North Woodstock, NH to Woodsville, NH:

May 2, 2012

You can only get so wet, but you can always get colder

Rhona rousted us out of bed early, excited at the prospect of riding in the cold windy rain over the Mount Moosilauke Pass.

The tandem and trailer all loaded and ready to go out into the cold wet road. The red rain cover on the rear bag looks like the red butt of a male baboon. Which reminds me of a related story... when grandson Ben at age four was playing with one of those sock monkey toys he called it the "Fire Butt Monkey". Perhaps he'll have a name for our touring rig as well.

Heading up the pass. Clouds obscured the peaks. For a change we relished riding uphill because it warmed us up.

Near the top of the pass we used the restrooms at a facility that showcased the geology and mining features of the area. It was the kind of place you take kids to pan for minerals and then buy overpriced souvenirs. It would have been a nice place to visit but even a five minute break off the bike chilled us. One benefit from the cold and wind was that the Black Flies did not bother us. Rhona's bites were itching a little less and her feverish feeling from the bites was subsiding

At the top brave Rhona took a picture of a place named "BeaverPond". She was brave because..

...this is what it looked like the other direction. The wind was howling...or perhaps that was one of us.

Today's pass was the sharp peak on the far right. We were able to stay minimally warm on the climb. In fact the trick was to make sure we did not overheat and sweat since we would then chill on the way down. Going right to left we anticipated a descent followed by another climb. However we needed to depart from the Adventure Cycling route slightly to get to our motel. The change eliminated the second climb which would normally be a good thing. But in this case I didn't put on ear covers or my wool sweater under my rain jacket. Considering I was only wearing cycling shorts, sandals and cycling gloves I was pretty cold. We finally stopped to add the apparel andRhona started laughing at my appearance...apparently my one ear lobe flopping out from under my ear bag cover along with my red "do-rag skull cap" really set off my frost bitten cheek bones and reminded her once again why she married me.

At the motel a soak in the tub and a hot shower was not enough to warm me up. An hour nap under the covers did the trick.

Today's ride: 24 miles (39 km)
Total: 1,072 miles (1,725 km)

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