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(my unfinished entry for the Lake Champlain Tour…)

Preparation
A 67 mile ride with Kyle two weekends before with lots of prophetic wind. A hilly century ride with Anthony and John down in Anthony’s neck ‘o the woods. Making the checklist.

Saturday
Pickup John at his house at around 6:25am. Drive to Ticonderoga, de-coffee and de-tea at the McDonalds. Run into WalMart for some last minute energy bars and a base layer for John.

The ride north was hampered by a steady headwind. It was in the 40’s but the sunlight was brilliant and the skies utterly clear. We couldn’t have asked for better weather for taking in the scenery. And what scenery! Getting to see the Adirondacks from across Lake Champlain was breathtaking. It had recently snowed in the high peaks and the white tops to the mountains gave them an even more majestic look. John took lots of photos.

I enjoyed this ride immensely. Proper clothing makes all the difference in the world. One of my favorite cycling quotes is “There’s no bad weather, only bad clothes.” My kit included: gloves, skullcap under helmet, longsleeve dri-wick base layer, shortsleeve base layer, cycling jersey, Pearl Izumi Vento jacket with great venting, EMS loose-tights (bit of an oxymoron), bike shorts, Tip Toes inside the shoes and booties outside. The only thing I’d change for 40 degree weather would be to upgrade the booties to insulated versions–not just the wind proof ones.

Sunday
Ran out of daylight. Unluckily, in spite of clear starlit skies, we were only 1 day away from a new moon, so no eldritch lighting for us. Just the harsh, brief, headlights of motorists no doubt muttering epithets the way of those “crazy bikers out after dark.”

Things I Noticed

• Three Vespas cruising merrily along opposite us
• Ladybugs galore on Sunday

4857 feet Sunday. we ended 175′ above our start
John’s photos.
Tuesday’s WotD was appropriate: alpenglow

This entry was posted Wednesday, December 7th, 2005 at 7:30 pm and is filed under Cycling. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.