Wrong side of the tracks

This past Monday night, Patti invited me out to Stratham Hill Park to ride cx bikes.  Dubious about the idea of riding a bike without suspension on mountain bike trails, but excited to do some different riding, I loaded the cross beast into my car and went to work.

Fast forward to the end of the workday - I see a text from Patti regarding bug spray.  I also determine that I should probably change at work unless I want to attempt to do so in my car, in the parking lot, at a busy time, with a fair going on.  Yup, changing at work it is.  Just throw on some synthetic shorts and a t-shirt over my neon-accented kitty-cat spandex suit, and local business owners will be none the wiser when I visit their establishment for a pre-ride caffeinated beverage.  Nothing to see here, folks.

Headed out of the Tradeport in an indecisive mood, I bear left onto rt 33 even though I know damn right well that Stratham Hill Park is in the opposite direction.  I've got an extra hour to burn, and some innate force is telling me I want to go left.  So, left I go.  Almost immediately after turning left, I feel like I should have gone right after all, so I'd better turn around.  I take my first left, which brings me to the intersection of some road with a big ole building and Borthwick Ave, which leads to the hospital.  I meander down there (in my car, mind you...I'm not on my bike yet) just for the sake of seeing what's down there.  I have every intention of pulling a U-turn at some point, but that's when I see....what IS that?  A foot bridge?  A bike path, maybe?  Where does this go to?  I MUST KNOW.  NOW.

I find a place to ditch my car (which looks like the parking lot for "Lahey Institute of Urology" on the Strava track, heh) and take my bike out.  Folks seem to be leaving for the day but paying me no mind as the parking lot empties out, so I strip off the outer layer of clothing to reveal kitty-cat spandex, and it's game-on with this little cut-through path.

I pop over the bridge and bear to the left.  The road I'm traversing quickly gets rough and sandy.  Intrigued, but deciding this must not be the bike path anymore, I continue.  I have time and I'm on the right bike for this kind of adventure.  Shortly down the road, I come to some abandoned buildings with graffiti, a big ole pile of gravel, and a pond that might be considered quaint - had it not been for the litter strewn around the shore.

LOVELY.

Thinking this is the end of my adventure, I approach my bike-lean and notice that there is a narrow path bearing left into the woods.  Oh boy.  I feel at this point like I shouldn't be here, but at the same time, I can't shut off the curiosity switch.  So, bad idea, but I'm going for it and hopefully there's no one with a knife behind these reeds & grasses.

Continuing down a bit, the path widens up into some looser silty dirt.  I come to an intersection and have to make a choice.  Right just feels, well...right, so I head on out to either dig myself into deeper trouble, or possibly find something awesome.  It isn't long before I realize I'm on abandoned tracks.  Is this part of the rail trail?!?  Ooooh!  No, this can't be, this still has dilapidated ties strewn about.  I continue down until I pass under a bridge which makes me feel uneasy.  Graffiti, empty solo cups, broken glass and bits of trash set the scene.

At this point, I'm not sure I should continue down any further, or if I'm going to have a run-in with local heroin addicts who are going to knock me off my bike and sell it for a fix.  At least that's the scenario I'm imagining, my worry getting deeper with each pedal stroke.  I go a mile, mile and half at most, enjoying the post-apocalyptic scene.  Old railroad crossing signs overgrown with vegetation, a glimpse into the past when a long lost road must have intersected the tracks.  Funny to think the US is old enough as a country for this to have happened.  I want to stop to take some pictures, but a horsefly has taken a bite out of my face, and blood is starting to trickle down my chin.  I harken back to Patti's bug spray text....

Turning around and back-tracking, I get as far away from the sketchy bridge as I can.  I take a little time to play around in the loose dirt and nearly fall in it, reminding myself that I don't actually have any technical skills yet.  Looking forward to cx practice and learning technique.  I decide since I'm out here anyway, I might as well see where turning left at the intersection would take me, so off I go.  Just for a bit, you know?  Since I'm here anyway...

I approach an intersection with a rough, crumbling, partially overgrown road.  The tracks continue across the road.  There's a sign, so I get up closer to examine:

Hmm, ok, so I'll be detained and prosecuted huh?  Well, it doesn't say I can't go down this crumbly road, so I'll check out what's down there.

After a few photo ops, I see some more sketchiness in the form of a beat up, mangled old mattress.  Guess I"m done with this direction too.

Time to head back.  I realize this road pops out to Islington and follow it back to rt 33 and ultimately to where I parked my car.  I book it back, actually, as I realize I've spent more time than I thought.  A quick stop at Suds 'n Soda for DEET, and I'm on my way to SHP to start my next adventure - making it to the meeting place for the next ride by the skin of my teeth.