Today I found a catapult.
Today was an excellent day of riding. The temps are finally starting to come down a bit. The sun felt amazing and the riding was challenging but yet very conquerable.
Left camp after dropping my bags off with Barb and Kurt again. After a quick gas station breakfast we headed off. Before too long came the first climb of the day. Remember how yesterday I said we had 10 miles to climb the ridge? Today that more or less same elevation was compacted into just 1 mile. Ooof. It was scenic but it was steep at times again approaching 20% grade. I also said last time that I had nothing to prove when i decided to walk it. While that is still true, I wanted to see of I could. So ever so slowly and in my lowest gear. I ground my way to the top. At times I used a trick where you wind back and forth the road. It lessens the steepness a touch by lengthening the distance you travel. I was so excited to reach the top. I can do it! I can conquer literal mountains.
Then it was onward. We meandered left right up and down. The surface switched between pavement and nice gravel. You had to be careful though. The heavy dappled shade would hide things including potholes or bumps. So you were always quickly making assumptions. At one point Jeff assumed wrong and almost got thrown off his bike. Thankfully he was alright though a few of the bags he was carrying emptied themselves. The road was quiet at that point so it was easy to gather them back up.
One big highlight was finding a trebuchet in the middle of the countryside! Its apparently a world record holder. The whole are seems to be part of the Extreme Pumpkin Chunkin team and has been made up with all sorts of castle discoveries. I've seen their event on TV so to find it in person was a really cool discovery.
Ended the day into Manchester on the Goffstown rail trail. This trail was in much better shape than yesterday's trail. Lots of people out and about enjoying an amazing day. One stretch in front of a landscaping company had been done up with pavers in all sorts of different colors and patterns. I thought it was brilliant.
We had supper at the local brewery and ended the night with a trip to Ben and Jerry's. I'm so used to them being in the freezer section that I was almost shocked to see a real brick and mortar location.
'til next time
-Matt
Miles Ridden Today: 61.06
Feet Climbed Today: 3,921
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