Today’s journey took us to Pondicherry Wildlife Refuge for some bike riding on the Presidential Railtrail. We bought ourselves a proper bike rack (tailgate hitch), and we wanted to test it out. In the past, when we were in the car, we would take the front wheels off and lay the bikes down in the car. But Alden’s bikes are getting larger with him, so it was getting a little tight.

We parked in the small lot off of 115A. Before we headed out, Andrew helped us stick a deer fly patch on each of our helmets. It is fly tape in a wide 6 inch strip. Who will catch the most deer flies?  We first headed East on the railtrail. It is immediately noticable in this section that less people go this direction. Only a narrow tract is visible down to the grade. Tall grasses and flowers have overtaken the traveling corridor, making lovely pollinator habitat. Despite this we passed 3 groups of other riders heading West.

The trail passes closely through a neighborhood and some nice wetlands until it reaches busy Route 115. We decided to turn around here and go West into the Refuge. Once we passed our car again the railtrail surface widens and is used by many visitors heading toward Cherry Pond. We recently walked this section to hike on the Slide Brook Trail.

Although we were probably pretty close to the viewing platform on Cherry Pond, we decided to turn around. We have been there before – walking in from the south entrance (Mosquito Walk).

Back at the car, will pulled off our helmets and counted our stuck flies. Alden had 3, Lindsay had 6 (including a mosquito), and Andrew had 5. These are a must this time of year!