Memoirous

So I cycled back home from Union Station, didn't include those miles in trip total. No reason to be that geeky. I wanted to do a round up about maps, connectivity, and elevation/steepness. The ACA maps. There were times when they unnecessarily led me up steep inclines. Like going into Burlington--it would have been better if I'd just stayed on the Champlain Way instead of going up Irish Hill Rd. Also going into Canada that gravel road it immediately puts you on once you cross the border felt unnecessary. I think their criteria is to put riders on the least trafficked roads. I learned that some of the state routes were not so bad and the grades were gentler. Overall it is good to have maps and I liked the ACA ones because they were “laminated” and did not curl up in humidity or dissolve from the rain. Buy a Vermont state map and keep that handy. Do not be afraid of the gravel or dirt roads--these are wonderful, like riding in Acadia National Park! Connectivity. I u...

Day 13, Dorset, VT to Albany, NY 77 miles What a difference a day makes!! It’s 12 noon and I’ve already done 40 miles. Last night I complained to my host, Malcolm that I hadn’t passed any cycle tourists. “That’s because you’re on all the hard roads,” he replied. Then he drew me a map to Cambridge, NY. I left their house at 7:30 a.m. having to leave a note to say goodbye. I made it to Dorset Village Green for a sandwich. There were hills and my legs were still trying to recover from yesterday and the day before. But I kept going. Manchester was also a cool town. After that I noticed I was able to go to my third gear and ride at least for a while. Before turn off for 313 Arlington, I stopped at a Norman Rockwell exhibit. More on this later, but let’s just say the two sales clerks were fiercely determined to preserve his legacy. Seems the whole town was in on his successful artist career when he was painting in the area. He lived there 13, 14 years and raised his th...

Day 12, GWSP to Dorset, VT ? 60 miles Today was a longer riding day and I wanted to get an early start, but weather and physical things have conspired to slow me down. Plus my butt hurts. If anyone doesn’t think they need gluts to cycle are dead wrong. This a.m. it rained, starting at around 5:30. As I tried to pack up there would be cloud bursts or else splitter splatter from the trees. I was frantic to pack without getting my sleep system wet. The humidity is thru the roof. I felt like I was riding in slow motion. Leaving GWSP there was MORE mountain to climb. Two miles in my lowest gear at about 3 mph. Then a white knuckle downhill, worrying about trucks and crappy road all the way into Rutland and West Rutland. In Castleton at a little coffee shop at the depot I bought an egg and spinach wrap. I was around about 25 miles. I say about because all day forgetting to turn odometer back on or leaning on it and knocking it off kilter. After eating I hopped onto the De...

Day 11, Lebanon to Gifford Woods State Park via Killington Peak, 43 miles Such a perfect day. New Hampshire to Vermont. Those first days of riding in hot humid weather with hills (the 3 Hs plus hell makes 4) were excruciating. Enjoying the ride so much more. Yesterday and today kept stopping to take pictures of the blue sky, red barns, covered bridges, sunny meadows crowded with lupine and butterflies. Two more covered bridges. One on Queechee Road and one by Old River Road on the way to Woodstock Village. This was a dirt road which I’m usually apprehensive about taking (a holdover from getting lost following Google directions in Norway), but this road was lovely, like a little picnic along the river in a shaded grove. I stopped at The Village Butcher for a sandwich and soup. The soup and crackers filled me up, so saved the sandwich. Woodstock is typical quaint New England, rich white people. The approach to Killington Peak was gradual. I was partly again on dirt roads, whi...

Day 10, to Lebanon, NH, 48 miles Last night was lovely and lonely. My own little stealth paradise. It was foggy this a.m. Left at 7;30 and cycled to Woodsville where—tada!—there was a covered bridge. Before starting this trip I thought I’d see covered bridges and cycle tourists. Well, we know how that’s gone, but this covered bridge was to beat the band, more than made up for being the only one by being LONG. In North Haverhill I bought 2 pastries. Haverhill, the village, was amazing, like some old New England carriage village. It was like a movie set. The road and weather were perfect. Coming down from Haverhill to Orford I spotted a sign out front of the Mt. Cube Masonic Temple: Hot Breakfast. I pulled over immediately even though it was 10 minutes after it went off. The folks set me up with a plate of pancakes. I could taste the syrup on my lips going up hill. After Orford I forgot to turn on my odometer, so lost track, but roughly 6 or 7 miles to Lyme, another GREAT villa...

Day 9, to ?, outside of Monroe, NH , 55 miles Rain came right before dawn and slpitter-splattmered for about 4 hours. Able to crawl out of bivy tent to run the bathroom and make a thermos of tea with my probe. I ate a dry breakfast under the bathroom overhang. Packed and ready to go by 9:15—carrying so much sand and a wet tent. The sky is massed with clouds, definitely a change in weather. More like a raw autumn morning. At maybe 4 miles from park on 114 began a 2-miles climb. Nothing horrible, just long. At 21.5 miles hit East Burke, where I ordered breakfast at a cafe. The area has a x-cycle track and attracts weekend cycle enthusiasts. The village has a great vibe. I see so many disparities in Vermont: perfect people with healthy, active lifestyles and those without, with meth scabs and missing teeth, overweight and smoking. The opioid epidemic has hit this region hard. In Lyndon I stopped at Village Sports and asked the to check my chain. I put on a new one at The Rec...