10-Aug-18 SAT
pre-ride
After our arrival at the Pac Tour hotel in Burlington, we settled in to our rooms and decided to go do the pre-ride. Since we had our velomobiles, Susan suggested we skip the trafficky riding in Burlington and drive down to the lake shore (Lake Champlain) to the bike path and ride to the Bicycle Ferry and beyond. Well we decided to do it that way but it took us quite awhile to find a road that actually goes down to the lake. Many get close, but don't quite get there. Eventually, though, we got to a parking lot which is an access point to the bike path. Once we got going, we found the bike path to be very crowded with pedestrians and cyclists as it was a very nice, warm day in Burlington. The path itself was one of the worst bike paths I've ever been on. A mountain bike would have been a better idea. We could only go less than 10 mph for most of it. When we got down to the ferry, we'd had enough and didn't go further north, even though the trail improves and gets wider. Instead, Doug wanted to eat and found a Mexican option up on Battery St, a couple blocks away. All we had to do was head away from the lake, cross the tracks, and climb a very steep hill. Fortunately it was short. The Esperanza Restaurant was just the ticket. From there, we headed back down to the trail and made our way back to the car. Short mileage, but everything on the velos worked, and we were confident.
BIKE: DF 166; start time: 15:12; end: 16:35; avg:8.7; max: 18.4; climb: 82; miles: 4.37; mtd miles:302.24; ytd miles:8137.71
PARTLY cloudy; wind: N 5; start temp: 79; min: 79; avg: 82; max: 86; end: 79
https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/2924736269 LAKES & SEAWAY ROUTE MAP LINK
starting in Burlington, red is day 1, to Lake Placid; violet is day 2, to Old Forge; green is day 3, to Sacket's Harbor; blue is day 4, to Ogdensburg; red is day 5, to Malone; and black is day 6 back to Burlington
https://ridewithgps.com/routes/28403453 11-Aug-18 SUN
Burlington VT to Lake Placid NY
In the Dallas area, I almost never shift off the big ring when I ride the velo. I quickly found that practice doesn't work well in Vermont or New York. We left from the hotel to head north along the east shore of Lake Champlain to cover 22 miles up to the ferry which crosses the lake from Grand Isle to Plattsburg NY. We climbed close to 800 ft in that 22 miles. Some of it was flat, some was short steep hills, and some was less steep but long rollers. I got accustomed to shifting off the big ring very quickly. The ferry crossing is only a 15 minute ride but to avoid recording two ferry miles on the Garmin, I hit the pause and turned it off. We crossed and got started. I turned on the Garmin but forgot to un-pause it. That resulted in not recording the next 18.7 miles and 878 ft of climbing. By about mile 40 when I realized my error and un-paused the Garmin, we were starting the first of 2 big climbs in the Adirondack Mountains of northeastern New York. The 2 big climbs were not steady straight up climbs. They consisted of climbing ridges, dropping down into intervening canyons and climbing again, over and over. Some of those climbs were very steep. Doug has a program which records and itemizes any climb of at least 100 ft in length, breaking them down by gradient. The steepest climbs ranged from 15 to 21% and of course there were many more less steep climbs, as well. I rode with Doug on all of this. He rode very slowly on the steepest stuff as did I in following behind him. Very frequently the speed dropped below the 3 mph auto-pause limit meaning distance and climbing were not being recorded while at speeds under 3 mph. Should have switched the mode from "moving avg" to "elapsed avg" but of course didn't think about that ahead of time. I estimated the difference in distance and mileage by using the Garmin data as reference. We would start up an extreme ascent and I'd be working hard to keep the 55 pound velo going. Then as I was looking at the hill, it would get even steeper up ahead. I'd be in my lowest gear, 34-36, and barely cranking over - the velo was surging on each pedal stroke! Hearing later how steep it actually was in places, I was blown away that I could get such a heavy vehicle up anything that steep. By the same token, I wondered how long I could do climbs like that. I envisioned running out of steam and rolling backwards at 60 mph! Or, another possibility: breaking the chain! On the first long ascent we climbed from about 300 ft elevation to 1400 ft. Then we dropped to 1000 ft and climbed to 2000 ft elevation into the Lake Placid area. I hoped we wouldn't have more climbs that steep in the upcoming days.
BIKE: DF 166; start time: 08:04; end: 16:01; avg:12.8; max: 38.9; climb: 4892; miles: 79.76; mtd miles:382; ytd miles:8217.47
PARTLY cloudy; wind: N 3; start temp: 68; min: 68; avg: 81; max: 88; end: 78
https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/2927669389 12-Aug-18 MON
Lake Placid to Old Forge
11 miles into this second day of riding I had my one and only mechanical of the tour. We had left Lake Placid and were entering the town of Saranac Lake. As I turned into the town I was still on the small ring in part because there were rough RR tracks to cross at the turn. I went slowly but there was still significant bouncing over the tracks and the chain jumped off the underseat idler which serves to put tension on the long chain. Once that happened, I had slack chain, which can't be back pedaled. That is a problem. I stopped, lifted the velo over a curb and up onto the grassy area next to the sidewalk. Started taking the access panel off. Doug came back as he had gone ahead. After at least half an hour Doug got the chain back under the idler. I don't know if I'd been on small cog, small ring when that happened but I avoided being in that gear combination for more than a couple seconds, going forward. Only need to go there to facilitate shifting from small ring to big ring. In any case, Pac Tour asked us to ride off sag for the rest of the day, as in their estimation, we were too far off the back. We were happy about that as then there was no pressure to get to the sag stops by their closing time. There were plenty of stores along should we need anything. We still finished in Old Forge before a couple other riders. We hit the highest elevation of the trip today. Those of the group who rode up White Face Mtn on the first day reached about 4800 ft. We didn't do that. Today's highest elevation was 2300 ft. Fortunately, while we had plenty of very steep climbs, none were over 17%. That is not to say they were easy. The climbs were long. In the town of Tupper Lake, we stopped at a convenience store for a bite of lunch. While there, our velos attracted a lot of attention. There was a crowd of people there at one point and I guess one of the touchy-feely kids pushed the pause button on my Garmin. Since I didn't know it, I rode over 14 miles with the Garmin on pause, meaning the Garmin didn't record those miles. So just like the first day, I had unrecorded miles until I discovered the problem. At some point during the ride, I was ahead of Doug. I don't remember why - he may have encouraged me to go on during a steep climb. In any case, I reached Old Forge first, saw the green Pac Tour flag indicating the hotel was near, and went right on by the hotel, hidden by a tall hedge. I asked some passerby where the hotel was and they indicated it was back behind me. On a road bike I'd have u-turned. On the velo, I went around the block, then saw the sign, went in, and apparently it was the lower level rooms. Went all the way through to the opposite street, went around that block and back to where the flag was. Finally I could see the trailer through breaks in the hedge. I added a couple miles searching for the motel. Doug came in a couple minutes later.
BIKE: DF 166; start time: 07:12; end: 16:58; avg:13.8; max: 46.8; climb: 5724; miles: 100.81; mtd miles:482.81; ytd miles:8318.28
CLOUDY, with rain showers and some sun, later; wind: calm; start temp: 59; min: 59; avg: 75; max: 88; end: 84
https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/2930145338 13-Aug-18 TUE
Old Forge to Sackets Harbor
Today we left the Adirondack Mountains and reached Lake Ontario. We still had significant climbing on the way to the lake but we mainly descended from Old Forge to the mid-point of the ride and then climbed for much of the second half of the ride before descending to Lake Ontario. It was an easier day, for sure, but there was still intense climbing in the second half of the ride. 9 to 15% grades were common and 17% was again max. The climbing was often lowest gear climbing and crawling along at 4 mph or less. Because the mileage was less intense, we could enjoy the scenery much more. While New York is very beautiful I didn't take many photos. Riding the velo often stymies the ability to stop and take photos - getting in and out is often required as the seated position is often too low to get a good shot. I'd decided by this point that I'd use Pac Tour's photos to fill in the gaps, if there were any good ones. Sackets Harbor is the site of 3 major battles during the war of 1812. The location is the only sheltered harbor on that side of the lake for miles in either direction. There had even been a military presence there as recently as WWII. There were lean years after that but now the economy of the region is good thanks to tourism. The Harbor House Inn, where we spent the night, is a beautiful hotel (inside) near on-the-water eateries and near the battleground historic area. I'd stay there again if I were ever up in that area on my own.
BIKE: DF 166; start time: 07:29; end: 14:12; avg:16.9; max: 42.7; climb: 2487; miles: 81.75; mtd miles:564.56; ytd miles:8400.03
SUNNY; wind: calm; start temp: 66; min: 64; avg: 71; max: 79; end: 77
https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/2932418161 14-Aug-18 WED
Sackets Harbor to Ogdensburg
Today I switched the Garmin from rolling average to elapsed average. Each day until today I'd lost recording of mileage and climbing because speed would occasionally drop below 3 mph on the steepest climbs. Unfortunately, there was no longer a need for awhile. Today was the easiest day of the trip. I recorded under 2000 ft of climbing and was off the big ring no more than half a dozen times. There was still the odd climb at 7 to 8% but those were short-lived and I generally flew along covering the miles very easily. This was definitely a rest day, despite the 85 mile distance. We followed the shore of Lake Ontario for several miles, rounding the east end of the lake and transitioning to following the St Lawrence River by mile 25. We followed the river then for the next 60 miles although the river was seldom in view, blocked by trees for much of it. Doug and I actually finished when the trailer got there. It wasn't long before we were able to move into the rooms. This was a really fun day - perfect velomobile conditions!
BIKE: DF 166; start time: 08:33; end: 14:50; avg:18.5; max: 42.9; climb: 1870; miles: 85.53; mtd miles:650.09; ytd miles:8485.56
SUNNY; wind: N 4; start temp: 72; min: 72; avg: 81; max: 93; end: 84
https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/2935402475 15-Aug-18 THU
Ogdensburg to Malone
This was the second easiest day. Again, we had miles of relatively flat riding, cruising along at 20 to 25 mph. But we left the St Lawrence River at mile 32, almost half way to Malone, before Massena, in part because the northern border of New York no longer follows the river, and because the tramsition of re-entry into the Adirondacks was upon us. We got back into the edge of the mountains in the last 10 miles or so with a final climb for the day to Malone. It was nice to have a couple easy days but the last day of renewed serious climbing and forecast of an all-day rain required us to be recovered and relaxed. As for the rain, we hoped it wouldn't happen.
BIKE: DF 166; start time: 08:12; end: 14:02; avg:18; max: 38.8; climb: 1847; miles: 76.95; mtd miles:727.04; ytd miles:8562.51
SUNNY; wind: N 2; start temp: 64; min: ~; avg: ~; max: ~; end: 82
https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/2937883426 16-Aug-18 FRI
Malone NY to Burlington VT
Last day - we rolled out at 6:50 AM - target departure was 6:30 to 7:00. It wasn't raining but was expected to be by noon. Pac Tour wanted us to be at the Ferry station by 12:30 PM, mainly because the vans needed to be in line early to board the ferry when it arrived. If riders were still out on the road then they would be unsupported which should definitely be avoided. The ride started with a climb for the first 11 miles. That was a known quantity. But the profile of the ride looked like relatively flat riding until the approach to Lake Champlain. I suppose thinking that was better as it eliminated worry. But as it turns out, the rosy expectation was anything but true. We had numerous extreme climbs with gradients all the way up to 20%. It seemed like reaching the ferry by 12:30 might be a stretch. But we made steady progress, knocking off the dozen or so major climbs one at a time until we finally reached sustained flat to descending terrain as we dropped out of the mountains toward the lake. By then we'd had sporadic showers but in the velomobile there is protection from the rain and was not yet heavy nor a big deal. We reached the ferry by 12:30 as requested and then it was a matter of waiting for the arrival of the ferry while sheltering in a waiting area. Finally the ferry arrived and we got underway. By then the rain was coming down steadily and the wind was up, creating ocean like waves on the lake. The swells were big enough to rock the ferry and with the rain and low visibility, it felt and looked just like the ocean with no land visible in any direction. Nearly 10 miles later we docked in Vermont and then it was off to the final few miles and one last surprise - a steady 9 to 10% climb up several blocks rising 315 ft. What a way to warm up after sitting around about 90 minutes. Finally at the top, we had some pleasant downhill to the hotel. For the first time on the trip, I took the brush and washed the mud off the outside of the velo, then wiped it off with a towel I carry inside the velo. No need to clean the chain or drivetrain as it is completely enclosed and completely away from the elements. Riding a velo on a tour like this may not be for everyone but Doug and I handled it quite well and that was a good feeling!
BIKE: DF 166; start time: 06:51; end: 13:06; avg:14.9; max: 40.8; climb: 4347; miles: 75.4; mtd miles:802.44; ytd miles:8637.91
CLOUDY, with rain showers; wind: N 4; start temp: 64; min: 64; avg: 70; max: 77; end: 73
https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/2945928377 18-Aug-18 SUN
Ride with Tim Guthrie in the Cincinnati area
The morning after the tour ended we started driving toward Cincinnati. We were planning to meet up with Tim Guthrie, who lives on the ENE side of that city and on the edge of country riding. He had recently bought a Hilgo - a new model of velomobile and he was eager to meet other velonauts and see their rigs. Well, they was us, and we charted a slightly different way to drive home than the way we had gone. 900+ miles later, we arrived at our hotel. As Tim could not ride before 11:30, we could sleep in for a change and then head his way. He was not far away. After a mutual velomobile admiration session, we set out for a 42 mile ride. Since I've now started mounting my Garmin inside the velo (found out that works on day 3 of the tour) I managed to forget to start it until we had ridden 2.5 miles. My total mileage reflects that missed mileage and climbing. However, there was no more climbing on this route than we get in Dallas. The nice thing about the route is that there are practically no lights or stop signs and the terrain is perfect for velo riding - flat to rolling, and nice pavement - no Texas style chipseal! Doug was not feeling well that day or we'd have opted for a longer ride. Tim had planned on a 52 mile outing. He bought our lunch and upon our return he invited us to shower and change for our planned drive to Nashville. Tim was very accomodating and we enjoy all aspects of our visit. Perhaps a return to trip to that area for some more sampling of velo riding could be a future trip. This was the first time I'd ever been to Ohio and got to ride there too - a win-win. Now just 2 states I've never been to and just 8 states I've never ridden a bike in - whittling away at the list!
BIKE: DF 166; start time: 12:12; end: 15:30; avg:18.9; max: 38.3; climb: 947; miles: 40.97; mtd miles:843.41; ytd miles:8678.88
SUNNY; wind: N 6; start temp: 75; min: 75; avg: 84; max: 91; end: 90
https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/2946506765
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Pac Tour Lakes & Seaway Tour by Velomobile (Read 1078 times)
