Conway, ME to North Woodstock, NH:

June 1, 2013

You can't see No-See-Ums, but you can see Black Flies, and they leave their mark.

The first 19 miles of today's climb to Kancamagus Pass was some of the most pleasant cycling we have ever done. The weather was cool and sunny, the incline was easy, the road usually smooth with a wide shoulder and there was little traffic. The best part of was the gorgeous river and forest alongside.

Unfortunately we never saw a moose although we kept our eyes peeled.

Of course the last 5 miles to the top of the pass were steeper but we never used our lowest gear.

On this elevation profile we are heading right to left. Although the steepness of the climb is exaggerated it is quite a climb since we were recently at sea level.

Close to the top we hit 1000 miles for the tour.

This is just like our views in West Virginia.

Later in the climb Rhona started being bothered by what she thought were gnats. She said she kept trying to pedal faster to pass me so that the bugs would bother me instead but I kept just ahead of her. Our enjoyment of the view from the pass was diminished by the bugs and we hurried our lunch and started the long descent. When we got to the motel we discovered Rhona was covered with welts with red dots in the center of each bump.

Rhona wrote in an email "It has been horrible today, my neck looks like a relief map of Indian burial mounds".

Turns out the gnats were Black Flies and this is a very bad year for them. They nailed her behind the ears and at the hairline clear around the scalp. We will be better prepared tomorrow with bug repellent with 100% deet and also mosquito net hats. It's supposed to rain tomorrow so perhaps they will leave us alone.

A way to re-purpose railroad car wheels. As a bonus there are no worries about somebody stealing the bench.

Rhona complains that her view from the stoker seat is often blocked.

I asked to borrow Rhona's comb and then understood why our trailer seems so heavy. I could use her comb to rake leaves in the yard. When I gave it back to her she did a few quick arm-bicep curls and hid it away again.

Today's ride: 40 miles (64 km)
Total: 1,048 miles (1,687 km)

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