Penny Press

Last weekend Jess and I went for a ride with our friend and coworker of mine, Mark.  Mark has been organizing "company" rides for about a year now, and while Jess and I love them we seem to have a hard time getting anyone else to commit.  We've got about a dozen people at work who own bikes, many with spouses with bikes, but none of them seem interested in riding them for a Sunday.

The three of us rode north from Bellows Falls up through central Vermont to a northern section of the Green Mountain National Forest that has a number of mountain passes all grouped together.  We stopped to admire some waterfalls along route 100 after is splits north of 4, then rode Lincoln's Gap into Bristol.  We all enjoyed lunch at the Bristol Bakery and Cafe, including chocolate mousse cake and cookies for desert.  Mark and I had to get some cookies for the road too.

Lincoln's Gap had some sections that were pretty freakin' steep, and Jess and I were glad we didn't have to stop there for any reason.  Jess did well on all the dirt and gravel too, of which there was plenty.  The gap wasn't as Mark had remembered, so after lunch we did the two passes south of Lincoln's Gap in case one of those was the one he was hoping for.  No such luck.  Quite a bit more gravel (due to construction this time), nothing too steep, and no really good views.  (Later, Mark figures out he was thinking of the Appalachian Gap, a few minutes north of Lincoln's Gap.)

We headed home down 7 through Rutland, then smaller routes back east across Vermont.  We took some nice twisties I like along 140, and I got the R1200GS over far enough to learn that my pegs (or toes of my boots) thankfully hit pavement before the engine guards I recently installed.  I didn't have any complaints about road riding with the Continental TKC80 that came on the bike, but they were squirmy once you really started leaning over.  The Metzeler Tourances that I've on there now are very confidence inspiring on pavement (zoom zoom scrape), but as you'd expect not as enjoyable on dirt and gravel.


View Chroma Ride: Lincoln's Gap in a larger map

After Mark turned south from BF to head home, Jess and I decided to head to the local burger and ice cream shop, Dari Joy, for dinner and dessert.  Sorry we didn't invite you, Mark, but we didn't decide to go there until after you'd split!

What does any of this have to do with the Inuvik trip or penny presses?  Mark is a collector of pressed pennies, and has supplied me with pre-1982 (ie. 95% copper) US pennies to take with me on my trip, along with some quarters to pay for the penny press.  I flattened one for him while visiting the Shelburne Museum last year, and will keep my eye out for presses in more "exotic" locales during the trip.  D'ya think they have a press in Tuktoyaktuk?