In contrast to Thursday’s rain, it was a beautiful morning to ride into Falcon Ridge. We were all fresh and clean after our hotel stay and our laundromat dinner. It was six days after I had captured this Start Video of us leaving Bristol and I captured this Finale Video coming down the big hill that overlooks the festival. It isn’t the biggest descent of our week, but I did break 40mph during the video. With the variety of events during the trip we didn’t all log the exact same mileage but my total for the trip rang in at 303 miles. Naturally we spent the rest of the weekend dancing and reveling in the music. Between dancing and climbing the hill to our campsite we got plenty of exercise at Falcon Ridge, but by Sunday I was starting to miss riding my bike!

As this is the third Fernandez Brothers bike trip you might think it’s getting routine. It’s true that I am more comfortable and confident in bike touring than the first trip, but it’s still an adventure. There’s always something unexpected to be found out there and on the bicycle there is always the thrill of self-dependence. It’s only your own efforts that will decide your course. Even though this trip shared a piece of its route with the last trip each journey is unique. I’m already looking forward to the next trip!

Yesterday was an interesting day for sure. As Devon mentioned, we weren’t expecting nor really prepared for rain but it just added to the adventure. Another thing that added to the adventure was getting pulled over by cops for speeding. Just kidding, we didn’t get pulled over for speeding – come on. Isaac did get stopped for biking and chatting next to me, though. We were advised to bike in a single file instead which makes sense but isn’t as fun..

We also biked by 2 old men. Now, we have biked by many people since we embarked on this trip and 95% of the time we just get a smile and wave. I did bike by a guy peeing the other day and he looked at me as though I was intruding. Dude, you had your pants down in the middle of a parking lot right alongside a main road – I think I’m the one that should be offended. Anyway, we had just taken a detour to avoid a massive hill which had a dead end sign and I had so far been pleased that the detour lacked the hills I was expecting. As we biked by the flat neighborhood where we saw the old men, one of them decided to impart some words of wisdom: “You can chat now but you’ve got some hills coming!” That can be read a number of ways but I’d like to clarify that he said this in the creepiest, straight-from-a-cheesy-horror-movie type of way. Additionally, he ended this phrase with the most unnecessary ominous cackle that I half expected him to point towards the sky and for it to instantly erupt in thunder and lightning. If I had more energy I would have pedaled quickly but instead I chuckled nervously at 4mph away from him. We were all a bit disturbed but had a good laugh.

We will never know if the old man purposely created the hills we traversed in that instant or if they always existed. At least that is how I would end this entry if I wanted to continue the cheesy horror theme. He was right, though. Lots and lots of hills came our way but I’m happy to finally be warm and while I didn’t expect to end up in a hotel room on this trip, I have to say I had never been happier to see one.

When I checked the weather this morning it called for a chance of rain in the evening. We were headed out early because we knew the Berkshires would slow us down so I hoped we would get to setup camp before the rain. We rolled the first 8 miles out of camp to the nearest diner and ate more than enough to ensure we wouldn’t be hungry for the rest of the day. Immediately after breakfast the road sloped up and it would continue to do so for the rest of the day. I may be alone among the group in having the need to see these multiple mile long climbs to feel satisfied with the challenge, but today I do feel satisfied. Shortly, it also began to rain It was cold and the mountainous descents began dangerous on wet roads and wet brakes.

We arrived in Great Barrington on time but loosing feeling in our extremities due to the cold. We stopped in the Dunkin Donuts for some tea to warm up, but they apparently weren’t expecting cold weather either because the air conditioning was running and it was colder inside than out! We shivered through our tea and left feeling just as cold as we arrived. Instead of risk a miserable night at Falcon Ridge, we opted for a warm, dry hotel in Great Barrington. We made use of our extra time in town to do laundry and thus a gourmet dinner of crunchy food from the coop was served at the laundromat this evening.

We are looking forward to cresting the hill overlooking Falcon Ridge tomorrow and joining our friends and family there.

A few days ago we learned that there isn’t actually a dance in Amherst this week. This is sad, but we were easily consoled by thoughts of the three upcoming days of dancing at Falcon Ridge. Instead we explored a little more of Amherst and Northampton than we would have otherwise. Also, our local dancer friend Emily met with us and became an official Tour de Dance participant by taking us on a bike ride to introduce us to some of the bike friendly places in the area including the expansive Look Park. Amherst and Northampton are quite bike friendly towns and there is an excellent rail trail connecting the two and making the whole area very bicycle accessible.

The riding today was hilly, but there was more downhill than up as we came into the valley. It’s early to bed tonight for tomorrow’s last push as we climb back out of the valley and over the Berkshires to reach Falcon Ridge!

Tuesday brought us into the meat of this trip’s biking as we left behind the luxurious Minuteman campground for the hills of rural Massachusetts towns like Princeton. Life in the hills looks good if we are to take this middle school with a view as any indication.

Also noteworthy are these shiny buildings on a particular hilltop accompanied by both a “wildlife sanctuary” sign and a golf course.

We made a slow 30 miles uphill before lunch in Rutland, but were repaid with many downhill miles late in the day. Still, the final mile into Highview Vacation Campground drove home the theme of the day with the steepest slopes of the day ascending to the camp entrance. According to the owner, bicycle training groups used to stay at the campground and use that entrance road for training. There are only a few trees at our campsite and they are all next to each other so we have the most interesting formation of hammocks tonight.

Brotherly Love Hammock Formation

Last night we rolled into the Minuteman Campground around midnight and were pleasantly surprised by how hotel-like the amenities were. While we were too tired to take advantage of the pool, TV room and pool table, we did enjoy a nice, warm shower before curling up in our hammocks to rest up for what lay ahead.

Today was the first day where we had no plans except to bike. It was also my first glimpse of the notorious hills of Massachussetts which I would argue are basically mountains. Giant mountains that want nothing more than to make my thighs burn until they spontaneously combust. I’d like to formally apologize both to Isaac and Connecticut for ever complaining about my difficulty biking up the hills and mountains around Simsbury. Those are really nothing compared to what we experienced today and I’m told I STILL haven’t seen the worst of it. Oh boy.

When we left the campground this morning, we had plans of stopping for breakfast after 20 miles or so, which is really not a problem. However, the towns we kept hoping would have food options continued to fail us and after the about 30 miles of Hill Hell, we (ok mostly me) were exhausted. When we finally made it to the town of Rutland, I realized I had never been more excited to go to an empty restaurant with a questionable smell, which in all fairness could have just been the scent of my companions and myself. After fully stuffing ourselves with food and icy beverages, we felt rejuvenated enough to continue on our trek to where we are now: Highview Campground, in our hammocks.

I don’t think I will have any issues falling asleep tonight.

People honk and yell at me and I deal with it.  I usually pedal as fast as I can, until it hurts and then hold it at speed level painful and pray to baby jesus they get a stop sign or red light. 3 out of 11 times it happens and I catch the offenders.  Normally teens with a car full of friends.  If the passenger is a lady I go to her – if not I head stright for the driver.  I lock eyes, stare and then act in a mannor as ridiculous as yelling at a cyclist for sport….. And then all is right on the world.

But today someone honked at Lisa and my legs were to tired to pursue the car.  Sorry Lisa, sorry to let you down.

Although we had fun in the city, I was looking forward to getting out of the din and back to rural roads and folk culture so today we did. Making partial use of the well know minuteman rail trail we traveled to Walden Pond as a group of four.

Fernandez Brothers always wear helmets

It was a perfect day to be at Walden with warm sun and warm water. Although I’ve passed within a few hundred feet of it on multiple occasions I have never gone to visit the Thoreau cabin site so we did that today. The cabin site itself it neat, but I was really moved by the pile of rocks that has accumulated next to the site commemorating people’s lives and loved ones. I’d like to think our purpose for the bike trip aren’t so different than the one Thoreau is describing on this sign.

Eventually an afternoon thunderstorm drove everyone out of the water so we went into the town of Concord for dinner and provisions.

The Scout House is under construction. We locked up the bikes to trees and scaffolding and put on our dance shoes and Tour de Dance shirts. All told we were represented by five yellow shirts at the dance and once again enjoyed the promotional assistance of Lisa Greenleaf who, as she did in Rehoboth, was nice enough to announce our own invitation to the Tour de Dance. We met one cyclist who appeared to be serially considering joining us from Concord to Falcon Ridge. In the end he decided to pass, but maybe we can recruit him for the next trip!

Sunday morning turned us into mountain bikers as we bumped over a mile of mountain bike trail from the AMC campground to the Blue Hills headquarters and trailhead. Niether Isaac nor I know much about mountain biking but the mountain bikers we know of are always proud of thier injuries so we both made sure to fall off our bikes once. It was an overcast day with moderate temperature but the sun did come out for us near the top of Great Blue Hill and we enjoyed out first Boston skyline view of the day looking from the tower into Boston where we were soon headed.

Hiking in our matching Tour de Dance shirts prompted a few questions from outgoing hikers which have is the opportunity to tell new people about dancing. Wouldn’t it be thrilling if the trip recruited a new dancer!

Our free food expended, it was time for a Fernandez Brothers bike trip tradition: breakfast at Dunkin. Then we pedaled to Boston encountering both our first city traffic and first hills of the trip. We met with those joining us on the harbor cruise for dinner and then boarded the boat.

Sunset was muted by a low overcast sky but a TV show being shot on board our boat added an element of entertainment to an otherwise relaxing ride on the water. Here we got our second unique vantage point on Boston’s architecture as the sky darkened and the buildings lit up.

Disembarking, we were unable to resist the draw to the North End’s pastries and so we had plenty of energy for the late night ride. I always enjoy summer night riding and this was a perfect example of a cool and comfortable summer evening where even in downtown Boston it felt like we had the roads to ourselves. From the bike paths along the river we took one more survey of the skyline.

This morning we woke to the sounds of children and barnyard animals at Coggeeshall farm. It’s a beautiful place to be, especially if you aren’t doing the farm work! Because we were up past 2am Friday night, the Tour de Dance didn’t get on the road until after noon today. We started off as a five person caravan including two of our favorite musicians who bike with us to thier gig. I’ve seen many different things transported by bike but today I add harp to that list.

Harp by bicycle!

After leaving the musicians we wound about 53 miles up the bike path to Providence and through residential roads to the AMC campground at the Blue Hills. Our only stop was for water at a store that also offered “exclusive imitation jewelery”

Thus, we were both hungry and behind schedule when we rolled up to the camp office. We were not sure how we were going to find dinner and we’re not looking forward to the mile dirt road out of camp to find a restaurant. In a way that only happens on bike trips, the camp manager lead us to a table of  grilled food and watermelon that were all dinner leftovers and offered us to take what we wanted before it would be discarded. So in one swift change of course we had a ready made dinner at no cost and made up for a good portion of the lost time in our day!