For now this is a placeholder post. Check back at the end of July for my thoughts and recommendations.
For now, here’s a compilation of our individual days’ routes, courtesy of Ben:
Epilogue
Day 49: Burlington to Revere Beach, MA
17 miles, 482 feet climbed
Today, our goal was to arrive at the beach as a group. We were to regroup at a Dunkin Donuts shop three miles from the end. From there, we would have an escort to the beach. Instead we road as a group the whole way, taking up the lane in many places and forcing those at the rear to enter many intersections after the light had turned red. It was rude, arrogant, and violated basic bike safety principles. I resented being encouraged to be a cyclist jerk (insert your own stronger words).
Continue reading “Day 49: Burlington to Revere Beach, MA”Day 48: Brattleboro, VT to Burlington, MA
90 miles, 5341 feet climbed
After yesterday’s chilly weather, today was more moderate. There was a patch near Burlington where rain preceded us, leaving wet pavement in the shaded areas but that was all. The elevation gains came from many small climbs, spread throughout the day. I was hurrying to make sure I had time to pick up my rental car before the Avis office closed at 5. I made it to the hotel by 3 pm, showered and made it with plenty of time to spare.
Continue reading “Day 48: Brattleboro, VT to Burlington, MA”Day 47: Troy, NY to Brattleboro, VT
90 miles, 6027 feet climbed
Today was scheduled to be 73 miles with a lot of climbing but an impassible road added another 17 miles of backtracking and even more climbing. And it was a single SAG day, not enough for 73 miles, much less 90. Rain was a possibility again; FOG did make an appearance. There were winds, noticeable mostly for the chilly conditions throughout the day.
Continue reading “Day 47: Troy, NY to Brattleboro, VT”Day 46: Utica to Troy, NY
100 miles, 2188 feet climbed
Today being another long day, with the potential for rain, I didn’t plan on taking many photos. The rains stayed away until dinner time and were light even then. Much of the scenery was familiar from the 2019 ABB North ride. We’re following the same basic track, though with some differences in the specific streets. For example, right after Little Falls, ABB switched to the south side of the Mohawk River while Crossroads kept us on NY Hwy 5 until Schenectady. ABB’s approach put us on the Mohawk Hudson Bike Trail earlier than Crossroads’.
Continue reading “Day 46: Utica to Troy, NY”Day 45: Syracuse to Utica, NY
58 miles, 1119 feet climbed
We postponed our departures from 7:15/7:30 to 9:00/9:15 due to the short distance. To our surprise as well as staff’s tonight’s hotel manager announced that he only had 11 of the 31 rooms we’d reserved. He did arrange for the rest at a hotel .7 miles away. I was one of the riders so relocated. Most, if not all, of the staff was assigned rooms in the original hotel. I suppose that is necessary logistically but it does complicate things for the rest of us. We needed to be shuttled back to the original hotel for dinner. And in the morning we have to have our luggage packed and out for pickup by 6:15 am, an hour later. Then we ride our bikes to the original hotel for breakfast and sit around for departure at 7:15/7:30.
Continue reading “Day 45: Syracuse to Utica, NY”Day 44: Victor to Syracuse, NY
86 miles, 2989 feet climbed
Temperatures were similar to yesterday. Instead of just my vest, I wore my rain jacket, which made things a little more comfortable, but still chilly, even though it was consistently sunny.
Continue reading “Day 44: Victor to Syracuse, NY”Day 43: Buffalo to Victor, NY
79 miles, 3264 feet climbed
The weather has turned colder again. Low to mid 50’s to start, getting up only to the mid 60’s. And fairly strong winds, mostly coming as crosswinds. Thermal arm warmers and legging were in order, along with a wind vest. Today we had more rollers, with the longest climb less than half a mile long. It was best to keep moving to generate heat and I took fewer photos as a result. Getting out my camera involved unzipping my vest to access by jersey pocket, which let out a bunch of heat and let in the cold winds.
Continue reading “Day 43: Buffalo to Victor, NY”Day 42: Erie, PA to Buffalo, NY
91 miles, 2310 feet climbed
Today the winds were going to help us much of the day until we turned directly north coming into Buffalo, when they turned into pretty strong crosswinds. The road surfaces were among the better ones we’ve encountered. Another SAG at an ice cream place. I partook of some very good cherry product. Later, a few miles from our hotel, I had my first Boston Cream doughnut from Tim Horton’s, likely not the last.
Continue reading “Day 42: Erie, PA to Buffalo, NY”Day 40: Niles, OH to Erie, PA
90 miles, 1434 feet climbed
We were predicted to have mild tailwinds today and we mostly did. They helped knock down the heat and humidity to a degree. We delayed our start by an hour to make sure that we didn’t arrive at the second SAG before it opened (photo explanation below).
Continue reading “Day 40: Niles, OH to Erie, PA”