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Today was a tri-state day. We awoke and started our ride in New York, rode across Vermont, and finished our ride and are staying in New Hampshire tonight. I don’t think I’ve been to New Hampshire before. I learned late this afternoon that my sister, who lives in Ottawa, Canada, was about a half hour south of where we are staying tonight visiting a college with her youngest son. We both kicked ourselves for the lousy planning and that we didn’t know so that we could have seen each other. She’s been wonderful about sending me encouraging texts along the way and I don’t get to see her enough.
The day started chilly, but not as cool as the last couple of mornings. We were able to remove our warm layers very quickly as the temperatures rose fairly quickly on the day and we weren’t in the shade of the trees for extended periods in the morning. Our ride was to be 99 miles with roughly 6000 feet in elevation. Due to a navigational error at some point, two of my fellow riders – Ken and Bob – and I found ourselves with an additional 2 miles on the docket because of a missed left turn. While typically the pace line leader navigates, admittedly – we all missed the turn and are all to blame. It was a bit discouraging to add an additional 2 miles on a long and heavy day, but we managed through it without issue.
Our two big challenges for the day would be a nine mile climb around mile 42 and then another 3.7 mile climb around mile 62. The former had an average grade of roughly 3.3 percent but turned out to be more like three separate segments than a single climb. The beginning and ending segments were both fairly punchy climbs with a rolling segment of gentle inclines and downhills in the middle. It was a very odd ‘climb’ and appeared on most Garmin’s as multiple climbs punctuated by a non-climb segment. There was a nice valley between the two climbs in which we were able to recover our legs somewhat with some easy spinning to work out the lactic acid in the muscles.
We were confronted with our second climb coming out of a small town and rest stop. We knew it would be a little punchier with an average grade of 6.4%. The earliest hill didn’t let us down at somewhere between 11 and 14 percent based on what other riders told me post ride. Unfortunately, I had come unclipped from my left pedal about 1/2 way up the first hill and had to stop mid-hill to reclip and start again. This is not an easy thing to do with one leg clipped into the other shoe and on a steep hill. I feared rolling backward but was able to shift into an easy gear in relatively short order and get my left shoe clipped. This was a little unusual for me as I usually clip in my left foot first and then my right – so a cold start on a steep hill out of my usual synch was doubly difficult. Thankfully, I managed to do so without issue and was slowly and painfully making my way up the first steep hill. The remainder of the first section of this climb did level off somewhat and eventually turned into a fairly flat portion before what would be the second portion of the climb presenting equally challenging inclines much like the first. Roughly 3.5 miles later, I had reached the top of the climb and was rewarded with a sizable descent.
The descent – while welcome – was somewhat tricky as it was a twisty ride down the hill eventually turning into a road with a questionable surface where long cracks and potholes were hidden behind the shadows thrown off from the trees. After some white knuckling and varying speeds ranging from 25 to 31 miles per hour, I made it to the bottom and regrouped with Ken and Bob with whom I’d been mostly riding throughout the day. The three of us were climbing at roughly the same pace and agreed to stay together as we had a similar approach to the day.
We arrived at lunch around mile 72 at roughly 1:30 in the afternoon, which was late for us. When we were first presented with the idea of eating lunch so late, most of the riders balked, but as we sat and ate yummy quesadillas and taco bowls. we appreciated the idea that the two climbs on the day were done, and we had less than 30 miles left into town.
The remaining ride was mostly flat with a couple of small hills, and one little nasty one in the last quarter of a mile before the hotel.
We are now 171 miles away from completing the ride and reaching the coast of Portland, Maine. It is truly bittersweet. We are tired with these last few challenging days of riding, but we are also the horses smelling the barn and realizing there are very few miles between us and the completing our journey and seeing loved ones again.
It will be challenging to step out of the bubble and back into real life again, but it is time. Our bodies and minds have served us well and only need to carry us for two more days of riding with tomorrow being the more challenging of the two. Today was challenging, but we all made it – albeit somewhat exhausted. I believe we can find it deep within to carry ourselves through 105 miles and 7000 feet of elevation tomorrow. It will be challenging, for sure. But we’ve faced challenges before and when we finish tomorrow – we are all keenly aware that there is a 66-mile road on Monday that will bring us to the end of the journey and to our loved ones. That is incredible motivation.