This web journal has Foreign Service Bicyclist
prominently in its title, and thus it should surprise no one that I
chose to celebrate my official retirement from the Department of State on August 31 by setting out on
my longest bicycle tour to date. I left Washington, DC, on August 31
and arrived at my retirement home north of Bangor, Maine, on October 2.
It was a journey of just over a month and 2495 km (1560 miles). I
transcribe below the day-by-day journal I kept along the way. It is a
chronological account focused on the technical, physical aspects of the
journey and may prove useful to others who set out on such a long tour.
I include notes on the route and my packing list at the end.
I may have more to write about the spiritual side at a later date. . . .
Saturday, August 31, 2019 -- Starting odometer reading: 4323 km
Done and the bicycle journey has begun!
I'm too heavily loaded, but oh well. I'll have to learn all over again. Traffic being shut down on Waugh Chapel Road in Gambrills, MD, was no help. Good thing I left my sister's early. I made it to the MARC train with just ten minutes to spare, but I made it!
Having RK waiting for me at Union Station was wonderful. Lunched at The Dubliner. Boarded The Capitol Limited
at 4:05pm and arrived in Harper's Ferry at 5:25. The station and
pedestrian bridge across the Potomac are very bike unfriendly, but
otherwise all worked like a charm. I'm already in my tent a few miles
above HF, and it is just 8pm. Tomorrow will be the first real travel
day.
Sunday, September 1, 2019 -- 4444 km
As of midnight last night, I am fully, completely free. I am no longer an employee of the U.S. Department of State. I am no longer a Foreign Service Officer.
Person
of note: Al at the hiker-biker above HF last night. He biked her from
New Hampshire, more or less doing the reverse of my ride.
Good distance today, more than I expected despite the heavy load. I'm camped just below Hancock. I could have continued into or beyond Hancock, but there was no point. I do not have the cabin in Little Orleans until Monday evening.
The canal towpath is in better shape than I remember. The washed-out portion around Big Slackwater has been repaired. There is no more long road detour as there was when I last went through here in 1991.
Monday, September 2, 2019
Good morning from the Park 'n Dine in Hancock! I haven't been here since 2000-2002 during what were for me difficult years. Despite that, I take comfort in revisiting familiar places now on my own terms but also not forgetting the good there was in those times.
Thursday, September 5, 2019
Little Orleans. I've already cried once this morning, and I sill have an entire day left. How many more tears will there be tomorrow morning?
I
finally understood why LO has been so special to me. It has been my
home, the one constant in twenty years of upheaval, change, and
transition. When I first came here in the late 1990s, I had no inkling
that my life was about to change radically. I had made my peace with my
marriage, my career, and my gender. Things would go on as they were to
the end of my days.
Fast forward to the week I spent here in 2004 between the end of my time at Computer Sciences Corp. and the start of my second career at state. If I had known how big a jolt this was going to be to my system, I would have gone running as fast as I could to the safety of the past. It was good I did not know. The peace, the передышка (breathing space) of that week at LO gave me the strength to endure what was about to come.
Then followed my week in September 2007. I was back from two years in Moscow and had decided to give divorce one last try. Again, if I had known what the next four years were to bring, I never would have set out on the path. The week in LO gave me inner strength to endure what was to come.
I spent only one night here in August 2014, but that too marked a transition. In fact, I had transitioned in 2011 in Romania and had just spent a very busy year as president of Glifaa. On the one hand it seemed that, with only five years left to go, my career was as good as over, but I had not a hint of the struggles, tears, and joy the next three years in Kazakhstan were to bring. The one night stay at LO with NN in August 2016 came on the eve of Project Sultana that was to bring its own trials, joys, and heartbreak.
That brings me to my rediscovery of LO when I spent three days here in June 2018. I had written my resignation letter and, with the peace I found at LO, had made peace with the ending of a career a year short of the finish line.
2018-19 brought a marathon of visits in October, February, and April as I endured the final year at State and a group living arrangement. The April visit was a celebration of family and friends. The image of M, T, FK, RK, and CT around the fire that Saturday evening is a memory that will remain engraved in my mind for years to come.
Through all these years of tumult, LO has been the constant, the one unchanging physical anchor. That is the very definition of home.
My visit this week marks yet another transition: retirement. With all the rush of my last month in DC, it is only here at LO that I am able to begin to take in the magnitude of this change. I am truly done with the world of work and career.
I always have tears in my eyes when I leave LO. I have even said goodbye before, certain I would not be returning. Thus I will not say goodbye
as I leave tomorrow even as I know the odds of future visits are
remote. I will leave with emotion, tears, and great thanks for all that
Little Orleans has given me in this life.
Tuesday, September 10, 2019
I
am camped less than 30 miles south of Pittsburgh. It's 8:15am, and I
would already be on my way if not for the damp. I'm waiting for the sun
to rise higher and dry out the tent. I'm using points to get a room at
the Hampton in Pittsburgh tonight, and the last thing I want to do is
to have to open the tent in my hotel room just to dry it out. Oh well,
it's a low distance day. There's no reason to rush.
All
is going well. Had a wonderful day with RK in Frostburg on Saturday.
Crossing the Eastern Continental Divide and going through the Big Savage
Tunnel was a thrill. Camping at Ohiopyle was a mistake. The area is
too touristed; the campground is a good (and expensive!) hike off the Great Allegheny Passage
rail trail; and the trail conditions are sandy. Traveling 26-27
km/hour, I took a curve at speed into deep sand. I lost control and had
my first bicycle spill since 2013 in Bucharest. I scraped my wrist and
wounded my pride.
Hurry up, sun! I want to get to Pittsburgh!
Thursday, September 12, 2019 -- 5004 km
Pittsburgh has come and gone, and today is FK's 5th birthday. I am spending the night at a campground in Mercer, PA, about halfway between Pittsburgh and Erie.
Getting
into and out of Pittsburgh was not fun. On the way in, the GAP
degrades into multi-use recreational paths (MURP) of the type we have
around DC that I oppose. At least I got to my Hampton early enough to
shower, do laundry, and make a quick trip to Point Park with good
memories of my first visit there with family in 2001.
Leaving Pittsburgh meant going through a not-pretty post-industrial landscape with more Ohio River crossings than I can remember. When dark clouds and thunder appeared at 4pm, I caved on my plans to camp and instead stayed with Pat and Tom at their B&B in Elliotsville. It was a good night, and they are a lovely couple. Still, lodging on this trip may be a major expense.
Today's ride was much more pleasant and scenic as it passed through Pennsylvania Dutch country. I passed many PA Dutch farms and even a schoolhouse where a boy yelled at me to go faster. The route, however, was anything but flat, and I swallowed my cyclist pride as I walked my loaded bike up more than one hill. When I arrived in Mercer around 3:30pm, I knew I was done for the day at only 40+ miles. The next town with a campground was another 15 miles away. I wouldn't make it before dark.
So here I sit as the light fails at 8pm, drinking my IPA reward of the day, thinking of RK and wishing he were here to share it with me.
Friday, September 13, 2019 -- 5081 km
$41 for a primitive campsite at a KOA in Meadville, PA. Talk about highway robbery!
Overall, however, it was a better day. I got started from the Mercer campground at 8:30am, road back to Mercer for a hearty Sheetz breakfast, and got underway fully by 10am. No wrong turns today, and the hills seemed more manageable. Only had to walk up one hear the end. There was one long stretch of grooved pavement that made for slow going, but that was it for bad road conditions. I could have gone even further, but after Meadville there is nowhere to stay until one almost reaches the lake.
Sunday, September 15, 2019 -- 5301 km
Had two wonderful days, first from Meadville to Erie and then from Erie into New York State. The night in Meadville was my first truly bad one. Stormed most of the night and kept me awake. Fortunately, my twelve year old tent still proved reasonably water resistant. (Note to self to seal the tent seams when I get home.)
The
ride to Erie, however, was bright, sunny, and wonderful, finally more
downhill than up. Rode out onto Presque Isle for the view. I spent an
excellent night with TT & TN and their three children, my first use
of the Warm Showers network.
I rode 123 km (75 miles) on Sunday, my longest single day ride since Astana to Akol, Kazakhstan, in 2016. A woman at the convenience store outside Erie insisted on paying for my breakfast.
I
crossed into NYS and spent the night at a campground on the shore of
Lake Erie. Andrey and Katya, the young couple camped next to me, were
Russians from Moscow on their first visit to the US! It felt good to
speak Russian. I watched the sun set over the lake. Bridget, herself a
solo camper, gave me two beers and a care package of snacks. We sat
together for the evening and swapped life stories.
Rained again overnight!
Monday, September 16, 2019 -- 5395 km
I'm
in Canada after another good biking day. If the mileage was less than
on Sunday, it was because of negotiating my way through Buffalo with
frequent map checks followed by walking the bike through passport
control and across the Peace Bridge. The final evening ride up the
Canadian side of the Niagara River was refreshing and beautiful.
I've now completed over 1000km (~ 600 miles). I am more than a third of the way through this trip.
PS -- Met D, a Venezuelan oil engineer. Woke with so much dew on the tent that it might as well have rained overnight . . . again!
Tuesday, September 17, 2019 -- 5490 km
This was another good mileage day, but not all of it was productive. I made a wrong turn not once but twice at the Canadian side of the Lewiston Bridge, thereby needlessly adding 5-8 miles to my day and causing me to stop sooner than I planned in Middleport, NY.
The Falls, of course, were beautiful. A plus side to my wrong turn in Canada is that I've camped this night for free at a lovely hiker-biker site along the Erie Canal.
Wednesday, September 18, 2019 -- 5592 km
It
was another metric century day, 102km, but it falls short of the 123km
record of last Sunday. Riding along the Erie Canal was beautiful, so
different from the C&O Canal with its mud, rocks, and roots. I
stopped early, somewhat after 4pm, to do a hotel night in Pittsford, NY,
and also to to laundry and Warm Shower host research that I should have
done before I left DC. Lodging -- camping included -- is the most
expensive part of a trip like this, and Warm Showers is the best way to
contain the cost. Using it, however, requires advance research.
Thursday, September 19, 2019 -- 5714 km
I'm
watching a beautiful sunset over Lake Ontario from Fair Haven State
Park where I'm camped for the night. At 121.3km, this was the second
best distance day I have had, only slightly less than a kilometer below
my best day.
The Erie Canal was wonderful as far as Rochester, but from there it descended into MURP-dom. It was good to get away from it today. The shore of Lake Ontario is gorgeous, I think more so than the Lake Erie shore.
Along the way I was passed by two men who are circumnavigating Lake Erie. They certainly were faster than me, but they were not carrying camping gear. Theirs is an entirely B&B and hotel trip.
PS -- It was so nice to wake up to a dry tent! Noticed that my right ankle is starting to ache as I pedal. . . .
Friday, September 20, 2019 -- 5833 km
At 118+ km, this was another 75 mile day, albeit probably the last one given that I enter the Adirondacks tomorrow. The terrain began to change as soon as I turned east from Lake Ontario, reminding me of Maine.
I camped at the Fiddler's Hall of Fame north of Osceola, but I hear no fiddling. The RV just down from me sports a Confederate flag, but the people are nice. Joe, the owner, charged me only $20 insofar as I am a solo woman on a bike. (Have there been others?) Tom, in another neighboring RV, gave me a table and chair for the night.
Alas, it looks like yet another dewy night.
Saturday, September 21, 2019 -- 5950 km
It was a gorgeous cycling day, this first day of autumn with the leaves more than just beginning to turn in upstate New York. I went much further than I expected, 117 km (~72 miles), despite a late start and despite entering the Adirondacks. I'm in Anne LaBastille country, and she has been on my mind all day.
In Osceola I met Pete, who is doing the support for three men riding the Norther Tier coast-to-coast route. Ironically, I think I road further than they did today despite being fully loaded with camping gear. I've now ridden over 1600 km (1000 miles) since leaving DC on August 31.
I am camped for **free** tonight at a NYS campground outside Inlet in the Adirondacks. The young woman at the registration booth said she just could not take money from a grandmother traveling by bicycle with a tent. She was my giver of trail magic at the end of this gorgeous day.
Sunday, September 22, 2019 -- 6045 km
This
was a lower distance day, 94 km (~57 miles), by intent. Through
Raquette Lake, Blue Mountain Lake, and Long Lake, the hills reminded me
of central Pennsylvania. The roads were heavily trafficked with town
people out to see the fall colors, and the shoulders and lane width left
something to be desired. These were not the best of cycling
conditions.
In Blue Hill I met Mary Jane, a kayaker camping at Davis Lake. In Long Lake I met Mark, another kayaker also out celebrating his retirement on September 11.
What made the day was my stopping point: Newcomb. The evening started badly when it turned out the full services promised in Newcomb by Adventure Cycling were a thing of the past. I even knocked at the door of a private citizen, Bonnie, who called ahead to verify that a new kayak store at the Hudson River bridge was open and had at least some food. Given the calories I have been burning and the voracious appetite it has engendered, going a night with granola bars as my only food would have been unbearable.
It's the campground that made this day. I'm watching the most beautiful sunset I have yet seen on this trip. It's дикий кемпинг (primitive camping) at
a NYS facility that is already closed for the season. It's on Harris
Lake that feeds the Hudson. I'm here all alone. I washed myself off by
lying down in the lake and splashing cool water over myself. I may
have had to contend with motorists through the day, but here I have
finally found true Anne LaBastille country in the Adirondacks.
Monday, September 23, 2019 -- 6125 km
Ticonderoga! I've made it to what has always been a psychological milestone for me on this trip. It was exactly 80 km (50 miles) from Newcomb to here . . . and there was not one single place to stop for coffee. It's a good thing I still had some bread and Nutella left from yesterday. I am now luxuriating at a McDonald's. I never thought I would be so happy to see a McD. Given the nature of my route, they have been few and far between. I think the last McD I saw was back around Buffalo.
I have checked into a Super 8 Motel for two nights. It's time for some rest and finding a laundromat.
Wednesday, September 25, 2019 -- 6176 km
I
had a good rest in Ticonderoga. I took care of laundry and visited the
Fort that I first saw with Ma, Dad, and my cousin in 1966 (67?). I
also sat out the rain in Ticonderoga.
Today's was a beautiful, short ride of only 51 km (~30 miles) from Ticonderoga to Middlebury, VT. I was the only passenger on the ferry crossing Lake Champlain! The Vermont side of the lake is so much softer, greener than the New York side.
I
spent the afternoon in Middlebury visiting the College to learn about
the summer Russian language program. Perhaps next summer? This is a специальное место (special place) for a close friend who spent his last summer here.
Miscommunication with my Warm Showers host led me to spend the night in a hotel when I had not expected to. I had given the wrong date to my WS host and couldn't reach her all through the day to see if I could spend the night. Once again, I am finding that WS is wonderful in theory but is problematic in practice. On my next journey I'll do better.
I also went to a local clinic to check out my achy ankle and bruise I have had on my right calf that appeared, I think, after my spill on the Great Allegheny Passage near Ohiopyle. (I believe the right handlebar hit my calf hard when I went over.) Thankfully, I was told it's not a serious injury and that I can continue on my way. Ibuprofen and leg elevation for the night are the guidance for the coming days. I am much relieved.
Thursday, September 26, 2019
Today
was the day I knew must come eventually: rain. The forecasts had said
only showers starting around 1pm, and I thought an early start would
keep me out of most of it. Wrong. I got to the top of Middlebury Gap
before noon, and that is where it began. The rain intensified as I came
down the eastern side. I stopped at a country store in Hancock for
coffee in hopes the showers would pass. When the sun seemed to be
trying to break through, I continued on my way. Mistake. The rain
started again, became steady, and continued that way until I reached my
stopping place in Bethel, where I have an inexpensive B&B for the
night. The rain was not exactly cold, but it certainly was not warm. I
was soaked through by the time I finished this 45-mile day. Sigh. I
always knew this day would come.
Vermont roads, or at least those I was on today, are among the worst I have experienced. The state roads are two lane with inconsistent, not-wide shoulders and heavy traffic including big trucks. This was not a fun day to be on two wheels.
As I write in the Cock a Doodle pizza parlor, the sun again seems to be trying to come out. What will tomorrow bring?
Friday, September 27, 2019 -- 6342 km
Tomorrow brought a better day. A wonderful breakfast prepared by S at the B&B in Bethel and a late start did not hold me back from a 55-mile day that brought better roads and sunny weather.
Along the way I met L who is riding the Northern Tier east to west. She started out from Maine a week ago. She is the first woman of my age I have encountered who is doing this journey solo. We stopped and compared notes for at least a half hour.
I crossed into New Hampshire and finished at a campground in North Haverhill. The highlight of the day was being invited to be part of a birthday celebration by my campground neighbors.
The weather has turned cooler, and the sun was down at 6:30pm. When I started this trip, sunset was at 7:15. Autumn moves apace.
Saturday, September 28, 2019
This was a low distance day by design, all of about 25+ miles to Lincoln, NH. From here to the east there are no services for 35+ of the hilliest miles -- make that mountainous miles -- that I will face on this trip. It made sense to use Lincoln as the jumping off point for the big day.
For the first time, I find myself wishing for rain. I booked myself into a not-cheap cheap motel because of yesterday's forecast for rain today. Lincoln is the Ocean City of Fall Foliage, and the prices prove it. I would have to show up here on a weekend during foliage season. Everywhere there are no-vacancy signs, and the traffic on this hilly day was heavy with foliage tourists.
All of that said, today's was a beautiful if hilly ride in the White Mountains. The road I was on intersected the Appalachian Trail. (Someday. . . .) The Whites are different from the Adirondacks of NY and the Greens of VT. The highlight of the day was buying apple cider from a children's roadside stand. Their dad told me they had pressed the cider themselves. Delicious.
I'm justified! Despite a beautiful, sunny ride, I'm now looking out the window at a light rain and dark skies as I wait for my pizza dinner.
Sunday, September 29, 2019 -- 6510 km
I'm
in Maine! It was a good day, far better than I expected, a 75-mile
day. To my own surprise, I did not need to walk up any portion of the
Kancamagus Pass. I pedalled all the way to 2855 feet. There were indeed
wonderful fall foliage mountain views. The only thing that spoiled it
was the heavy automobile traffic. I was up and over the Pass before
noon, and thus I shudder to think how much heavier the traffic would
have been in the afternoon.
The highlight of the day was crossing into Maine. The end is in sight now. I'm camped for the night on a lake in Naples, ME.
Monday, September 30, 2019 -- 6619 km
So
close but yet so far. Slow going Northern Tier roads in the morning
took time. I started moving faster when I said goodbye to the Northern
Tier in Lewiston and started up U.S. Route 202. The day produced a
metric century overall. I stopped at a Hampton Inn in Augusta due to
the forecast of rain,
Tuesday, October 1, 2019 -- 6740 km
I lost my race with Maine weather. Like clockwork, the turning of the calendar brought with it a cold, misty, showery day. I wore everything -- Gore-tex jacket, tights, and all -- as I left Augusta this morning. It was a day of 6+ hours slogging out the wet 75 miles to Bangor.
But I'm here, comfy in CG and NG's third floor guest bedroom, all showered, dried out, and fed. For the first time since RK was with me in Frostburg, I am with people I know and care about. The journey is almost over.
Wednesday, October 2, 2019 -- 6818 km (Note: Written on October 3.)
Done. I rolled into Burlington around 3:30pm. After a month and two days, some 2495 km (~1560 miles), I am home.
The
last day's ride of a bit under 50 miles was more difficult than I
expected. It was a chilly morning (~5C) with a good north headwind
fighting me and stinging my eyes as I rode up U.S. Rt. 2 along the
Penobscot River. It reminded me of riding in Astana. To my surprise,
the ride became easier when I got to Pasadumkeag and turned away from
the river. The wind relented, and the sun came out. The hillier ride
from Pasadumkeag to Burlington was the easier part.
I
stopped at the general store, ordered a pizza, said hello to my
neighbor, and rolled into my own yard. My month's adventure, the dream
of a lifetime, ended at my own front door.
Thursday, October 3, 2019
For a month my life was a simple one: get up before
sunrise, dry the tent, break camp, pedal hard for 50-75 miles, decide
where/how to spend the night, set up camp, eat, sleep, and repeat.
Through hikers on the Appalachian Trail report a re-entry
disorientation. I should not be surprised if I also feel somewhat disoriented to be back to normal life.
Yesterday I showered in time to see my own sunset, have a simple pizza dinner, and collapse. I slept for over nine hours, the body-clock's 5:30am wakeup finally turned off.
It is going to take some time to sort out my new life. I called the Subaru dealership in Bangor to see when the new car I ordered in August would be ready for delivery. I took perverse joy in the answer: no earlier than October 30. Since I can no longer legally drive Hillary, my 1991 station wagon, it means my life will be bicycle-centered for another four weeks. My weight dropped some 8-10 lbs all the way to 132 lbs during my month on the road, the lowest it has been since I joined the Foreign Service in 2004. Not having a car for the coming month should help me keep that weight from ballooning back. Even here in Maine I do not want my life to be car-centric.
The month's adventure is over. I cannot imagine a better way to separate my 15-year FS career from what comes next. It was a month of physical exertion that was pure in its simplicity, a simplicity that extended to the spirit as I leave the past behind and prepare, yet again in this life, to re-invent myself and prepare for the adventures to come.
The cue sheet maps from Adventure Cycling are indispensable on a trip like this. I can not praise the organization highly enough for the quality of the maps and for the list of services in the towns and hamlets the routes pass through. Only twice did I find the maps inaccurate, once due to road work that required a detour and the other in Newcomb, NY, when it turned out both the town's convenience store and diner had recently closed. If anyone is contemplating a trip such as this one, join Adventure Cycling.
The only negative thing I have to say about the Adventure Cycling routes is that at times they use two-lane country roads with poor, sometimes crumbling pavement and narrow. inconsistent shoulders. I actually preferred those country roads that had no shoulders at all, thereby making it clear that proper lane positioning was right in the center of the travel lane. When there were shoulders on these 2-lane roads, I would compromise by using the shoulders on long, slow uphill climbs and then moving into the travel lane for faster flat and downhill portions.
My comment on the roads comes, I believe, from Adventure Cycling's choice of scenic routes over multi-lane arterials. Once because of a detour and on 2-3 other occasions by conscious choice, I diverged from the cue sheets to use parallel multi-lane arterials. From Lewiston, ME, to my home, I was entirely on U.S. routes of my own choosing.
My Rivendell Atlantis touring bike was perfect for a trip such as this one.
One frustration I experienced was the WarmShowers network. Using WarmShowers is not as easy as logging into Booking.com at the end of the day and looking for a nearby hotel room. In 20-20 hindsight, I should have researched and contacted WS hosts along my route before I left DC. In the end I had only one WS stay. It was a wonderful, memorable night with a family in Erie, PA. My other attempts to use WS failed either due to miscommunication on my end or to my overshooting the town where the WS host lived and continuing on to a campground further down the road. Poor cell phone service along much of the route made contacting WS hosts that much more difficult.
That said, I look forward to being a WS host myself and to doing my WS research before my next trip. Making good use of WS is the best way I know to limit lodging costs that are the biggest expense on a trip of this type.
I regret my trip was not longer. I was itching to get on the road all through July and August but was still tied to a job and career. Starting out as I did on August 31, I knew I was in a race against New England weather. My coldest, wettest days were in Vermont and Maine. Liberated as I am now from a desk, I look to return to the Northern Tier and complete the full transcontinental route in the next 1-3 years.
For the record, here is what was packed in my panniers when I pulled into my driveway in Maine. What I still had with the bike at this point was, I believe, just what I needed, nothing more and nothing less.
Front Left Pannier
Front Right Pannier
Rear Left Pannier
Rear Right Pannier
Front Rack Trunk
I may have more to write about the spiritual side at a later date. . . .
Saturday, August 31, 2019 -- Starting odometer reading: 4323 km
Done and the bicycle journey has begun!
I'm too heavily loaded, but oh well. I'll have to learn all over again. Traffic being shut down on Waugh Chapel Road in Gambrills, MD, was no help. Good thing I left my sister's early. I made it to the MARC train with just ten minutes to spare, but I made it!
Sunday, September 1, 2019 -- 4444 km
As of midnight last night, I am fully, completely free. I am no longer an employee of the U.S. Department of State. I am no longer a Foreign Service Officer.
Good distance today, more than I expected despite the heavy load. I'm camped just below Hancock. I could have continued into or beyond Hancock, but there was no point. I do not have the cabin in Little Orleans until Monday evening.
The canal towpath is in better shape than I remember. The washed-out portion around Big Slackwater has been repaired. There is no more long road detour as there was when I last went through here in 1991.
Monday, September 2, 2019
Good morning from the Park 'n Dine in Hancock! I haven't been here since 2000-2002 during what were for me difficult years. Despite that, I take comfort in revisiting familiar places now on my own terms but also not forgetting the good there was in those times.
Thursday, September 5, 2019
Little Orleans. I've already cried once this morning, and I sill have an entire day left. How many more tears will there be tomorrow morning?
Fast forward to the week I spent here in 2004 between the end of my time at Computer Sciences Corp. and the start of my second career at state. If I had known how big a jolt this was going to be to my system, I would have gone running as fast as I could to the safety of the past. It was good I did not know. The peace, the передышка (breathing space) of that week at LO gave me the strength to endure what was about to come.
Then followed my week in September 2007. I was back from two years in Moscow and had decided to give divorce one last try. Again, if I had known what the next four years were to bring, I never would have set out on the path. The week in LO gave me inner strength to endure what was to come.
I spent only one night here in August 2014, but that too marked a transition. In fact, I had transitioned in 2011 in Romania and had just spent a very busy year as president of Glifaa. On the one hand it seemed that, with only five years left to go, my career was as good as over, but I had not a hint of the struggles, tears, and joy the next three years in Kazakhstan were to bring. The one night stay at LO with NN in August 2016 came on the eve of Project Sultana that was to bring its own trials, joys, and heartbreak.
That brings me to my rediscovery of LO when I spent three days here in June 2018. I had written my resignation letter and, with the peace I found at LO, had made peace with the ending of a career a year short of the finish line.
2018-19 brought a marathon of visits in October, February, and April as I endured the final year at State and a group living arrangement. The April visit was a celebration of family and friends. The image of M, T, FK, RK, and CT around the fire that Saturday evening is a memory that will remain engraved in my mind for years to come.
Through all these years of tumult, LO has been the constant, the one unchanging physical anchor. That is the very definition of home.
My visit this week marks yet another transition: retirement. With all the rush of my last month in DC, it is only here at LO that I am able to begin to take in the magnitude of this change. I am truly done with the world of work and career.
Tuesday, September 10, 2019
I
am camped less than 30 miles south of Pittsburgh. It's 8:15am, and I
would already be on my way if not for the damp. I'm waiting for the sun
to rise higher and dry out the tent. I'm using points to get a room at
the Hampton in Pittsburgh tonight, and the last thing I want to do is
to have to open the tent in my hotel room just to dry it out. Oh well,
it's a low distance day. There's no reason to rush.
All
is going well. Had a wonderful day with RK in Frostburg on Saturday.
Crossing the Eastern Continental Divide and going through the Big Savage
Tunnel was a thrill. Camping at Ohiopyle was a mistake. The area is
too touristed; the campground is a good (and expensive!) hike off the Great Allegheny Passage
rail trail; and the trail conditions are sandy. Traveling 26-27
km/hour, I took a curve at speed into deep sand. I lost control and had
my first bicycle spill since 2013 in Bucharest. I scraped my wrist and
wounded my pride.Hurry up, sun! I want to get to Pittsburgh!
Thursday, September 12, 2019 -- 5004 km
Pittsburgh has come and gone, and today is FK's 5th birthday. I am spending the night at a campground in Mercer, PA, about halfway between Pittsburgh and Erie.
Leaving Pittsburgh meant going through a not-pretty post-industrial landscape with more Ohio River crossings than I can remember. When dark clouds and thunder appeared at 4pm, I caved on my plans to camp and instead stayed with Pat and Tom at their B&B in Elliotsville. It was a good night, and they are a lovely couple. Still, lodging on this trip may be a major expense.
Today's ride was much more pleasant and scenic as it passed through Pennsylvania Dutch country. I passed many PA Dutch farms and even a schoolhouse where a boy yelled at me to go faster. The route, however, was anything but flat, and I swallowed my cyclist pride as I walked my loaded bike up more than one hill. When I arrived in Mercer around 3:30pm, I knew I was done for the day at only 40+ miles. The next town with a campground was another 15 miles away. I wouldn't make it before dark.
So here I sit as the light fails at 8pm, drinking my IPA reward of the day, thinking of RK and wishing he were here to share it with me.
Friday, September 13, 2019 -- 5081 km
$41 for a primitive campsite at a KOA in Meadville, PA. Talk about highway robbery!
Overall, however, it was a better day. I got started from the Mercer campground at 8:30am, road back to Mercer for a hearty Sheetz breakfast, and got underway fully by 10am. No wrong turns today, and the hills seemed more manageable. Only had to walk up one hear the end. There was one long stretch of grooved pavement that made for slow going, but that was it for bad road conditions. I could have gone even further, but after Meadville there is nowhere to stay until one almost reaches the lake.
Sunday, September 15, 2019 -- 5301 km
Had two wonderful days, first from Meadville to Erie and then from Erie into New York State. The night in Meadville was my first truly bad one. Stormed most of the night and kept me awake. Fortunately, my twelve year old tent still proved reasonably water resistant. (Note to self to seal the tent seams when I get home.)
The
ride to Erie, however, was bright, sunny, and wonderful, finally more
downhill than up. Rode out onto Presque Isle for the view. I spent an
excellent night with TT & TN and their three children, my first use
of the Warm Showers network.I rode 123 km (75 miles) on Sunday, my longest single day ride since Astana to Akol, Kazakhstan, in 2016. A woman at the convenience store outside Erie insisted on paying for my breakfast.
I
crossed into NYS and spent the night at a campground on the shore of
Lake Erie. Andrey and Katya, the young couple camped next to me, were
Russians from Moscow on their first visit to the US! It felt good to
speak Russian. I watched the sun set over the lake. Bridget, herself a
solo camper, gave me two beers and a care package of snacks. We sat
together for the evening and swapped life stories.Rained again overnight!
Monday, September 16, 2019 -- 5395 km
I'm
in Canada after another good biking day. If the mileage was less than
on Sunday, it was because of negotiating my way through Buffalo with
frequent map checks followed by walking the bike through passport
control and across the Peace Bridge. The final evening ride up the
Canadian side of the Niagara River was refreshing and beautiful.
I've now completed over 1000km (~ 600 miles). I am more than a third of the way through this trip.PS -- Met D, a Venezuelan oil engineer. Woke with so much dew on the tent that it might as well have rained overnight . . . again!
Tuesday, September 17, 2019 -- 5490 km
This was another good mileage day, but not all of it was productive. I made a wrong turn not once but twice at the Canadian side of the Lewiston Bridge, thereby needlessly adding 5-8 miles to my day and causing me to stop sooner than I planned in Middleport, NY.
The Falls, of course, were beautiful. A plus side to my wrong turn in Canada is that I've camped this night for free at a lovely hiker-biker site along the Erie Canal.
Wednesday, September 18, 2019 -- 5592 km
It
was another metric century day, 102km, but it falls short of the 123km
record of last Sunday. Riding along the Erie Canal was beautiful, so
different from the C&O Canal with its mud, rocks, and roots. I
stopped early, somewhat after 4pm, to do a hotel night in Pittsford, NY,
and also to to laundry and Warm Shower host research that I should have
done before I left DC. Lodging -- camping included -- is the most
expensive part of a trip like this, and Warm Showers is the best way to
contain the cost. Using it, however, requires advance research.Thursday, September 19, 2019 -- 5714 km
I'm
watching a beautiful sunset over Lake Ontario from Fair Haven State
Park where I'm camped for the night. At 121.3km, this was the second
best distance day I have had, only slightly less than a kilometer below
my best day.The Erie Canal was wonderful as far as Rochester, but from there it descended into MURP-dom. It was good to get away from it today. The shore of Lake Ontario is gorgeous, I think more so than the Lake Erie shore.
Along the way I was passed by two men who are circumnavigating Lake Erie. They certainly were faster than me, but they were not carrying camping gear. Theirs is an entirely B&B and hotel trip.
PS -- It was so nice to wake up to a dry tent! Noticed that my right ankle is starting to ache as I pedal. . . .
Friday, September 20, 2019 -- 5833 km
At 118+ km, this was another 75 mile day, albeit probably the last one given that I enter the Adirondacks tomorrow. The terrain began to change as soon as I turned east from Lake Ontario, reminding me of Maine.
I camped at the Fiddler's Hall of Fame north of Osceola, but I hear no fiddling. The RV just down from me sports a Confederate flag, but the people are nice. Joe, the owner, charged me only $20 insofar as I am a solo woman on a bike. (Have there been others?) Tom, in another neighboring RV, gave me a table and chair for the night.
Alas, it looks like yet another dewy night.
Saturday, September 21, 2019 -- 5950 km
It was a gorgeous cycling day, this first day of autumn with the leaves more than just beginning to turn in upstate New York. I went much further than I expected, 117 km (~72 miles), despite a late start and despite entering the Adirondacks. I'm in Anne LaBastille country, and she has been on my mind all day.
In Osceola I met Pete, who is doing the support for three men riding the Norther Tier coast-to-coast route. Ironically, I think I road further than they did today despite being fully loaded with camping gear. I've now ridden over 1600 km (1000 miles) since leaving DC on August 31.
I am camped for **free** tonight at a NYS campground outside Inlet in the Adirondacks. The young woman at the registration booth said she just could not take money from a grandmother traveling by bicycle with a tent. She was my giver of trail magic at the end of this gorgeous day.
Sunday, September 22, 2019 -- 6045 km
This
was a lower distance day, 94 km (~57 miles), by intent. Through
Raquette Lake, Blue Mountain Lake, and Long Lake, the hills reminded me
of central Pennsylvania. The roads were heavily trafficked with town
people out to see the fall colors, and the shoulders and lane width left
something to be desired. These were not the best of cycling
conditions.In Blue Hill I met Mary Jane, a kayaker camping at Davis Lake. In Long Lake I met Mark, another kayaker also out celebrating his retirement on September 11.
What made the day was my stopping point: Newcomb. The evening started badly when it turned out the full services promised in Newcomb by Adventure Cycling were a thing of the past. I even knocked at the door of a private citizen, Bonnie, who called ahead to verify that a new kayak store at the Hudson River bridge was open and had at least some food. Given the calories I have been burning and the voracious appetite it has engendered, going a night with granola bars as my only food would have been unbearable.
It's the campground that made this day. I'm watching the most beautiful sunset I have yet seen on this trip. It's дикий кемпинг (primitive camping) at
a NYS facility that is already closed for the season. It's on Harris
Lake that feeds the Hudson. I'm here all alone. I washed myself off by
lying down in the lake and splashing cool water over myself. I may
have had to contend with motorists through the day, but here I have
finally found true Anne LaBastille country in the Adirondacks.Monday, September 23, 2019 -- 6125 km
Ticonderoga! I've made it to what has always been a psychological milestone for me on this trip. It was exactly 80 km (50 miles) from Newcomb to here . . . and there was not one single place to stop for coffee. It's a good thing I still had some bread and Nutella left from yesterday. I am now luxuriating at a McDonald's. I never thought I would be so happy to see a McD. Given the nature of my route, they have been few and far between. I think the last McD I saw was back around Buffalo.
I have checked into a Super 8 Motel for two nights. It's time for some rest and finding a laundromat.
Wednesday, September 25, 2019 -- 6176 km
I
had a good rest in Ticonderoga. I took care of laundry and visited the
Fort that I first saw with Ma, Dad, and my cousin in 1966 (67?). I
also sat out the rain in Ticonderoga. Today's was a beautiful, short ride of only 51 km (~30 miles) from Ticonderoga to Middlebury, VT. I was the only passenger on the ferry crossing Lake Champlain! The Vermont side of the lake is so much softer, greener than the New York side.
Miscommunication with my Warm Showers host led me to spend the night in a hotel when I had not expected to. I had given the wrong date to my WS host and couldn't reach her all through the day to see if I could spend the night. Once again, I am finding that WS is wonderful in theory but is problematic in practice. On my next journey I'll do better.
I also went to a local clinic to check out my achy ankle and bruise I have had on my right calf that appeared, I think, after my spill on the Great Allegheny Passage near Ohiopyle. (I believe the right handlebar hit my calf hard when I went over.) Thankfully, I was told it's not a serious injury and that I can continue on my way. Ibuprofen and leg elevation for the night are the guidance for the coming days. I am much relieved.
Thursday, September 26, 2019
Today
was the day I knew must come eventually: rain. The forecasts had said
only showers starting around 1pm, and I thought an early start would
keep me out of most of it. Wrong. I got to the top of Middlebury Gap
before noon, and that is where it began. The rain intensified as I came
down the eastern side. I stopped at a country store in Hancock for
coffee in hopes the showers would pass. When the sun seemed to be
trying to break through, I continued on my way. Mistake. The rain
started again, became steady, and continued that way until I reached my
stopping place in Bethel, where I have an inexpensive B&B for the
night. The rain was not exactly cold, but it certainly was not warm. I
was soaked through by the time I finished this 45-mile day. Sigh. I
always knew this day would come.Vermont roads, or at least those I was on today, are among the worst I have experienced. The state roads are two lane with inconsistent, not-wide shoulders and heavy traffic including big trucks. This was not a fun day to be on two wheels.
As I write in the Cock a Doodle pizza parlor, the sun again seems to be trying to come out. What will tomorrow bring?
Friday, September 27, 2019 -- 6342 km
Tomorrow brought a better day. A wonderful breakfast prepared by S at the B&B in Bethel and a late start did not hold me back from a 55-mile day that brought better roads and sunny weather.
Along the way I met L who is riding the Northern Tier east to west. She started out from Maine a week ago. She is the first woman of my age I have encountered who is doing this journey solo. We stopped and compared notes for at least a half hour.
I crossed into New Hampshire and finished at a campground in North Haverhill. The highlight of the day was being invited to be part of a birthday celebration by my campground neighbors.
The weather has turned cooler, and the sun was down at 6:30pm. When I started this trip, sunset was at 7:15. Autumn moves apace.
Saturday, September 28, 2019
This was a low distance day by design, all of about 25+ miles to Lincoln, NH. From here to the east there are no services for 35+ of the hilliest miles -- make that mountainous miles -- that I will face on this trip. It made sense to use Lincoln as the jumping off point for the big day.
For the first time, I find myself wishing for rain. I booked myself into a not-cheap cheap motel because of yesterday's forecast for rain today. Lincoln is the Ocean City of Fall Foliage, and the prices prove it. I would have to show up here on a weekend during foliage season. Everywhere there are no-vacancy signs, and the traffic on this hilly day was heavy with foliage tourists.
All of that said, today's was a beautiful if hilly ride in the White Mountains. The road I was on intersected the Appalachian Trail. (Someday. . . .) The Whites are different from the Adirondacks of NY and the Greens of VT. The highlight of the day was buying apple cider from a children's roadside stand. Their dad told me they had pressed the cider themselves. Delicious.
I'm justified! Despite a beautiful, sunny ride, I'm now looking out the window at a light rain and dark skies as I wait for my pizza dinner.
Sunday, September 29, 2019 -- 6510 km
I'm
in Maine! It was a good day, far better than I expected, a 75-mile
day. To my own surprise, I did not need to walk up any portion of the
Kancamagus Pass. I pedalled all the way to 2855 feet. There were indeed
wonderful fall foliage mountain views. The only thing that spoiled it
was the heavy automobile traffic. I was up and over the Pass before
noon, and thus I shudder to think how much heavier the traffic would
have been in the afternoon.
The highlight of the day was crossing into Maine. The end is in sight now. I'm camped for the night on a lake in Naples, ME.Monday, September 30, 2019 -- 6619 km
So
close but yet so far. Slow going Northern Tier roads in the morning
took time. I started moving faster when I said goodbye to the Northern
Tier in Lewiston and started up U.S. Route 202. The day produced a
metric century overall. I stopped at a Hampton Inn in Augusta due to
the forecast of rain, Tuesday, October 1, 2019 -- 6740 km
I lost my race with Maine weather. Like clockwork, the turning of the calendar brought with it a cold, misty, showery day. I wore everything -- Gore-tex jacket, tights, and all -- as I left Augusta this morning. It was a day of 6+ hours slogging out the wet 75 miles to Bangor.
But I'm here, comfy in CG and NG's third floor guest bedroom, all showered, dried out, and fed. For the first time since RK was with me in Frostburg, I am with people I know and care about. The journey is almost over.
Wednesday, October 2, 2019 -- 6818 km (Note: Written on October 3.)
Done. I rolled into Burlington around 3:30pm. After a month and two days, some 2495 km (~1560 miles), I am home.
Thursday, October 3, 2019
For a month my life was a simple one: get up before
sunrise, dry the tent, break camp, pedal hard for 50-75 miles, decide
where/how to spend the night, set up camp, eat, sleep, and repeat.
Through hikers on the Appalachian Trail report a re-entry
disorientation. I should not be surprised if I also feel somewhat disoriented to be back to normal life.Yesterday I showered in time to see my own sunset, have a simple pizza dinner, and collapse. I slept for over nine hours, the body-clock's 5:30am wakeup finally turned off.
It is going to take some time to sort out my new life. I called the Subaru dealership in Bangor to see when the new car I ordered in August would be ready for delivery. I took perverse joy in the answer: no earlier than October 30. Since I can no longer legally drive Hillary, my 1991 station wagon, it means my life will be bicycle-centered for another four weeks. My weight dropped some 8-10 lbs all the way to 132 lbs during my month on the road, the lowest it has been since I joined the Foreign Service in 2004. Not having a car for the coming month should help me keep that weight from ballooning back. Even here in Maine I do not want my life to be car-centric.
The month's adventure is over. I cannot imagine a better way to separate my 15-year FS career from what comes next. It was a month of physical exertion that was pure in its simplicity, a simplicity that extended to the spirit as I leave the past behind and prepare, yet again in this life, to re-invent myself and prepare for the adventures to come.
* * * * * * * *
Some Thoughts Concerning My Route
My route was as follows:
- C&O Canal towpath from Harper's Ferry to Cumberland, MD, with an excursion on the Western MD rail-trail from Fort Frederick to Little Orleans
- Great Allegheny Passage rail-trail from Cumberland, MD, to Pittsburgh, PA.
- Adventure Cycling Underground Railroad Pittsburgh Spur from Pittsburgh to Erie, PA
- Adventure Cycling Northern Tier transcontinental route from Erie, PA, to Lewiston, ME
- U.S. 202 from Lewiston to Bangor, ME, and U.S. 2 from Bangor to near my own home north of Bangor
The cue sheet maps from Adventure Cycling are indispensable on a trip like this. I can not praise the organization highly enough for the quality of the maps and for the list of services in the towns and hamlets the routes pass through. Only twice did I find the maps inaccurate, once due to road work that required a detour and the other in Newcomb, NY, when it turned out both the town's convenience store and diner had recently closed. If anyone is contemplating a trip such as this one, join Adventure Cycling.
The only negative thing I have to say about the Adventure Cycling routes is that at times they use two-lane country roads with poor, sometimes crumbling pavement and narrow. inconsistent shoulders. I actually preferred those country roads that had no shoulders at all, thereby making it clear that proper lane positioning was right in the center of the travel lane. When there were shoulders on these 2-lane roads, I would compromise by using the shoulders on long, slow uphill climbs and then moving into the travel lane for faster flat and downhill portions.
My comment on the roads comes, I believe, from Adventure Cycling's choice of scenic routes over multi-lane arterials. Once because of a detour and on 2-3 other occasions by conscious choice, I diverged from the cue sheets to use parallel multi-lane arterials. From Lewiston, ME, to my home, I was entirely on U.S. routes of my own choosing.
My Rivendell Atlantis touring bike was perfect for a trip such as this one.
One frustration I experienced was the WarmShowers network. Using WarmShowers is not as easy as logging into Booking.com at the end of the day and looking for a nearby hotel room. In 20-20 hindsight, I should have researched and contacted WS hosts along my route before I left DC. In the end I had only one WS stay. It was a wonderful, memorable night with a family in Erie, PA. My other attempts to use WS failed either due to miscommunication on my end or to my overshooting the town where the WS host lived and continuing on to a campground further down the road. Poor cell phone service along much of the route made contacting WS hosts that much more difficult.
That said, I look forward to being a WS host myself and to doing my WS research before my next trip. Making good use of WS is the best way I know to limit lodging costs that are the biggest expense on a trip of this type.
I regret my trip was not longer. I was itching to get on the road all through July and August but was still tied to a job and career. Starting out as I did on August 31, I knew I was in a race against New England weather. My coldest, wettest days were in Vermont and Maine. Liberated as I am now from a desk, I look to return to the Northern Tier and complete the full transcontinental route in the next 1-3 years.
* * * * * *
My Packing List
On
August 31 I wrote, "I'm too heavily loaded, but oh well. I'll have to
learn all over again." I learned quickly. In Cumberland I went to the
post office and got rid of 10-15 lbs of stuff I never should have
packed in the first place. That included my New York City Kryptonite
lock that weighs 5 lbs on its own. I visited the post office again in
Ticonderoga, NY, and mailed on to Maine another 5 lbs of clothing and
miscellaneous. If I had this trip to do again, I would consider a
different, lighter tent. My 12-year old REI half dome tent is more
appropriate for car camping.
For the record, here is what was packed in my panniers when I pulled into my driveway in Maine. What I still had with the bike at this point was, I believe, just what I needed, nothing more and nothing less.
Front Left Pannier
- Sun block (small amount in pill box)
- USB charger, external battery, and ear buds for telephone (in zip lock)
- Food bag (snacks, plastic utensils, napkins, and powdered lemonade in zip lock)
- Purse
- Maps
- Toiletries bag containing:
- Facial moisturizer
- Deodorant
- Tweezers
- Eye drops
- Tooth brush and tooth paste (small amount in pill box)
- Dental floss
- Hand lotion
- Triple antibiotic cream
- Fingernail clipper and emory board
Front Right Pannier
- Odor eaters for shoes (definitely needed!)
- Charger for headlight
- Orange vest
- Wind breaker
- Plastic bag containing:
- Vitamins (zip lock)
- Small medical kit (zip lock)
- Prescription medications (zip lock)
- Hair care bag containing disposable shower cap, hair pins, and small amounts of shampoo, conditioner, and gel in pill boxes
- Baby shampoo used both for hair and for handwashing clothes in campground and hotel sinks
- Bike tools/supplies:
- Lube
- Spare inner tupe
- Tire levers and patch kit
- Multi-tool and wrench
- Electrical tape
Rear Left Pannier
- Sleeping bag in compression sack
- Mummy sack
- Inflatable air mattress
- Freshette (makes all the difference in getting through the night!)
- Panier side pocket: sun glasses, cell phone, ankle straps
Rear Right Pannier
- Stuff bag with sleeping cap and shorts
- Stuff bag with winter tights
- Stuff bag with Gore-tex jacket and helmet liner
- Stuff bag (actually, the stuff bag for the sleeping bag) containing the following clothes:
- 2 pair lightweight black slacks
- 2 sport bras
- 2 lightweight long sleeve tops
- 3 short sleeve bike tops
- 2 sleeveless bike sport tops
- Zip lock with shorts and top for hotel/campground
- Zip lock with 4 pair bike socks and one pair wool socks
- Loose in bag: 2 pair bike skorts, 1 pair bike shorts, 1 padded liner to wear under winter tights, and cold weather lobster gloves
- Dirty clothes bag
- Panier side pocket: 1 bra and 2 panties in zip locks
Front Rack Trunk
- Zip lock with toilet paper, paper towels, and napkins
- Zip lock with towel and washcloth
- Zip lock with basic earrings
- Zip lock with makeup wipes
- LED headlight
- Hand sanitizer
- Ben's tick and insect repellent (sent home to Maine from Ticonderoga)
- Spatula for spreading sun block on back
