Bicycle Tour: Otter River State Forest, Day One

On Thursday, May 30, 2024, I rode the first of two segments of a tour to Otter River State Forest, where I planned to camp with fellow members of the Appalachian Mountain Club from the Worcester area.

I left my home at 12:20 p.m. and arrived at Spacious Skies Minute Man Campground near Littleton, Massachusetts, at 3:50 p.m., taking three and a half hours to ride 31.76 miles.

Since I had printed cue sheets and was careful to follow them, I didn’t make any wrong turns on this trip, unlike on my ride to this campground on May 19. The route I had planned was nearly identical to the Boston Spur of the Adventure Cycling Association Atlantic Coast Bicycle Route, Map #1.

I rode in light rain until about 3:00 p.m. Because of the rain, I didn’t take the unpaved Reformatory Branch Trail from Bedford to Concord, riding on Route 62 instead. When I reached the park at Ice House Pond on Concord Rd., which is just west of the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail, I took a 15-minute break to drink water and eat a Clif Bar.

Once again, I pushed myself too hard on this ride. My riding effort was 13% Zone 1, 35% Zone 2, 43% Zone 3, and 9% Zone 4. I needed to slow down to avoid overtiring myself.

The Spacious Skies Campground was mostly empty. I was assigned a nice site on the east side of the campground, #61. At 5:30 p.m. the weather was mostly sunny with a temperature of 64 °F. I changed into warmer clothes for an anticipated low of 49 °F.

My campsite at Spacious Skies Minute Man Campground

At night, the trailer across the street from my site had fairly bright LED lights on all night, spoiling my view of the stars.

My neighbor’s overnight trailer illumination

For the second day of this tour, see Otter River State Forest, Day Two.