NEC 2006 Day 3
[backdated to the date]
Shoulder felt pretty good and got a little bit of sleep last night. Up early. Stiff until about 20 miles out, but not hurting terribly badly.
Very VERY hot day. Really oppressive. But I drank a lot and didn’t have any problems. I was drinking so much that I ran out of my electrolyte solution and had to start drinking *gack* Gatoraide. Bleah. But it did the trick.
I lost my computer within the first couple of miles of leaving UNE. It just fell off somewhere. I must have loosened it while reseting it and it just popped off. I circled back for a couple of miles, but, really, the likelihood of finding a grey computer head on a grey roadway when it could have bounced who knows where is pretty small. Rats. Losing the computer isn’t a big issue in and of itself, they’re reasonably inexpensive and not vital to the operation of the bike, but without it, you really don’t know where you are. How far is it to the next rest stop? Should I conserve water? Did I take a wrong turn and if so, how far off track am I? What time is it? Am I drinking enough water (one bottle every 45 minutes at least)? I mean, I have a cell phone as well, so I can tell what time it is. Usually. But not in the mountains, there’s no coverage. The time on the cell phone usually says: Searching System…
After giving up the search for the cyclometer head, I rode most of the rest of the day with Lindsay. We got separated at rest stop 2 (the ice cream place). I think she must have gone on ahead or something. Rode the rest of the way by myself. I passed no one and no one passed me. See, this is where the cyclometer is handy. I can tell that I’m still on track if there’s no one around to ask.
Into the mountains
Toughish hill towards the end of the day as we climbed towards the night’s stop. We stayed at Attitash Grand Resort Lodge. Whoa! Nice digs. Not very well organized place, but very nice. They had a lot of trouble checking people in. They’re not used to having groups of unrelated people staying in the same room. I’d been assigned to room with Karl F, and all the paperwork I was supposed to sign had his name on it. My Visa card, his name. There better not be any extra charges! Apparently, Karl had been rooming with Bob, the maintenance guy, but Bob has to get up really, really early and Karl is a very fast rider and so doesn’t have to get up until late. That didn’t work, so he (Karl) asked for a change. So they had a very hard time trying to find what my room was as I had no idea who my roommate was supposed to be (I roomed alone the night before). They finally found it, gave me the key cards for the room, and they didn’t work. Then, as both Karl and I were in the room, in walked Bob. They hadn’t gotten that part of the transaction right either. So Bob went to find another room and eventually, everything worked out (at least until the next morning).
But a very nice place all the same. The story is that they’ve just renovated and are looking for groups to book the place, so they gave a very good rate. We had a sit-down dinner that night that was just fantastic. They really pulled out all the stops. Half chickens, stuffed white fish, yummie baby carrots & onions, the works. Just outstanding.
I’m a bit nervous about tomorrow. It’s the longest day at 106+ miles and it’s supposed to be just as hot. Must get on the road early. Crawford Notch begins at mile 12. I hope my shoulder holds out. I had Bob P. adjust the inside set screw on the rear der.; it was grinding when under pressure, so I think it’s a slight difference with the new cassette. Hopefully, that’s taken care of.
Finished the day’s ride around 3:30.
