Pittsfield to Hadley, MA

49 miles (approx.*) We knew when we planned this ride that today would be one of the toughest, and we were right. The route today crossed the Berkshires, an Appalachian chain of low mountains that is crisscrossed by roads that were generally established before the Revolutionary War.** We had 4 major climbs today, each 3-4 miles in length and insanely steep. We were nevertheless able to ride two of these entirely but had to push the tandem up part or all of the other two. The first of these was the worst of all - even walking the bike up the steep grade was laborious forcing us to stop every 1/4 mile or so for a breather. Naturally downhills were just as steep, requiring us to brake so much that the tandem's rims became hot to the touch. After spending over 90 minutes to complete the first climb and descent in this fashion, we were dismayed to realize that we had traveled less than 9 miles. But we kept at it and the grade of the other climbs was generally more forgiving, allowing us to ride most of the rest of the way.

When we weren't hyperventilating from the exertion, we were admiring the stunning scenery, every view of which was filled with hardwood trees, lakes, creeks, green fields and green hills. We had very little traffic to be concerned about and, oh yes, the weather was again sunny and cool - perfect for struggling up mountain roads.

We stopped for lunch at Liston's, a bar in Worthington (elevation 1,810 feet), which proved to be an excellent decision as we saw no other open eating place until we had nearly finished riding. We ate tuna fish and turkey wraps made from scratch while we chatted with the owners (the Listons). They were really fired up about our trip and gave us last of the tee shirts they had created to promote their bar ("Highest Bar in Massachusetts").

After a very long descent out of the Berkshires, we arrived in Northhampton, where - with some help from a local cyclist - we found our way onto the Norwottuck bike trail, which parallels very busy Route 9 from Northhampton to east of Amherst. Unfortunately, there is currently an uncompleted gap in the trail that - without any signs to aid us - required us to navigate through the parking lot of a shopping center, cross a busy street, go behind a Walgreens under construction and then carry the tandem and trailer (after decoupling the latter from the former) over a weed bank and a series of active railroad tracks. It was urban cycling at its finest.

*The battery in the transmitter of our cyclometer died mid-ride, so we aren't sure how long the ride today was.

**In the late 1800s the moneyed industrialists built "cottages" in the Berkshires (and the nearby Hamptons),both in Western Massachusetts, for their families to spend part of the summers here away from the heat and humidity of the east coast cities. Pittsfield, for example, is the locale of 4 of these "cottages", which are 10,000 square feet or more in size and were originally were set on hundreds of acres.