NEC 2006 Day 5
[backdated to the date]
Today was the short day, a fifty miler from Northfield to Killington VT. It’s not a terribly difficult ride– some rollers– but you have to climb a significant hill to get to the lodging for the night. It’s a tough climb and it comes right at the end, but it’s only about four or five miles long and then it’s over.
I decided not to take the Ibuprofin in the morning as it had started to react with my other meds, so it was a difficult start. The morning was really, really foggy and cool. I stopped at a general store of sorts to get some acetaminophen which supposedly does not interact, but they didn’t have any. I finally find some at the first rest stop at a Cumberland Farms. That helped a lot.
I did some good grinding on the flats, but the hills were tough. I’m not sure I was so much tired as sleep deprived. The rooms at Norwich were hot and my shoulder was aching, so I didn’t get much sleep.
It was a beautiful day to start out, but got hot pretty quickly. The second stop was at the “Dead Animal Cafe” along the Swift River. The river there looked quite inviting and there was a path down to it from the cafe. I was going to dangle me feet, but the temerature was climbing and the toughest part of the day was still ahead, so I decided to try to get finished before the blistering heat started.
I got into the lodge at around 1:00 PM. It was a really clear day and it’s the first time I can remember being able to see the top of Mt. Killington when it wasn’t covered in rain or fog.
Dinner at the North Star is usually not very good, so most people take off for a nearby restaurant. I was going to go, but fell asleep in the lobby. I was sorry to miss out on dinner, but whoa did that nap ever do a world of good! The lodge also has a pool and this year, it’s not heated, so a dip was quite refreshing.
Tomorrow is a long day.
