The first 5 days...

Phew! Greetings from the Ecovillage at Ithaca! After 5 days, we rode in last evening to this wonderful ecological community of about 160 people. It was a slow start for me, but my body is adjusting to 6+ hours on the bike much more quickly than I expected. We biked 65 miles on day 1, making it to the top of Breadloaf Mountain, near Middlebury Vermont. We were about to pitch our tent in the woods on the mountain when we ran into a group of Middlebury students who invited us to camp down the hill on the Breadloaf Campus. They also fed us a buffet dinner of veggie burgers and lots of cookies. Mmmmm, it was so nice to not have to cook after the first day. I was beat.
The second morning, we met Gautier's father in downtown Middlebury for a quick breakfast and then continued over rolling farmland to Shoreham Vermont, where we crossed Lake Champlain on a small ferry. Day 2 was a hot one, and I just about died on a relentless climb out of Ticonderoga. We completed 58.6 miles and camped out in the woods in Middle of No-Where upstate NY. The lentils, rice, and rehydrated veggie dinner I cooked never tasted better. We were a bit afraid of bears that night, but nothing bothered us.
Day 3, as Gautier's father warned us, was the most difficult. Our muscles were sore and we were still in the Adirondacks, so there were hills to contend with. After another 58 miles, we settled down early at a camp ground on Raquette Lake. This day, we passed a buffalo farm, and I was even tempted to try some meat, if the store had been open for business. In the evening, we cooked over a fire to save some stove fuel, and each enjoyed a hot shower. Ah, I felt like a new person after that shower, with the heat loosening up my tightening muscles.
On day four, we made it out of Adirondack park, and I let out a holler as I looked out over the horizon to see nothing but flat hill tops, and no more steep peaks. We kicked it up a notch and biked 92.5 miles this day, ending near Oneida and camping out on someone's lawn. We wanted to make it all the way to Cazenovia, New York, to a warm showers (www.warmshowers.com) contact, but we were still 25 miles from Cazenovia when I knew my muscles could handle no more. So, we met up with Jeff and Sandy, the warm showers folks, in the late morning on day five. Jeff showed us around town, including Chitenango Falls, Lake Cazenovia, and a quaint Amish farm located on one of the many back roads beyond Cazenovia. We followed route 13 into Ithaca, and enjoyed the steep descent into town, but not the just-as-steep climb back up the other side of the valley to the ecovillage. We saw many dairy farms and corn, soy, and alfalfa fields yesterday. I noticed that many farms had signs next to the fields, advertising the type of corn or alfalfa growing. Both crops were owned by a company called DeKalb, and I found it quite interesting that one company owns both crops. I wonder if the farmers who own these farms pay more for the seeds each year than they receive for selling their milk. During all these miles, I saw only one organic dairy farm, complete with fields labeled with "do not spray" signs, but I wonder how effective such an organic farm is amongst the many Round-Up Ready corn fields. With all the pesticides sprayed on the round-up ready corn and alfalfa, how can the organic farmer guarantee that his milk is in fact clean?
Today Gautier and I get to enjoy a day of rest, touring the ecovillage and getting more food supplies in downtown. I am so ready for the rest and the opportunity to stretch my legs. We met Liz and Jared this morning, who welcomed us into their home and cooked us a huge breakfast of blueberry pancakes. Mmmm. Topped with Vermont maple syrup, it reminded me of home and the pancake breakfast my dad cooked for us on Tuesday morning, the date of our departure. Liz actually grew up in the town next to my home town, attended school at Hampshire college (right next door to Mt. Holyoke and UMass), and helped to found what is now Living Routes. To top it off, Jared knows the farm manager at Evergreen State! What luck. It has been an enjoyable morning talking with Liz and Jared about the organization of the ecovillage. Jared believes that we may be putting ourselves in danger by attempting to cross the Rockies so late in the year, but as our Adventure Cycling route follows the Amtrack route, we can always hop a train to Seattle when it gets super cold.
Well, I would love to write every detail possible, but there is so much to take in today, and I need to do some laundry! Until the next internet connection,
lots of love,
Emily and Gautier