Several people have asked if I will continue the blog. I certainly intend on posting regularly, although not on a daily basis. You might have noticed from reading the posts that I was often extremely tired, maybe so tired that the posting made little or now sense. I often remembered an incident that I meant to include in the post, but fatigue often won out, making me totally forget about an impressionable event of the day. Guess those events were so significant that I instantly forgot about them.

One point that I would like to emphasize is that although this trip seems incredible to some, that it was something we had always dreamed of doing. Many people thought that we were crazy. Guess that they know us well. For people used to bicycle touring, it definitely wasn’t an extreme event. Maybe if we had crossed the country in 30 days, we might be able to consider it extreme.

Our rate of travel wasn’t extraordinary at all, although sometimes the adverse conditions made it seem like an unattainable accomplishment. We did what we had to. When the hills came, we took them in stride, although I will never, ever enjoy hill climbing. The headwinds got annoying, especially since we wrongly figured that we would have some great headwinds that would increase our daily mileage to the 80′s and 90′s. That never happened either. We simply expected the wind in our faces and just dealt with it.

It’s hard to believe that just last week, we headed out for the final portion of our trip. The thought of bicycling for hours every single day is a remote one at this point. Despite our total lack of training, we managed quite well, considering our advanced ages and the toll that this constant exercise should have taken on our bodies. We both feel in very good shape and wonder about the necessity of serious training before such an endeavor. It proves to us that that mind over matter makes sense. That is not to say that our first days are easy, or that we would even recommend that anybody do such a thing without training beforehand. But, equally important is the fact that we would never recommend not doing something like this due to a lack of training. Training always starts somewhere, so just consider the first day of touring, the first day of training. There is something to be said for that Nike motto. If we all waited for the ideal conditions to do anything, it’s unlikely that anything would ever be accomplished.

From the coast to the end of the trail – endless
Average speed – Not important

That massage yesterday at the Cliff House worked wonders. I figured that I might be just a bit too relaxed to bicycle, but that wasn’t really the case. I will be heading to the massage school in Albany when I get back – not to become a therapist, but to get some of my muscles de-stressed. I can’t say that I am really sore, but that could be just because I have gotten used to it and don’t notice it so much.

We slept with the patio doors open last night so that we could enjoy the waves crashing on the rocks and lulling us to sleep. You might not think that crashing waves are ideal for inducing sleep, but after a stressful day of cycling, just about any repetitive sounds induces sleep.

We found some decent cycling routes today, mostly using the Eastern Trail(ET), which avoids busy roads, but adds lots of mileage as it darts in and out from the coast. It also means that we drop to the ocean and then climb back up into the interior several times. Part of our route took us on a freshly paved road, which was a real treat considering the road conditions of the past few days.

A nice short cut through the marsh near Scarsborough saved us some mileage and took us into a popular area frequented by nature lovers, fishermen, cyclists and herons who took advantage of this special landscape. It was here that I got bitten by a huge black fly. Guess that I can’t be in Maine without escaping the bite of one of these annoying pests.

The shoreline trail in Portland was torn up a bit, but we made our way to the East End Beach where we were greeted by a welcoming committee organized by Hilary.

Elizabeth and her daughter, Harriet were there, as was Erin, who bicycled with us in the Yucatan long ago. Hilary’s friend showed up as well and we discussed our next adventure, which I think might be hiking El Camino de Santiago de Compostela, which she had done parts of. The friendly folks from the Portland CVB also welcomed us, thanking us for choosing Portland as our endpoint. Little did they know that Portsmouth was sounding really good as the spot to dip the wheels.
Wende couldn’t attend, but sent a balloon bouquet. The group supplied champagne, cider and cupcakes. It was really a treat to have these people waiting for us at the end.

We dipped our wheels from the boat ramp, trying hard not to slip on the green slime.

After the group dispersed we had lunch at Gritty McDuff’s and then headed on our way to Bethel to meet Wende. After a too short visit, we continued on to Chatham, NH to meet with our friends, Sue and Tom, whom we hadn’t seen for a long time.

To say the least, our last day was full of excitement, but in some ways the end of the trip was anti-climactic. Maybe it was because the ocean had been right alongside of us for a few days. Or maybe it was because the entire trip seemed a distant(no pun intended) memory. That chilly day dipping the wheels at the state park in Oregon was just a few months ago, but seems either like just yesterday or eons ago.

Sandown to Neddick – 45 miles
Average Speed – 13.1 mph

We headed downhill this morning, which was a nice change to the start of the day, although a short-lived change. We got onto Route 11 with nice wide shoulders hoping that the route would remain like this until Portsmouth. We need to be more realistic. As soon as we turned toward Exeter, the shoulder became nearly non-existent and the road started seriously climbing, which our host had warned us about.

When we reached Exeter, we had to stop to fix Robert’s fourth flat in his front tire. It’s unusual to get flats in a front tire and to get so many is even stranger. We have each had four flats. Mine have all been rear flats.

Exeter is a pleasant town where we found a bike shop to see if we could get a map. Printing out maps doesn’t always work so well as they are often illegible. We asked about some of the roads on our map and they weren’t familiar with them all. The were out of the state bicycling map, which we hoped to find in hard copy. We crossed the street and went to the chamber of commerce where the very helpful people dug a bicycling map out of a special place. This was he highpoint of the day and the exact map that we were looking for. We discussed the different suggested routes and decided on the best one. The ride from Exeter to Portsmouth was pleasant, even along Route 33 due to its wide shoulders. Those shoulders ended for a short stretch near town. We stopped just outside a cemetery to figure out how to get through town and a man appeared out of nowhere to see if he could help us. We reviewed the map once again and headed on our way.

I really thought that I could smell salt air today. It may have been a Pavlovian response from seeing the mileage sign to Hampton Beach or it may have just been the salt that I was excreting
getting blown into my face. (Yep, another head wind today.)

We found a “Mexican” place for lunch, which served burritos and quesadillas and was right before we crossed the bridge into Maine. Once we crossed over, we knew that the traffic and our route would be less than ideal and that was definitely true. Originally, we had planned a different route and had no intention of riding along the coast. We would have approached Portland from the west. That would have eliminated the temptation to dip the wheels in the ocean for the next miles until Portland.

We are staying at the Cliff House in Ogunquit. The balcony overlooks the ocean. I could just toss the bike over the rail for a less-than-traditional dipping. That wouldn’t be so fun.

Tomorrow, we have just a short ride to Portland and the finish. I can’t wait.

Phillipston MA to Sandown NH – 66 miles
Average Speed – 13 mph

Compared to yesterday, today’s ride was less demanding, but still full of obstacles like inattentive drivers, poor and non-existent shoulders, unmarked roads and intense heat and humidity. Once we passed through Fitchburg, the intensity of the hills decreased until we left Derry in NH.

We made very good time today, even though we still had plenty of hills. If tomorrow can be the same, then reaching Portland seems attainable.

We stayed at a warm showers house who lives on a farm and in an area with several steep hills and roads with poor shoulders. I thought that we had pretty much finished with the big hills for the day although I knew that one of the roads that we were taking was Walnut Hill, which was a big hint that there was more climbing to do.

We climbed over 2000 feet again today. We have been told that it gets flatter near the coast, but flat is relative. I will keep thinking those thoughts of flat Belgium.

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 backed 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 weigh 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.

Round Lake to North Adams – 51 miles
Average Speed – 12.2

Nothing has been harder than leaving home to finish this tour. I reluctantly set out this morning using a route that MapQuest spit out. Surprisingly, the route was very bicycle friendly and took us through nearby roads that we had not previously explored. Being a bicycle-friendly route doesn’t mean that it was easy. We climbed over 2300 feet today, which isn’t bad for the first day back on the bike.

The high point (not in elevation, in fact, just the opposite) was Route 346, which skirts the infamous Petersborough climb up to Williamstown. We climbed quite a bit to reach 346, but it was so pleasant to stay in the valley and then follow the river to Williamstown. From Williamstown, it was a short ride over to North Adams.

The route traversed some fairly desolate areas and it wasn’t until just outside of Williamstown that we spotted the Chef’s Hat for second breakfast. It was already close to 1, but since we would be having dinner later with Nate and Stephanie, breakfast seemed like a good option.

After a leisurely breakfast, we did the remaining five miles to North Adams, where the rain started shortly after our arrival. The temps today where in the high 80’s, so the rain cooled the air a bit.

We hitched a ride up to the Whitcomb Summit where we are staying tonight. No way was I biking up a steep hairpin with a narrow shoulder. Tomorrow, we will have a downhill run, which I hope isn’t too steep. The weekend sightseers should be back to work making the roadway a little more comfortable for cycling. Route 2 probably isn’t the best option for cycling, but it beats the alternatives.

We met a couple at the Chef’s Hat who validated our choice of riding in Massachusetts rather than through Vermont. I am sick of hills. No matter how many I have climbed or how well I have climbed them, I am not at all fond of them and never will be converted to loving hills. I will take the boring flats over an obnoxious hill any time.

The road will be quite hilly tomorrow. I just remembered that I have done some bicycling around Fitchburg and that area. I think that I remember it for its hilly terrain.
At least, I was able to cycle it, but that was several years ago.

The countdown has begun. We only have four more days of cycling until we reach Portland. We will reach the Atlantic before Portland and could head straight to Boston, so maybe that would be adequate. Nah, there is a welcoming committee greeting us in Portland on Thursday at East End Beach.

If you are in the neighborhood, please join us for the festivities. We are anxious to celebrate.
I am happy that today’s ride was a nice ride and got me back into cycling mode.

Palatine Bridge to Round Lake – 56 miles
Average Speed –

The trains along the Mohawk ran very frequently last night. One of them had Mary Ellen as a passenger on its way to Buffalo. We left this morning a little later than usual and planned on having our second breakfast in Amsterdam.

The trail is an old rail bed and is very pleasant for riding, except it is a tad soft and provides a bit of resistance to heavily-laden bicycles. When we reached Amsterdam, we found nothing open. The trail is not in the main part of Amsterdam and we weren’t about to cross over the river to the business district, so we just continued on, planning to stop at the next restaurant that we saw.

Shortly outside of Amsterdam, the trail ends, so we rejoined 5-S for a few miles to Rotterdam Junction, where the trail starts again. We stopped for a snack there as we didn’t find a convenient restaurant and decided to have lunch in Schenectady. We just happened to bike right past Slick’s, a restaurant known for its sandwiches of mass proportions. When we saw how much meat was stacked in a sandwich, we decided to split one between us. Even Nate, had to pack half of is for a later meal.

We always have trouble finding the trail in Schenectady, so at least we know where to take it out of town, near the community college. The restaurant folks told us that there was some construction that made some of the trail heading to Colonie inaccessible, so we followed their directions to find the open part of the trail. We have looked at all of the available maps and books and still find it difficult to navigate the trail.

Nate decided that he would simply bike home to Troy, so we split off near the Rexford bridge and went our separate ways. I knew that getting home before the completion of the trip would be difficult and that I would be tempted to call it quits here and finish the rest of the trip at some later date.

There’s something to be said for sleeping in your own bed. It looks like we will have just a few more days until Portland and heaven forbid, I have changed the route again to what I think might be the quickest and less hilly(that’s relative) route to Portland.

From the start, I looked at different routes and have even dared to ask for route suggestions along the way as I have had enough experience with guidebooks and route maps that I know that the information isn’t always correct or ideal. The responses I got surprised me and even offended me. Get a map. Plan in advance. Do more research. Gosh, none of this answered my request for some practical information from people who have cycled this route or know the area. It’s amazing that we have made it this far across the country.

We are now planning on heading across Massachussetts because I want to avoid steep climbs and downhlls. Call me a wimp, but I am not trying to prove anything or torture myself. I know that there are hills in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maine and Ohio, for that matter. Stopping at home may have been a mistake, because now my plan for the rest of the trip is to complete it as quickly as possible, perfect route or not.

We are dumping a lot of our gear here. We got rid of the camping gear when the refugees left. We are downsizing since we are in rescue range. Should we have any major problems, help is just a phone call away. We will take just enough clothes for the few days that we have left. I will leave all four of my panniers behind. Without all the gear, I will feel like I did on Pelee Island where I thought I had a lightweight carbon fiber bike because I had no panniers for the day.

Oneida to Palatine Bridge – 66 miles
Average Speed – 9.7 mph

That 12 miles to New Hartford turned out to be closer to 20 miles, so we were happy that we had decided to stop in Oneida. There were several motels scattered along the way outside of Oneida.

Having Fun

We climbed again today, although I found the hills much more gentle today, even though there were plenty of them. I don’t mind the long gradual hills. I hate all hills, but tolerate the long gradual hills much better. Today was the 4th of July, so there wasn’t too much traffic on the road, which made the riding all the more pleasant.

Top of the climb

A view of the state

After all of our little climbs today, we came to the summit of what appeared to be a hill that simply dropped off the face of the earth. I quickly evaluated the situation and dismounted. There’s no shame in walking up hills, but there is also no shame in walking down hills. When I feel that I might somersault over my handlebars, I have no interest in riding.

Too Steep for Me

At the top of this hill the phone rang and it was Nate calling to say that he had been chased by a German Shepherd while going down this hill. Apparently, the owners found it quite funny. Nate should have called the sheriff. I watched for the dog and couldn’t even imagine going down this hill and being chased.

We reached the very small town of Frankfort where all dining options were closed due to the holiday. A local recommended that we continue on for two miles to Ilion, where we found a pizza place open and waiting for us. While eating our lunch, the skies opened and the rain came down. What kind of day would it be without hills, wind and rain?

Mary Ellen had to get to the train station in Albany, so she was being picked up in Little Falls, from where Robert, Nate and I would continue on the trail to Palatine Bridge. Tatiana has to return to work tomorrow, so she would leave here as well. With the advantage of a car, we scouted out the start of the trail as there are no directional signs to the trail. I know that I expect too much, but don’t understand how any of these municipalities on the trail expect tourists to easily find this outstanding resource. The refugees left and the three of us departed through a canyon as the trail skirted the canal, using an old railway bed.

This section of the trail was one of the nicest that we had experienced so far. You might think that the trail is uniform throughout its several hundred miles, but each section has its own flavor. We didn’t always see the canal from the trail, but did hear the traffic from I-90, which seemed to be always at our side.

At some point, the trail became paved, which made the riding easier. Passing through Canajoharie, we were blocked on the trail by some locals who obviously assumed that they owned that section of the trail and that it was humorous to stand in the path of cyclists. Just a short way past this incident, we had firecrackers tossed in front of us. We don’t understand the mentality of these people.

We crossed the Mohawk and headed to our motel, which as luck would have it, had a steep driveway. The owner requested that we let our bicycles dry off before taking them into the room. It was a good thing that he didn’t get a look at me. My legs were encrusted with the black dust from the trail and had much more dirt than the bicycles.

We met with our son, Jeff, who lives nearby. The original plan was for him to ride with us for a few miles, but since it was raining, we abandoned that plan. We visited over a pizza – the only option in town – and went to bed early. Tomorrow, we will be sleeping in our own bed.

Weedsport to Oneida – 61 miles
Average Speed – 10 mph

We probably got spoiled riding on the relatively flat surface of the canal path. Today, we were trying to get back to Albany as quickly as possible, so instead of continuing on the canal path to Rome, we opted to take Route 173, which makes more of a beeline across the state. That was a big, hilly mistake.

From Weedsport we made good time to Route 5 and then to Route 173, which avoided Syracuse. The road didn’t pose many problems at all. In fact, I was relieved to reach the top of Onandaga Hill, which I assumed would be the high point of the day. What was I thinking? After the climb, we had a nice downhill run, disturbed only by a steep climb just past route 11, where the road narrowed and twisted with no shoulder and no place to ditch traffic. My chain jammed on the climb and I sweated bullets as I attempted to unclip, certain that I would fall into the impatient traffic that already brushed my elbows. Miraculously, I released my foot and found a driveway where I could pull-off and fix the chain. This was the first time that I can remember my chain getting stuck between gears. I hoped it was the last time. I have used my granny gear more today than on any other day that I can remember. After finishing this climb, I pulled over into the shade and waited for the others to arrive.

Shortly after my rest, we caught up with Nate and Tatiana, who were just ahead. Tatiana had a flat tire, so that gave us an excuse to rest again. We suffered through many steep climbs, but my favorite was the one with the cemetery at the apex. Perfect. I felt like dying. How convenient.

When we finally reached our lunch stop in Manlius, we reconsidered our route as we had been warned about the huge climb to Chittenango. We ate at Dave’s Diner and talked with several other customers, who we regaled with tales of our trip. They happily reminded us of the upcoming huge climb. We pulled out our maps and thought that we could now reconnect with the trail, even though we would have to go a bit out of our way to reach the trail. Dave, the owner gave us directions for the shortest route to access the trail. Our waitress came and informed us that the guy who had been sitting next to us and who had been offering advice had paid for half of our lunch. Nothing like those random act of kindness moments.

Reaching the trail was simple. A ranger spotted us and offered us a map that the State Park produces, which was far superior to the other information that we had found before. His map had actual distances on it. The condition of the trail deteriorated as we headed east, but was still a nice respite from the grueling climbs we had done for most of the day. The trail ranged from wide to single track, which seemed curious, especially since it narrowed without warning. When it finally ended in a huge pile of limestone, we got back onto the road to try to reach our intended destination of New Hartford.

Some people never leave their small towns. They don’t know the distance of nearby towns, nor did we. We could only guesstimate distance, but thought that we could rely on local knowledge. We reached Oneida late in the day. I had spotted a Super 8 and thought that maybe we should call it a day, since it had been a rather tough day. We asked a few locals how far away New Hartford was. 12 miles seemed to be the most popular distance. We could probably make it, but it was getting late and it wouldn’t be so hard to make up 12 miles tomorrow, so we stopped for the night with plans to make it to Amsterdam the next day.

Fairport to Weedsport – 58 miles
Average Speed – 11 mph

We reluctantly left The Turner Inn with Amanda directing us on our way. We took the cheater way out of the neighborhood and avoided a nice climb. We retraced our way back to the trail in Fairport, stopping at the bike shop to get some replacement tubes. Oddly enough and this will not come as a shock to anybody who has been reading this blog, the bicycle shop person knew NOTHING about the canal trail. Is there a trend here? I remember back in Muskegon that we had stopped at a cycling shop looking for a map. The owner knew every detail about the entire length of the Musketawa Trail. What a concept.

Fairport Canal

We took several hours to go just a few miles, stopping along the way to chat with fellow trail users and watch boats and kayaks go through the locks.

We had only reached Palmyra by lunchtime. We got off the trail there and followed Route 31 east of there. The road had a good shoulder, except for when passing through towns along the way.

Shortly outside of Palmyra, we stopped at a thrift store thinking that Mary Ellen might want to get her sweatshirt for the train ride back home. Tatiana was wearing a Buckeye Fire t-shirt and when another customer saw that she came and asked if we were from Columbus, where she once lived. We spent some time chatting with her and finally got back on the way. Weedsport began to seem like an impossible destination this day.

The terrain offered us some nice climbs, which we partook of all the way to Weedsport. Maybe next time we come through, the canal trail will be continuous, thus eliminating the need to test the strength of our quads.

When we reached Weedsport, we did notice a section of the canal trail that seemed to be new. The locals were somewhat familiar with it, but didn’t have the details that cyclists would like to know.

I continue to be sleep deprived, waking up several times during the night, mostly in response to irritating my wounds. One of these days, I will get a restful sleep.