The road was wet when we started this morning but it was not raining. So the first miles were pleasant enough once we got out of town. It didn’t take long to reach the Hudson River today. Crossed it at mile 4.5.
Then, just before I reached the top of our first climb, the sky started spitting at me. Soon after I was at our first rest stop and the rain started in earnest. Roel and I stood under the awning at a gas station waiting for the cell to pass. When it eased a bit, we headed down the hill. Roel chooses to ride slow on the downhills so I passed him and kept going. I had been concerned about the climbs since we haven’t had any for many, many miles but they were not an issue. Yay!
The next milestone for the day was crossing into Vermont. Soon after that, we went through Old Bennington where another cloud dumped on us. The shoulders were bad, the rain was heavy and there was lots of traffic, I chose to use the sidewalk until I couldn’t any more. The rain was coming down so hard and fast, it was difficult to “read” the road. Is that a just a puddle or a pothole filled with water? Will there be pavement under that stream of water or broken asphalt with huge cracks to grab your wheel?
And then it stopped raining. When I reached the second rest stop, it wasn’t raining but Deanna was inside the trailer with all the food trying to stay dry. So, it had rained there earlier.
The next section of the ride was up Hogback Mountain. Roel and I got to the top and it was pouring. There was a scenic overlook but nothing to see today! There was a store there too so we went into the vestibule and waited, hoping the rain would stop again. Roel got impatient so we went out into the rain and started down the hill. Not a wise choice but we didn’t know that until it was too late. A very busy highway, wet roads, heavy rain, bad to no shoulder…we were very dependent on all the drivers paying attention. I am so glad they did!
As we got to lower elevation and away from the mountain, the sky cleared and the riding became better. The last 20 miles were better but we were both glad to be done with today’s adventure.
The other day we got the “taper” lecture. Start cutting back on eating so much as the body won’t need all the calories once the ride is over. So tonight I had salad, five pieces of pizza and a brownie. I can’t remember the last time I ate that much pizza. So much for tapering.
thecyclingdiva 