Vermont is full of ups and downs

September 16, 2017

(Not emotionally, just topographically)

6:00am and I'm outside my motel room boiling water for oatmeal and coffee. Not at the same time mind you, because I use the same mug for my oatmeal and coffee. First the oatmeal, then coffee. As I started to pack while having coffee I realized I'm in my tour-ending mode. For instance, I came upon 3 remaining oatmeal packets. Well, I packed two away in my cookout for tomorrow morning and then disposed of the third. There's no sense in carrying it another 120 miles when I'm only going to dispose of it. So, yeah, I'm started to think of trip end planning.And I have to give a shout-out to the "mom-and-pop" motels - especially those that are older and have unique character. I'm not talking about an old bed-bug-ridden fleabag motel, but one that looks like it was built sometime in the 1940s or 50s and still has decor around that era. To me, they remind me of the great age of the road trip, when Americans were finally able to become mobile and travel to farther destinations (hence "motel" (motor-hotel)) and travel became a leisure activity. I like these a lot better than the homogenous business hotels. They truly have character. From my youth I remember the road trips fondly, and staying in motels, and always remember the keys we were given to our rooms had the tag that said, "drop in any mailbox - postage guaranteed". It's a much different experience than the keycards one gets at larger chains.

My breakfast spot in front of the motel before departing

I love watching the fog lift from the lake in the morning. If only the loons were calling

There are a lot of small hamlets I pass through (Diamond Point, Bolton Landing) a I make my way north along the west side of the river. The other interesting thing to note is the many motels along the road that advertise "housekeeping" as something they offer in addition to A/C and Pool. My immediate thought (and I have lots of thoughts while I ride by myself) is this was something exclusive or extra for an extended stay at a lakeside resort.

Now in the middle of the route there was a big climb, which I figured I could conquer anything on this trip if I could make it over. After I pass by the marsh (shown below) I start climbing, then around a bend, the incline continues, another bend,another incline. I look at my mileage -I'm only 18 miles into the day, and I could swear the big climb stated around mile 25. I better not be climbing this big hill and killing myself if this is only a foothill. The inclines continues - I stop and fill my water bottle from my reservoir. The, off in the distance, I see a "trucks, low gear - next 2 miles. This is it - the big climb, and I've made it up and over the top!

Didn't know it at the time, but this marsh was right at the bottom of the big climb (you can see the climb in the map elevation at the bottom of the page)

I'm flying down the hill when the "scenic view 1/4 mile" sign flashes by. I had moments to decide whether to enjoy the ride down the hill or stop. I figured I would regret not stopping, so here is the view, courtesy of the big climb

Right before rolling into Ticonderoga, there were two sights I wanted to hightlight - the valley view chapel, and the barn. I stopped at both of these because I thought they were particularly scenic, and were some of the last sights in NY before crossing into Vermont.

Valley View Chapel. I suppose they gave it that name because it's a chapel, and it looks over the valley?

I rolled into the ferry waiting line, and 3 minutes later, imriding onto the ferry and into Vermont. The ferry was quick and easy to get over to the Vermont side of the lake.

To me, ferries are so much more civilized than crossing a bridge

Made it to Vermont. Don't worry, I didn't fall over - there was just no place to lean my bike and I'm one of those who doesn't travel with a kickstand

It's about 11:30am, and I now have about 25 more miles in Vermont. No worries, it's just up one hill and down the next. Repeat. Coda. And do it again. I get into middlebury and walk the bike around a bit since it felt good to use different muscles walking instead of riding. There's a great waterfall in the middle of the town and a great view from the old marble works when marble was the center of commerce for the town.

Yeah -you'd expect I'd post a picture of cows since I'm in Vermont, wouldn't you?

You can see how one road down leads to the next one up. Still, there's no denying the view....

Middlebury, VT - view from the old marble works

After Middlebury, there wasn't much to do except head off to the campsite, which was still another 3-4 miles outside of town, of course the journey out of town began with another climb, and then the road to the campsite was a gravel/dirt road downhill. Of course I'll complain about that tomorrow morning when it becomes a climb. The location was perfect, right along the Otter Creek, and the weather was good enough I didn't have to put the rainfly on for the night. Life is good.

Sun setting on camp. Riverside location, hanging between two trees, and a low only supposed to be 61F. I think I'll forego the rainfly tonight.

Today's ride: 60 miles (97 km)
Total: 511 miles (822 km)

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Rachel and Patrick HugensHi Paul, We've been planning our route and from Albany trying to decide to go north into the Adirondacks (your route) or so into the South west part of Vermont and then North. This stretch you did looks beautiful... Racpat
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3 years ago

Paul MulveyTo Rachel and Patrick HugensRachel/Patrick. If you do go north, make sure to ride the island line trail outside of Burlington. It goes about 4 miles into the bay on an old railroad route. You can connect the south part to the north with a ferry (it crosses about a 50' break in the path) and continue north. I turned around because I had a plane to catch the next day and get back to work :-)
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3 years ago

Rachel and Patrick HugensThanks Paul!
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3 years ago

Rachel and Patrick HugensTo Paul MulveyHow do you fix your and upload your maps?
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3 years ago

Paul MulveyTo Rachel and Patrick Hugens1. Click on the Globe icon in the header when editing.
2. Navigate to RideWithGPS ride you want to post and click the SHARE button
3. From the SHARE pop-up, click GET CUSTOM EMBED. Your browser opens in another tab
4. From the other tab choose the options you want and copy the custom embed code
5. Navigate back to Cycleblaze and paste the embed code

Shazam! It's added to the page.
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3 years ago