Adventure with Alex

At 19 months Alex is the perfect age to spend some time in our Burley Bee Bike trailer. He enjoyed a 12 mile ride last week when I used it to run some errands in town, so today I decided to check out the recently opened Fryeburg section of the Maine Mountain Division Trail. This northern section is a nicely paved 4.2 miles with some scenic bogs and fields. The non-profit Mountain Division Alliance’s long term goal is to have this trail opened all the way to Portland, ME, about 50 miles!

After collapsing the trailer and tossing it in the back of the Matrix (it fits without putting any seats down), I loaded my bike onto our Thule Raceway, and off we drove to the Maine Visitor center just over the NH/ME line on Route 113 where the trail starts. Lots of folks were out pushing strollers, jogging, or riding enjoying the perfect early Spring weather. It’s definitely a cruiser of a ride with very minor hills and no sharp turns.

Mountain Division Trail

Mountain Division Trail

We reached the end about 25 minutes from starting and stopped for so Alex could get out and explore.

The end of the trail, for now…

Most people I’ve hiked with know I prefer loop trips whenever possible. I dislike returning the same way I came if I can help it, and a quick look at the map showed returning via 113 would provide that loop, and let us ride through scenic Fryeburg village.

Kiosk Map

So we did, the 8.49 mi. round-trip took 55 minutes, average speed 9.4 mph, max speed of 20 mph.

The route

On the return trip Alex got a bit cranky and I couldn’t figure out if he was a bit to warm with the windshield down, or too cold with the windshield up, or just didn’t want to be strapped in at the moment (leaning towards that). He was all smiles by the time we got back to the car, and after meeting up with Mommy in town for some lunch and a stop at the playground he was out.

zzzzzzzzz

I’m excited to put a lot of miles on the bikes this summer. I’ll be posting a detailed review of the bike trailer, our bikes, our bike rack, helmets, etc in the coming week or two and will link them where appropriate in this post. If interested you can follow this blog just by clicking “Follow” down on the right hand side of the page. Thanks for reading, see you on the trail!