a 6 mile climb up about a 1000 feet brought me to a strange site at the beaver pond head waters--a stop sign. i envisioned dare devil kayakers being stymied... (i want to crop this pic and remember being able to do it in st paul but not now...? any help out there??)
a 6 mile down of 1300 feet left me at the shore of lake george in hague. this was exciting, vermont was across that lake, well the lake, some more ny, and then the outlet to champlain. i was getting close to home!
i took off toward crown point and the bridge across into vermont. at a maple products gift shop i looked at a map and changed my route after the women working told me it was supposed to start raining wednesday into friday. i turned around back into the wind and for a few miles had second thoughts as it was really whipping coming off the lake. but i hoped it would be somewhat behind me when i turned east toward middlebury. when i got to the bluffs--imagine the glacial runoff that carved these out--the wind was at my shoulder and less of an issue.after middlebury and sampling a shot glass of porter at the drop-in brewery, i headed for east middlebury and the gap. vermont has six gaps--they even have a 130+ mile six gap ride that some people call fun (i don't suggest using a loaded touring bike). i only had two to go over to get home and started pedaling up, and up, and...you get the picture. it was a beautiful evening and the light was behind me shining on the river to my right and the woods all around. it must have been directly in the eyes of the loaded bike tourer that was headed downhill as he did not see me wildly waving him in for a chat. interesting enough, that was the second bike tourer today that blew by with out even a wave.
at one point i crested a hill and came into the town of ripton. a quaint little village nestled into the hills; i bet it is hard to get to once it starts snowing. i stopped at a private bridge to take a shot of the stream and the cute little flower boxes...
back to going up and up, i saw a sign for a robert frost interpretive trail that looked almost as interesting as the setting sun. i kept going thinking about dinner with a place to sit and enjoy the views. i passed another wayside with a reference to vermont's most famous bard and picnic tables. but, right in front of this sign was a tiny one--"no camping"! i have honored such requests and knew that the bread loaf campus had to be close so i pedaled onward...and upward!
soon enough i started seeing the white houses with names like 'dragon's den' (which may have another frost connection) and 'earthworm'. then the ubiquitous yellow buildings appeared spread out along the road and extending back into the huge fields. the sun was lighting up the surrounding mtns, including the one they call breadloaf, and i knew i had to find someone to give me permission to sleep there--easier said than done. the first person i noticed was taking pictures of the color, and she offered to snap one of me too.
i finally found a guy down in the bowels of one of the way back buildings who said "sure...!" he sounded authoritative enough. behind me is the picnic table where i set up dinner and then my tent. the picture below was my own private gazing chair off to one side of camp. it was a most sublime evening...
day 41 (65 mi.)--the proverbial horse smells the barn: i was up very early. i packed and turned on my lights to finish the climb up (and up...) past the middlebury snow bowl and over the gap. going uphill in the dark is a hard pedal. the lack of perspective is quite disorienting and i struggled to get used to it. i also stopped and stripped down as i was sweating buckets. when i crested the height of land and the sky was starting to get a little light to it i noticed that the smooth pavement stopped. i dropped down into the gloom trying my best to avoid any cracks, bumps, rocks, potholes, animals...and a few cars. there is an expression that bikers use when they ride in the road, not just on the shoulder, and i "took the lane" for the miles down into the foggy valley.
i stopped in hancock at a cafe/inn that advertised breakfast--it even had a chalkboard on the porch with a child's writing, "come on in the food is great!" my luck the door was locked, but then again it was not even 7:00 yet. it was a bit lighter by the time i got to the next town. i stopped at the rochester cafe and ate a big 'last breakfast' of eggs and home fries, waffle with apple and whipped cream, and a very large, extremely sweet, cinnamon roll! yes, i had finally found that treat from my past, and it was as good as i remembered it.
the food and tea were so comfortable i sat and wrote a couple of final postcards to the 4th graders at canaan elementary school. when i took them over to the post office i met two senior citizens with their walkers. as i got on my bike and headed up the rochester gap one of them gave a cry of disbelief about riding up such a hill.
as i climbed, i thought of the folks with the walkers and how our speeds were probably much more similar than different. at one point i came out of the saddle and did the ol' zig-zag over to the other lane and back. looking behind me, i saw a woman coming up strong on her mtn bike. when she passed me i suggested we should swap bikes. she politely declined the load and pedaled over a rise saying something about she "wasn't going to the top either..." what, this wasn't the crest?
turns out, there were 2+ miles to go before topping out. the view was totally worth the climb--green mountains all the way up to canada mixed in with the low clouds. it was supposed to rain this morning and it looked like it might. i hoped to be down before the road got slick... it was a much smoother descent than the one that morning. so smooth that this time when i "took the lane" nobody needed to pass--at times it seemed close to fifty mph. nearly 6 miles and 1500 feet later, i had a huge smile--i remember twists and turns like that!
i passed through bethal and got to route 14 and the white river. had to go through a couple of construction zones--one, a half-mile of repaving. nobody got too jazzed save for the construction truck that roared by be when he "took the lane"! stopped into the sharon general store and got two big cookies to have with 'tea o'clock'...from this point on, i was on home turf.
speaking of which, as i came out to route 4 from the rail trail i heard a "hey koby" from across the field at mascoma. the outdoor pursuits class was setting up tents. i took mine out and gave them a quick final test to see if they could put up a slightly different one with no instructions. they did so well i gave them each a granola bar! i re-packed my now dry hubba and followed the students up to the school.
it was a great reunion with teachers and students and i got to see quite a few folks. i even went to a speak meeting for a bit and then an elo where a student presented his summer work with crrel on radio wave transmission in the mountains.
in the back of my head i knew i had to head home at a certain time so i could unpack and clean up for pam! she had told me before i left that under no circumstances was i to appear with a big white beard. when i got to the house--which was unlocked, thank you--she had a little note on the whiteboard for me...how did she know i would be getting here today? turns out she saw the breakfast sandwiches--egg and smoked gouda on an english muffin--i bought in hague ny and did a little google mapping that gave her a pretty good idea. maybe she was the impetus to change routes back at the ny vermont border. she had also included her 'mice' count of eight--not bad for an early harvest.i made quick work of unpacking and cleaning up and was ready by the time pam rolled in the drive. it was a treat to be home...
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