Day 3 - Northampton to Lenox, MA - Up and Over the Berkshires

We climbed a ton today. And then we climbed some more. Today was only a 65-mile day, but most of the 4700 feet of climbing was front loaded into the first 40 miles as we headed up into the Berkshires.

We left Northampton as a morning fog lifted. The riding and scenery leaving town were sweet, and temp was nice and cool.

By 6 miles we were doing a serious climb - at times a 20% grade - as we headed up into the Berkshires near Goshen. The climbing was challenging as we continued our grind up. We were greeted by our friend Tom Florek, who graced us with his fine accordion skills.

These road signs are never a good sign!

DJ near the top, in fine form

Tom Florek in action

Catching a collective breath at the top of the first climb

We rode through the Berkshires through small towns (Cummington, Ashfield, Plainfield), climbing and descending (but mostly climbing it seemed) for quite a while. The scenery was lovely - with lakes, farms, and lots of deep forest.

We eventually made our final climb up Savoy Mountain before making a steep but vigilant descent out of the Berkshires into Adams. I have to say, the local roads in Massachusetts are not in great shape, and we had to be extremely careful to avoid small potholes and cracks in the road - it was particularly scary on these downhill descents. (The poor road conditions in the state are frequently blamed on Prop 2 1/2, a referendum that capped property taxes and forced towns to choose between funding roads or schools - most towns chose schools, clearly).

Da boys resting up

Pop and son at a lovely lakeside beach

We grabbed lunch at an appropriately named diner (after our day of climbing), The Daily Grind. We were ready, as always, to consume mass quantities.

Adam, Gabe and Ben post lunch

We had a sweet recovery ride along the Ashuwillticook Bike Trail that took us out of Adams and into Chester. The young 'uns formed a paceline and burned up the trail while the old guys took our time and stopped to take photos along the way. The tree canopy kept us out of the heat, since it was really starting to heat up. We were really lucky all day with the heat, being mostly up in the mountains and with a tree canopy most of the day.

Riding on the rail trail

Biking along the Cheshire Reservoir

I have to be honest, I was really ready to get off the bike by the time the day was done. Very happy to be in Lenox, where we enjoyed a nice dinner and some homemade ice cream. A great but challenging day, and the first time in Anchor House history that the ride went over the Berkshires. But when it's all said and done, no matter how our day went or how sore this or that body part may be, the reason we're doing this ride is for the kids of Anchor House.