Day 58 Ausable Chasm, NY to Whitehall, NY

Everyone was awaiting this day with worry, as it was a long 84 miles and it had over 5,500 feet of climbing in the Adirondack hills. Also, the temperatures have gone up to about the low 90s by the end of the day. As cyclists, we have had it pretty easy for the past week in terms of distance, flat routes, and low temperatures. We maybe got a little spoiled.

Well, the first half of the route was really tough with very steep climbs. I had a bike shift cable break at about the 36 mile mark and it took me out of the biking for the rest of the day. I flagged down one of the passing support vehicles and got a ride to Julie's 4th SAG stop. We then heard that one of our bikers had an emergency call that his son was in a very bad car accident in Zeeland and needed to be picked up off the route and gotten to an airport asap. We then went back and got him from the 3rd SAG stop and brought him back to the 4th SAG and someone else took him from there. Our chaplain Jay had a prayer with him before leaving and told the person how Julie and I could relate to what he was going through with a call like he received.

I was able to borrow a vehicle and find a bike shop about 20 miles away that could take care of fixing my bike. They got right at it and I was out of there in less than a half hour. It was too late for me to try and finish the day.

We are camped at a dumpy marina in the middle of a swamp. Just as I was about to get our campsite ready, Julie spotted a huge snake under the van and went into a panic, as she is deathy scared of snakes. I chased the snake into the swamp and we slept inside the van for the night! There were also so many mosquitos after dark it was unbearable.

May tomorrow bring a better campsite and experience! We did have some great views of Lake Champlain today, that we beautiful. It is huge and long!