Day 63. Resting in Bradford, VT

The Adirondacks

Vermont Farm

View of Lake George from Fort Ticonderoga

Alicia at Front Gate of Fort Ticonderago

When we arrived at our destination here in Bradford,VT yesterday, we had a very nice welcoming committee hooting and waving at us as we came up the final hill, and the darling little girls ran down the driveway with balloons and bicycling medals complete with red/white/blue ribbon for us. Then it was the much anticipated hot shower and a delicious pasta dinner, which I had craved many times on the road, but surprisingly was just not available.

Our bodies are getting a much needed rest here today. Pete was having cramps in his leg and arm muscles last night, after many hours of sleep he is feeling better this afternoon.

An Amazing Journey
It is hard to believe that we are almost across to the Atlantic Ocean. About two more days of riding left. I am ready to be done. It has been an amazing and wonderful, hard and frustrating journey at the same time. As one cyclist told me (paraphrased), "It isn't the romantic bike ride that you imagine it will be, if it was easy everyone would do it." The amazing part has been not knowing what will happen up ahead, and yet cool and fun things were always around the corner. The wonderful part has been all of the great people we have met and talked to, in unexpected places. The hard part has been road conditions and traffic. The frustrating part has been dealing with the bugs. If you noticed I didn't mention the weather, although we suffered many days of humidity, I feel we have been blessed weather wise. (Not sure Pete would agree!) There was alot of unseasonably cool and cloudy days for which I have been extremely thankful for, since it kept me cool most of the time, and I have a tendency to overheat easily.

Last Roadkill Update
The roadkill across the Adirondacks has been completely different, it consisted of slugs, snails, frogs, salamanders, and their various colored round splotches left behind. Parts of the road looked polka-dot because of this. These are details that would not be noticed riding in a car. Everything is in HD (high-definition) when on a bicycle.

Looking forward to tomorrow's adventure... - Alicia


Dateline: Yesterday

The night before and this morning we watched the weather for the latest on the tropical storm moving up the eastern seaboard. Will it miss us? Will we experience the deluge of 2-4 inches, probably more in the mountains? We are in Middlebury, VT. The weather here is the typical riding weather of hazy, but clear-ish air with some promise of sun to come, evidenced by the filtered glow of the hazy clouds.

We start out southbound as our route takes us to the gates of Breadloaf just outside East Middlebury. As we parallel the Green mountains on our left, thick bands of dark gray clouds kiss the top of the ridge. On our right all looks good. "Are we really going to head into this, Alicia?", I ask. We pass through East Middlebury and before us is the beginning of the dread climb. It is impossibly steep. We have two initial stretches that are just too steep for us to ride. 5 miles into the ride and this. Impossible. There is a sign saying this road is not recommended for tractor trailers. Really!! We are expected to ride what a truck is not expected to travel?! After blowing out our legs, we walk the bikes, a cyclists ultimate humiliation - bikes are for riding. (We later learn some of these pitches are up to 13% grade - truly impossibly steep.)

The skies darken. The mosquitos emerge from the shadows and envelope us in clouds of hunger. Ahhhh! Ditch the bikes - find the bug spray - fend off the skeeters. Is this really happening?! At this point the tale would continue with: "... and then it rained.".

Only, thank God, it didn't. We endured. We persisted. We reached our goal after one of the toughest days of the trip. The clouds threatened all day, yet ever remained just before us, like we were closely following behind the rain. Often we felt light spray from the clouds; often we saw freshly wet roads, but never did we get full rain.

~Pete

Day 62. Bradford, Vermont

We have made it to the other side of Vermont. 89 miles; lots of
hills. The hills tend to be steep here. There were several that were
at 13% grade. A normal highway is graded to 6 or 7%.

At 10 am we had only covered 24 miles due to the climb over "Bread
Loaf". Still we pressed on and finally managed to join Dave and
Marianne Barthel at thier home here in Bradford. I worked with Dave a
few years back at Dartmouth. It is great catching up.

We will rest here tomorrow.

Two more days of riding to Portland, Maine. Wow! It's been some ride.

~ Pete (iPhone)

Day 61. Middlebury, Vermont

Good bye New York! It was good. We really enjoyed all the wooded lakes.

Adirondacks




Hello Vermont!!



As soon as we crossed Lake Champlain (via Ferry - awesome!) we knew we were in Vermont. There is just a certain look and feel some places have. It is very pretty here. The nice rolling hills and farmsteads really set it apart. Other states have stood out as well. I remember crossing the Red River from Fargo, ND to Minnesota and hitting this wall of humidity. That really marked the beginning of the hyper humid mid-west in Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois and especially Indiana. Ohio and New York as well. Now I know this has been an exceptional weather year for all these places, but one must take note of the high humidity especially when accustomed to the decent temperature and humidity of the great Pacific Northwest! Yeah Baby! The PNW rocks weather wise as long as you can tolerate a bit of rain (which I love).

We started off slooow. A really tough start. No motivation, hills right away, I was ready to quit at 20 miles. Except I know you can't give in to those feelings. We pressed on. And on. And on. Finally covering 85 miles to Middlebury, Vermont. We went over the Blue Ridge mountains which turned out to be an respectable climb. Our New York map shows no elevation profiles which is a shame - some of these climbs should rate a profile.

One of our long descents was spoiled by a deluge of rain. It almost was hail at one point. Painful. I threw on my raincoat, which is a useless gesture as I was already completely soaked. But it did make me a bit warmer and softened the blow of the driven rain and half frozen hail. Alicia had a bit of trouble stopping her bike. It was steep enough we had to get the additional leverage of applying the brakes from the handle bar drops.

We toured Fort Ticonderoga. There is so much history in this part of the country. This fort has played a critical role several times in the past. Originally built by the French to protect Lake Champlain, it changed hands several times over the years. Lake Champlain, Lake George and the Hudson river are all near and provide critical access to vast reaches of colonial North America. Fort Ticonderoga is where the two lakes meet. And the Hudson river is just south of Lake George. This is the same Hudson river that runs by Manhattan. It was a well built fort made of stone overlooking both Lakes.

We took a ferry that has been running since the 1700's connecting highway 74 in New York state to Vermont. It was a fun respite. I love being on the water in any form.

We plan to go to Bradford, Vermont tomorrow. It is slightly off route and will afford us the much anticipated opportunity of reconnecting with friends from the time I worked at Dartmouth. It'll be fun.

Less than 250 miles to go!!! Getting close!

Check out this little fellow screaming across the road. As stretched out, giving his all. Go man, go!!



~Pete

Day 60. Long Lake - Adirondack

The Adirondaks are great. This is a land of wooded lakes. Houses
with names dot the lakes shores. The Seguls Nest, Whispering Pines,
Singing Waters. Now I feel I need come up with a cool name for where
I live. How about Beer Parlor?

We started out with wet roads, a favorable weather report and no
rain. As we rode the clouds lowered, dew started forming on my
forearms, and my glasses started collecting water. After awhile we
took a break and there was a really fine mist falling. Is it mist or
just really thick clouds?

Wet, wet, wet... How many ways are there to be wet. There is, of
course, rain. But there is also the heavy dew. A couple mornings
ago, everything was so wet it might as well have rained. Then there
is exertion. Any and all of these can occur, sometimes simultaneously.

What good is a rain coat in these conditions? None! Unless trying to
stay warm you will be wet anyway.

Day 59. Boonville, NY

This is an attempt to capture what one of the hills we've climbed look like. The little gray line up the hill in the background is the same road as the foreground.


From Fulton we went north through Mexico to Port Ontario. We then headed due east through Pulaski with some soutward deviation. Once again, many hills were thrown up in our path, though we did manage to cover 80 miles.

Today we saw a few Amish and Mennonite farmers. The Mennonite was milling his own planks from logs.

It was a 10 dog day, some in pairs,as they hurled themselves at us at top speed. I can usually talk them down. It's funny because though we have Halt, a strong version of pepper spray that shoots 15 feet for dogs, by the time Alicia is able to pull it from the mount near her handle bars, the threat is passed. Just as well. I can just see accidentally shooting ourselves with it. If you have ever been shot with pepper spray you know this is no fun.

One dog just wanted to run with us and boy could he run. We were going about 15 and he just poured it on streaking ahead of us. He must have been going 20. Good show! I was impressed.

We left Lake Ontario for good once we left Port Ontario. It was a let down as the route today did not afford us any views of the lake even though we paralled the lake for 10 miles.

The day was very humid and the sun barely cast a shadow most of the day. In the afternoon rain threatened and we finally did get some sprinkles. Nothing serious though. Rain is expected tonight and tomorrow. Yuck.

Alicia goofed and mentioned that she felt a few drops. Now many of us know you just can't do that within earshot of a thunderstorm. Sure enough one of them heard her and thought we wanted to join in with it and play in the water as thunderstorms love to do. Shortly afterward it started spitting more rain and we even heard thunder. I was able to save the day through some adroit navigation and fast pedaling as we quietly slipped away. Whew! That was close. I think Alicia knows better now. :)

My Little Buddy

Yesterday I saw this little fella crossing the road. I stopped to give him a boost.




Orchards

This is one of many orchards near Williamson. Williamson is the self-proclaimed "core" of apple country.



Forests

This is a sample of the forests near us today.


I think we have 2 more days in New York. I am targeting being finished next Monday. It depends on how we handle the coming hills and passes as well as the weather. I am planning a rest day in this as well.

Later!!

~ Pete (iPhone)

Day 58. Fulton, NY

We have encountered the enemy and his name is "Endless Hills"! 73
miles. Our map mentions the last glacier formed hills similar to sand
dunes which are steep on one side and gradual on the other. The are
arranged so that the steep side faces west. We have confirmed this is
the case - the hard way!!!

We stopped in Williamson and sent back another 9.5 pounds of vital,
irreplaceable gear that we now must find a way to live without. But
we are lighter.

We had a nice lunch at a roadside fruit stand and restuarant called
Burnaps.

Lake Ontario

Day 57. Macedon

Oh what a day. We covered some good ground taking a shortcut around
Buffalo and cutting straight over to Rochester before jumping on the
Erie canal trail. After 107 miles we find ourselves in Macedon at a
hiker/biker/boater camp right on the canal at lock #30.

The odd thing is, we are not tired. Normally I am nearly catetonic
after a day like this, but we both feel great and we got it at a
decent time: 5:30ish.

Tomorrow we will go north to Lake Ontario and follow the the coast the
rest of the day eastward and northward.

I took a shortcut continuing on highway 20 to highway 33 which cut
diagonally across the state to Rochester saving about 47 miles.