My alarm went off at 4:50 a.m. (a record for me). Since I’m on sweep today, my goal was to pack up my tent and be ready to set out breakfast by 5:45. Thankfully I was excused from packing up the gear truck and was able to leave with the gang at 6:50.
Whoa, the climbing continued where we left off yesterday. Someone had an elevation button on their watch and most of the climbs where between 10-12% with a few at 14%. The saving grace was that the climbs are short and for a lot of them you can power down and coast quite a ways up before you start to downshift. We had a gap in our pace line but met up with each other at SAG stops or restaurants along the way.
First stop was Julie's. She was handing out pototo chips….mmm salt is always good. Oh I should mention that just before Julie’s SAG we had to make a quick left hand turn. We where going downhill and didn’t see the marker till it was too late. We stopped our bikes and turn them facing the right direction. The only problem was that it was on a rather steep incline so when I went to start my left foot was clipped in but I didn’t get the right foot clipped in on time so down I went. Just a scrape to my right ankle and a possible bruise on my left hip but I could still continue on. My second attempt to get started was much better. The guys held up my bike and gave me push to get me going. Talk about being humbled, thank goodness no one got that on video!
Second breakfast was just past the 60km marker. Waffles with strawberry sauce and icing sugar. Very good. The coffee hit the spot and we were ready to tackle some more hills. Lots of dairy farms today.
Walters SAG was next. He is still trying to unload ‘waltermelon’ but in honor of the second last day he was handing out chocolates. They weren’t dark chocolate but I still enjoyed them. After Walters the route wasn’t as difficult, just one rolling hill after another.
Just before the last major climb of the day we stopped in Portjervis. It was decided that an ice coffee was in order to help power us up. McDonalds to the rescue. When we were ready to leave Jake stepped outside and to his surprise there was his wife and his brother and sister in law. He wasn’t expecting them till tomorrow so now Jake is on a mission….get in as soon as possible.
No sooner on our bikes and there was the Welcome into New Jersey. Photo op.
Climbing High Point wasn’t as hard as I expected. I found that you would do some climbing and then you’d have a bit of break before the climbing started again. At the top of the summit I was greeted by Grandma Rose and her 3 grandchildren that were manning the booth. ‘Would I like lemonade, or water? Chips, cookies, or nuts?' Cory also had a SAG set up, but he wasn’t doing a lot of business. Too much competition.
When we left this stop there was a sign stating…. ‘It’s all downhill from here’. Not quite true but I’ll let it go. One last brutal climb up to Sussex Christian School. The gear truck was unpacked and several volunteers were on hand to shuttle us to the showers, show us where to set up our tents, direct us to the computer lab, etc, etc. Very well organized.
I had just finished setting up my tent to dry when my husband Ralph and our youngest daughter Jo arrived. My sister, Betty-Anne Werkema and her youngest daughter Cassy also came along to share the last days of the tour with me. My plan was to stay in a motel with them but I’ve since learned that the motel is an hour away and with an early start time tomorrow its best if I just stay in camp. Barb to the rescue. She had signed me up for a billet (hosting) but crossed me off when she saw Ralph. Now she has uncrossed me and I’m staying at a lovely home with Barb, being hosted by Rob and Carol Dekker. Thank you soooo much. No wet tent to take down tomorrow morning.
Supper was served by the Sussex and Goshen CRC community. So much food. They’ve even invited our families to join us for supper….that’s a total of over 500 for supper. It was fantastic. Thanks again for all the work these two communities did to make our stay at Sussex as enjoyable as possible.
Peloton tonight was all about saying thank you. The cooks, support staff, Jen, Ed, Cory, and the chaplins were thanked. Ed went over the route. We are actually being escorted by 3 different police vehicles (different jurisdictions) over a 10 mile ride. This will be slow going. Pray for safety as we finish off this journey.
Total km 133.7 for the day. Max speed of 69.8km Time on the bike 6:11:43
Way past my bed time. Till tomorrow, Cynthia
P.S. Not too many photos. I guess like Jake, I just wanted to get in.
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