Day 4/Sunday was planned all along as an easier day both because it was Sunday and also the 4th of many more days. I don't know if I mentioned before but both my cycling companions Michael and Richard are both Jehovahs Witness' and very active in their respective congregations. As such Richard wanted to attend services this morning at the Kingdom Hall aka Church Building in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. Services started at 930am and the guys planned to ride to the Kingdom Hall but wiser voices(my own) prevailed and I suggested we dress well, take a taxi there and back and just get a later start since planned a shorter day. We were back at the room in Comfort Inn by 11am and on the road by 1130am. We only had 25 miles planned to North Adams, Mass and as we headed across town looking for Route 8 we ran into a father/daughter team cycling across town headed to a beautiful rails-to-trails pathway. These rail-trails are always perfectly graded and mostly flat for obvious reasons. We saw a beaver relatively close up and ran into a guy and his family out for a bike ride. The guy was on a gorgeous Felt cyclocross race bike that his buddy loaned him during the off-season while he is road-racing apparently. Nice friend,eh? We actuallly passed an Adventure Sports store that had bicycles, kayaks, canoes, backpacking gear,etc. Michael reminded me that I wanted to get the drivetrain on my bike tweaked/tuned/cleaned/etc. We stopped by and the guys at the shop put the bike right on the stand and went busy on it, tuned it, adjusted the cables, cleaned and lubed the drivetrain, etc, etc. They had the nerve to charge me $10 bucks!!!!!! Try that in the Poconos stopping by unannounced and seeing how much service on a Sunday costs? We arrived in North Adams,Mass about 3pm and checked right into our room at the Holiday Inn. I might add that we take all 3 bikes and both trailers into our rooms each night and it gets mighty crowded, especially with a fold-out cot and 2 beds!! After we checked in at the hotel, Michael and I left our fully loaded trailers behind and headed directly for Mount Greylock nearby. Mount Greylock is the highest point in Massachusetts and it also has a paved road surface all the way to the top! Unlike Mount Washington Auto Road which is a privately owned, toll road, Mount Greylock is a publicly maintained state road.HOWEVER!!!! We had been hearing since we started that the road had been closed the last 2-3 years for resurfacing and repaving and would not be open to the public until May 22 or so??? We road our bikes there anyhow and the new road surface was awesome! Even though it was Sunday we snuck around the unmanned gates blocking the road and started up about 330pm. The road was in great shape but certain sections are monstrously steep and rival Mt washington though not as high. The road itself was about 6-7 miles one way up and climbed to 3,491 feet. It took us over 3 hours to make the climb with rest stops and photo ops factored in. There is a neat obelisk up top and we had the whole place to ourselves. Very windy and cold. Took over 3 hours up and it was now 7pm and we were on top. Michael worries a lot about getting caught out after dark while I'm a well prepared Boy Scout type with lighting front and back, reflective clothing and such. We headed down the road and the same road that took us >>3 hours to climb took about 21 minutes to descend despite the cold. We reached speeds approaching 40 mph and had a blast!
Richards' knees are still sore and he stayed behind at the hotel. After such a monster climb today I won't be surprised at all if my knees complain in the morning. We shall see!
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