There are several ways that I know a ride took it all out of me. A clear sign is when my riding shorts are caked with salt from lots of sweating. Another indication is a deep echo in my ears and my voice is cracked at the end of a ride, which Pam can always hear and tell that I am pooped. But today when I finally got to the ferry on the Vermont side of Lake Champlain after almost seven hours on the bike, everything got very bright, spots started to form before my eyes and I had to grab the rail of the ferry to keep from falling over. For the next twenty minutes, as I sat up on the second deck near the steering house, pushing fluids, I could tell that the effort and the heat had taken their toll. It was a tough day.
Pam, the boys and I are on the New York side of the lake at the Crater Club, a historic summer holiday community just south of Essex and about three kilometers from the ferry that crosses Lake Champlain to Charlotte in Vermont. So, this morning I left just after 7:00 am to catch the 7:30 ferry and start my ride just after 8:00 am. The day dawned warm and humid, with almost 90% humidity and temperatures creeping up past 30 and reaching a high of 33. Was this the day to climb two mountain passes??
The route for the day was a hyper-ambitious one. My interest had been piqued by the Tacx Addict’s group ride to climb the several gaps in Vermont in one day, but tempered by Joe’s unfortunate spill while descending Lincoln Gap, partway through the ride. Pam and I had vacationed up in Vermont three years ago and I had done most of the gaps, but realized that I had not done either the Lincoln or Appalachian Gaps (although we had driven the Lincoln Gap.) (Note: for those not familiar with the term “gap”, it is just a Vermont way to say “col” or a road that passes through the saddle between the mountains, linking one valley with another.)
Today’s ride was my attempt to ride from the western border of Vermont, at the lake and up through the rolling hills, ascend Lincoln Gap, descend the other side, ride north and return back across the Green Mountains climbing Appalachian Gap and returning to the ferry and home, about 138 km. The challenge was the total vertical climbing, not just the two gaps but also the up and down between Lake Champlain and mountains.
There is an excellent website that details that gaps and has some very good elevation profiles: http://www.northeastcycling.com/six_gaps.html
The way that the roads up the gaps in Vermont were built make them particularly challenging. While the elevation difference is not all that great, it is the grade of the pitches up toward the top that are daunting. Most of the climb is in the 8% to 10% range, which is doable with a compact crank or a third chain ring and something like a 25 or 27 in the back. But, when the road turns straight up and there are 18% and some 25% pitches, the road becomes sharply awful. I admit that I listen carefully for traffic and do a weave, lessening the grade by carving elegant zig-zags from side to side of the road on the “holy shit” parts. Today was tough because the roadway was wet from the morning’s rain and there were even green patches where mold was growing while ascending Lincoln Gap (it has been a wet summer). I bailed out a few times as my rear wheel started spinning and my forward momentum dropped to zero. Damn tough getting started again up the hill on a 20% or more grade and I did some running starts and elegant clip-ins to the pedals while avoiding coming again to a total halt up the road.
Here is the Google Earth “terrain” shot of Lincoln Gap. That squiggly purple going apparently straight up the ride is the road actually going straight up the ridge. If one looks carefully you can see the skid marks where Joe’s shoulder and helmet intersected with the road on the descent last May (in the reverse direction as my climb.)
The summit took me by surprise, as I was actually ready for another 100 meters or so of climbing. But, I passed this sign in disbelief and had to turn around and climb back up to take the picture since I thought that it might just be a hiking path up to the summit. But, no, it was the top:
The climb up Appalachian Gap was much more manageable, due in large part to the better condition of the road and space to do my weaving back and forth.
At the top of Appalachian Gap, there was another rider who had come up the western slope and who took this shot.
Unfortunately, my Garmin 705 somehow messed up the TCX file for the ride. However, I’m working to get it fixed and may be able to upload the stats for this adventure. My best guess is about 2200 meters of vertical climbing. I’d love to see the wattage, although I was trying to conserve energy during the day and keep things under 200 watts for everything but the really steep stuff.
During the last 20 km, I knew that the ferry was scheduled to leave Charlotte at 3:30 pm, so I hammered the last set of rolling hills. But, with about 5 km to go, I realized that even at my fastest I was not going to arrive at the dock in time, so I backed off. But, with 2 km to go there were suddenly about fifteen cars heading up the road from the ferry, which meant that it was behind schedule and had just discharged its load of vehicles. There was a shot! So, I somehow coaxed the last watts from some tired legs and pulled up to the ferry as the deckhands were pulling up the rope, gliding up onto the ramp with only moments to spare. (That was when everything went somewhat cosmic in my head, with lots of stars and sheets of white light. Not a good sign.)
Now three hours later, my kidneys are functioning again and Pam’s local corn on the cob and my grilled chicken were perfect for refueling. Now for a big bowl of sorbet and some oreos!
So, two gaps down and several more to go. Perhaps my quest during the next two weeks while here on holiday will be to summit another five or six of the gaps in the Green Mountain range. However, the next time I’ll make sure that I start my ride closer than in another state and eliminate the extra three hours of riding and 1000 meters of climbing before heading up over the gaps.
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