OK, so we went to bed last night saying “we’ll be up early tomorrow morning…NO EXCUSES”. Well, here are the excuses… (1) the washing machine broke with our laundry in it last night, causing a delay and leaving us with half-dry clothes that we had to hang up before finishing the rest of our duties and turning in for the night; (2) we were woken by our not so light-footed neighbours stomping up the hallway stairs and once in their room (directly above us), proceeding to march back and forth into the early hours for no apparent reason; (3) at 1am a gaggle of drunk girls stumbled into the car park outside our bedroom window cackling loudly, looking for the keys to their car and setting off their car alarm 4 times for a minute at a time; (4) at 2am the car alarm went off again, at which point Anthony went outside to “sort things out”; (5) we’re just not very good at getting up in the morning (especially applicable to Kat); and (6) the dog ate our homework.
Despite all the above, we did manage to get up at an almost respectable time, and drag ourselves to breakfast at our hotel, where we were instantly woken up by the guys on the table next to us. Kurt and Ross are brothers who are on a trip with their Dad, Roger. They’re all riding Harleys, and they were full of beans this morning, chatting away to us about our trip and about journeys they have made before on their Bikes (of the motorized variety). Their energy and enthusiasm gave us a bit of a boost, and by the time we set off, we were ready to tackle our first challenge of the day: the small matter of a 2,855 ft climb to the top of Kancamagus Pass.
It was quite tough starting at the bottom of the climb, as our little leggies were a bit tired after the last few days of hills, but once we were into our stride, it was a doddle. The weather wasn’t really playing ball, however, and we were doing our version of the Rainmac Hokey Cokey… you put your rain mac in, you take your rain mac out; in, out, in, out, you shake it all about; you don your Gore-Tex trousers and you turn around; that’s what it’s all about … oh the rainmac hokey cokey etc etc... rah, rah, rah… repeat to fade…
Anyway, 14 miles later, we had reached the top and the rain had pretty much gone away for the day. Instead, it was freezing cold, so the long trousers had to come out as we prepared for 20 miles of descending. But we’re not complaining – it was a stunning view, and we’ve been quite enjoying getting back to a bit of hill-climbing and hurtling down the other side. No land speed records today, but a lot of fun!
After 69 miles we arrived at our destination for tonight, Naples, Maine, and a charming B&B called The Inn at Long Lake. We were welcomed warmly by Keith, the owner, and later wandered out to dinner at a local Brewpub, Bray’s. With no TV to keep us up tonight (ooh, did we list that as an excuse for our late night last night), it’s 10.15pm, we’ve done all our chores, brushed our toothy pegs, and are ready for bed. Let’s see what time we make it up tomorrow?
Us x
P.S. Don't forget to check out the photos.
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