Sagging C2C Gear over the Whites

Thursday August 20, 2009
Rochester, VT, to North Woodstock, nH 

Before leaving Rochester in the morning, I stopped for breakfast in the little café where I’d had my coffee the day before. Couldn’t eat with the gang as I was an unregistered “6th” in the room. Got a slice of quiche and the best potato salad I’ve ever eaten. 

I enjoyed being a carefree four-wheeled tourist. I stopped at the Green Mountain Sugar House and bought a puzzle for Sophie and a Golden Book on snakes for me.

Not terribly far from Rochester I came to a roadside stand selling old-fashioned Giffords ice cream. The place had a little shady pavilion at the edge of a stream, so I stopped here to wait for the group, thinking that they would appreciate a rest stop. Most bought ice cream cones and sat for a bit in the pavilion.

Ordering ice cream; me still hunched over protecting my shoulder

After ice cream, I stopped at an old cemetery and read the epitaphs. Here’s a standard and one of my favorites:

Remember friends as you pass by
As you are now so once was I
As I am now you so must be
Prepare for death and follow me

Stopped at a place on the White River in NH where a family was canoeing and tubing and swimming near a rapids and some interesting rocks. With only one arm for balance I didn’t dare climb out on the rocks.

Stuffed Prius photographed after a rest stop at a wide place in the road that I cannot now remember

Picked up Tim at the 40-mile mark and he rode in with me as he wanted to write his blog. After dropping off Tim at the motel, I returned to the route to see that the riders were okay. They wanted to sag the remaining miles to the motel. Since they were about 20-some miles out, I did not fancy making two trips out and back (80 more miles in the car). Also, by the time I got two back to the motel, the two riding their bicycles would almost be there. So, I told them that I thought we could squeeze them all in. I had already taken their gear to the motel, so we had four bikes and four riders to squeeze into the little Prius.

The Prius stuffed with gear and Tim's Bike. He was going to ride the rest of the way to the motel with me.

We managed it but it was a very uncomfortable ride for Bill and the two women as they were squeezed in with no head or leg room. Kevin rode more comfortably in the front passenger seat, though he had to contend with Bill who was riding on the console. All were afraid that we'd be ticketed by the police for having too many passengers in the front, but we passed a police car with no ill results. Below is Tim's account and a photo of the Prius with the bikes.

Tim’s blog: What a great night in the Pumpkin Patch B&B. I slept like a baby on the king sized Sealy Posturpedic Euro style pillow top. The owners Debbie and Rich Mathiesen served us a great french toast breakfast with plenty of sausage, bacon and fruit salad bracing us for today’s long ride. Here is the thing about Vermont, they don’t take that good of care of their roads (or maybe its just the hard winters) so they are riddled with cracks. Also there are few shoulders and many roads have too much traffic to enjoy while bicycling. Then you get to a 15 or 20 mile tertiary road that has no traffic and is in beautiful shape and it makes the ride all worth while. So one minute your taking a break stressed and cursing VT then ten minutes later you’re effervescent with joy in spectacular scenery and having the ride of your life. Also you assume that everyone up here is a granola eating easy going free will type. Well that ain’t so, they are some of the most callous lest bicycle friendly drivers I’ve experienced. One guy in a pickup truck heading the opposite direction from us yesterday stopped while I climbed a 12% grade. He said, “People like you get killed awful easy.” Maybe the granolas have pushed the rednecks a little too far up here. On a more positive note, my odometer rolled over 4000 miles today. I only did 40 mile. Then I sagged to the motel with Susan to catch up on the blog. While I blogged in the afternoon at the hotel, Susan returned to pick up more cyclists. They were about 20 miles short of town when Susan spotted them. Susan was tired and wished to fit all of them in in one trip. This is what a Prius looks like with four bicycles and five people crammed in for more than half an hour on the back roads of New Hampshire.

Back of the Prius with four bikes in it; we managed to squeeze in four riders as well

Kevin and Bill exiting the Prius on arrival at the motel; looks like Bill's shoulder is still  bothering him this many days later; Tim had been primed to take a photo of this circus act; the women in the back were so cramped that they could barely get out of the car

Kevin said he's pay for a separate room to keep me in the business of sagging gear. This because I had told the gang that I'd really prefer not crowding into one room. So, Tim reserved two rooms in North Woodstock and Sylvia was delegated to room with me. When we got there, we two deposited our things in the room and then I took a little nap. Sylvia went down to the communal room for drinks. Somewhere in there it was decided that we would eat dinner at a nearby restaurant. Sylvia came back to change clothes and get ready, disappearing into the bathroom to take a bath. Not a sound. When I heard no water running, I waited a long interval and then I knocked on the door. My best guess is that Sylvia had fallen asleep.

That evening we walked to a nearby restaurant with outdoor tables and had dinner. Two French- Canadian motorcyclists joined our group. Sylvia, who has a French background, enjoyed drinking with and talking French to them. Of course the beer and alcohol flowed. I tried to be part of it and ordered a sampler of local beers. They came in small glasses and it was fun trying each. Kevin took a photo of the event with his cell. 

 

Sylvia and one of the French-Canadian motorcyclists who was staying at our motel

The other motorcyclist and Bill Upton

Kevin's blurry cell phone photo of me trying a sampler of local brews