Even though today's route was only 92 miles it seemed like a lot more. I'm not sure why except I think I'm getting tired from going too fast every day and my right knee is giving me grief from where I fell on it years ago. I think the cold weather this morning irritated it because once it warmed up it felt better. Six or seven hours a day of hard effort with no rest days and a lot of hills and mountains have put a lot of strain on the body.
Today we rode through valleys due north from Clark's Summit to Norwich. There were one or two big climbs but mostly just rolling hills. A bunch of riders took a wrong turn about 30 miles in to the day and as a result even though I was riding slower nursing my knee I made the correct turn and ended up being one of the first three finishers with Matt and Rich. The early finish allowed me to get some laundry done and get a head start on posting some photos.
I'll talk a little more about the Pactour organization. They have three vehicles and they basically leapfrog each other throughout the day to stay ahead of the lead riders and get the rest and lunch stops set up. Then at the end of the day the vehicle that pulls the trailer with our bags makes a beeline straight to the hotel. A couple of times we have arrived before room keys were available and few times we have unloaded bags for Lon while he checked in and got keys but he has been ahead of us every day except the rain day two days ago. That was a special circumstance because they were out helping people on the course but other than that day things have gone very smoothly with the support vehicles. They have that part of things down to a science.
Tomorrow is over 100 miles over to Clifton Park. The first half looks hilly followed by a big descent in to the Hudson River Valley and then flat the rest of the way in. The weather looks favorable for a good riding day.
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