Burlington MA to Revere beach

1 hour 38 minutes to ride 19.2 miles.

This is the last day we have to get up early. Only 19 miles today but we do not want to ride in rush hour traffic. It is grey and threatening to rain but not worried as it is only 19 miles. We leave in small groups today so we do not cause havoc in the traffic! We are out third at 6:51.

They have found some quite roads but there also some busy roads that we have to ride on. We ride through some very expensive areas with large houses to some of the older areas where the houses have not been kept up. At mile 15 we stop at a school so everyone can group together and ride the last 4 miles together. As we are waiting we hear that one of the riders is being bandaged up after a fall but luckily it was a very minor. It begins to rain as we head for the beach.

It then really starts raining and we realize how lucky we are that it hadn't rained before this. Everyone drenched by the time we get to the beach. As we arrive about 40 friends and family of the different riders start cheering - pretty emotional for some, including me!

People take their bikes down to the ocean to dip the back wheel and it stops raining. We also pick ip some sand from the Atlantic beach to go with what's left from LA. We have time for some pictures before we head back to the hotel.

Time for Barry to pack up the bikes and get ready for the trip home
Tomorrow. The only thing left is dinner tonight with the riders and their families.

Brattleboro VT thru New Hampshire to Burlington Massachusetts

6 hours 42 minutes to ride 92 miles.

Yesterday was the second highest elevation gain in the whole tour. Today ranks in the top 5 for elevation gain. It was going to be a long day.

We crossed the New Hampshire state line just 2 miles in to the ride. At mile 12 we stopped at a covered bridge which New England is famous for. After sprinkling sand we were off. At mile 28 we were in Fitzwilliam where there was the typical New England church and common. Barry talked to a lady who was interested in what we were doing but also told him the road we were going to be taking was very bad! It turns out she was right as it was in very poor repair and there were lots of big trucks on it. Lots of climbing on this route today with some very steep parts. The road was in the shade as it was sunny which made seeing the potholes and cracks very difficult. We had to concentrate 100% on the road which left very little time to look at the scenery.

After the second SAG we crossed the Massachusetts state line so sprinkled once again. The road leveled out to more rolling hills and the road got a little better which allowed us to enjoy the scenery. The last 10 miles we were in more of a residential area so we were able to look at the different styles of houses.

Once again we make it to the hotel with no rain in sight. 48 days with virtually NO rain. We are sooooo lucky!

Albany NY to Brattleboro Vermont

5 hours 51 minutes to ride 78.4 miles.

It was a challenge right off the bat this
morning. We are on busy road right away, have to negotiate a traffic circle, over some rough railroad tracks, and in to a tunnel where there is no lighting, wet concrete which is slippery with holes filled with water making it very hard to see. But, everyone made it safely. Right after that we have to ride through dirt and gravel in a construction site for 1/2 mile. We are on very busy roads all the way to the first SAG. Chet's family is there to meet everyone with lots of peanut butter sandwiches and other treats.

Leaving the SAG we ride 3 miles to find the Bennington monument, which stands 306' or 93 meters high. It celebrates a victory by the colonists over the British "Red Coats" in 1777. There is also some very typical new England houses that we ride by. A mile after that is the Vermont state line where we sprinkle some sand. When we leave there the directions show that we start a 7 mile climb. The grade is not that bad but the road is not good with bad shoulder in places and lots of big trucks. The support van is waiting at the 7 mile point so I thought the climbing was over but it went on for another 2 miles. We eventually find some decent descent as it is 8% grade downhill for 2 miles. We make it to the second SAG at mile 56.

We leave the SAG and have a 3 mile climb up Hogback mountain where there is the "100 mile view" at a rest area. We then have more rollers all the way down to Brattleboro. Sarah knows of a nice restaurant so we stop there and have an excellent lunch.

Little Falls NY to Albany NY

4 hours 42 minutes to ride 72.2 miles.

We woke up to find that it rained over night but it was not raining when we went to leave. It was 60F when we were leaving so people had leggings, arm warmers, and jackets on. Barry had a vest on which he soon took off. Because of the threat of rain most people just wanted to get to the hotel as fast as possible. Luckily there were some nice newly paved roads that we were riding on but then back to reality and bad roads with little or no shoulder. We spent most of the day on SR 5E with the canal on one side and trees on the other so not much to see. We did go through some small towns including Fonda and Nelliston before the SAG. There looked to be some interesting shops but not open when we went through. The SAG was at a rest area overlooking the Mohawk valley. We go through Schenectady from west to east including road closures and construction in the downtown area. There is both nice areas and not so nice areas, like most cities.

Finally at mile 59 we are off 5E. We weave a very circular route the rest of the day. I begin to wonder if we are truly not going in circles but the only other option would be a busy state highway. It does start to rain when we are about 4 miles from the hotel so we speed up but then the rain stops. We have been so lucky as, once again, we manage to arrive at the hotel dry!

Syracuse NY to Little Falls NY

5 hours and 1 minute to tide 78.2 miles.

Woke up to find that it rained last night and the sky looked black. Patty and Cindy let us know that their friends would have coffee and doughnuts at the 12 mile mark for all the riders. She said that we would need it with the rain. It took a little while to get out of Syracuse as they wanted to make sure that we stayed off the busy roads. Our group will never pass up food so everyone stopped for doughnuts and met some nice people. At mile 23 we were coming to a stop sign and it was time to change the direction sheet. The "A" team passed us just before the stop sign and rather than stop to change their direction sheets they tried to do it on the move. Somehow two of them got tangled up and we saw John suddenly fall! We stopped and I got off my bike to help. Right away I could see John was in pain and could tell this would not be good. We eventually managed to borrow a chair from the maintenance people that worked in the building where we were. We had already called the staff and an ambulance was on the way. As soon as John tried to stand he looked like he was going in to shock. There was nothing the riders could do so people started to leave as he was well looked after. At mile 32 there is the "Smallest chapel in the world," with room for two people to be married while everyone watches from boats or the shore. We arrived at the SAG at mile 33 but there was no new news on John.

After the SAG all the riders started to get worried about the rain so started to push on. There are lots of small towns and villages as we go so we were having trouble making good time. We were on a quiet road with fresh asphalt and made time but then ran in to some chip seal which immediately slowed us down.

With about 3 miles to go Barry had another spoke break. Rick fixed it so we are good to go tomorrow.

As we arrived early we were able to go
to town for a nice lunch and then walk to see the Erie canal. This is one day it paid to be a little slower as the fast riders all got wet in the last 8 miles before the hotel. We had wet road but even it was not bad.

Canandaigua NY to Syracuse NY

4 hours 45 minutes to ride 70 miles.

The hotel we were staying at only has coffee in the morning so we started with a short ride to Denny's. Amazing what fresh cooked breakfast tastes like. It is my b'day today and a couple of the team
Have decorated my helmet and flag and Barry arranged a cake for the group for after dinner. It was a fun day!

Somebody forgot to tell us that there would be hills today. It seems we were up and down all day. At mile 20 we went through Waterloo which, by presidential proclamation, is the birthplace of "Memorial Day" in the US. At mile 24 we are in Seneca Falls where, in 1848, there was the first meeting attended by 100 people demanding women be allowed more rights! There is small town after small town with some of them cute and affluent while others look to be on the verge of poverty. The only SAG of the day is at mile 38 at a small place that fits in to the latter category.

Leaving the SAG we go to the area of the Erie canal but even then we somehow are going up and down. You can see some of the old manufacturing places that would have used the canal to transport their goods but have long since fallen in to disrepair. The canal
Itself is well looked after in some places for tourist opportunities while left with no development in others. The clouds are starting to cover the sky and looks like rain but we manage to avoid it. It is really muggy with humidity as we ride the last 10 miles to the hotel. We have to avoid the busy roads into Syracuse as we see several signs to get there but we keep going in a different direction to finally get there. Once again we are in the hotel nice and dry and it is suppose to rain overnight.

Hamburg NY to Canandaigua NY

6 hours 25 minutes to cover the 96 miles.

Two of the riders are going to go skydiving once they finish the ride today so all the groups are kind of messed up. Two others want to leave early as they are nursing minor injuries. I think the real reason everyone wants to leave early is there is 5,000' of elevation gain.

Takes a while to get out of town but we get on to 20AE which we will stay on for almost the whole day. We do take a shortcut by going on to Two Rod Rd for 12 miles. Two miles after we turn on to it we start a steep descent and are doing between 60 and 70 km/h when we get to the bottom but suddenly I hit a bump on a bridge and get hit by a crosswind! It was very scary and to make matters worse the climb up the other side was very steep. At the first SAG of the day there is a small celebration as we have officially reached the 3,000 mile mark. By the end of the day we will have less than 400 to go. After we leave the first SAG of the day at mile 30 we are back on 20AE.

We pass a number of huge dairy farms before getting to the second SAG stop at Avon. Just as we are arriving there are 50 - 75 motorcycles all getting ready to leave. The last hill in to Avon is 8% grade and the tandem arrives just as the Police escort is ready to
Take the motorcycles away. He makes all of the motorcycles wait for the tandem who really struggle up the hill.

Once we leave the SAG there are more hills and more climbing. At mile 82 Barry has a spoke break on his back wheel but thinks he can limp in to the bike shop. The bike shop guys are fabulous and manage to fix it when we get there. They are really interested in helping once they know about where we have come from in the last 42 days.