Nashua, NH-Ayer, MA 9/12 20 miles

Damp, warm fog greeted us this morning, but by the time we reached Ayer, the sun burned through to the wild cheers of local bank employees who were holding a public service event to promote health and safety. They had give aways, a blood pressure testing station, and a free lunch. Ed even had his  heart rate checked. The ride to Ayer followed a tree lined rail trail that was smooth, flat and filled with local joggers, walkers, and cyclists. We stopped in Pepperrell, MA for breakfast where our cheerful waittress, Ashley, stood amazed by our journey. Along the trail, I found myself lost in lovely shades of green, and felt very thankful to be away from the noise, frost heaves, and danger of Route 1. We're quite a novelty, which means people are eager to chat us up. On the trail, we passed two women of our era who were serious triathletes. They gave us directions both to the campground and to the best local coffee shop in town. Heather and Judy (My second Judy in two days, but not MY Judy) run together every Saturday, and they finish wirh a cup of coffee at the Union Coffee Shop. There, we chatted with them for about forty minutes. What a joy to meet active, positive people, but the greatest joy today was meeting our good friends, Johnny and Francois who gave up their Saturday to come and be with us. It's no small matter because both had to bear up under the gruesome Boston traffic and commute about a hundred miles to see us. It speaks to one of the great joys of humanity: friendship. Judy and Heather, who are often mistaken for sisters exclaimed, "We're sisters of the heart." It's a nice enough concept to ponder for a whole day, and certainly Ed, Johnny, Frank, and I share heart strings as strong as steel cable. Johnny and Francois treated us to lunch and even drove us around for supplies. Our campground, the Boston Minuteman, is an excellent space which is well run. The owner even took notice and put us in a site close to the restrooms. I must say, days like this filled with good friends, good service, and pleasant encounters affirms my belief that life is good, especially today.

Worth a trip just to ride this trail.

Ashley, who genuinely enjoys her job, waiting on other customers. Notice the pink uniform. Beemer's is a fifties style diner conplete with an old style juke box, ice cream fountain, and memorabilia scattered about.

The place has a sense of humor as well.

Judy and Heather.

Ed's blood pressure and heart rate were excellent. I suffer from genetic defects and "white coat" syndrome, so my numbers were not so excellent.

Four amigos.

John and Frank displaying two different technologies trying to find a lunch spot.

Quite good.

So good that judgment was thrown to the wind, lathered on my body in the form of peanut butter pie. No dinner tonight; I'm fresh out of calories for the day. Ah, the price of sin is high.