An Epic End to an Epic Adventure

 

Leaving Ticonderoga, NY by ferry to cross into Vermont

The next 4 days of riding were some of the hardest that we would have during the whole trip.  It isn't always about how many miles you have to ride, but how many feet of elevation you have to climb and how steep the climbs are.  In Vermont we were in the Green Mountains and then transitioned to the White Mountains in New Hampshire.  There were frequent climbs of 10 to 15%, not long but steep. Here is the mileage and elevation for those 4 days:

From	To	Mileage	Climbing Ft
Ticonderoga, NY	South Royalton, VT	64.1	5422
South Royalton, VT	North Woodstock, NH	66.1	4903
North Woodstock, NH	Naples, ME	76.57	4321
Naples, ME	Freeport, ME	42.34	2854

And to make it even more fun, in South Royalton there was no motel option within several miles so we were in a primitive campground with one porta-potty, no running water or electricity.  To the tour company's credit, they found us a hot shower at the local college which we all appreciated.  

Jocelyn finishing the climb over Brandon Gap, VT - Elevation 2170'

Jocelyn's sister has been following her progress with the Garmin live tracking feature.  We had stopped at a water stop and Jocelyn got a text from her asking if we were going to go by the Gorilla holding a VW Bug.  The route didn't go that way, but it was only a 1.2 mile detour and once you hear about it you might as well go see it.  What is another 2.5 miles on 63 mile day.

Gorilla holding a VW bug... who knows why its here outside Salisbury, VT

But before we got South Royalton we made a quick stop at Babe's Bar in Bethel, VT.  It was a true local watering hole on a warm Saturday afternoon.  Let's just say the clientele were "eclectic" for a small mountain town.   Of course, Glenn was there and had a great time having a conversation with Glen the bartender asking about the name of the bar.  The story goes that the bar was owned by two guys who liked to call each other "Babe"... and there was a Pride flag hanging outside.  Draw your own conclusion...

Jocelyn got offered a shot of homemade Apple Jack by one of the patrons and luckily she didn't go blind or get sick so I guess it was OK.  As usual, it was an entertaining 45 minutes, but we had to move on to catch our van ride to the local college and a hot shower.

One of several covered bridges between South Royalton, VT and North Woodstock, NH

After our very primitive accommodations we were looking forward to staying at the Woodstock Inn and Brewery which was only a half mile from the group's camp site.  I was able to book a room at the inn for the 3 Amigas and me.  The forecast was for rain overnight and we really didn't want to have to get up and deal with another hard day of riding after spending the night in a wet tent.  The inn was great and so was the brewery for dinner.

We got rained on all morning while we climbed 14 miles up Kancamagus Pass

The forecast was right and we got up to a steady rain.  Right out of Woodstock we started climbing up to Kancamagus Pass which is said to have incredible views... of which we say none in the rain and low cloud cover.  The bigger disappointment was that the road down from the pass had just been repaved and would have been a screaming downhill ride on dry pavement.

Jocelyn and I bypassed the lunch stop in Conway and went to a local coffee shop where they were kind enough to give us a few towels to dry off with instead of us dripping all over the place.  While we dried off, ate lunch and warmed up, Jocelyn was able to book a cabin at the KOA next to our campground in Naples, ME.  We had to pay for 2 nights, but we crammed 6 people (the 3 Amigas, Glenn, Susan the guide and me) into it and split the cost.  Best $80 I have spent on this trip!

The LL Bean Flagship store in Freeport, ME

From Naples we were one ride away from the Atlantic ocean and our last night of camping!  We woke up to clear skies and mild temperatures.  I was up really early so I emptied my stainless steel water bottles and made the 3 mile ride to the Dunkin' Donuts at 5:15AM to get coffee for our cabin which was much appreciated.

The planned route for the day was a looping 65 mile route but Jocelyn had done a ride from Freeport to Naples with Kelly (our original head guide) several years ago that was only 34 miles.  So the 3 Amigas and I took the short cut straight to the LL Bean Flagship store in Freeport.  It was sunny day with mild temperatures and a very hilly, but nice ride.

Unofficial "Tire Dip" in the Atlantic at Winslow Memorial Park

Glenn had already booked a car in Portland and he rode 30 miles directly to the rental car.  Then he met us for lunch at the Maine Beer Company later.  From there it was a short 7 mile ride to our oceanside campground and an unofficial tire dip in the Atlantic.

Got caught napping ... it has been a long trip

After a nice dinner at the camp and making smores at a campfire we were all ready to finish up the trip with a ride into Portland, Maine.

Sunrise on our last day

As usual, I was up early and out for a short walk to watch the sunrise over the ocean and my phone rings at 5:30AM.  Its Glenn... I answered by saying "Glenn, I'm not bringing you coffee this morning!"  Much to my surprise Glenn was at the Dunkin' Donuts and wanted to know how may cups of coffee he should bring to the camp since he had a car.  I said 4, so he brought 6 and we had an early morning coffee klatch in the group tent camping area.  I'm going to miss these guys!

The official tire dip at Ship Cove in South Portland

The final group ... from left to right:
John (66) from Chicago, IL
Jocelyn (62) from Black Mountain, NC
Dorothy (73) from King Ferry, NY
Glenn (77) from Wilmington, DE
Me (69)
Kevin (66) from Ft Worth, TX
Sheri (74) from Bainbridge Island, WA
Myles (64) from Merricmack, NH
Chuck (76) from Chicago, IL

The final route map

Final Statistics:

  Location:  South Portland, ME

  Final Miles Ridden:  4050.5

  Final Elevation Climbed: 160,837

A tall ship in the bay at our final stop

Final Thoughts

I'll take a minute to say something about the tour company.  While I have complained about things from time to time in this blog.  They did accomplish the main objective.  They got us from A to B every day and feed us when we needed to be fed.  The concept of the trip was good; the route planning was so-so and inflexible; and the execution was far more difficult that it needed to be primarily driven by the poorly equipped trailer and providing things that we really didn't care about like table clothes on the snack table with things nobody wanted and most of us would have been happy with packing a lunch or finding lunch instead setting up a lunch stop with the same cold cuts very day.  In the end we made it and the staff is exhausted.  Hank the cook stuck it out all the way to the end and I think the entire group tipped him well.

I asked most of the group why they were doing the ride.  I can't even answer this question myself and for a few it was a "bucket list" item.  Challenging yourself to a very large task that is both physically and mentally difficult.  But the majority of the group had ridden across the country before, so we knew we (at least at one time) could do it.  

For some it was "can I still do it?"  But in the end what we are going to remember was the experience of being with a like minded group who all set out to do something difficult, but had a great time in the process.  If I hadn't been having a good time doing it... I would have packed it in before South Dakota.  

But not only meeting the people in the group, but people from all over the country.  Experiencing "Minnesota Nice" or discussing Longmire books in a bar in Wyoming where the bartender had met the author or having Glenn ask about someone's tattoos in almost every bar or getting the phone call that we had been thrown out of a KOA in the middle of nowhere SD and maybe having to sleep on the floor in Lulu's bar.

There is a lot of alone time while you are riding 4000 miles over 75 days.  Plenty of time to think and reflect.  And yes, I did cry a few times thinking that I couldn't experience some of this with Beth or while I was redoing some of the things I had done with Beth before.  But on the other hand, I experienced it with a whole new set of friends, some who will be very close friends.  We have already started talking about maybe another adventure in the future, but right now we need to let this one sink in.  It was a great experience and very happy that I did it.

Back in the USA... Niagara Falls and into the Adirondacks

Niagara Falls from the Canadian side

We crossed back into the USA at Niagara Falls.  We spent quite a bit of time viewing the falls from the Canadian side of the river before heading to the Rainbow Bridge to clear customs.  We had been told by the tour company that we should use the pedestrian walkway to cross the bridge with our bikes.  Wrong yet again.  We got yelled at by Customs and Border Patrol that we should have used the car lanes on the bridge.  Anyway they let us through, but made sure we knew they weren't happy about it.

A series of locks on the Erie Canal at Lockport, NY

Riding the Erie Canal Tow Path

For the next couple of days we did relatively short rides (50-60 miles) along the Erie Canal which are practically dead flat.  I'm not quite sure of why the route was planned this way since the next 8 days were much higher mileage and lots of climbing as we headed into the Adirondack Mountains.  

A covered wagon for 5... with a bathroom and shower

A group of 6 of us have been trying to avoid camping as much as possible.  It is either raining or hot and humid.  John was able to rent this covered wagon with air conditioning in one of the RV parks we stayed in.  He invited me and the 3 Amigas to share it with him which worked out great.  Our sleeping arrangements tend to be pretty fluid if there is the opportunity to avoid pitching a tent and have AC.  

One day we completely rerouted the end of the ride to go to Oswego, NY which was 14 miles away from the scheduled camp to stay in a motel.  Dorothy lives about an hour away and her husband drove to the camp to get all of our overnight bags and bring them to the hotel.  He spent the night and took the bags back to the camp for us.  The next morning we rode on to meet up with our group prior to the first water stop.  This stuff is driving the tour operator crazy, but at this point we really don't care.

Riding in the rain with Jocelyn and Dorothy. 
Over the past few weeks we have been pretty consistent riding companions 

However, two day ago, we were in our second day of riding in the Adirondack mountains and it poured rain most of the day.  A few of the group called it quits at the lunch stop on a 74 mile ride.  Our group of 6 had booked a hotel in Long Lake, NY which was about 2 miles from the campground we were scheduled to stay in.  Much to our surprise, the tour company dropped off those who had stopped at lunch along with our bags at the hotel.  We were in shock that they were so cooperative.  Then after getting to the campground and seeing it was a mud hole, they drove two more of our group back to the hotel to get the very last room.

 

Mortars and cannons at Ft Ticonderoga overlooking Lake Champlain

It rained most of the night at Long Lake and well into the morning.  We tried to wait out the rain, but it just looked like it was going to go on until at least noon.  So we all took off on our bikes and got wet yet again.  Luckily the rain did stop about 10AM.  We stopped for lunch at the Paradox Brewery.  By the time we had finished lunch, the sun was out for our 24 mile ride into Ft. Ticonderoga, NY and a much needed rest day.  We all had bags of soaking wet riding clothes to wash!

Today we start our final 5 riding days of riding.  Again, it will be some of the longer rides and hardest climbing days, plus some more rain in the forecast.  We are all looking forward to finishing the ride.  It has been quite the challenge with the weather (snow, rain, thunderstorms, heat and humidity) and smoke from the Canadian fires.  But our final group of 9 riders have formed some pretty close bonds, so it will be hard to say goodbye.

Route map as of July 31 after 69 days on the trip, at Ft Ticonderoga, NY

Current Stats:

  Location:  Ft Ticonderoga, NY

  Miles Ridden:  3770.0 miles

  Ft of climbing:  131,777 ft