Day 51, Brattleboro, VT to Manchester, NH
The countdown to the end continues at a fast and furious pace. The excitement and anticipation is palpable and there is now the realization that our merry band of bikers is soon to disperse and move back to their separate camps. The 86 miles from Brattleboro, VT to Manchester, NH was full of "fun" and surprises. Our hotel in Brattleboro was a mere .7 miles from the Connecticut River Bridge, the border between Vermont and New Hampshire.
With a slightly overcast sky and cool temperatures, I rolled out of the hotel parking lot with my underarmor shirt on beneath my jersey. Mike had briefed us that today would be a challenge because of the 6000 feet of climbing and the overall distance on the heels of yesterday's tough day. As I crossed the Connecticut River, I felt an emotion I can barely describe.
New Hampshire is my birth state and the home of my true roots. I have many cousins in NH and I have thousands of memories that my parents planted in my head over the years of this land of "Live Free or Die." My paternal grandfather was a logger in Vermont and my maternal grandfather worked in a paper mill and on the farm. I've always thought that key parts of my makeup today came from these hearty citizens who worked hard every day to make ends meet. And of course I recalled the stories and the pictures that my parents shared with me as I grew up. These and a thousand other thoughts were racing through my head as I pedaled toward the "Welcome to New Hampshire" sign.
Right after I took a couple of photos near the sign, I started pedaling up the hill and noticed that my rear wheel felt funny. I rode about another 100 yards and decided to stop for a better look. Long story short, my rear wheel axel and bearings were loose and the wheel was moving left and right about 1/8th inch. I called Mike in the van and he made it back to my position in about 15 minutes. He took a careful look at my wheel and decided to give me the loaner wheel for the ride to Manchester. Since my original rear wheel only had about 1500 miles on it (this is the one Arlene picked up in Fairview Heights, IL and drove to Quincy, IL when my first rear wheel broke near the rim), it should not have failed, but I figured I could take that up with Trek at a later date. I was just happy to get back on the road. Mike put the spare wheel on my bike and then discovered that the tire on this wheel had a bulge on the side and was about to explode. We quickly took this wheel off the bike, changed the tire, and remounted the bike.
It was now 7:36 am and all my friends were at least 36 minutes down the road (some left as early as 6:45), but I was just happy to be sitting on a bike seat instead of the seat in the green van! The state of New Hampshire is full of hills and mountains that climb reach over 6000 vertical feet. In Colorado, the base of the mountains are often around 5000-7500 feet above sea level and the tops stretch to above 14,000 feet. Here in New Hampshire, the bases are near sea level and stretch to above 6000 feet, making them just as imposing and grand. And because the mountains here are covered with thick evergreen firs and white birch trees, they have a "plush" feeling I've not experienced elsewhere. I relished every climb and tried to stay patient and measured as I trailed my teammates down the road to Manchester. The roads were very good and the clouds from the mountains kept us cool and efficient as we edged closer to the New Hampshire capitol.
Eventually, I found all my fellow cyclists and after carefully descending down a steep 2 mile dirt road (nicely hard packed), I saw Tim walking his bike along the side of the road. Turns out he had a flat and a whole in his tire and decided that with just a couple miles to the SAG stop, he was going to walk it in and get a new tire and tube. I thought 2 miles was a long way to walk myself so I raced to the rest stop, picked up a new foldable tire for him and went back to his position down the hill and around the corner. We changed the tire together and got him back on the road and up to the stop.
The next miles were so interesting and classic New England. Streams lightly singing in the background as I grunted and pushed down the road. To keep things light and all the riders on the right course, Mike posted more than the normal number of spray painted directions to include "AB (America by Bicycle) and Tim this way". Heh, heh, heh. The miles went quickly and the second SAG stop was at another spot in the road in the rural New Hampshire countryside. With just 20 miles to go and one serious climb, I was ready to get to the hotel. The climb was up "Joe English" Road and was really not nearly as tough as we had all expected. After climbing the Sierras in CA, Monarch Pass in CO and a few other hills, we were more than prepared for a very steep but half mile climb. With the help of a local lady's directions, I went up the hill and knocked the last day's challenge out of the way. As I cooled off and picked up the pace, I downshifted to get a little more push in my pedals. After I got my chain moved to the smallest sprocket on my rear cluster, I needed to shift it up to ascend a roller coming up fast. Unfortunately, my right shift lever that is combined with my right brake (one integral lever) would not move. I glanced down at my chain and even looked aft at my rear cluster of gears and I couldn't detect any obvious problems. After playing around with my left shift lever that controls the front derailleur, I realized I now had a 3 speed bike instead of a 27 speed bike. With about 10 miles to go, I hoped that the remaining hills were moderate because I had very few gears to go up a hill. The remaining terrain was slightly rolling and I was able to keep the bike moving smoothly by standing up just three or four times. As we inched closer to Manchester and civilization, the traffic also increased, but most appeared friendly and cyclist savvy. As I rolled into the hotel, I had one of my biggest sighs of relief in the last 3800 miles. I was now just one ride away from the Atlantic!
The hotel staff at the hotel was fantastic! They had a tent set up for us with rags and a hose ready to help clean our bikes, and they also had a bucket full of ice and drinks. And before I had the chance to buy beer for my buddies, the manager told me that "a lady from Alabama" was already on her way to do the same thing (friend of Johnny). Moments later, Kathy Terpstra and Scott's cousin, Shirley, walked into the hotel and hugs were exchanged all around! After getting this lay of the land, Tim and Marc rolled up and we decided to walk across the street and buy the Little Caesar’s $5 large pizza. As we ate and relaxed on a bench, we watched our fellow cyclists roll up and all faces were beaming. As the pizza, sodas and beer flowed, it was obvious that the troops were getting excited as we were now on the cusp of mission completion. About 3:30 pm, Mike rolled in with the van and requested we bring any maintenance issues to him now, so we could rest and get organized for our evening rap/dinner/presentation ceremony. Mike suggested I take my wheel that had the axel problem at the beginning of the day to the nearby bike shop and see it they could pull it apart and figure out what the problem was.
I'll make this short: the Manager of Naults Bike Shop, Dave O'Connell, looked at my wheel, immediately called the Trek District Manager, and got permission to pull a new wheel off a bike on his show room and handed it to me in about 30 minutes. This guy and his staff was so customer focused I nearly fell over. I had to laugh as Dave was describing my situation of riding across the country along with my problem with the wheel. He even tossed in ". . . and the guy is standing here wearing Lance's (Armstrong) Yellow Discovery/Trek Jersey!" Timing is everything! I left owing Dave O'Connell a thank you note down the road and a new wheel to get me the last few miles of the ride. The evening festivities were a hoot with Larry and the Clydesdales (David, Bill, and Scott) presenting themselves as the "Team Flomax" (Scott's small bladder was the inspiration here). Mike presented Slo' Joe with the map that tracked our progress over the last 52 days and he also gave Scott and Darryl the awards for most flat tires (headdresses made of tubes with punctures). As we each received our certificates of completion for making the journey, we expressed thanks to the staff for incredible support and had a moment to address our peers. I took the opportunity to give our 3 Brit friends small American flags I'd carried with me on my combat flying missions into Afghanistan while I flew C-130s for the US Air Force. I wanted them to have a small piece of America to take with them back to the UK.
Suffice it to say, we were all grateful for our experience and humbled by the opportunity.
I left the festivities and picked up Arlene from the nearby bus station following her trip to Endicott, NY for her niece, Jenna's wedding reception. We drove back to the hotel and began to organize for the last leg of this 52 day adventure.
With a slightly overcast sky and cool temperatures, I rolled out of the hotel parking lot with my underarmor shirt on beneath my jersey. Mike had briefed us that today would be a challenge because of the 6000 feet of climbing and the overall distance on the heels of yesterday's tough day. As I crossed the Connecticut River, I felt an emotion I can barely describe.
New Hampshire is my birth state and the home of my true roots. I have many cousins in NH and I have thousands of memories that my parents planted in my head over the years of this land of "Live Free or Die." My paternal grandfather was a logger in Vermont and my maternal grandfather worked in a paper mill and on the farm. I've always thought that key parts of my makeup today came from these hearty citizens who worked hard every day to make ends meet. And of course I recalled the stories and the pictures that my parents shared with me as I grew up. These and a thousand other thoughts were racing through my head as I pedaled toward the "Welcome to New Hampshire" sign.
Right after I took a couple of photos near the sign, I started pedaling up the hill and noticed that my rear wheel felt funny. I rode about another 100 yards and decided to stop for a better look. Long story short, my rear wheel axel and bearings were loose and the wheel was moving left and right about 1/8th inch. I called Mike in the van and he made it back to my position in about 15 minutes. He took a careful look at my wheel and decided to give me the loaner wheel for the ride to Manchester. Since my original rear wheel only had about 1500 miles on it (this is the one Arlene picked up in Fairview Heights, IL and drove to Quincy, IL when my first rear wheel broke near the rim), it should not have failed, but I figured I could take that up with Trek at a later date. I was just happy to get back on the road. Mike put the spare wheel on my bike and then discovered that the tire on this wheel had a bulge on the side and was about to explode. We quickly took this wheel off the bike, changed the tire, and remounted the bike.
It was now 7:36 am and all my friends were at least 36 minutes down the road (some left as early as 6:45), but I was just happy to be sitting on a bike seat instead of the seat in the green van! The state of New Hampshire is full of hills and mountains that climb reach over 6000 vertical feet. In Colorado, the base of the mountains are often around 5000-7500 feet above sea level and the tops stretch to above 14,000 feet. Here in New Hampshire, the bases are near sea level and stretch to above 6000 feet, making them just as imposing and grand. And because the mountains here are covered with thick evergreen firs and white birch trees, they have a "plush" feeling I've not experienced elsewhere. I relished every climb and tried to stay patient and measured as I trailed my teammates down the road to Manchester. The roads were very good and the clouds from the mountains kept us cool and efficient as we edged closer to the New Hampshire capitol.
Eventually, I found all my fellow cyclists and after carefully descending down a steep 2 mile dirt road (nicely hard packed), I saw Tim walking his bike along the side of the road. Turns out he had a flat and a whole in his tire and decided that with just a couple miles to the SAG stop, he was going to walk it in and get a new tire and tube. I thought 2 miles was a long way to walk myself so I raced to the rest stop, picked up a new foldable tire for him and went back to his position down the hill and around the corner. We changed the tire together and got him back on the road and up to the stop.
The next miles were so interesting and classic New England. Streams lightly singing in the background as I grunted and pushed down the road. To keep things light and all the riders on the right course, Mike posted more than the normal number of spray painted directions to include "AB (America by Bicycle) and Tim this way". Heh, heh, heh. The miles went quickly and the second SAG stop was at another spot in the road in the rural New Hampshire countryside. With just 20 miles to go and one serious climb, I was ready to get to the hotel. The climb was up "Joe English" Road and was really not nearly as tough as we had all expected. After climbing the Sierras in CA, Monarch Pass in CO and a few other hills, we were more than prepared for a very steep but half mile climb. With the help of a local lady's directions, I went up the hill and knocked the last day's challenge out of the way. As I cooled off and picked up the pace, I downshifted to get a little more push in my pedals. After I got my chain moved to the smallest sprocket on my rear cluster, I needed to shift it up to ascend a roller coming up fast. Unfortunately, my right shift lever that is combined with my right brake (one integral lever) would not move. I glanced down at my chain and even looked aft at my rear cluster of gears and I couldn't detect any obvious problems. After playing around with my left shift lever that controls the front derailleur, I realized I now had a 3 speed bike instead of a 27 speed bike. With about 10 miles to go, I hoped that the remaining hills were moderate because I had very few gears to go up a hill. The remaining terrain was slightly rolling and I was able to keep the bike moving smoothly by standing up just three or four times. As we inched closer to Manchester and civilization, the traffic also increased, but most appeared friendly and cyclist savvy. As I rolled into the hotel, I had one of my biggest sighs of relief in the last 3800 miles. I was now just one ride away from the Atlantic!
The hotel staff at the hotel was fantastic! They had a tent set up for us with rags and a hose ready to help clean our bikes, and they also had a bucket full of ice and drinks. And before I had the chance to buy beer for my buddies, the manager told me that "a lady from Alabama" was already on her way to do the same thing (friend of Johnny). Moments later, Kathy Terpstra and Scott's cousin, Shirley, walked into the hotel and hugs were exchanged all around! After getting this lay of the land, Tim and Marc rolled up and we decided to walk across the street and buy the Little Caesar’s $5 large pizza. As we ate and relaxed on a bench, we watched our fellow cyclists roll up and all faces were beaming. As the pizza, sodas and beer flowed, it was obvious that the troops were getting excited as we were now on the cusp of mission completion. About 3:30 pm, Mike rolled in with the van and requested we bring any maintenance issues to him now, so we could rest and get organized for our evening rap/dinner/presentation ceremony. Mike suggested I take my wheel that had the axel problem at the beginning of the day to the nearby bike shop and see it they could pull it apart and figure out what the problem was.
I'll make this short: the Manager of Naults Bike Shop, Dave O'Connell, looked at my wheel, immediately called the Trek District Manager, and got permission to pull a new wheel off a bike on his show room and handed it to me in about 30 minutes. This guy and his staff was so customer focused I nearly fell over. I had to laugh as Dave was describing my situation of riding across the country along with my problem with the wheel. He even tossed in ". . . and the guy is standing here wearing Lance's (Armstrong) Yellow Discovery/Trek Jersey!" Timing is everything! I left owing Dave O'Connell a thank you note down the road and a new wheel to get me the last few miles of the ride. The evening festivities were a hoot with Larry and the Clydesdales (David, Bill, and Scott) presenting themselves as the "Team Flomax" (Scott's small bladder was the inspiration here). Mike presented Slo' Joe with the map that tracked our progress over the last 52 days and he also gave Scott and Darryl the awards for most flat tires (headdresses made of tubes with punctures). As we each received our certificates of completion for making the journey, we expressed thanks to the staff for incredible support and had a moment to address our peers. I took the opportunity to give our 3 Brit friends small American flags I'd carried with me on my combat flying missions into Afghanistan while I flew C-130s for the US Air Force. I wanted them to have a small piece of America to take with them back to the UK.
Suffice it to say, we were all grateful for our experience and humbled by the opportunity.
I left the festivities and picked up Arlene from the nearby bus station following her trip to Endicott, NY for her niece, Jenna's wedding reception. We drove back to the hotel and began to organize for the last leg of this 52 day adventure.
posted by Steve King at 5:40 AM
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