New England Shore Trek Knocks Out Another 25 Miles

Riding from Sandwich to Brewster, the New England Shore Trek had a speedy day.  They stopped at a consignment shop along the way to look for trinkets -- apparently this one was mostly furniture, but this group has been finding neat treasures at thrift stores and local junk shops all along the shore.

Teen Treks' Director, Cliff Madell joined the group at Sweetwater Campground, near Brewster, MA.

Today, they're heading to Provincetown for their last two nights camping out!

New England Shore Trek Bikes Toward Boston

On the road!  The New England Shore Trekkers are making good time on a breezy, 30-mile ride from Assonet to Sandwich, MA.  Just a few more days' riding until they reach Boston!

New England Shore Trek Heads into Massachusetts

Last night, the New England Shore Trekkers capped off their stay in Providence with a ghost tour.  This morning, they hit the road early to head to Massachusetts, and packed plenty in along the road.  They made a water stop at a beautiful park --

Learned to weave and got some insight into local history at the Carpenter Museum in Rehoboth --

And had time for some very important ice cream and laughter along their sunny, 30-mile ride to Forge Pond Campground --

First Day for the Maine Coast Trek

The Maine Coast Trek got a bright start this morning!  Most the Trekkers met at Boston North Station this morning and boarded a train to Lowell, where they picked up the last two members of their group.

In Lowell, they visited the American Textile History Museum, participated in a scavenger hunt, and biked around downtown before heading to their first campsite, nearby in North Andover.

New England Shore Trek Hits the Beaches in Provincetown

After a climb up Pilgrim Monument -- 252 feet tall! -- to take in sweeping views of Provincetown, its harbor, and the surrounding dunes, our second New England Shore Trek walked along Commercial Street and sampled some delicious malasadas from a Portuguese bakery. 

Then they biked a beautiful bike trail for a fun afternoon at Race Point Beach.  They're getting in plenty of sun and sand -- yesterday, they went to Coast Guard Beach, often listed among America's top 10 beaches.

The group has been camping out at Dune's Edge Campground, and today, they'll catch a morning ferry to Boston and spend the night at the Doubletree Hotel.  Tomorrow, they'll take a bus back to NYC for last goodbyes.  Congratulations, New England Shore Trekkers -- you're almost home!

Mini Golf and S'Mores for the New England Shore Trek

The second New England Shore Trek continues across Massachusetts, biking 33 miles from Sandwich to Brewster -- and discovering all sorts of things along the way, like the distinctive (though unfortunately closed) store pictured above, where they took a break.

They enjoyed the ride, and stopped at noon to have a picnic lunch and take advantage of a laundromat, then set up camp at Sweetwater Forest.  In the evening, they went for a round of mini golf at a nearby course.

 

After cooking dinner together, they made a campfire and ended their day with s'mores for dessert.  Next on their route, they have their last major biking day, heading for Provincetown.

New England Shore Trek Reaches Massachusetts

The second of this summer's New England Shore Treks has moved into the last major leg of their journey up the coast, leaving Providence to cross into Massachusetts.  Leader Dana helped a couple of the Trekkers with repairs at a bike shop while Andy led the rest of the group onward.  Everyone met up together after a 23-mile ride to Forge Pond Campground, where the kids took the lead on cooking dinner and building a great campfire.

 The group will ride on through Massachusetts for several days, headed toward Boston.

New England Shore Trek Bikes into Provincetown

Over the past two weeks, our New England Shore Trekkers have biked 277 miles!  They've now reached Provincetown, on the eastern tip of Cape Cod, and the rest of their trip will have them exploring cities on foot or, if they want, by bicycle.

The Pilgrim Monument, built just over a century ago to commemorate the Pilgrims reaching the New World and signing the Mayflower Compact, towers over Provincetown.  The Trekkers spent the morning climbing the 252-foot-tall tower and taking in its stunning views of the town, harbor, and dunes.

In the afternoon, they biked the National Seashore's Sand Dunes Bike Trail, which took them up and around enormous dunes.  They're now camped at Dune's Edge Campground, where they'll stay until Sunday morning.  Then they'll catch the fast ferry to Boston for the last leg of their adventure!

New England Shore Enjoying Hyannis, MA

The Trekkers has an action packed day off in  Hyannis, MA yesterday.
Sunday's update from Wendy and Becky: The group went swimming and the water was so refreshing even with the seaweed at our feet.  We did some biking around town, ate ice cream and tried not to be eaten by the mosquitoes that were out in full force. Cliff (Teen Treks director) surprised us with one last visit by appearing over a hill on his bike.  He joined us for dinner at the campsite and chatted with everyone.  In the evening, we explored the Sandwich State Park grounds, which are beautiful and shady.  We has lots of little adventures with bugs and showers at night and then had a campfire.  Camping is fun but we cant wait to get to the hotel tomorrow. Both girls send their love (and lots of giggles)!

From Kate (Leader): Yesterday the group visited some sand banks, then got some afternoon ice cream.  After that, we went to the Cape Cod Potato Chip factory for a tour.  The group loved the samples, and ate so many that they actually decided they were "potato chipped out' for the day.  Afterwards, the group visited the Hyannis Maritime Museum, where they got a tour of the boathouse from a knowledgeable guide who took interest in the group as a fellow cyclist!  Afterwards, the group returned to their hotel and relaxed, took showers etc before going out to dinner for seafood (chicken for those who don't like fish). 

A freshly made boat

Off to Wooster, MA today.  Agenda is up in the air, but there is a bike shop in town we will be visiting.

New England Shore Trek on Sandwich Island!

The New England Trekkers have had a busy few days.  With recaps from Trekkers and Leaders, here's what they have been up to:

 7/26 by Nick:
"We are hanging out on Martha's Vineyard.  We are at the Beach, and soon we will go walk around the town.  It's been a fun day.  We have been getting in all of our daily miles and are happy to have a day off.  Last night was chilly, but now the weather is good!"

7/27 by Kate (Leader)
"The group excitedly started their morning with something everyone was looking forward to: doing laundry (yes, the teens were estatic to do this!).  It started as rainy, but ended up being sunny, lovely!"

Preventing rusty chains with some oil-good for those rainy days

7/27 by Anne
"We are still on Martha's Vineyard.  Today we went to America's oldest carosel, located on the island.  It's a really fun ride because you go around on the horses grabbing rings from a dispenser.  If you grab a gold ring you get a free ride.  Some of us got the gold ring, but I haven't yet. We also found a bridge that people jump off into the beach water that's about 20 feet deep.  It was so fun!  We walked around the town too, and that was great because there is plenty to look at.  The little houses are cool to look at because of the wooden shingles and colorful paints, and lots of pretty yards.  After than we stopped by the beach (some of the boys got some sun burn) and then we all ate ice cream.  A fun day!  Now we are starting to make dinner, which is a stir fry."

Notice the ring dispenser at the bottom left corner

7/28 by Erin (Leader)
"We took the Ferry from Martha's Vineyard to Sandwich, MA.  We immediately started on the bike path, which everyone really enjoyed riding on.  We also hit up the beach to satisfy all of our sand loving Trekkers."

 7/29 by Kate (Leader)
"Afters some debate between a hike or a beach, the group chose the beach!  The weather is good, so that is where we are off to today.  We have the day off, so we will be taking full advantage of it. "

Maine Coast Trek - Day 1

By Madelaine Murray, Trekker:

"Of all the anticipation and preparation, the Maine Coast trip finally takes off!

From the early 6AM alarm to the final conversations and laughter at dinner this day was action packed and succeeded my expectations, and cruising though the heart of Boston to pick up the last members of our team!  Given the first day jitters and unfamiliarity of our peers the day was a complete success, honestly I was very nervous to begin the biking trip just because I didn't know what to expect, but after all the get-to-know activities and bicycle safety orientation I felt a lot more confident!

Once we really got to start biking up to Salem, Massachusetts it was so exciting to see the waterfront and the beautiful properties along the shore I forgot I was biking!  I can't believe we did so much activity in one day including hanging out at the beach and celebrating a birthday! 

For all the months of preparation I tried to imagine what this experience would be like but I could never have anticipated clicking so well with my Leaders and becoming instant friends with all of these people from all different backgrounds! I just can not wait for what the future holds in this adventure, with no more expectations and just pure willingness to live out every moment of this opportunity!"

From the Leaders:  "The Group has been meshing extremely well with one another, and instantly became respectful of not only the rules of the road, but towards one another.  The group is biking with the Drop System (physically marking turns and stops for the person behind you) and the Buddy System (pairing weaker and stronger cyclists together).  Together, these methods are working incredibly well!  it has been impressive to see how well everyone is biking, especially for the first day.

The first day was a whirlwind, and the group is already united and having a blast."

Over and out!