Misty Morning Ride

Sunny days are overrated.

If you're a cyclist in New England, then you know it's those cool, misty mornings that are often the most beautiful.

On one such morning last week, I decided to explore the two "necks" of Quincy, Massachusetts: Squantum and Hough's Neck. They jut out into the southern portion of Boston Harbor, creating Quincy Bay and a long stretch of beach in between.

Riding out to Squantum, the streets were still wet from the rain that fell the previous day...


But this morning there were just cloudy skies, a nice backdrop to the flowering trees on top of Squantum's hilly terrain.


Riding away from Squantum, I turned onto beautiful Quincy Shore Drive...


...and looked back onto the Squantum peninsula, where I had just ridden.


After some thrilling moments zipping along the shore, I took a left turn, rode a few more miles, and was soon pedaling on Hough's Neck...


At the very end of Hough's Neck sits Nut Island. It's not really an island, just a little bump of land connected to the neck itself. It was once the site of an artillery testing facility; the base of one of its big guns is still plainly visible on the center-left of this photo.


All around are views of the southern part of Boston Harbor, which this morning was eerily calm.


My favorite part of Hough's Neck is at the very tip of Nut Island, where a lonely pier juts out into the morning mist...


Sometimes it's lined with people hovering over their fishing lines and rods. But this morning it was quiet and mysterious.


Walking my bike out on the pier, it's easy to imagine this as some dark Cold War-era spy rendezvous site....


It really gets your imagination going!

Riding back, along the other side of Hough's Neck...


...and back onto Quincy Shore Drive...


...it wasn't long before the sun was shining through clear blue skies.


Returning home a short time later after this 30 mile ride, I cleaned my bike, watched some of the morning news shows, and then switched on the Weather Channel. By that time it was noon, 75 degrees and sunny ... the warmest it had been all year.

But personally, I'm happy I got to experience that special cool morning, in the mist, on a bicycle.