Ride Day 2 Report!

We started our morning bright and early at 5:30am. Breakfast was marginal, as we are running out of food. Dale, Jake, and I rode together along with one of our leaders, Megan. At Megan's suggestion, we ventured to find a coffee shop before joining our scheduled route. On our way there, we heard shouting at the side of the road: "FREE DONUTS!". A catering company (Catering by Design) was offering "Free Donuts for Dads" in celebration of Father's Day. They enthusiastically offered us donuts, and Jake and Dale jumped at the offer. Meanwhile, we were just across the street from the coffee shop, where I bought an exceptionally good latte.

Fully sated, we began our ride. It was a little chilly in the morning, but quickly warmed up. The scenery was beautiful, and included several lakes and rivers. Much of the ride was spent on a "rails-to-trails" pathway. It was mostly flat, but the gravel was pretty slick and bumpy. We stopped a lot along the way just to enjoy the scenery. We stopped for lunch at a lakeside boathouse with a B&B alumn. We sat on the dock while we ate overlooking a beautifully clear, spring-fed lake with mountains in the distance.

After lunch, we anticipated an easy 12 mile ride to our next host church in New London, NH. However, shortly after getting back on the gravel trail, my derailleur hanger broke, bringing our ride to a grinding halt. Earlier in the day, Megan decided to ride in the van because her knee was hurting. So, luckily, when the support van arrived, Megan let me borrow her bike (and shoes) for the rest of the ride. We were excited to be nearing the end, only to encounter what felt like some very large mountains between us and our destination. We had to walk one particularly sandy stretch, but were thrilled to finally arrive.

Our host tonight (First Baptist Church of New London) was particularly hospitable. They cooked us dinner and took us on a tour of their historic building. In addition to the impressive gravity-powered clocktower, we were allowed to go up to the belltower just after sunset. The sunset over the mountain range was one of the best views so far on this trip.

Finally, we got assistance replacing my derailleur hanger from several other members of the team. One fellow rider graciously gave me her extra derailler hanger (a very specific and hard to find part). Another rider and a group leader helped me replace the part and fix my very twisted chain. Although my bike is now fixed (yay!), I won't be riding tomorrow, as I've been chosen as the safety navigator in the van.

Alyssa (& Jake & Dale)