2400 of climbing
Summit to Phillipston – 59 miles
Average Speed – 11.6 mph
We woke up to thunder and were shrouded by clouds. We waited the storm out and waited for the visibility to improve. I am sorry that I didn’t take the photo of the view last night, even though it was so hazy last night. This morning, we could barely see beyond the porch of the motel.
Around 11, we ventured down the hill, with our lights on to make ourselves noticeable. I don’t like letting it rip down hills anymore, so keep the brakes on the entire way down, even walking one steep portion of the downhill. When we reached the bottom, we cycled on to Charlemont in search of breakfast. We found a place and stopped, but were rather disappointed with the place. The atmosphere and the attitude of the owner needed some improvement.
We had covered the distance to Charlemont in decent time and although we had hoped that we could continue at such a pace, that wasn’t realistic. Our total climbing today came to nearly 2400 feet. ( Is that the temp of molten glass? I need to check that out.) My biceps ache from pulling the bike up the hills. We knew that our route wasn’t ideal and this was particularly true in one stretch where the very ample shoulder disintegrated into a few millimeters past the white line.
We had a copy of the highly recommended Rubel maps of Western Massachusetts. The Central portion seems to be out of stock, but I am glad that we didn’t buy it. Unless there has been a recent earthquake in Western Mass or some other event that caused upheaval, then I can’t rave about these maps.
In one instance we climbed and climbed and climbed out of Athol. Not one marking on the map to indicate this hellish vertical challenge. Did I mention that I still HATE hills?
My next trip will be one with no hills and with the wind at my back. We are still waiting for that nice tailwind. We only have three days for that to happen. Tomorrow the wind prediction is out of the east. That’s just not right. At least we are heading mostly northeast, so some of the wind torture will be minimized.
We thought that once we left the West that we would find internet at every motel. This is our second night internetless. Guess everybody hasn’t caught up with the times. Originally, we intended to make it to a motel in Gardner, which did offer internet, but due to our late start, approaching rain and general fatigue, we stopped early for the day. That will add eight miles to our total tomorrow. The advantage of stopping here is the obviously popular restaurant in front of the motel.
While checking the weather after dinner, we noticed that the Tour de France is on. Gosh, I almost thought I was watching myself ride. What I did note from the commentary was the word “flat”, used to describe the route through Belgium. Sounds good to me. Now that sounds like my kind of place for touring.
It’s very tempting to make a beeline to Boston, which isn’t all that far away. I think that they have an ocean there that would be perfect for dipping wheels. I always get lost in Boston, so it would probably take longer to find the ocean than it would to pedal to Portland. Besides, I would have to change the name of the blog. If I had been smart, I would have called it Portland to Round Lake.
I was almost hit by a car door today and then almost back into. Riding through congested areas certainly poses problems that we hadn’t encountered until recently. Cars seem to think that they have the right-of-way in all conditions. Left turns in front of us are totally acceptable. Fortunately, we ride defensively. Still, things like the person opening the door into the street without looking scare me. After that incident, I looked more carefully to see if anybody is sitting in the cars parked along the street.
High temps are also predicted for tomorrow. It was hot and humid again today. Temps in the 90’s aren’t ideal for cycling. Can’t wait for the sauna again tomorrow. It should help the muscles, but doesn’t seem to. Robert is very sore from gardening when we made our stop at home. He hasn’t recovered yet. I can’t complain about anything because I am not carrying anything other than my rack trunk, which does weight a lot and my handlebar bag and me, which does weigh a lot.
Speaking of weight, I stepped on the home scale. It’s pretty sad that I have lost a whopping 10 pounds for all my effort. Robert has lost 20. He took the more difficult route. He also had more weight on his bike as well. If I had carried what he did, I probably would have lost 11 pounds. Oh, well. At least I feel good.
Tomorrow, we have a warm showers host, so that is exciting and something to look forward to. She even offers sag support, so when I am whipped tomorrow after cycling 10 miles, I will have to give her a rescue call.