| Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 |
| Pick day to see pictures from that day | ||
| ETR 2014 Burlington | ||||||
| ||||||
| ||||||
This year Kathie and I signed up for our first Eastern
Tandem Rally. We were attracted to it
because it was being run in the Burlington Vermont area. This is one of our favorite
places and close to our sister-in-law Dawn, nephew Owen and niece Ivy. It was
also a great place to ride.
Day 0 (July 16)
We drove up on Wednesday after work in hopes of finding a
hotel to stay at half way to Burlington then finish the trip the next morning.
Unfortunately we couldn’t find lodging between Binghamton and Saratoga Springs
but at about two in the morning we found a Best Western in Saratoga Springs
that had one room available and we got some sleep.
The next morning we grabbed breakfast at the hotel then
worked our way north to Burlington were we arrived at about 11:30. We found our
way to UVM and the building where they were registering 
for the weekend. We
picked up our packages and goodies and went to the Hampton Inn to check
in. There we dressed for our ride and
headed toward Leddy Park. We stopped for sandwiches on the way and started our first
ride. The ride was along the Lake
Champlain trail that went north out of Burlington mostly along the shores of
the lake. At
a point in the ride we took
a left on a trail and headed for a causeway that ended up at South Hero
on Grand Island. This part of the trail was packed stone and the
causeway
was an abandoned railway. Toward the north end there was once a
railroad bridge
over the water so that boats could get around the causeway. The bridge
was
taken away when the railroad left. To get bikes over this section of
the path a local organization that promotes biking and other outdoor
activities
(called Local Motion) created a bike ferry. It was two pontoon boats
that held
bikes and people and transported them over the 40 or 50 feet of
waterway that
separated the causeway path.
After taking the ferry we found ourselves on Grand
Island. Much of the roads we road here we had ridden several years earlier when
we biked around Lake Champlain. The most memorable part of the island was that
many of the houses on the island had miniature castles made of stone in
them. It was fun to see these again.
On our ride we ran into about 4 couples in passing that we
knew and were looking forward to visiting with this weekend. We also ran into a
street sign for a private lane that read Gabe / Diane. We have biking
friends that live in Florida who are Named Gabe and Diana so we had to stop
and take a picture. We finished our ride and headed back to the Hampton Inn for
showers. We then arranged to meet our Nephew Owen at a local restaurant for
dinner.
On the next day we got up, had breakfast at the Hampton Inn
and drove to a high school not far south of Burlington. This was the high
school that Owen graduated from and was the start of the next ride. There were
about 140 couples at this rally and the parking lot was jammed with cars. We
found the Gassgows and the Harpers in the back of the lot and we proceeded getting
ready for the ride.
The ride went south to our lunch stop at Mary’s Restaurant
at Baldwin Park. This was a great example of a quaint New England Inn and
Restaurant. They had an outdoor buffet set up for us and it was great. While there we ran into more friends, Roxanne
and Hank, Dan and Julie, and Ron and Shari.
After lunch we rode a few miles to Bristol where they had an
ice cream social in front of the bandstand in the park at the center of town. We had
a great time there then started the return trip to the car. The entire ride was a bit hillier than we normally
ride but not as bad as we anticipated. There was one hill on the return trip
that wasn’t that long but fairly steep. This is where our tandem decided the
shifting would start failing under the stress of climbing. Kathie and I ended up
pushing the bike up the hill and babying the tandem until we got back to the
car. Before we loaded the bike in the
car I adjusted the derailleur and hoped it would get me through the weekend.
Before returning to the hotel we drove to the church where
Kathie’s brother Steve was buried. Although his remains were cremated about 6
years ago, our sister-in-law just had them interned in the last few months, so
we wanted to find the location and visit the grave site. While there we were
visited by Owen.
We returned to the Hampton Inn, showered dressed to meet
Ross and Donna for dinner at Sweetwaters in downtown Burlington. We had a great meal and walked down to the
water after we ate.
We got up for breakfast at the hotel, got ready for the next
ride and drove to the start, North of Burlington in Milford. There we readied our bike and socialized with
many 
friends including Mike and Carol, and Bill and Shae who all have upstate
New York connections. The ride took us to a peninsula on the lake that had a
beautiful park on it. The ride to the park was mostly downhill. We spent about
an hour exploring and socializing at the park then headed back to the base of
the peninsula where in another park they had a barbeque lunch set up for us.
While there, they had a bike mechanic, so I took advantage to get a
professional opinion on my deraleur probelms. The mechanic replaced a cable and suggested I replace my
rear cluster when I get a chance. On the ride back the shifting was a bit
better but not perfect.
We returned to the car then got back to the hotel to ready
for our dinner cruise on the lake. To get to the cruise we drove to VMU and
picked up a motorcoach that was supplied as a shuttle. The dock was downtown in Burlington and we
got there about an hour before boarding. We stopped at a restaurant / bar and
had a drink beforehand with Roxanne, Hank, Dave and Julie.
The cruise was a lot of fun. The food was good, the company
was great and the scenery off the boat was really wonderful. After the cruise
we walked back to campus where we picked up our car.
On Sunday Kathie decided not to ride so I
took my bike to
VMU to start the ride and get back to the hotel before check-out time. When It got to VMU I topped off my tires and
managed to break a valve. I had to take 20 minutes and fix the flat. Because I
was late, I took the 30 mile ride instead of the 40 milerthat I had planned. Both of these
rides traveled south to Charlotte along a ridge back from the lake then dropped
down to the lake to head north. This is all close to the farm that Steve and Dawn lived
in and Dawn still owns. I had ridden this area with Steve some time ago. On the
way the course took me past Steve’s grave site. I’m not sure if having cyclists
pass him daily would have made him happy or if it would frustrated him.
Toward the end of the ride I happened upon about 6
cyclists
starting a club ride. I joined up with them for a few miles then split
off when
I headed to VMU. When I got back to campus Mel our Tandems East owner
was at his
truck. He sells and services tandems in New Jersey and is the dealer
that sold us our tandem. I had him look at the tandem and he suggested
I replace the
cluster also.
I got back to the hotel showered and packed. On the way out
we met up with Dawn and Ivy for lunch, took one more trip the see Steve’s grave
site then headed for home. This was a
great weekend with family and friends.