Revolutionary War

I'm Sure you've heard of the Boston Massacre, and The Battle of  Lexington and Concord, and probably Bunker Hill, Valley Forge, and Yorktown.

But how about...

The Burning of New London, Ct

The Battle of Groton Heights

Battle of Jersey

Kings Mountain

Battle of Saratoga

Guilford Courthouse

Battle of Long Island

Battle of Germantown

Princeton

The point is, this entire area (New England, New York, New Jersey) is loaded with history, and not just the war of Independence, You also have the War of 1812, The French and Indian wars. Plus just local history, The rivers spawned commerce and Industry. Mills, Ports, Shipping, Whaling, Sealing, Fishing. There was ship building, glass-works, tannery's, rope-walks, Barrel making (Coopers) and the list goes on and on.

There was a time when it took months to go from New London CT to Albany New York, and troops marched it. They used trails and paths which later men widen and search new ways and built roads. Roads which were little more than a strip of dirt and rocks through the trees, roads which became mud ways when it rained. Carriages and wagons took these routes and the months were shortened to weeks. Then paved roads and highways cut through the living rock of the hills and bridges to span rivers and valleys. Many of these roads were built by horse and cart, pick and shovel, then approved upon by technology and machinery.

So here we are today, an hour and a half from New London, down the coast to Old Saybrook, up along the Connecticut River to Springfield and Holyoke, across Massachusetts into New York and up along the Hudson River to Albany, 3 1/2 hours.  We sit back today all impressed with ourselves, "Got on my bike and rode to Massachusetts, New York , New Jersey and Home."

Maybe we should be less proud and more thankful to the backs that were broken and the men who lost their lives building those roads which we so easily take for granted.

Don't get me wrong, take those rides, see the different areas, find that piece of road that gives you joy to ride and share the ride with others. But just remember, all you did was ride the way, you didn't build the damn thing.