Radio Blog’s Bike Trip (day 5)
I had a day full of life lessons just waiting to be learned! (there, that sounds positive, right?)
It started out great…. going down Whitcomb Mtn in Florida Ma, with speeds up to 35mph. However a bike shop in Greenville, told me that I could NOT ride on Rt 2, so they gave me an alternative way.
Life Lesson #!: make sure your maps are up to date (my old map showed a skinny red line for rt 2, but it should have been a fat, divided-hoghway sort of line)
Anyway, this detour added about 10 miles to the trip…. and a REALLY LOT of grinding uphill miles.
Life Lesson #2: get a car, horse, motorcycle or hovercraft
I had another flat at the top of one of these hills.
Life Lesson #3: be sure to stop in bike stores everywhere and purchase a new tube.
Then (as I was driving past a desolate stretch of road) the violent thunderstorm hit. It was raining so much even cars slowed down! No shelter for me or the bike. So I just parked next to the guardrail and let the heavens dump on me.
Then I got something in my eye, so I couldn’t see the debris from the storm I was trying to miss.
Life lesson #4…. don’t ride in the rain.
I finally made it only 75 miles (in 9 hours) to a wonderful B & B in Barre, MA. (the Jenkins Family Inn and Restaurant) where the owners save my life (more or less) they washed my clothesl, rented me a room, fed me a fabulous dinner (I was starving) and provided me with a pair of very interesting table companions.
Life Lesson #5: stay at B and B’s if you can!No idea what happens tomorrow, but
Only one photo today, this Mohawk Trail Monument.
Mohawk Trail Monument, Charlemont, MA.
No idea what happens tomorrow, but I’m already looking forward to breakfast!
Bob you will be so learned at the end of this trip. You will share your wisdom with us and advance the path of humanity. By the way, your bit about using a guiderail for “protection” from the rain reminded me of a hitchhiking to Mexico episode I had…in Texas, in the summer, about 110 degrees, hot sun…dropped on the shoulder of a desert road where I waited for 2 hours under the “shadow” of a speed limit sign. My life lesson from this would be: always carry an umbrella, it helps rain or shine. (Please note: the hitchhiking took place many many many years ago.)
Oh! What Mother Nature does to us! The Adirondack weather followed you. How about a hail storm. Our boys (men) experienced that. Lucky for them an older man invited them into his trailer home for a cup of coffee while the storm passed by.