After moseying around Montpellier, we set out for Burlington. The ride proved to be flat and scenic, but brutally hot. After 40ish miles, we arrived feeling more exhausted than we had on some 60+ mile days, but no matter, we only had 20 miles to do the next day and could sleep in! Deb’s friend Alex was nice enough to lend us her dorm room, so after refreshing hot showers we enjoyed a night on the town.
We spent most of the next day exercising our new-found abilities to eat non-stop, all the time. After breakfasts and second breakfasts, Deb’s grandma Barbara and grandpa Stan treated us to a delicious lunch, with Ben & Jerry’s for dessert! We explored the shops of downtown Burlington and wrote a few postcards before grabbing a second lunch of pizza, with froyo for dessert. We packed up around four, excited for our quick ride to Plattsburgh where Deb’s friend Andy would have dinner waiting. A quick glance at Google’s bike directions showed us biking to an island via a narrow causeway that cuts through Lake Champlain. “That looks cool,” we thought.
And cool it was! A pleasant ride along bike paths and sleepy roads, through parks and lakeside neighborhoods brought us to the causeway, a man-made wonder of railroad-turned-bicycle transportation facilitation! Too elated to heed the warnings of any signs we may have passed, we flew down the tree lined path, enjoying gorgeous lake views and the tailwind at our backs. The three miles melted away, and before we knew it, the causeway had brought us all the way to the island.
Er, rather, most of the way… In Google’s defense, it did warn us the route included a ferry. We knew it included a ferry though, we just didn’t know it included two ferries. Turns out there’s a bicycle ferry that bridges the gap, but only on certain days. A passing boat could have made a very pretty penny at that point. With no other options, we turned back, now cursing the tailwind we had been on such good terms with before.
10 miles later, we were back in Burlington where we started. We toyed with the idea of camping on the lake, but had been looking forward to enjoying a zero day (zero mileage) in Plattsburgh with Deb’s friend Andy. After hemming and hawing, we decided it’d be worth it to keep biking, even though it was another 30 miles out of the way. We grabbed a quick dinner and headed out just as the sun was setting for what proved to be a pretty enjoyable ride. Low traffic, wide shoulders, and that tailwind helped us make quick time, and we ended up making it to Andy’s in time for a fun evening!
Moral of the story: causeways are beautiful, and tailwinds are awesome.