Glorious Morning
This morning, admidst swirling leaves, warm sunshine and bright blue skies, I finally got out on the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail from Lowell to Westford. Between work schedules, travel, and bike maintenance issues, I hadn’t yet had the chance to try the trail, although I’ve been an avid supporter for over ten years. Today turned out to be perfect for an inaugural ride. I caught the trail by taking Stedman Street from Westford Street to Route 110, riding straight across and taking a left which let me check out the first leg, which starts from the parking lot at the Crosspoint Towers. The tunnel under Route 3 could possibly be intimidating on a dark afternoon, but was utterly benign this morning, and the presence of joggers, families on bikes and dog-walkers gave the whole trail a pleasant ambiance. I turned around at Crosspoint, biked back across Golden Cove, and met friends in Chelmsford Center where there is bike trail parking by Brickhouse Pizza – I couln’t find a website but here is a write-up from Chowhound. Our friends had stopped there on a previous bike ride and raved about the quality food and good value. The Chelmsford street crossings are a bit convoluted, routing the bikers onto narrow sidewalks at times, but really, no complaints, just happy to not be biking through the Center with traffic which I have done in the past. (This was much better!) When biking through Chelmsford, it was interesting to see how local businesses were advertising to bikers and walkers, and given the amount of people out today, it could well be a recession-buster for these enterprising companies. Leaving Chelmsford, we paralleled route 27, where we escaped traffic noise and viewed marshes, a beautiful lake (I don’t think it could be Freeman Lake, but am not sure what other lakes Chelmsford has) and gorgeous fall colors. Away from the center, even on a busy day, the trail was quiet and allowed for three-abreast biking for long stretches. Arriving at the end of the trail, about six miles from Chelmsford where Route 225 crosses 27, we turned back and retraced our path, about 12 miles in all. I’m so pleased to have finally been out on the trail, to see how well-used it is, and to enjoy this beautiful day outdoors. Thanks to Bruce Freeman who had the vision, the Friends of the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail who saw it to fruition, and to all the supporters who helped make this a reality. It is truly an asset to our communities.