Life On A B-I7

Route

• CVT (Schuylerville to Ticonderoga)

Metrics

• Miles: 65
• Travel Time: All Day
• Terrain: Difficult

Note

• According to Socrates, “the unexamined life is not worth living.” In a small way, you could consider this blog to be my way of examining life.

Thought For The Day

• There is no distinction between your public life and your private life. Both should reflect what is best in you, and do so all of the time.

I started out today following the Hudson River and the Champlain Valley Canal. Somewhere along the way I lost them and entered the Adirondack Mountains. After a day of rest tomorrow, my next stop will be in Vermont. Vermont officially begins the final leg of my tour. If all goes according to plan, I will reach Bar Harbor on September 9th. That said, let’s not count Roger’s eggs before the chickens lay them.

My plan for tomorrow is to see Fort Ticonderoga and the Star Trek Museum. (There’s a combination for you…) if I don’t make it to Bar Harbor, you can come looking for me in the Star Trek Museum. (Perhaps I should have Scotty Beam-me to Bar Harbor?) if time allows, I’m going to clean the trail dust off the bike. I’m also looking forward to a nice dinner.

This was by far the most difficult day following the EVT and CVT Trails. Right from the start I was introduced to a hill that I had to push the bike up. We’re not talking Mountain pass, we’re just talking about 100 yards or so that are so steep you can’t ride even in the lowest gear. There were three of those. Those were not the only hills. There were long hills later in the day that could only be conquered by shifting down to the lowest gear and grinding it out for a mile or a mile and a half. this is not the best way to see the countryside because when you’re making your way up one of these, you’re simply looking at the ground in front of you. I lost count. It was standard issue for the last 25 miles. To make things even more interesting, I had to put the rain jacket on at least a half a dozen times.

Ten miles from Ticonderoga I realized I was losing focus. It was exhaustion, but I didn’t realize it. I got off the bike and made some rescue coffee. In case you’re not familiar with that term, it’s Starbucks instant coffee mixed with water from your water bottle. It did the trick for the next 5 miles. Then at 5 miles outside Ticonderoga I realized the root problem was hunger. I had depleted all of my energy stores. Caffeine is only good to wake you up and give you a quick, but short, energy boost. Once again, I got off the bike. This time I pulled a packet of instant oatmeal out of my kitchen bag. I added water from my water bottle and ate that. I carry brown sugar and cinnamon instant oatmeal. It’s quick acting and provides some longer lasting benefit. That got me back on the road and to my final destination.

One thing riding the ECT and the CVT has shown me is the pleasure of going for a walk every morning. On each day of my five days traveled on these two trails, I have seen numerous people out for a morning walk. They all greet me and look like they are enjoying themselves. Of course, having a nice trail to walk on is an incentive, but I’m sure the benefit is the same even if you don’t have a beautiful trail nearby.

If the name Ticonderoga sounds familiar, that’s because the iconic Dixon Ticonderoga pencil was named after the graphite that was mined and processed right here in Ticonderoga, New York.

Lock 6 on the Champlain Trail. Notice the menacing sky. If you can see rain on the horizon in that photo, you are correct.

Itinerary | Maps