Including this ride, we had 43 riding days and 5 rest days. What an amazing trip! Short ride today, sort of a half day. We departed the hotel at 8:18am headed for the beach. In past years, the group rode at their own pace to a consolidation stop before riding together for the last couple of miles to the beach. Not THIS group though - we stuck together for the entire last 19 miles!
Recording the intro for my video at the start
Our “consolidation stop” at Dunkin
The final walk to the water’s edge
A group photo at the water’s edge
One last group photo at Revere Beach
And, of course, the day’s ride video. A short ride today, so a short video….
And that’s a wrap - at least for the ride! I’ll be back in a week or two to post all the totals along with my final thoughts and reflections. I need to take a little time first to re-read my blog and re-watch my videos in order to help put those thoughts together. I also plan to come up with some words of advice for anyone considering doing this in the future. Stay tuned!
Today featured not just one state line crossing, but TWO - we rode (almost immediately) from Vermont into New Hampshire, rode about 40 miles through New Hampshire before crossing into Massachusetts, and eventually ended up in Burlington, not too far from “tomorrow’s” wheel dip. (I put that in quotes because I once again fell behind in my blog posts, and not only has the wheel dip already occurred but I’m already back in New Jersey. Better late than never….)
At our morning briefing today, Peyton informed us that there was no sign at the VT-NH line, so in my video for today I did not include a sign. However, had I thought it through, I would have realized that there was another opportunity to get a “Welcome to New Hampshire” pic at the Massachusetts border. Fortunately, others in my group took care of that FOR me:
Of course, since this sign was actually at the Massachusetts state line, I feel it appropriate to show the same location in the OPPOSITE direction now:
The Massachusetts state line actually snuck up on me on this ride, so I don’t have my “usual narration” of the crossing, but that didn’t stop me from breaking into song! (You’ll have to watch the video to see it though - as usual, it is linked at the end of this post.)
Just one of the many covered bridges we saw in New England
I chose to wear my Mets jersey for my arrival into the Boston area. It would have been more controversial for me to wear a Yankees jersey, but I wouldn’t be caught DEAD in one of those….
Although it hasn’t been my experience in New Jersey, there are many parts of this country where the people are incredibly patriotic. This was one of them.
Even though we still had about 19 miles left to ride, we had our awards banquet after today’s ride at our hotel in Burlington. Although there were many great moments, I only have a few good pictures to share of that experience:
Our wonderful staff members - we could not have done it without you! Left to right: Lee, Alena, Peyton, Fred, Lance, and Dana. Unfortunately, Paula was a bit under the weather, but she was an indispensable part of the crew as well!
Mark receiving the 1,000-mile sign
Jim receiving the 2,000-mile sign
Terry and Alex receiving the 3,000-mile sign
The whole group with our completion certificates
And of course, the video from today’s ride:
That’s all for today. Tomorrow we head for the beach!
Another hot one today, and another state line crossing. Just a little further and it will be time once again to dip our wheels!
Today’s ride wasn’t overly long (just over 80 miles), but it DID feature plenty of climbing, including one climb of just over 8 miles. Not sure if this climb was the hardest of the tour or not, but it was certainly up there among the toughest of the climbs in my opinion. Of course, that wasn’t the ONLY tough climb today - this route featured SEVEN Garmin climbs!
Because of the heat today, they made ice socks available to us at three locations along the route. For those of you who either missed it or simply don’t remember, an ice sock is a stocking filled with ice that you put down the back of your jersey. They help to keep you from getting overheated, and they actually make a HUGE difference. An interesting difference between today and the last time we got them has to do with the humidity. When we got them out west while crossing the desert, the water evaporated almost immediately. Today? Not so much. As the ice melted today, instead of evaporating it just ran down the back of my jersey and into my shorts, down the backs of my legs and into my shoes. For reasons having to do with how I coast, most of that water ended up in my RIGHT shoe. (Both shoes are currently using my shoe dryers.)
The 8-mile climb was both tough and scary at the same time! Tough because, well, it was a hard climb. Scary because at times the shoulder of the road left a lot to be desired, and the trucks on the road (many of which were carrying oversized loads) did not slow down or move over when passing. Also related to the terrain and the drivers, I had a first today. The driver of a pickup truck felt the need to pass me on a steep downhill segment. For what reason, I have no idea (other than maybe he saw a guy on a bike and was afraid he was going to get “stuck” behind me). However, as soon as he passed me he realized how fast he was going and decided to slow down, riding his brakes the whole way down. So instead of HIM being stuck behind ME, it was the other way around! To make matters even worse, his brakes were overheating on the way down and I got to breathe THAT nastiness the whole way. And, to add insult to injury, he had to turn left at the bottom of the descent, which left me with almost no momentum for the following climb!
Tonight for dinner we had a food truck come that made Jamaican food, which was good. We also had cake and ice cream tonight in celebration of John’s birthday. Tomorrow we are starting only SLIGHTLY early (at 7 and 7:15), and it’s a long-ish day again with a pretty decent amount of climbing.
Not a sign you see every day
On that note, here is the video from today:
Tomorrow is a SOMEWHAT early start, so I’m calling it a night. See you all tomorrow!
That ride yesterday really kicked my butt. Yes, yesterday, as I am writing this a day late. (Today’s ride kicked my butt too, but you’ll have to read about that in my day 47 post.)
The ride from Utica to Troy was a century ride - it came in at 101.94 miles - and it was on the first truly hot day we’ve had on this tour. We had an early start yesterday (mass start at 6:45am), and at that time it was ALREADY 69 degrees Fahrenheit (with a feels like temperature of 71, and with 87% humidity) - I know, 69 isn’t that hot. But by the end it was 95 with a feels like of 104! Plus, it WAS a long ride, with a moderate amount of climbing. As a result, my after-dinner nap was EPIC, and after that I still didn’t have the energy to write this. So here it is, a day late.
The ride was a long one, but other than the length (and the heat and humidity), it wasn’t too challenging. A moderate amount of climbing, but nothing crazy (though that one climb towards the end on the bike path was pretty challenging). Speaking of bike paths, the last part of the ride (from Schenectady to Troy) was almost entirely along a bike path. Also, much of the route was spent riding alongside the Mohawk River, which was beautiful! (Since it is getting late and I still have another blog post to write, these pictures are in no particular order.)
The bridge across the Hudson River up in Troy, NY
Today’s action shot
Another view of the Hudson River bridge
The Mohawk River, which was on our right for the majority of this ride
Is this what they mean by a flower bed?
Well, if it isn’t Tow Mater!
One of the tunnels under the road along the bike path at the end
For dinner I joined a couple of people in our group who headed over to Dinosaur Bar-B-Que, which was right next to our hotel and was delicious! We started with their deviled eggs and I had their brisket and their pulled pork, along with baked beans and I think I also had potato salad. Everything was delicious, I highly recommend this place!
Of course, a riding day just wouldn’t be complete without the corresponding video:
Our next ride (which was today) was from Troy to Brattleboro. Another state line crossing, and lots of climbing including one that was eight miles in length. I need to conclude THIS post so I can write THAT one. I’m determined to get that one done tonight so I can go back to being caught up….
Another day, another late arrival at the start for me. Not for the usual reason though, at least not today.
Yesterday, we were told in the morning that the early group was leaving at 9:15 and the late group at 9:30 due to the short route. They are trying not to have us arrive at the hotel TOO early - I’m guessing that at least SOME of the hotels haven’t been happy about having a bunch of cyclists (with their bikes) hanging out in the lobby waiting for their rooms to be ready. Today, however, was the beginning of the east coast heatwave for us, so they decided to move our start times back by 15 minutes. I didn’t get the memo, however, so I showed up sometime between 9:05 and 9:10 to get ready to depart. By the time I realized that I wasn’t among my usual crowd though, it was almost “go time” for the late group, so I just headed out with them.
Speaking of the heatwave and late starts, tomorrow we are riding to Troy, NY, which is 101.8 miles away. The high temperature there tomorrow is supposed to be 95, with a “feels like” temperature of over 100 degrees Fahrenheit! As a result, although our start times were supposed to be 7:15 and 7:30 tomorrow, the powers that be agreed to have a single start time for all of us, 6:45am. It’s going to be tough for me, but I think if I bring all my stuff down with me BEFORE breakfast and get my bike ready then, I should be ok.
So anyway, at the start today I didn’t try to keep up, I let the late group get up the road and I settled into my pace. I didn’t actually stop to take any pictures today, but I saw one in our WhatsApp group that I liked.
Just before the SAG stop on today’s ride (there was only one), the Garmin told me to turn right onto this road that had a bunch of loose gravel on it. (Not my favorite road surface.) It had us go about a block up the road, then turn right and rejoin the road we had been previously riding on. I thought this was odd, and assumed we were about to reach the SAG stop. After rejoining the original road, I saw that the SAG wasn’t for another 0.3 miles. Well, it turns out that the REASON for that very brief detour was so we could see the Cross Island Chapel. I actually never saw it myself, but I stole the picture above (and also used that pic as my video’s thumbnail today) because I really liked it!
Anyway, unlike YESTERDAY’S ride, I took it easy today and just stuck to my pace. I’m glad I did - my legs feel pretty good tonight! The trick for tomorrow will be to stay hydrated. Actually, that’s the trick for the next SEVERAL days. There was nothing particularly challenging about today’s ride, so the plan is to try to get to bed early tonight so as to be as well-rested tomorrow as possible. On that note, here are a couple of action shots of me for today:
(Thank you once again Steve for the awesome pictures!)
And, of course, I can’t forget the day’s video:
Tomorrow looks to be a long day - 101.8 miles to Troy! Time to get ready for bed. I’ll see you all tomorrow!
It is late. I’m half tempted to wait to write this post tomorrow, but I remember how frustrating and difficult it was when I was behind in my blog posts the LAST time! It is much easier to write a post when the day’s details are fresh in my mind. So here I am at about 12:30am, writing my post. Oh well - tomorrow is a two-hour late start and an easy day, so I get to sleep in a little and SHOULD have plenty of time to post my video and write my blog post after tomorrow’s ride.
Just a few more rides: Utica, NY, Troy, NY, Brattleboro, VT, Burlington, MA, and Revere Beach for a wheel dip in the Atlantic!
Today’s ride took us through the Finger Lakes region and past the bridge from “It’s a Wonderful Life.”
Three different views from the end of the pier at Seneca Lake in Geneva, NY
Ordinarily I wouldn’t post a group picture that I wasn’t a part of, but Jack was too cute to pass up! (He’s the golden retriever, in case you weren’t sure.) Also in the pic are Maggie, Barb, Jim, Tanny, Carol, Jodie, and David.
After that, we rode through the Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge, where we saw a couple of osprey nests on the power line towers and some ospreys and other birds.
Some additional pics en route to the second SAG:
By the way, this was only the third time on this tour where I did not feel great. This time it was entirely my own doing though. With about ten miles to go to the second SAG, I spotted Jeff up ahead and decided to chase him down. Upon catching him, I rolled right past him and noticed he had picked up the pace. I thought he wanted to race. So for ten miles I rode as hard as I could. Mistake #1. The second SAG was at an ice cream shop, so of course I had some. Mistake #2. I then sat for WAY too long. Mistake #3. By the time I got up to head back out, my legs and stomach were seriously protesting! As a result, those last 30 miles were hell! Along the way, we went through the Erie Canal Park in Camillus.
Today’s video:
Anyway, tomorrow is an easier day and a late start, but I’m tired! So, until then….
