Cross Country: Riding the Final State
 

My Goodness.....who in their right mind would plan a century with 4400' of climbing on their 39th riding day********** All this riding must be getting deep into my brain cells and impairing my judgement!!!!!

Started in Albany, crossed the Hudson and followed Hwy 20 all the way into West Springfield. Really gorgeous route. Not as wide a shoulder in Ma but I never felt uncomfortable. I think I got on a short section of Hwy 20 where bicycles were not allowed but it wasn't all that long of a segment and the shoulders were super wide.

Two pretty good multi mile climbs today. One was climbing up to and past the state line. The second was doing the stair steps up the Jacobs Ladder Trail. For the first time the whole trip my legs screamed at me early and often. I was pedaling squares for sure. Then at 40 miles and after entering Massachusetts just like magic the old form returned. Go figure.

There were lots of tree lined roads today. The descent down Jacobs Ladder was along a rocky river and felt exactly like a mountain road I ride in NC. Leaves are probably a week away from any color.

Pics to follow!!!


Bike lane into downtown Albany
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Crossing the Hudson River


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View from NY/Massachusetts state line

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Pittsfield Country Club-reminds me of the group I play with in the mornings back home

http://i199.photobucket.com/albums/a...safnaqmsv.jpeg



Nice hilly section
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A quick rest stop in Chester for lemon cookies
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Sign in the last state!!

http://i199.photobucket.com/albums/a...sliwjs0ty.jpeg


Too funny........these fine folks let me in to use their rest room. Unbelievable.

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Cross Country: Riding the Final State

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Originally Posted by jppe (Post 19074635)

…we're closer to Boston and the Atlantic so all is good

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Originally Posted by dhender02 (Post 19043971)

I'm reading your post EVERYDAY and throughly enjoying it!!….Definitely living, errr riding, vicariously through you.

Keep the posts coming!!

Not sure what I'm going to do when you finally make it to Boston, maybe chair the JPPE Withdrawal Anonymous group..:)

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Originally Posted by Jim from Boston (Post 19044522)

jppe's junkies ? :innocent:

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Originally Posted by Jim from Boston (Post 19014590)

…My particular interest is spurred because my wife and I did a cross-country ride back in 1977, and,

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Originally Posted by jppe (Post 18361844)

If I were to do a route that finished near Boston could you provide local knowledge on cycling around that area? ...

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Originally Posted by Jim from Boston (Post 18361937)

Consider me as Metro Boston's Ambassador to BikeForums.

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@jppe is now in Massachusetts, and anticipates arriving in Boston on Sunday. We have made arrangements to meet in Wayland MA at this venue (see below) about 20 miles from the terminus, likely to become one of the National Shrines of his Route...jppe has put Route 20 on the map!

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Originally Posted by SteveB. (Post 19061166)

Please do not stop with these or make them shorter.They are true gems of the bicycling Internet.

I suspect that for years now, we will be referencing your posts for info on how Google helped, experiences thru Chicago, etc

Great stuff that I look forward to every day.

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+10. I’m particularly anticipating the post of his last leg of the trip. :D :(

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Originally Posted by Jim from Boston (Post 19022742)

It just occurred to me that this is the first time I have followed a tour (or long race, e.g. TdF, RAAM) consistently in approximately real time.

If I may ask, was the itinerary pre-planned, to the day?...point to point?...just starting and end points? No immediate reply necessary, but this is what I'll ask in Boston. :innocent:

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Oh no...
 

I'm not ready for your trip to end - it went way too fast!!

Still just taking it a day at a time!! I've tried to avoid looking ahead other than just getting hotels a day or two in advance. But, it looks like I'm running out of highway 20 East to ride on before too long.

Anyone want me to turn around and ride it the other direction back to Oregon???? I'm sure there are folks that have done something similar.

Maybe someone else can ride and I can do their posts for them???

I'm all for that:)

Ditto!!! Say it ain't so! Man I'm going to miss your daily post!!

JP, you've done something I've only dreamed of!! One day, I'm going to do it, probably a southern East to West route from Florida to Cali... Definitely won't be at the speed you accomplished it...I will be much slower... You rock!!

You sound like me a while back. Make sure you carve out time to actually do it!!!


I always thought I'd do a Southern route but the more I evaluated the options doing it more North was a better fit for me.

What a journey!

Be safe to the end.