Epic Ride, Day 68 (with a look back at Days 64-67):
My title isn’t very melodic, but it reminds me of some of the names I’ve seen for towns and rivers up here in the northeast, as well as in the Maritime Provinces of Canada. A lot of them, most of them I’d guess, come from Native American languages and have been transliterated into some words that I can’t even begin to pronounce. I’ll probably do a post on the blog just listing my favorites.
On Sunday, Day 66, Elliot and I took out the family’s Herreshoff 12 1/2, a boat designed by Nathaneal G. Herreshoff. It was designed for safe family sailing and racing in it’s own one-design class. It’s called a 12 1/2 even though it’s nearly 16′ long because of its waterline length, 12′ 6″. It’s got a 735-pond lead keel which makes it stable and gives it some mass to push through swells.
Except for the few minutes at the helm of the 48′ ketch in Lunenburg Harbor, I hadn’t sailed since the mid-70s. But I was pleased to learn that sailing is like riding a bicycle — it comes back! I was impressed with myself as well as the H-class boat.
If you’ve read the whole blog, you’ll remember that one of the high points of my trip had been meeting Margaret and Fred in Bay St. Lawrence on Cape Breton Island and getting to go on board Double Crows, their replica of Captain Joshua Slocum’s Spray. As I’d ridden to Cataumet, I saw a sign pointing to Fairhaven, where Slocum had built/rebuilt Spray, and then while Elliot and I were sailing, we saw what I’m pretty sure was another Spray-replica:
On Monday, I left Cataumet and rode into rain on my way to Sturbridge to meet Karl Roth, an NT-Owners Forum member:
Karl and I enjoyed a visit at the McDonalds in Sturbridge and then we bought me some gas and he hopped onto I-84 with me and led me to Hartford before he had to split off and go to work. 😦
After Karl left me, I rode on into Pennsylvania, passing Scranton and Wilkes-Barre. At Scranton, as I looked down the long hill leading into town, I couldn’t help but sing Harry Chapin’s classic ballad, “30,000 Pounds of Bananas.” “30,000 pounds of mashed bananas…”
I got Millinville where the Comfort Inn’s WiFi wouldn’t connect me to the internet last night, but did this morning…probably because the day clerk was willing to go upstairs to the 2nd floor and reset the router.
Epic Ride, Day 68 Stats: Day, 399 miles; Trip, 19,489 miles; Year, 25,490 miles; Total, 77,348 miles.
Today I left Millinville and spent half my day getting across Pennsylvania. Once again, I was surprised at the lack of urban sprawl. Pennsylvania was a beautiful ride on a clear, chilly day. The high didn’t come till western Ohio and then the 69F only lasted for about 30 minutes.
As pretty as Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Indiana were, today’s ride was not much more than a slog. Tomorrow will be even worse as I need to make 600+ miles to get to my Concours Owners Group friend Chris Baum’s house. I don’t have much of Indiana left, but Illinois and Iowa stretch a long way before I get into Nebraska and ride to Lincoln where Chris lives.
Tonight I ate at a Ponderosa Steakhouse across the street from the Motel 6 and my charming waitress was a young woman who rides a Harley-Davidson Nightster and a Honda 230 dirt-bike. She was very interested in the Epic Ride. If she reads the blog, I need to apologize for not even getting her name. if you’re out there, darling, make a comment so I’ll know who you were!
Epic Ride, Day 69 Stats: Day, 570 miles; Trip, 20,059 miles; Year, 26,060 miles; Total, 77,918 miles.
My Epic Post-Retirement Rides 
Phil when you get home and unpacked and the buzz winds down. Let us know how much you used the things you carried. What has the patina of daily use and what still has the tags on it.
Some thing you may not have used much but made you comfortable when you needed them..
good luck on the last few miles
I’ll do that, Karl!