June 14, 2008
Day 33: Bethel, VT to Middlebury, VT
41.71 miles, 3:23:39 Ride Time, 12.28 Average Speed, 36.84 Maximum Speed
I felt tired and sluggish after yesterday's long ride, and got a late start. It was overcast, which always seems to make it hard for me to get going, and there was a chance of thunderstorms, which also dampened my enthusiasm. Maybe I should avoid weather forecasts; however, I don't want to be the guy who makes the evening news after unwittingly riding directly into the path of a tornado.
Most of the morning was easy riding along the White River. I first rode through Gaysville where I resisted the juvenile urge to take a picture of the town sign, then through the little towns of Stockbridge, Rochester, and Hancock. At Hancock I turned left and headed toward Breadloaf Mountain, where things quickly got tough.
Yesterday, Jeff from Indiana had mentioned Breadloaf; I think he said it was the only hill he had walked the bike on. On my map's elevation profile, it didn't look any harder than Kancamagus from yesterday, but it certainly felt harder. I used my very easiest gear up the last few miles of it, and sweated as much as I have in the last month. As I rested at the top, I looked back to see a sign warning truckers of a 12% grade the next 2 miles. So that's what a 12% grade feels like...
It was a quick three miles downhill to Ripton (pop. 556), where I stopped at a country store, and the lady there looked at me and asked "Going up or down?" I wonder what she says to the cyclists "going up" Breadloaf? Based on my own experiences, probably some helpful variation of "Good luck, you'll need it!"
It was an easy few miles from Ripton through East Middlebury when the inevitable rationalizations started: "Let's see... I did 127+ miles yesterday, so if I stopped at 40 today, that would still make my average for those two days 80+ miles... Hmmm, it really wouldn't be prudent to keep riding past Middlebury and try to make it to Ticonderoga, NY before the storms hit..." etc.
The first motel I stopped at was booked up due to high school graduations, and the corresponding family get-togethers, in the area. Now that my mind was made up to stop, I was slightly desperate, so I asked the lady to call the other modest motel in town for me. She did, and they had two rooms left. I told her to tell them to hold one, and I rode off.
The Greystone was the typical small (10 units I think), old (but well-maintained), non-chain motel, run by an older Indian couple. I asked the lady if internet access was available, and she replied "I think so. I see our customers sometimes using their laptops outside at the picnic table." Hmmm.
After checking into my old-fashioned room, I started up my laptop and learned that the Greystone's free wireless internet was actually being inadvertantly provided by a farm supply store across the street. Works for me!
The only place in walking distance to eat was an extremely busy A&W drive-in place, where a girl on roller skates took my order. I was the only one not in a car, so I stood around awkwardly while I waited on my fish sandwich and fries to take back to the motel.
Soon after that, I smugly watched the first of two thunderstorms from my little room; I would have hated to be riding rain jacket-less through the heavy rain, or testing the waterproof-ness of the tent then.
The rest of the evening passed uneventfully, with one exception: Later, while I was listening to music on my laptop, I was startled by the sounds of some extremely vigorous... personal activity... from the couple in the room next to mine. They might have heard my laughter through the Greystone's apparently thin walls, because I didn't hear anything else the rest of the night, and slept well.
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Today's ride: 42 miles (68 km)
Total: 2,379 miles (3,829 km)
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