May 26, 2007

It was a gorilla of a day..

What a great nights sleep last night. I typed the log and after that it was lights out. That’s been my first good nights sleep since Sunday night. I arose just before the sunrise which was not spectacular but was nice to see just the same. I let Denny sleep until around 6:00 AM and then I woke him up. We were originally planning to skip breakfast in camp and ride to Rutland for breakfast but both Denny and I were starved. Rutland was only about six miles away and less than a half an hour ride but we stopped for a full second breakfast anyway. I spoke to my son Jim on the phone earlier this evening and he asked me if we were keeping the “second breakfast” tradition alive, which I said, “we were”.

Sunrise

It was fun for me to ride through Rutland as I spent a few summers there with my cousins. I pretty much know the town. We just rode on Rt. 7 through town, but as I glanced at the fairgrounds I chuckled with some of my child memories there. It was the same as I passed various streets that my cousin Billy and I would wonder around as kids. We were planning to have breakfast at the top of the hill coming into town at Lindholms Diner and passed up on the Midway Diner near the fairgrounds, but it wasn’t there. I was told that it burnt down a good number of years ago. Further down the road we had breakfast at Stewards. It hit the spot. The next town is Pittsford which is where my mom grew up. I looked for the farm but it is a lot more built up than I remember and I couldn’t find it. Denny said to me “things change.”

Old quarry from Route 7

I have ridden this route before but in the other direction. In that ride from the Canadian border to Middlebury, it was the worst day of cycling in my life. Back then the winds picked up at around 15 to 25 mph and were direct heads for the rest of the day. Kenny, Jason and I were beat and it was the only time in my life I considered quitting a ride. If there was a Greyhound Bus stop and a UPS or FedX shipping station nearby that ride would have been over.

Newsprint Pig

As we left Rutland this AM the winds picked up and were direct heads all the way to Middlebury and beyond. The only difference was that they were in the 5 to 15 MPH variety which makes riding hard but bearable. We took a break in Brandon near the Library and were told that if we waited till 1:30 we could see the Cats and Dogs Parade. Local artists spent the winter making 3 to 5 foot high fiberglass cats and dogs and decorated them for the parade. I guess it’s a big deal as it was around 11:00 and people were setting up chairs along the route to save a place. Outside the Library there was a fiberglass pig or hog from another year. We took some pictures of that and were on our way.

It was a gorilla of a day.

The miles were hard but we had less than sixty planned for the day. There were a bunch of photo ops and we took more pictures today than the last two. Maybe it’s because the minute or so it took was a break from riding. I like to think it was the desire to get some good shots.

Gary, we could have used you today.

Jim

Cycledog (Ride the extra mile!!)

© 2007 - JNS