Day 2 of 8: Mt Monadnock to Woodford State Park, VT (~68mi)

Going into today we knew it would be the hardest day of our trip, seeing that we were staying at the highest state park in Vermont in the Green Mountains but we really didn't know how hard it was going to be. We also decided not to carry anything to make coffee with and hoped we would be able to stop in local coffee shops along the way and for the most part we found great ones. The first was called Jitter Beans with internet and computers available to the public, good coffee and lots of great seating and even a bookshelf filled with different books to read while you enjoy your coffee. At lunch time we were still thoroughly enjoying ourselves, the wonderful weather, the pretty straightforward terrain however we were so naive to what was to come.Soon after lunch we hit the Green Mountains, riding up hill at a steep 6-8% incline for 16mi straight, no flats, no downhills, and lots of false peaks! It was physically exhausting and mentally one of the hardest things to just keep goingBut eventually WE MADE IT and found out we had just climbed Hogback Mountain, with an elevation of 2350ft and we were both so excited because Woodford State Park (where we were staying) was only a couple hundred more feet compared at 2,500ft.
Well we found out from the nice lady working at the gift shop that yes Woodford State Park was only a couple hundred feet higher but we first had to bike down into the valley loosing most of the elevation we had just gained and then gain it all back and more. What horrible news, we were both exhausted and new we had a lot more to do before the end of the day. We rode down the west side of Hogback probably in 10min flat (what took us 2hrs to ride up) and while grocery shopping actually tried to find someone with a pickup truck to drive us the last 10mile. Looking back on it we were thankful no one offered because we did eventually make it, it was exhausting, we walked our bikes at times, David actually said at one point "I don't even have enough weight to push my pedal and make my bike move forward." David was carrying at least 50lbs on his bike and being a racing bike it's not set up for big climbs so he doesn't have a tiny gear in front to allow him to pedal quickly and gain slowly, he really had to pump hard to get up these hills. It was intense, but we took our time, even if it meant stopping every quarter mile.

After a very long and difficult day of pedaling we made it to Woodford State Park around 6:30pm, cooked up a great meal of veggie sausage in beans and rice, enjoyed a hot shower, set up our little tent and slept safe and dry as it poured outside again for the second night in a row!! What an incredible day!Lessons learned on day 2:
1. Even if not in incredible physical condition your body can do way more than you expect
2. Eating regularly and a lot is key to keeping up your energy
3. Taking regular breaks and walking your bike is not a shameful thing
4. God is blessing us with incredible weather and keeping us safe on this great adventure of ours

Day 1 of 8: camping at Mt Monadnock, NH

Well we have quite a lot of catching up to do which I will not do all today for the sake of time but let me start at the beginning. As many of you know David and I have been planning this trip for months and if finally came and now is done! Incredible. Day 1, my sister Colleen and her boyfriend Kerrick drove and camped with us at Mt Monadnock so that David and I would have a buffer for our trip depending on weather. Getting over 500mi in on bikes in 7 days without an extra day seemed a little nerve racking. So Friday July 24th we camped and when we went to bed it was clear skies filled with stars and around midnight we woke not just to rain but to a down pour that sounded more like we set up the tent under a waterfall. It was deafening and we couldn't even talk to each other, laying only inches from each other. It was crazy and a little nerve racking to start our trip, but we woke up to sun and assured ourselves that it was going to be awesome.Our tent in the distance at Mt Monadnock

Lessons for Day 1:
1. Always set up the tent fully even if it looks like it's going to be beautiful out
2. Always get a up to date weather report

Packing List:
4 pairs of socks and underwear
2 pairs of bike shorts
2 athletic shirts
1 set of pj's
cooking gear
tent
2 sleeping bags
2 sleeping pads
towels
toiletries
cash
passports (you now need one to get into Canada, crazy right)
book
maps
first aid kit
headlamps
cellphone & charger
camera & extra battery
extra tubes
extra tire
bike tools
waterbottles/camelbacks
bike pumps
trailer
2 bikes


More to come later!!!! If you have any questions feel free to ask :-)

Ontario Ho!

This will be a short blog. We just wanted to let you all know that we will be leaving on our long bike trip to Dundas, Ontario tonight. You can check out our itenerary by going to <http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&ie=UTF8&msa=0&msid=114592449823067519644.00046f723b7e02d816a3f&ll=43.317185,-73.66333&spn=4.276018,9.854736&z=7>

We will definitely give a detailed update of our ride when we get back with pictures and stories and the like.

Farewell!

Our trial ride

Our bikes all packed up

David and I decided a while ago that we would ride to our friends' Rachel & Steve's wedding in Deerfield, MA over 4th of July weekend. Well when we decided it seemed so far in the future that I didn't need to worry about it and then suddenly it was a week a way and then 4 days a way and then we were all of a sudden leaving the very next day. How did that happen? Because if this trip is coming up it also means that our trip to Hamilton, Ontario is just around the corner.

Our 4th of July weekend ended up being absolutely amazing, filled with adventure, sunshine, friends, happiness, camping, windy nights, camp fires, great food and company!!! We biked 75mi the majority being on Rt 2A on Friday from Littleton, MA where my mom graciously dropped us off, to Deerfield, MA. We decided biking from Lawrence was 1. way to far (~115mi) and 2. not as pretty a ride. It was a perfect day for a ride, we had some rain but only a couple short showers that we just ducked under trees to avoid but the sun felt so good and the breeze was wonderful. And we felt great being able to carry almost everything we needed for the weekend right on our bikes. We didn't carry everything though, we had Maryka, David's sister bring our wedding outfits and gift with her when she drove out on Saturday.

The wedding was also so wonderful. It was quite unique, 1. because despite David and I knowing both Rachel and Steve before they started dating not everyone did as is usual at a wedding. But this fact caused two groups of friends of ours to be invited to the wedding and 3 out of 4 of David's siblings were invited because they are good friends of Steve's or Rachels. This made the dynamic of the wedding really wonderful and there were so many people there that we hadn't seen for quite a while. There were also about 20 boys there, under the age of 8, all with blonde hair and blue eyes, it was quite incredible.

Hanging out during the reception

Tent City ours is the farthest one and the best one of course :-)

The wedding celebrations lasted all weekend, so many friends camped and enjoyed the wonderful weather and the great conference center where the wedding was. Located on top of Woolman Hill. It was beautiful, with tons of fruit trees and fields, fire flies and beautiful birds. There was also a local farmers market where many of us had lunch on Saturday and plenty of relaxing.

Rachel and Steve

Rachel relaxing before the big day

Henry and Uncle David

David and I at the Farmer's Market where we got the best Chipotle Honey Mustard

The bike ride home occured on Sunday and started out successful however I was very nervous because I know the first 25mi consisted of mostly up hill terrain, but we took one hill at a time and we made great time. We are pretty consistently riding at 15mph with gear on our bikes. But at the 25mi mark we stopped to get more water and David found a slash in his tire that hadn't popped the tube yet but was extremely dangerous. So we tried to track down an open bike shop on a holiday weekend and without any luck had to ask my sister to come pick us up in Athol, MA which was a disappointment but we are so glad we found the hole during a break and now going 32mph down some hill when it popped. And thankfully my sister is now able to come rescue us when we are stuck, which was awesome and we are so grateful to her. We promised her a night out on us!!! Hopefully we'll find time soon to hang out with her.


We both are very excited for the big upcoming trip, I just switched out my flat bars on my bike for drops so that is exciting and now we've done our test run and learned that we need to carry extra tires with us and I think we are ready to go :-)

Greater than 70...

Well as you all know David and I have been getting ready for our trip to Hamilton, Ontario this summer where we will be biking about 70mi a day for 7 days straight. Well yesterday we got serious and David came up with the idea to bike to Twist of Fate Farm (check out their website at Twistoffatefarm.com, it has their wonderful story on it). This farm is who our house has decided to support by buying all of our meat there. They are a small local farm located just northwest of Manchester, NH, who care for their animals, raise them on grass and medicate them only when they are sick. They also spent a lot of time deciding where to have their animals butchered, visiting many different placing and choosing a place in northern MA where Twist of Fate felt the butcher respected the animal up until the return of the meat. This farm is a great source to know about and support, starting out by raising animals for their own table it quickly became a small business for them providing meat for their friends, neighbors and now parts of MA.

We have loved all the products we have purchased from them and enjoy each visit

we make, which is about once every 6wks. This past visit it was David and I on our bikes. We had been sitting around the house the previous day, David being in between paint jobs and I patiently or not so patiently waiting for my license to show up. David thought it might be a good idea to take advantage of the good weather and get some riding it.

It was wonderful, the terrain was intense, with wall like hills that were longer than a mile and sections of pothole roads, but also beautiful landscapes. The weather was beautiful, the sun out and the breeze at our backs. Of course it was heartbreaking to show up at the farm, 36mi later to find out they aren't even open on Wednesday...ahhhh! Seriously, I was heartbroken, the ride there was hard enough but to not even achieve our goal, to bike all the way home empty handed. What a bummer. So we decided to stick around, it was about 11:15, we could realistically wait until 1pm to see if anyone showed up, there are a lot of animals that need taking care of so someone has to show up. So we did, and while we waited we checked out the animals who are so cute.

Baby Pigs, so small they have to sit in their dish to eat, I wanted to steal one.

Thankfully about an hour after waiting the owner of the farm showed up to feed the animals. Which I guess was pretty lucky for us because she now works full time outside of the farm so it's not often she shows up in the middle of the day like that. But we did get our meat, and successfully carried home 30lbs of frozen meat. David carrying most of the load on our trailer in a cool and I carried a small amount in my panniers, making the ride home that much harder but making us that much more proud of our feat!!!

David with the trailer filled with meat!

A Vacation

Hi everyone, as many of you know I have been studying frantically for the last few months for my licensure exam, well I took it last week and as of yet no word on pass or fail but I did take some time to go to Cape Cod over the weekend with David, which was wonderful. We played and relaxed with biking, mini golf, ice cream, wiffle ball, reading, good food and drink, sleeping in, afternoon naps, late night walks. All in all it was great!!!!

We biked 50mi on Saturday, exploring the awesome rail trails and saw a lot of Cape Cod wild life: a chipmunk which David sadly hit with his rear wheel after avoiding him with his front wheel, baby bunnies, a turtle the size of a silver dollar, a family of swans, lots of different birds and a house cat who had caught a full grown bunny. It was quite the eventful ride. We also visited some different small towns.

Downtown Chatham

Enjoying the sunshine in Chatham
The local Chatham beach that I also enjoyed a couple years ago with my family and grandparentsDavid looking like a babe at Oyster Pond where we ate lunch and went wading

New Paint 2009

Just yesterday David was a part of the New Paint Auction raising money for the Essex Art Center in Lawrence, MA which was so much fun. The auction has two components, a silent auction that artists can enter any of their pieces they've done in the past and a live auction also that has a very unique twist, 50% or 100% of the profit is donated to the essex art center. All the art in the live auction isdone the day of the auction. So artists were spread across Lawrence and the eastern half of MA painting local scenes of the unique New England Landscape we all love and David was working all day literally as the only photographer. He actually got up at 2am to make sure he had enough time to find the scene that was perfect, then process the negative, let the negative dry, print the photograph which can take a number of hours when working in the dark room making minor adjustments to the light to make it perfect and then working frantically with a hair dryer to dry the print to be able to matte and frame the piece all before 4pm and he did it.
The piece was absolutely beautiful, taken from a fire escape of the oldest mill in the nation, being sold for over $600 to one of the Eagle Tribune photographers who later came up to David complimenting him on his work. He also put one of his pieces taken in the White Mountains in the silent auction that also was bid on and sold, raising more than $400 for the Essex Art Center where David has printed all this year. All in all it was a successful night for him.

David's silent auction piece being hung right in the center of things

I also had a wonderful experience because I decided to volunteer to help prepare decorations set-up New Paint which took place in Jackson Lumber lumber yard. It was quite the transformation and a great way to connect with residents, employees and volunteers of the Lawrence community. All day we worked tirelessly to put up the monopoly themed decorations to transform the lumber yard into a elegant venue for an art auction.
Silent auction had over 40 pieces in it including painting, sculpture, photography, jewlery, and wood carvings

Hanging the entrance archway took about 9 of us and it took a while but we did it and it looked awesome!!

Location for the live auction

The entrance on both the left and right were the bios of the artist put on monopoly money

Henry and I were responsible for hanging all signs from the ceiling since he knew how to drive the lift and I was one of the few not afraid of heights. It was a great job.

5 "monopoly" pieces that were 5x5ft hung from the ceiling of the main live auction room

Sight of the silent auction prior to all the hard work to conceal the lumber in the background