Durham to Gloucester

August 20, 2022

Today was the final ride day of the Coast to Coast tour for 2022, so kind of a bitter sweet kind of thing.  Especially as Greg is retiring, which will mean the end of what has been a wonderful experience riding with Cycle America.   So when the alarm went off I just lay there for a while until I finally willed myself up.

It was only 65 miles down to Gloucester and the finish line but there was a lot of turns and a person didn’t have time to get lost or to spend time along the way.  Again we were on a lot of New England roads which varied wildly in condition. The good part of it all was the big roller coaster hills were gone and only short little climbs remained.  A good part of the ride was down very quiet country lanes until I got down to the coast and into the town of Ipswich which is a very old settlement. From there all the way into Gloucester it was down quite busy roads, even though they were mostly smaller country roads. 

I rolled into Gloucester by about 12:45 which was in plenty of time for the police escorted group ride down to wheel dip in the ocean.   Rolling across the finish line marked my 4^th northern tier C2C all of which were with Cycle America and my 6^th C2C tour.   There were lots of really happy people all congratulating each other and cheering as each rider rolled across the finish line.

When all the riders were there we assembled behind the police car and went down to the beach.  The Gloucester summer beach festive was on so there were hundreds of people lining the streets and traffic everywhere.   However behind the police car with the lights flashing and the siren blaring it was easy. At the beach people dipped their wheels into the water and others jumped in.   Lots of pictures were taken and lots of congratulations handed out.

After the wheel dip we made our way back to the field house where we were staying and packed up for home. 

Aussie Bob, Ken T. and myself made our way downtown for our final supper together before heading off to the harbour cruise. 

The harbor cruise was the last time to say goodbye to a lot of folks and to old friends.  It was a beautiful night out on the water. After the heat of the day the cool of the ocean was great.

Barry and I made our way back to field house after the cruise and I tried to catch an Uber down to Logan Airport where we had a hotel booked. However I could not get an Uber and it was looking bad until the father and son team who had been riding with us came along and they had booked a Limo so they invited us along.  It was wonderful way to finish the tour.  Thanks a bunch to the Roberto’s.

Terry 

FryeBurgh to Durham

August 19, 2022

Last night was the handing out of the Coast to Coast wall plaques which commemorate the 4300 mile ride from Seattle to Washington.  We all had supper in the food services building which is in the Fryeburgh fair grounds where we stayed.  It was followed by rider meeting and then Ken T. and Kevin  got up and asked everyone to step outside for a toast .  They had organized some beer, wine and ginger ale.  I had been asked to do the toast to Greg Walsh, which was quite an honor.  I was also going to present Greg with the photo album, I had prepared with all the signed rider photos I had taken.  Greg was just loved the photo album.  Aussie Bob toasted the support staff, and Ken T. toasted Dan Brown and his contribution to Cycle America.  The toasts and photo album were for Greg’s retirement from Cycle America.  We then retired to the grand stand where the plaques were to be presented, and although the plaques were not handed to each person, Greg went down the plaques reading each name and saying a few words about each person.  It was a great wrap up for the summer’s C2C ride and of his career with Cycle America.

Today was the last big day at 91 miles and 3642 feet of climb.  There was a hundred turns on the route sheet and I knew it was going to be a challenge to stay on course even with all the arrows on the road.  You look up for a few seconds and you miss an arrow.  So I was being extra careful not to miss any as it was going to be a long day and I didn’t need extra miles.   The forecast was for a little bit of rain in the morning but I never saw any and by noon the skies had cleared off.

The route took us along the Vermont- New Hampshire state line so we crossed into an out of New Hampshire several times during the day.  The route itself was mostly down very lightly travelled secondary roads which varied from brand new pavement to barely pavement but more like inter-connected pot holes.  I passed several small lakes and lots of the white steepled New England churches.

The highlight of the day was getting to GoLicks Icecream stand.   Ed W and I first discovered this place back in 2010 and I have been going there on every C2C.  I had met up with a couple of other riders so we rolled in and order up a regular sized cones.  Each cone had ice cream stacked onto it which was easily 4 inches across and 8 inches high.  As the temperature was now close to 80 F the ice cream was the best.

When I finally rolled into the Forest Glen Campground in Durham where we were staying it was a huge disappointment.  The place was an absolute pit.  There was no level ground to pitch your tents. There were no power outlets to charge your electronics. There was only two showers (one male, one female), only one toilet.  No place to do my blog.  

We were being shuttled into town for supper and rider meeting so by time we got home it was late.

I only went off course once and it cost me a couple of miles but it wasn’t bad.  

Tomorrow is the last ride day.

 

Terry  

Littleton to Fryeburg August 18, 2022

Littleton to Fryeburg

August 18, 2022

The big rain storm started about 6:00 pm last night and continued all through the night.  In fact it was still pouring when I woke up this morning.  Rather than packing up from the outside I packed up from the inside of the tent leaving only the fly and the supporting rods in place.  It is a little more time consuming as everything has to moved a couple of times to get things rolled up but in the end only the fly is wet.

Breakfast was in a local restaurant just a couple of miles down the road.  The egg casserole was really good and the bacon was extra crunchy.  There was also grapefruit juice which is the first time on the tour that I have seen grapefruit juice. 

On the road the rain was really cold and there was strong wind blowing which seemed to be coming out of all directions at once.  One second it was a howling side wind knocking you over and the next a nasty head wind.  Wearing my rain coat, rain booties and rain gloves it wasn’t long before I was wet on both sides of the coat.  The rain booties only keep your feet dry in light rain but this was a down pour.  My cold water padding gloves keep my hands warm even though my hands were wet.

I have always stopped at the historic Mt Washington hotel as it is really quite a sight, however I was so cold and wet I didn’t want to stop.  A few miles further on was the Crawford Notch which was the summit of the days climb.  The wind was howling out of every direction whipping the bike about so hard I could barely control it.  There was a really steep decent and I rode the brakes all the way down. 

A few miles up the road was picnic.  I rolled in to say that I was there but not stopping.  I was just shivering.  Stopping would have been a big mistake.

By the time I got to the 55 mile mark the rain had let up a little and the temperature was up a few degrees so I started to thaw. 

When I got to Fryeburg I rolled into a pizza place and ordered a cheese and steak grinder with a coffee. The coffee warmed me up and the grinder filled me up. 

We are staying in the Fryeburg fairgrounds tonight.  It is the night that the plaques are presented to the C2C riders.  Our coast to coast t-shirts were also handed out today.  As  Greg is retiring this year some of the riders have organized some bubbly as a toast to Greg and I have prepared a phot album of the pictures of riders I have taken.

Although it was only a 64 mile ride today with just 1670 feet of climb it was a hard day in the rain and cold.  I think I would have sagged if I was not working on my EFI.

Terry  

 

Stowe to Littleton August 18, 202

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Stowe to Littleton

August 18, 2022

There was a huge tropical depression off the coast which was threatening to bring heavy rains in land.  This put a lot of pressure on everyone to get down the road before the down pour started.  I had bunked into the Commodore Hotel with my friend Ed W last night. What this meant was that luggage was being loaded out at the campground and the hotel luggage second, so we stood there watching the campers ride past us as we stood waiting on the luggage van to arrive.

There was no organized breakfast this morning so I had picked up a couple of granola bars and coffee from the room worked just fine for a quick breakfast.   With luggage loaded I was down the road in good time.  It wasn’t far before the first turn took us off the main highway and down a back road. About a mile later the big grinder hills started, some of which topped 13%.  I passed three riders who were walking.  Thankful for the 34 by 34 gearing on my bike.

About half way up the first hill was Jim from South Carolina. He looked just terrible. I stopped to see if he was ok.  He said he was even though he didn’t look it.  Later on I would find out that he was taken to the hospital with pneumonia. After pumping him full of antibiotics he was released but has gone home. So close to finishing and now he is out. OUCH!   

At picnic mother duck had brought here brood of ducklings up to catch some food from the riders. They were so cute.

When I got into Littleton I headed strat down to Chutters which has the longest candy bar in the world or at least that is what the sign says.  I had been dreaming about getting $20 worth of licorice all day   and they have the best licorice.  I was so dispointed to find that they are closed on Wednesday.

The school where we were staying is at the top of a 16% grade. What a grind!.  I hurried to set my tent across the street in the yard of some friendly neighbors.  I have set my tent there every year when I have done C2C.   As we were on our own for supper, a  few of the riders were heading downtown, and I tagged along.  Ade the English fireman was there and I insisted on buying pizza.  It was great!  John picked up some beer as we were not on school grounds and back at camp we had a few beer before the rain started.

The day turned out to 74 miles with 5300 feet of climbing.

I was so glad to get in and set up before the rain started.  

Terry

 

 

Plattsburgh to Stowe August 16, 2022

Plattsburgh to Stowe

August 16, 2022

Today’s ride was the last of the big climbs. We were routed over Smuggler’s Notch.  While not the big climbs of out west it was eight miles of some pretty steep climb.

From our very nice dorm in Suny University we headed over to breakfast in the university cafeteria.  There I feasted on French toast with strawberries and whipped cream with a bunch of nice crispy bacon.  From there I rolled off towards Stowe.

It wasn’t far before I was at the ferry which took us across Lake Champlain.  As I approached the ferry I could see a bunch of cars headed towards us, so I knew the ferry was unloading, so I jumped on the pedals.  I was the last to load.  The ferry ride was about 20 minutes. It was a beautiful ride as the sun was just coming up and glinting off the water.  The lake is surrounded by huge estate homes.

First water came up at mile 19 and from there things started to get really hilly.  There was no way that you could power down the one side and fly up the next hill.  It was drop it into the lowest gear and grind it out.  The morning had started out quite cool so I had on leggings and arm warmers, but now that the sun was out it was getting hot.

Picnic was at the 43 mile mark and from there we had the 8 mile climb to the summit of Smugglers Notch.  At picnic Bob reminded me that in 2018 it was pouring rain and freezing and we sagged.  However today was sunny and warm, almost perfect conditions.   No excuses for sagging today.

The first part of the climb wasn’t too bad with no more than 8% pitches and even a few level spots to catch your breath. Once I got to within about 3 miles of the summit the road became much narrower and steeper.  It was also in a very dense forest, which meant no great views of how far you had climbed but I was very glad of the shade.  The sun was full on and it was close to 85F. The last 3 miles actually only took about 30 minutes as I was able to maintain a speed of about 6 mph even though the road was around 12% thanks to the 1:1 drive on my Look bike. 

The summit was kind of a disappointment as there was no sign or anything else the road just suddenly drops away from you and then there is a sign saying that the next ½ mile is 16% down.   In fact from there all the way to Stowe is downhill.   Once on the Stowe side of the notch the sky changed from bright blue sky to nasty threatening clouds.

When I was about a mile out I caught the first few drops of a cloud burst.   Fortuitously there was an ice cream shop right there.  I whipped in and had an ice cream and waited out the rain.  By the time the rain was over the ice cream was gone as well.

Tonight I am in the Commodore Hotel sharing a room with Ed W.  It is really great! Thanks Ed.

Terry  

 

Lake Placid to Platttsburgh August 15, 2022

Lake Placid to Platttsburgh

August 15, 2022

This morning breakfast was being held at the Crown Plaza Hotel in Lake Placid.  This was the official tour hotel. It was $400/night and I can see why it was a really swanky place. Of course I had to cycle up to it which was no small feat as the road up to the hotel was over 16%.  Once again I am glad for the 34 tooth rear cassette.  It was well worth the climb as the breakfast buffet was totally over the top.  Made to order omelets, tons of bacon, fresh pancakes, French toast with strawberries and whipped cream, and tons of great pastries.

After breakfast I rolled out with Ed W and Aussie Bob.  I think this is only about the third or four time Ed has been on his bike. The first 13 miles of the route were all downhill. Not really steep but a good 3-5%  so you could get going pretty fast.  As the sun was quite low there were a lot of sun and shady spots on the road making it hard to determine the road condition, so I was doing a lot of braking.  Ed and Bob promptly dropped me as they were just flying down the road. 

They were stopped at first water which was 18.2 miles and I caught them there.  Right after first water we crossed a covered wooden bridge.  It was really neat.  The road after the covered bridge was a very winding country road which had no traffic what so ever.  The three of us were rolling along chatting until some sectional rider came past us and Ed jumped on his wheel and rode off and left Bob and I.

Just before picnic we came to the Ausable Chasm.  It is a totally amazing chasm. The river we have been following all morning turns suddenly it has cut this 300 Ft deep chasm.  There is a huge bridge across the chasm, but the chasm itself is all fenced off and you have to pay a fee to take a guided tour. 

When Bob and I rolled into picnic Ed was there but he was getting ready to take off.  I wasn’t going to miss picnic so Ed took off with his new best friend.  There was some talk of riding straight down the highway into Plattsburgh as it was only 8 miles from picnic and the route was 20 miles.  However as it was a beautiful riding day I said I was riding the route and Bob agreed. 

The rest of the route wasn’t quite as nice as the first half but it wasn’t a hard route and we had all morning to get in.  About half we into town we caught up with Ken T. 

Bob and I rolled in about 1:00 PM and the luggage wasn’t unloaded so Bob and Ken wanted coffee and they rode off.  I needed to do some photo printing so I went up to Walgreen’s.  Got the last three pictures printed and rolled back.

Tonight we are staying in the Suny Plattsburgh University dorm. It is a very nice facility. 

What a beautiful day sunny and warm with just a hint of a breeze under brilliant blue sky with puffy white clouds.  The ride was only 58 miles and although there was 2200 feet of climb we lost 1558 feet of elevation. 

Terry 

 

Rest day Lake Placid NY August 14, 2022

Rest day Lake Placid NY

August 14, 2022

Even though today was a rest day there was still a lot on the “to be done list”.  The first order of business was to get the photo album finished, finding an ATM, get a little shopping done, which included buying myself a new t-shirt as my old Hawaiian shirt didn’t make it to the end, and cleaning the bike.

As the collage was finished yesterday I was able to put all of the remaining pictures into the album. The pictures were sorted so that the best photo of each rider was reserved for the album.  Duplicate photos were used in the collage. The photos of riders who are still on the ride, I have had each rider sign.  Then there are sectional riders who have left the ride and then there are the remaining photos of the rides.  The only thing left to do is print the photo of Greg in front of his van with the bikes on top which I took yesterday.  Having done this by 11:50 Am I headed downtown to hit an ATM, do my shopping and meet Bob for lunch.

Downtown chores accomplished it was back to the motel for bike cleaning.  I picked up a few beers to help with the task on the way home.  In a shady section of the motel lot Bob, Ken and I cleaned bikes told stories, and drank the beer. Being a beautiful afternoon it was great.

The tour jerseys which Bob has been coordinating have arrived and he is going to hand the out at supper tonight.  My thanks to Bob for looking after this. The jerseys look great and I will wear it proudly.

Tomorrow is the start of the last and shortest of all the segments. It is only 410 miles long.  It is hard to believe that the tour is almost over.

Terry 

 

Watertown to Star Lake August 12, 2022

 

Watertown to Star Lake

August 12, 2022

Yesterday Ken T went down on his bike and fortunately he was not seriously injured.  However he did wind up with a 6 inch diameter road rash on right hip and a nasty bang on his right elbow.  I was not sure if he was going to ride or not this morning, so I was pleased to see him dressed for riding this morning.  I wanted to make sure that everything was going to be alright so I offered to pull him along. Ken took me up on the offer so we rolled out together.

It wasn’t a particularly long day at only 63 miles however there were quite a few nasty steep stretches.  The best way to beat the nasty steep stretches was to stay on the main highway.  It is a state bike route and is very nicely paved with 12 foot wide shoulders.  The traffic is exceedingly light so it is a great  choice.  Off we went down highway 3 but what we didn’t realize was that there was a hwy 3a.  Highway 3 took us south down to Carthage long a large lake formed by a dam.  This ultimately added 4 miles to picnic.

The route along the lake was absolutely stunning.  The sun was reflecting off the lake and it was so pretty.  The town of Carthage was founded in the early 1800’s to take advantage of the logging industry and the water power from the dam.  However most of the industries seem to be closed and the town is looking kind of tired.  The former wealth of the town is reflected in the large number huge Victorian homes and beautiful parks. The homes are in need of paint and some TLC.  At one point we rode past huge old brick factory which must have been a half mile long all shuttered. Across the street was a half mile of now very shabby row houses. All 15 feet wide and 2 stories high.

The last few miles into picnic Ken was getting pretty slow on even the slightest grades and I noticed his head was down.  So when we rolled into picnic and the sag wagon was there I encouraged Ken to get in. It didn’t take a lot of convincing.  It was really the right choice.

With only 20 miles to go down the main highway I headed off. There was no way I was taking any of the back roads on the official route.  When I rolled in there was only a couple of other riders everyone else had gone on into town.  Greg had not arrived with the luggage yet.

I rolled down to the Dollar store which is only 0.3 miles away and found that you could buy a set of three spoons for $1.00 and a pint of ice cream for $2.50.  It was delicious.

The school is being renovated and it a total disaster. Canada Geese have taken over the yard, which Bob and I chased.   What a gong show. I have always said that Star Lake is the worst stop on the tour. All in I wound up with 61 miles and 2785 feet of climb.

Terry