North East Kingdom ride to Newport

It's been a nice stay here in the NEK. Doug and Bari are very nice people and run a cool and funky campground. I enjoyed staying dry in the lean-to shelter perched on the hill. I discovered that I could get phone service if my phone stayed upside down in the cup holder of my folding chair and if it was facing the north. There was no service in any other configuration but I got to catch up with people as time allowed. The rains came and went and I snuck in some great rides in between. The country store had a gentle giant named Oscar. He's an English Mastif and at 17 months weighs 181 pounds so he'll top out way north of 200.

 Thursday looked good for a ride to Newport so I gave Lucky a going over and saddled up. The roads were often rough with cracks you could get lost in so vigilance was required especially when taking pics on the go. There were lakes and streams and beauty in abundance.

 I pushed fairly hard for the first two hours of the ride until I got to Newport and then my speed and wattage dropped due to sight seeing and I stopped to take care of some banking and personal calls. Before I got to Newport I logged the highest two hour power curve of the year in spite of a couple of stops to reroute for unexpected gravel roads and interstates. I had begun to wonder if all the taking it easy had affected my fitness but at least today I seem to be doing ok.

 The slanted stakes in the foreground are a speedometer indicating that I was traveling 15 mph when I took the picture. Most of the pictures are taken on the fly.

 This is where I stopped to make a bunch of calls. Not a bad place to kill some time.

 On the way back to camp I hit the edge of some passing showers but nothing serious. I just left the phone put away so pics on the second half are a bit limited.

Sunset on the Lake Willoughby.