Middlebury, VT to Newcomb, NY:

June 5, 2012

"I'm really looking forward to doing laundry"

The owners of our motel made up in friendliness for the very basic facilities. They proudly mentioned several times they were listed on the Adventure Cycling map. The offered to take our picture.

We took an alternate to the main route that promised to include a covered bridge. We quickly recognized it it as a part of a route the Bike Vermont Touring company took us on.

At a knoll we looked across the valley and saw what looked like a shallow lake.

It looked like a shallow lake in the field but turned out to be a swamp. I guess a swamp is a shallow lake.

The route took us on Swamp Road and we realized it was the shallow lake we had seen from up on the ridge.

Because of the recent rains water was flowing along the road in the swamp. The water was clean, not stagnant as I expected. It was easy to see how swamps contribute to clean rivers and support fish. On Swamp Road was a covered bridge which as expected was scenic.

A closer look revealed that wooden pegs secured the timbers, not metal bolts.

A lady approached us in a market in Shoreham and asked if the bicycle out front was ours. There was no use lying since we were both wearing lycra cycling shorts. She asked if we were aware that flickering lights like the ones on the front and back of the tandem can cause migraine headaches for some people. I asked if she personally knew anybody that had migraines caused by flickering lights and she replied that they did for her. She said she wanted us to know so that a person with migraines wouldn't drive into the back of our bicycle. I thanked her for the warning and didn't ask why she would drive a car if a flickering light such as on a bicycle or ambulance might cause her to lose control of her car.

Right after talking to the scary lady, we encountered a scary kitty.

We stayed at the Shoreham Inn on a previous bicycle tour. What are the chances we would cycle past two places we stayed at before. Even more unlikely is that we even remembered them.

There has been a ferry at this location dating back to the Revolutionary War.

Looking toward Ft. Ticonderoga on Lake George.

Motorcycles were everywhere, either heading to or away from Americade motorcycle rally in Lake George.

The City of Ticonderoga was pretty and included a "Kissing Covered Bridge" as well as a scenic waterfall.

Nobody was willing to walk down to the Kissing Bridge with me so I just took some pictures.

We ate in town and it was a good thing we did because that was the last food for sale on the route for 50 miles. We saw several businesses that had closed including the entire business sector in North Hudson. It was almost like a ghost town. Although close to an I-87 interchange, business had obviously been good but now customers were staying away in droves.

Leaving Ticonderoga we encountered our first long climb in the Adirondacks. Little did we know it would not be the last.

We had two choices for lodging, one at about 51 miles for the day and another 10 miles further. At the further one we could use a clothes washer and dryer. With my own ears I heard Rhona say "I am so looking forward to doing laundry". I've always had a suspicion that she enjoys at least some types of housework but is rare for her to come right out and admit it. Anyway, several miles after passing the first lodging option we realized a computational error meant the other lodging option resulted in a 76 mile day. Even worse much of it was up a first gear mountain. Rhona swallowed some Advil and we continued on. There was very little traffic and the area was quite remote. At one point we saw what appeared to be a moose calf amble across the road. When we got closer we surprised an adult deer looking away from us. Rhona thinks we mistook the deer for a moose. I think the deer was watching the moose calf which was why we surprised the deer. You can choose to believe Rhona or you can believe me. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

We finally arrived at Aunt Polly's B&B in Hudson, just past the headwaters of the Hudson River. Actually we stayed in the "Annex" since Aunt Polly sold all but the Annex.

I phoned last night and spoke to the owner to get directions and make arrangements. As we approached Hudson, of course it rained on us again and we had no cellphone signal. At the Annex nobody was home. The neighbor said the house was open and we should just go in and make ourselves at home. He suggested we just leave the payment in the house when we left but later offered to keep the money and give it to the owner later. We don't have a cell phone signal or wifi internet so I'm writing notes on the smartphone and will upload them to Crazyguy tomorrow if we get coverage. Rhona is sitting on the couch next to me as our laundry dries in the next room. Rhona is purring.

Today's ride: 76 miles (122 km)
Total: 1,253 miles (2,017 km)

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