Vermont & New York  Cycling Trip  Aug 2002 - page 1    Bob Schmidt & Rupa Hamal & CRES Cycling club

Background

14 Club members went on the trip:  Bob Schmidt, Rupa Hamal, Dave Jeffords, Tricia Kovacs, Bob Shamansky, Barb Renick, Jon Schaer, Jan, Karl King, Dave Brown, Patty Merry, Pam Oliver, Dave Nohle, and Marvin Darling.

Thanks to Barb Renick and Pam Oliver for doing much of the trip planning.  The route was selected for moderate distances - about 55 to 85 miles per day.  We basically circled around Lake Champlain counter clockwise, starting and ending at Whitehall NY on the Southern end of the lake.

3 Aug 2002- Gahanna Ohio

We rented our customary 15-passenger Van.  Dave and crew fitted the bike racks.  We got on the road early Saturday, stopping near Erie PA for Lunch.  By the time we reached Whitehall NY it was dark, around 10 PM.

4 Aug 2002 - Whitehall NY to Middlebury VT

Whitehall is an old town where warships were built during colonial times for the various battles that raged between French, English, and American troops for control of Lake Champlain.  Today pleasure boats head North to the Lake, or South through the Champlain canal toward the Hudson River.

Heading North from Whitehall we rode on backroads along the East side of Lake Champlain.  Hot and humid weather made for some challenging hill climbs, particularly on the tandem.  Along the route we stopped for an quick picnic lunch, then continued on to Larrabees point, which is connected via Ferry to the New York side.  The old stone building boasted a souvenir shop, but offered neither restrooms nor trash bins.  Apparently they want you to take care of all that on the New York side.  Continuing Northeast we tackled more hills before finally arriving in Middlebury.  The town has a nice river and waterfall, with arts and crafts shops occupying the old mill buildings.

Truth in Advertising

We stayed a few miles outside the town in the Blue Spruce Motel, where the service was less than satisfactory.  At dinner we saw a tourist pamphlet that promised "The best night you'll ever spend", excellent friendly service, and free coffee on request, none of which we had experienced in our lodgings.  Of course this pamphlet was indeed for our hotel, the infamous Blue Spruce.  They had carefully inked out the "Recommended by AAA" text on the bottom, but otherwise kept the advertising puffery intact.

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5 Aug 2002 - Middlebury VT to Burlington VT

Monday was another warm sunny day, and we had more hilly terrain to start the day.  We rode North to Chimney point, where there was a bridge with a formidable hill in it connecting the New York side. There was a state park with a monument to Samuel Champlain, and stone statues of him with his Indian guides underfoot.  We also encountered a work crew reconstructing an old French fort that once stood on the site.  They were replacing bricks that used to form large circular baking ovens.  By the afternoon, the heat was on and we were looking for a good place for a swim.  We didn't find anything that looked like a sandy beach, and one store owner warned of mussels that would "cut our feet".  We eventually found a local park along the water that had a bit of a dock you could walk out on.  The water was pleasantly cool, but the bottom had lots of algae and slime coated rocks that were hard on the feet.

Burlington had a pleasant downtown area with a very popular pedestrian mall.  We had dinner topped off with Ben and Jerry's ice cream, which has its headquarters in the area.

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6 Aug 2002 - Burlington VT to St. Jean sur-Richelieu Quebec

Tuesday started off with some hills in Burlington, but then flattened out as the day progressed.  Weather was cooler and cloudy.  We headed North along the lake, and got our first rainstorm of the week during lunch at a small cafe in Swanton.  There was some talk of taking the van, but after that the sun shone, and we thought we might avoid further storms.  We headed North and crossed the Canadian border.  The Canadian customs agent laughed at herself after asking if we were carrying cigarettes.  A few miles North of the border, scattered storms moved in again and we took shelter from a downpour huddled under a roof overhang.  This storm passed and it was off to the races again before the next one could catch us.  After another few miles, we ran into an old barn to wait out the next storm (see picture), which turned the weather much cooler.  Another storm and we ducked into a dairy barn, right near the milk pumping machinery, which turned out to be a pleasantly warm place to stay.

After this point, the storms became more numerous and the weather was much colder, plus the route seemed to take us directly into the wind, so we just kept going through the rain and headed into town.  This turned out to be an 85 mile day, with the major challenge being howling headwinds and cold rain.  When we finally got into St. Jean sur Richelieu, the sky cleared and the sun came out again.  This part of Quebec has interesting cultural blends - English and French town names just a few miles apart.  The terrain is basically flat and uninspiring, but French cultural differences made it an interesting day (not to mention the challenging weather).

Our rooms at "Auberge Harris" were small but the place was friendly and quaint.  The clerk offered us a place to park our bikes, offered wine, and told us we were "such dirty people" having become soaked and muddy riding through the rainstorm.  We warmed up in the sauna and then gathered for dinner.  On the way to the restaurant we passed on oddball tribute to Elvis; see photos.

We decided on French food, and had an excellent meal, though there was a substantial wait between courses.  Being a bunch of hungry cyclists, they would bring a serving, we would wolf it down in 30 seconds, then wait, stomachs growling, while chef Pierre carefully considered his next move.  This went on for about 3 hours, after which there was more gnashing of teeth getting the bills paid on U.S. credit cards.  All in all a fine meal, but it would help to be in the mood to savor it slowly :)

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