May 22 Middlebury to Paradox Lake Campground

 Steve Powell joined the team today, so now we have 5 riders for the next several days (Thank you, Jill for bringing Steve our way!).  His impact was immediate.  It turns out that the ferry crossing Lake Champlain from Vermont to Tyconderoga, NY was out of service.  Steve had noticed a road sign on his drive to Middlebury from Ithaca the previous day.  After some verification with locals at the bagel shop, we found that sure enough.... ferry was not running.  I didn't even know that it was a ferry crossing, I just assumed it was a bridge.  Anyhow, it saved us nearly a full day ride by finding an alternative route before making the mistake of heading straight to Tyconderoga.  

The alternate route was still quite scenic and we made the crossing of Lake Champlain at His Majesty's Fort at Crown Point.  We had a nice picnic lunch on the NY side and eventually made our way to re-connecting to the Northern Tier Route on our way to Paradox Lake Campground.  The campground was nice with clean restrooms and showers, but the mosquitoes were hell.  We were joined in our campground by a few frogs, who probably came over to feast on the mosquitoes.  

Notables:

1)    We've completed Section #11 of the NTR (northern tier route), which ended at Tyconderoga.  Additionally, we completed 450 total miles and ascended over 30,000 feet.

2)    We've passed through 3 states now and entered our 4th.  Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont - check!

3).    Although the car has been convenient on occasions, we are excited to dump it so that we can all ride together rather than switching off drivers.  We will return it to Syracuse on May 26 am.

4)    One disappointment - there has been very few beers sampled.  Stores sell craft beers in 4-packs only and I'm not about to carry around 3 warm beers with me!  

May 21 - Rest n Nest to Middlebury, Vt

 We did the 70 mile ride (5k feet ascent) today.  The scenery did not disappoint.  I drove the rental car from the start point to South Royalton, which was about 21 miles, then unloaded my bike and started to backtrack on bike to join the group.  After returning to South Royalton, we bought snacks at the Cooperative Market and sandwiches at an adjacent delicatessen.  

I learned that South Royalton is believed to be the birthplace of Joseph Smith.  Later in our journey we ride through Palmira, NY which is another prominent site marking early origins of his church.

Anyhow, much of the ride ran adjacent to the White River.  It's so pleasant to have the sound of the river as a background during the ride.  Jake and I traded off and he drove the rental to the base of Middlebury Gap.  We all did the climb together to the gap, which was a very steep ascent, especially the last 3/4 mile. My cycling computer was hitting up to 15% pitch.  

We are staying at the Marriot Middlebury.  Bonnie's parents, Jill and Steve Powell drove into town from Ithaca NY and joined us after dinner.  Steve will ride with us until mid-NY where he will break off along with Bonnie and Alex.  They go to Ithaca and Jake and I move onward toward Buffalo on the Erie Canal trail.