Thursday, June 3, 2010

New York frame of mind

6-3-31 Day 6: Richmond, Vermont to Whitehall, New York: 90 miles in 5:32 hrs

We knew that we could be facing rain today with a forecast that was calling for 60-90% chance, and wouldn’t you know it, round about 3 AM this morning the rain began, and it rained pretty steady most of the night. By 7 AM still raining but not as steady as earlier. So we kind of took it causally in the morning, not really being in any hurry with the rain. Bill in the lento was good to go, and what’s more all of our gear was stored in there so we didn’t have to load soggy gear into the van. Decided to go back into Waterbury for a breakfast and kind of wait out the rain and look at the forecast. Great little place we ate at and I rocked out with the “Lumberjack” breakfast that had 2 eggs, toast, hashbrowns, and corned beef hash – what a way to start a ride! Took me back to the good old days of riding with Barney and Ryan in Quebec.

And wouldn’t you know it, the weather began to clear around 9 AM. the weather began to clear around 9 AM, and my net forecast told of a clearing day. So after jamming on Green Mt coffee and getting totally jazzed, we headed back west to my stop point in Richmond from yesterday. By the time we got there it was drizzling again, so I went solo while Bill and Judy opted to hang in the van and see how the weather evolved. I got a bit wet with the drizzle but nothing to really get a soaking from. Plan was to ride to Burlington to the jcn of Rt 7 south, and then head south to the Chimney Point ferry crossing into NY and the Adirondack Mts. So I rode solo the 12 miles to Burlington. And it’s a pretty cool city what with a major university up there.

The road into town, especially the last several miles was pretty crappy with little berm. But once in the university district and the jcn with Rt 7, things got much better. Bill joined me in town and Judy drove support. We had a very nice ride along the eastern shores of Lake Champlain, squeezed in on the left by the Green Mts and on the right by the lake and the towering Adirondack Mts. Between these is a sea of farmland that varies between dairy farming and AG farming. Very picturesque and unfortunately very socked in by cloud cover on this day. The Adirondacks to the west, tower in the distance – impressive scenery for sure. We rode down Rt 7, then south again on Rt 22A into Addison, and then southwest on Rt 17 to Chimney Point.

No I’ve been pretty lucky so far with respect to the wind directions, and today I was lucky again, with a strong tailwind out of the north, and almost All of our riding today was in a southerly direction so we could hold a great pace. Rolling through the Lake Champlain Valley at a brisk pace Bill and I were able to meet Judy at the ferry crossing within 3 hrs of riding. Now the ferry crossing was free, and just 15 min in time to go from one side to the other, and it left on the 15’s and 45’s of each hr. And as Bill and I were riding along he mentioned that we may be able to make the 1:15 PM crossing – and I was already pulling at about 21-22 mph. I honestly didn’t think we’d make it. But after about 15 min of putting it down, be damned if we got there as they were loading. The crossing was so short it was like an afterthought. And there we were, at the foot of the Adirondack Mts and in NY.

We changed over from Bill riding to Judy riding and off we went again, this time south on Rt 9N/22 to Ticonderoga. I mean there were place where we were right on the edge of the mts, with these steep rock wall right on our right side, and from there – straight up into the mts. Once in Ticonderoga we veered of onto Rt 22 south to Whitehall – and baby let the climbing begin. It was a 27-mile stretch of undulating climbs in the foothills of the Adirondacks. Judy did an awesome job of bridging back up to me on at least four big climbs, but they were definitely taking the juice out of her legs – and mine to!! And these were measly little ascents compared to the gnarly stuff in the heart of the Adirondacks.

So anyway we did 27 miles of these rollers and I was feeling pretty tired by the end of the ride. But did manage to get in 90 miles on what looked to be a total bust of a day. So we stopped in Whitehall, loaded my bike on the van and drove up to Lake George in the Adirondacks to go to a campground, about 25 miles to the southwest. Found a place called Hearthstone State Park, right on Lake George, and that’s home for tonight. Then did a quickie dinner mission to an expensive little restaurant called the Lobster Pot, this for Judy who thought I was going to be riding due south in Maine to the ocean. She finally figured it out that we were NOT going to the ocean when we were on day three in Maine, and heading to the west towards NH!! So the Lobsterpot was my way of treating Judy to a seafood meal for all of the hard work she’s done for us.

As a sidenote, Bill had a glass of water tossed on his torso by the waitress for the beginning of our meal so we all had a great laugh at that – he actually cracked a smile. All in all another good day and getting in the miles on my way back to Ohio for the end of the first leg of the journey. Tomorrow looks like I’m changing my itinerary and going with a route that goes straight across NY state rather than continuing to ride south to the Catskills and then to PA. Bill found what looks to be a pretty straight route through NY that will skirt along nearly all of the finger lakes of NY – Rt 20 west. So it’s on to Albany tomorrow and then west on Rt. 20. Late……..Pete

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