Solemnly Pedaling Along

A group of six adolescent boys no older than nine play on a floating dock surrounded by water in the "deep" end of the lake. Their laughing dances across the lake in intervals. One of them does a half-frontflip into the water to the ecstatic screams of his friends.

"That was awesome!" one of them yells.

A whistle sounds from the shore, and the lips move soundlessly through the megaphone as the boys stare questionably. The lifeguard, suddenyl aware of the broken megaphone, puts it down and yells, "No flips into the water!"

"I told you, Billy" the boy chides as he pokes Billy in the chest. 

Crystal Lake is a perfect place for my lunch: a Coke, peanut butter sandwich, and an apple. Mike and Josh are back in Ellington eating at one of the only restaurants around for miles. The hills separating each town go up and up and up with downhills that take a fraction of the time it took to go up. 

A few miles earlier, I stepped into the nicest library I have ever seen, beating out the gigantic libraries of Pittsburgh and relaxed. 

The biking was arduous and tiring today with the hills. We had set a goal of Thomson, CT, which sits on the border of Rhode Island and Massachusetts. However, it became pretty obvious after I got a few miles ahead that there wasn't time for all us to get there. 

I visited Bigelow State Park where I found a place to refill all my waters. The woman at the check-in window was also exceptionally kind... and pretty. As I asked what the price for entry was, she scoffed and said they don't charge cyclists.

Tattoos upon her chest, smoking a cigarette, she asked, "You just tramping it?"

"Yeah, something like that", I answered as I began pedaling.

"Aw, you poor thing", she said with crinkled eyebrows as I biked away.

On the way back, I hoped she might give me a place to stay. She was smoking another cigarette and I thought about asking for one but I thought better of it. Enough charity shit. It's also been about a week since my last cigarette with a momentary relapse at one of the campgrounds we stayed in.

So, since there's no campgrounds around here for miles, I went off the path just a bit in front of the state park entrance and pulled my bike into the woods. I'm waiting for darkness before I set up my tent just in case I errantly chose a sleeping place on a hiking trail, which seems to be a strong possibility. 

Josh and Mike are a few miles back and may or may not meet up here with me. We'll see.

Fresh out of Windsor Locks, CT after resting for a day, I cross over the Connecticut River. 

I liked the old watertower in the background and the bird flying above. Seemed like a good, decaying picture of a place in the middle of a forgotten place. Backroad in Ellington, CT.

Hall Memorial Library had some of the most impressive architecture on the inside that I have ever seen. All the wood was polished and shiny and it was gigantic. There was also a room with the town's military history.

Crystal Lake Lunch.

Bigelow State Park