Today was another day of noticeable changes in the landscape and scenery as we have made our way south of Lake Erie and are now headed northeast having cleared Lake Ontario as we head to Vermont. While we still see a few farms and cornfields, they are smaller and seem to be more people that farm for fun or a hobby as opposed to a commercial operation to make a living – but I could be wrong. There sure does seem to be a lot of people selling firewood and farm fresh eggs to each other. I could scarcely count the number of roadside stands with signs indicating as such as we headed toward Lake Piseco.
It was a pretty cold morning today at 39 degrees so we were all dressed up in 3 and in some cases 4 layers – all of which we needed for the first 90 minutes of the ride at least. We kicked off at 8:00 AM sharp and headed east into a very slight headwind with a 5-6 mile descent right off the bat. Within 10 minutes or so, my hands and face were freezing even with long-fingered riding gloves on. The first SAG stop was early at mile 17 as we had finished the first sustained climb of the day at that point, so my outer layer windbreaker came off at that time. The sun was shining on us by mid-morning and that helped get us into a better riding mode since we were just trying not to freeze in first 10 miles of the ride.
Our 2nd SAG stop was at mile 34 right next to an old and shuttered NY State Prison. This place looked like they just picked up walked out one day and just left it to decay – all the buildings were structurally intact, razor wire was still atop the fences surrounding the facility but weeds and small trees had sprouted up between them over the years. It bore an eerie resemblance to the prison in the Shawshank Redemption. At the mile 34 SAG stop, I took off my headband and switched over my gloves to the fingerless style. The sun was warming us up, but the headwinds had kicked in again and we were battling them the rest of the day. The only thing harder than a steep climb is doing it with a stiff headwind.
As we got further north and east, the colors in the trees became much more noticeable, especially with the sun shining on them. The countryside reminded me a lot of the area around West Point – small towns and villages with local shops and restaurants – no big box stores or chain restaurants with the exception of a McDonalds or similar franchise once in a while, and of course on occasion, Dollar General. I think Dollar General is hollowing out some of the local shops and stores in rural America just the same way that the big box stores have done to larger towns across the country. It’s hard for locally owned shops to compete with stores that have a national distribution network and the retail volume to pressure their suppliers. But people vote with their dollars.
Our lunch stop was at mile 56 at a boat ramp parking lot on one of the many lakes in the area – no bathrooms available so we used the green latrine – both men and women. After spending over 6 weeks together, the privacy discretion seems to have gotten a little looser but I always try to be respectful. We had a great lunch though, and most people rolled in and out in groups in around 60 minutes or so in total. But at lunch the final arm and leg warmers came off – by then it was in the mid-60’s.
We had a final rest stop at mile 77 after our last big climb and we were happy to knock out the last 15-16 miles in our paceline with only a few smaller rollers to get us into the Irondequiot Inn on Lake Piseco. The 93 miles and 3,900 feet of climbing today was tougher than I expected and took us right at 6 1/2 hours with the headwind. I guess the cumulative fatigue is building up as you might expect. The Irondequiot Inn is pretty rustic, and I am sharing a 2 bedroom cabin with my friend Doug. No TV and no internet in the cabin and pretty much just the basics. 2 twin beds in my room but I’ll take it. We’ve noticed a few mousetraps in a few place so hopefully we don’t snare any of them tonight. I am writing this blog from the main Inn which is the only place with WiFi.
I have had a number of people tell me about the Nor’easter expected over the weekend and we’re keeping a close eye on it. Of course we hope it isn’t bad but at this point, we all have the same attitude about it – “We’ve made it this far, how hard can it really be?” So, tomorrow we head to Ticonderoga, NY right on Lake Champlain and the Vermont border – on what will hopefully be an uneventful ride of 81 miles but a pretty steep 3,857 feet of climbing. Tomorrow we also cross the 3,500 mile mark in our journey. We’re getting closer, but still have a few obstacles to clear before we’ll reach the Atlantic.