3 days to go!! Thanks to Colette for my ride along today. It was so good to see you in Cazenovia with Matt and the pups and hear word of Portland and Maine. The last two days have been so nice. Being in the Adirondack park with peak fall colors and sun is hard to describe. It smells like trees and dry leaves. It sounds like wind and falling water over rocks in the river next to the road. Yellow leaves flutter down and slap onto my shoulder as I climb a hill. All the ice cream places are closed but golf courses are still open, boats and docks are still in too. Bright blue sky and yellow and orange are everywhere.
I woke up to 45 degrees and fog over the lake next to the charming inn. It was a brisk start and most of my layers were shed by lunch. I even sought out shade. We rode by Lake George and cute towns, trail heads into Ticonderoga, where there is a Star Trek museum with the original captains chair. Sadly they closed at 4 so we couldn’t make it there. Another reason to come back!!
The next two days are gonna be big ones. John described the White mountains of New Hampshire as the ‘spine’ that runs the length of the state. We got a big climb tomorrow and more on Sunday with more mileage. Ending with a crescendo!!! Nothing subtle about this finale. Spirits are up with the spectacular rides these past two days and I think everyone is excited to be done soon.
Tomorrow night I’m having dinner with my med school buddy Steve who is driving down from Burlington. He wrote this to me today:
“Cool that all 22 of you have stayed the course.. there’s an army regiment in Canada, the 22nd RCR (Royal Canadian Regiment), from small towns and farms in Quebec, called the Van Doos, (anglicized pronunciation of the French number vingt-deux). They’re known to be very tough and they get the job done every time.. so that’s my new nickname for you guys, the Van Doos, powering your way across the country!”
Allez, Allez! Mes freres!
