take a hot shower, and helped us tweak our route for tomorrow to make it a bit more scenic. Thanks so much, Tom and Marie, for all that you did for us!


maybe you can't...because you won't...