Day One, (cont'd)

KEESEVILLE, NY - After I left the Willsboro library, it was close enough to lunchtime (11am), so I went to the Sportsman's Diner, a local institution, and had a nice salty cheeseburger, chips, and lemonade. Then I went to the local IGA and picked up another quart of Gatorade, thinking I might need it with all the climbing ahead and temps already over 80. Sat in the shade of a nearby tree for a short while, then decided it was time to just do it. The climb out of Willsboro to Highlands Road was nowhere near as bad as I'd been fearing, and the unpaved part of Highlands Road was a delight, a very good gravel road. Thanks, TourPro! But the later hills on Highlands Road did me in. These were either steep or long, and one that was both which actually saw me walking for a ways. I just didn't have the legs left, and couldn't stop halfway because I wouldn't be able to get back on the bike and get started again. Continued on and reached the Ausable Chasm Campground around 2pm. This one is not so nice, and really beat up, but I'm here and it will do. It has a pool, if being used by more than one person, and it has showers. One way or the other I need a good rinse!

(LATER) Got cleaned up, had a giant Pepsi, and lay down for a while, just to relax and do nothing. Now I've biked about 3-4 miles into Keeseville for dinner, and to update this at the library. Not sure I'll do any Ausable Chasm tours today/tonight - I'm just beat. The day was everything I expected it to be, and more. Much easier day tomorrow into North Hero.

The Numbers:
Distance: 50.56 miles
Elevation: 3550 feet
Rolling time: 4:28:09
Elapsed time: About 8 hours
Average speed: 11.3 mph
Max speed: 35.0 mph