Cape Cod Rail Trail

I set off about 6:30 this morning on my favorite ride up 28 to Orleans and then on the rail trail. The road was the quietest it has been and Pleasant Bay was misty and lovely:

I decided to try the old Nauset bike path to Coast Guard Beach to vary my route.

Just after crossing Route 6 there was a car coming off Route 6 that had stopped on the ramp (apparently reading a map), and as I went in front of that car a car stuck behind it went around it to the right. There was that terrible moment of realizing the car and I were going to hit and there was nothing I could do about it. I hit the side of the car and fell. I think the driver hadn't seen me at all; she stopped and came to me very concerned. I first said I didn't know how I was, I was too shaken, but in a few minutes I realized I was ok and my bike was ok. Just a slightly scraped elbow and I could feel I had jammed my back a little. The driver was very worried--I think neither of us had imagined a car could hit someone on a bike and not do any damage. But I felt well enough to continue my ride.

I don't recommend the old Nauset bike path from the Cape Cod National Seashore Eastham visitor center to Coast Guard Beach--it was empty and rather fun to be in the woods but it has a 10 mph speed limit because it is narrow and twisty. It would be fun for kids but if there were any kids on it it would be a difficult situation for anyone riding faster.

I walked down to the beach at Coast Guard Beach (the old coast guard station is above) and then continued on the road along the coast to Nauset light.

I wanted to get back on the bike path further north so I could go under Route 6 on the bike path rather than have to cross it at a light. The bike path south was pleasant riding:

There was a lot of pollen on the path after yesterday evening's thunderstorms and the bikes were leaving tracks. Total 43.35 miles.