Bike the USA

 The penultimate day.  there are only 165 miles left to ride.  97 of them were happening today.  Oh, and by the way, we had the last 3 hills in America to climb. An early departure form the Hanover Inn, where the temperature read 36 degrees. Our ride today was easily one of the three best rides of the trip. The fall colors were out and the weather cooperated, as the day warmed up.  the climbs today were challenging.  The first big hill was a 6.8 mile climb.  That got us to lunch.  After lunch we had the 9.8 mile climb to get over the Kancamagus Pass.  After that, the "bump" known and Bear Notch seemed easy. In addition to the temperatures and the leaves changing, the other big sign of Fall is the leaf peepers.  They were out today and the traffic along the roads was constant.  We rolled into North Conway with a lot of cars and multiple tour buses. Dinner tonight was at Sea Dogs brewery across the street from the hotel.  Tonight...

  Two more states knocked off the list today.  We started in NY and took the oldest ferry in the US across Lake Champlain to Vermont(state 13).  80 miles later we crossed into New Hampshire (state 14). The ride today included a trip over Brandon Gap.  6.8 miles and 1700 ft in that climb alone! The weather cooperated today and we had a beautiful and sunny ride with perfect temperatures.  The fall colors are very evident here in New England. Our ride ended today in Hanover, NH.  We arrived in town, along with all of the other visitors arriving for parents weekend at Dartmouth.  Needless to say, the town was pretty busy. No local brewery in Hanover, so we had to settle with beer at the Hanover Inn bar.  They had plenty of local beer on tap, including multiple selections from Lawson's Finest Liquids. Tomorrow we make our way across NH and at the end of the day we will be just 68 miles from Portland.  Seems a bit unreal that we have already cycled...

 We are getting close to the end.  If only we could get out of the land of rain, er, I mean New York.  80 miles and 3800 ft of climbing will only get us to Ticonderoga. Fall has definitely arrived.  The leaves have started to change, the temperatures have dropped and pumpkins are everywhere. We had a beautiful morning ride.  The first 57 miles were dry and the sun started to peek around the clouds.  We were lulled into complacency at lunch and we opted to leave the rain gear in the van.  5 minutes after departing for lunch, the rain came.  We kept riding into and out of the rain for the rest of the afternoon.  Even with the rain, the scenery was beautiful, the climbs were challenging and the descents were awesome.  We wound our way through the Adirondacks and to the banks of Lake George. No brewery visit today.  Despite today being National Beer Day, the local brewery here in Ticonderoga was closed.  that meant we had to go bac...

 When we got on our bikes this morning, we all knew we had to try to out run the rain.  93 miles and 3700 ft of climbing as we headed into the Adirondacks. Carlin, Mark and I made a valiant effort to defy Mother Nature.  We cruised past rest stop 1 and stopped at rest stop 2 just long enough to get our picture next to the an abandoned prison. We rolled into lunch, at 1030 am, still dry but racing the rain.  We devoured our lunch, looked at the radar and set off again.  Rest stop 3 was at mile 77 and we made it there with only a light rain coming down.  That is where Mother Nature caught us and made us pay.  Rain for the next 17 miles to the hotel.  It wasn't too bad, and our quick pace meant  we were finished by 130 today.  Unfortunately, it looks like we are going to get to ride in the rain all day tomorrow. The early beer of the day was from the cooler.  A Amber ale form Dark Horse - the brewery we visited in Marshall, MI.  N...

 0 miles and 0 ft of climbing.  This is the last time I will be able to say that until October 2!  The rest day was well timed for sure.  A day for a massage, getting my laundry done by the hotel (best $10 I have spent on the trip) Taco lunch with Heather and Sarah and dinner with fellow riders and the Byrne family(one of our riders is from Syracuse). It was great to see Kathleen's cousin Heather and her daughter Sarah.  We had a nice lunch at Mad Taco here in Cazenovia and a great visit.  They even brought some supplies to get me through the end of the trip.  Some local Syracuse food items and, of course, some local craft brews! This afternoon involved a walk into town and cracking open one of the craft brews lakeside in between rain showers. Yes, Sarah - you made the blog! Tomorrow we head to Piseco, NY.  The forecast is rain and mid 50 degree temps.

 Another day, another 100+ miles.  Today was made a little more difficult by adding 5500 ft of climbing, and a weather report of rain.  We did get rain, but only for the first few hours.  That was all it took to make everyone wet, cold and a little bit cranky.  We are all looking forward to tomorrow and a day of rest. We made our way north and east - and up - across New York.  With nicer weather, I am sure there would have been some great pictures from Watkins Glen and Ithaca.  We also passed through Cortland, but that was not that scenic.  We did stop for a few pictures in Ithaca. Today's brewery was just around the corner from our hotel. Meier's Creek.  Good beer choices, including an Oktoberfest and a Radler.  Our bartender was a lacrosse player and a Penguins fan. needless to say his tip was cut in half.😆 Tomorrow is a 0 mile day.  A massage, laundry and lunch with Heather (Kathleen's cousin).  Looking forward to a day off...