Ride of Heroism

Normally once we start biking we try and eventually work our way up to a big ride late in the season.  However, we've essentially screwed ourselves because Andy and I, on one of our first rides, embarked and successfully completed a heroic 62 mile bike ride.  Now, to be fair, we weren't actually be supposed to go that far, but, per usual, my sense of direction is so profoundly bad that I ended up tacking on another twenty miles because I wasn't even close on my mileage calculations.  Our initial goal was to take off and cross the causeway to go as far as Allenholm Farms, but we made it there so quickly and effortlessly that I proposed we might consider heading up to Hero's Welcome, which, in my words, "couldn't be another five miles."  Well, technically, I was right, because it was actually 14 miles.  I thought Hero's Welcome, which is a great store and post office and pizzeria and sandwich shop was on the southern tip of North Hero Island, and, typically, it was on the north tip of North Hero Island.  It did give us a chance to eat three meals along the way, and still feel good about it.  However, and cycling back (no pun intended) to the original point, we're now talking about tackling a 100 mile ride.  I'm such an idiot.

Meeting Andy at our usual spot at Waterfront Park.  Little did we know the heroism that awaited.

The causeway, which runs miles out into the lake, and which, amazingly, I've never driven my bike off.

The bike ferry, which, a few years ago, was a very small deal that only ran a couple weekends in the height of the summer.  Now it runs every day all summer, and sometimes the queue is so long that you have to wait a turn to board.

And why there has to be a bike ferry.  We decided that Andy's idea of saving money by putting the bikes on our shoulders and swimming across needed more analysis.  We have purchased the year pass so now we can cross whenever we want.

Yes, a hero's welcome at Hero's Welcome.  It was fun until we did the calculations and figured out that it was 31 miles back home.  Doh!

Our last break for snacks - corn dogs and milk shakes at Seb's, next to the ruins of Ebeneezer Allen's tavern.