"Heal the World"

Author's Note: The title song really came on as I was writing this and I couldn't not use it.

So, Vermont is not the best place for cell phone reception or internet access, but it is a wonderful place for scenery, kind people, and maple syrup. As a result, I am informing you that some details will be blurred and days confused, but bear with me...

After New London we left for Lebanon, NH. What a cute town! It is 5 miles from Dartmouth and the whole town is centered around a town square called "the green"; very New England. We stayed at an old church right on the square where they fed us every meal and all of them were delicious. We also frequented the public library a lot where they let us use their computers. In the short time on this trip so far I have a new found appreciation of libraries, so support your local library; they can be very useful.

On the ride into Lebanon, we had our first major crash. Rachel, a trip leader, and I were going down a very steep hill (had a truck grade sign) when the wind caught her and made her loose balance; we were probably going around 25 mph. She went down right in front of me and I for sure thought she was going to be severely injured, but she got up and walked away from it without any major injuries. I'm not going to lie, it was VERY scary. The next 10 miles of the ride were the best of the trip so far because I had so much adrenaline.

We also had a build day in Lebanon. We were split into 4 groups: 2 landscaping, one foundation laying, and one random group. I was in the random group and we did a lot of different things for the local habitat. After our build day a lot of people went to the Conneticut river and jumped off a roof into the river. My comparitive old age kept me out of that activity... Post roof jumping we had another community dinner with more gracious and kind people. It really is neat to see how many people are interested in what we are doing.

From Lebanon we headed west to Rochester, VT. This is the day our climbs changed from hills to mountains. It is called the "Green Mountain State" for a reason. It was also our first hot day. We all ended up stopping/walking our bikes several times on our first mountain. It was SOOO hard, but it was such a great feeling when we reached the top and realized we had just climbed a mountain. I'm hoping that feeling doesn't dissipate when we hit the Rockies...

In Rochester we stayed at a fellow cross-country cyclist's house. She is a diabetic and has made the cross-country trip several times, all in awareness for diabetes. Her son also rode with her one year when he was 13 and he told me about his adventure. Knowing that he made it and based on the advice he gave me, it gave me hope for the rest of us.

This is also the night that I bathed in a river. If you know me at all, let that sink in for a minute. I kept saying, "If only my friends could see me now."

From Rochester we rode to Silver Lake Bay. More hills, 2 more mountains. Believe it or not though, I am actually starting to get used to them and I can feel my legs getting stronger. We stayed at a really cool YMCA/resort on Lake George and there was a big triathlon going on there the next morning so the place was packed with cyclists. I also had my first turn on laundry duty here. It was an absolute disaster. We had to do laundry for all 30 of us in 4 machines and we ran out of detergent. A lovely man from the Y saved the day and ran next door and got us detergent.

Saturday morning unfortunately started with rain showers and more hills; one mountain. We stopped on the Hudson river for lunch and had to wait out a thunderstorm. After the rain passed we headed out for more hills again. It was along the Hudson though, so there was a lot of pretty scenery and people out rafting and what not. We also entered the Adirondacks. We ended in Indian Lake, where we were supposed to camp, but the Methodist church there saved the day and let us stay there since it was so wet outside.

Today was the best ride day by miles! Pun intended. We rode 75 miles today in perfect weather with only hills, no mountains. We had lunch on what I believe was "Sixth Lake" and a few people got in and swam. My legs hurt today from all the climbing the past week, but I can already tell that I am getting stronger. We ended in "Boonville" and I could not express to people how amusing that was to me. I will have pictures for you, Boon. We then had another wonderful meal provided by the church. And now I am heading upstairs to watch the movie "Breaking Away."

I cannot believe that I have already been riding for a week... Time is flying by.

"No Stopping Us"

Unfortunately, the theme of today's entry did not reflect what actually happened on the road today...

It was our first morning after a ride and I felt pretty good; no major complaints. I'm not going to lie though, the first 7 miles were tough. "Rolling hills" is not my least favorite phase in the English language.

I rode all day with Kat and Laura, and it was a lot of fun. The first half of the ride we went through woods and around a lake and the second half of the ride was a very scenic route that followed a river. The final ascent into New London, NH was brutal. I stopped four times on one hill and each time thought the end of my life was near. Once again, I should have done more hills in my training.

Once we got into town we showered at amazing showers. It is only 5 days into the trip and we are already raving about gym showers. We had our first "laundry day" and that was quite the sight. All of our dirty clothes go onto two tarps that 5 people take to the laundromat. I got all of my items back and I considered it a giant win.

After dinner we had a group outing to a bar down the street. We all walked back and chatted together and saw fields full of fireflies; pretty awesome.

More "rolling hills" tomorrow...

"Streetcorner Symphony"

"Streetcorner Symphony" just came on my iPod as I started to write this... I am taking that as a very good sign.

We dipped our wheels in the Atlantic this morning after a gorgeous ride to Newcastle, a village right outside of Portsmouth. We happened to ride the same route my dad and I rode Wednesday morning; thanks for driving me out here, mom and dad! After the "opening ceremonies" we headed west across New Hampshire.

Turns out, New Hampshire has a lot of hills... Training in the midwest/ on the trails of Minneapolis didn't really adequately prepare me. I eclipsed my entire training elevation in one day of riding. Oh well. I made it to Concorde in one piece though, so I considered it a good day. As of right now, I'm not sore at all (knock on wood), but that could be a different story tomorrow morning. Sidenote: Jenny, I have literally knocked on wood 10+ times to curtail any problems.

We also had our first true community/church dinner tonight and the people were fabulous. It was definitely a "warm and tingly" event and I loved it.

38 miles planned for tomorrow!