June 20, 2023
Goodbye New England
East Middlebury, Vermont to Severance, New York
I woke up at 5 a.m. on a wet bed. My neck and shoulders were in a puddle of sweat. 9 hours of dead-to-the-world sleep literally drained me. I rolled over onto a dry spot and conked out for another hour.
Once I was out of bed I made myself motel breakfast. I had gathered the components last night from the closet the motel calls the “breakfast nook.”
A wee sized bowl of Raisin Bran, a nectarine, a cherry yoghurt, a muffin, two cups of motel-room coffee and a pint of milk. Sounds like a lot but it wasn’t.
I rolled into Middlebury and hit the grocery store for a new razor, shaving cream, an apple, two bananas, and a pen.
Across the street was Middlebury Bagels so I had a mini second breakfast: real coffee and an everything bagel.
Properly fueled, I lit out on the route right through Middlebury College. Impressive place, I must say.
The route continued with an annoying number of short climbs all the way to lower Lake Champlain where I caught the cable ferry to Ticonderoga, New York.
Today was supposed to be a zero day but I wanted to get back on schedule. My plan was to take it easy, go with the flow, and stop when the mood hit me.
After a roast beef sammie and an iced tea at a diner in Ticonderoga town, I headed west into the Adirondacks.
Eek.
I discovered that the map app on my iPhone shows elevation profiles. I selected a camp ground along the route to which there was 2,800 feet of climbing, much of it at the start.
And so for the next three miles I climbed a 4 to 5 percent grade, stopping as usual to let my body calm down from the effort. I was feeling a bit disoriented. After a couple of miles of this nonsense I remembered that I had an albuterol rescue inhaler in my handlebar bag.
Puff. Puff.
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I felt the tension in my lungs ease up and could feel them expanding with each breath. The fog lifted from my weary head. What a maroon! I should have done this weeks ago.
I did the next 3/4ths of a mile without stopping. No problem!
Along the way I saw a deer lying in a field 100 feet off the road. A driver in a pick up with one of those ridiculously high front ends had hit him. A woman in a nearby driveway watched in sadness as the deer struggled to get up then plopped down again.
I rode to the top and pulled over to have a drink of water. I heard a bang in the distance behind me. Somebody’s having venison for dinner.
After that bit of drama the road leveled out nicely. I had completed my escape from the Champlain valley.
It is amazing what a difference that albuterol made today. I won’t hesitate to use it again.
I rode past Paradox and into Severance. In Severance I found a campground on route that was pretty nice for $30. Time to stop for the day.
I’m now only 6 miles shy of my original schedule. It looks like I’ll be able to find camping or a motel for the next couple of days. My only real concern is finding food along the route.
It’ll work out. It always does.
Today's ride: 42 miles (68 km)
Total: 1,579 miles (2,541 km)
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