To Williamstown - The Road to Rome, Part One: America - CycleBlaze

August 3, 2021

To Williamstown

We’re getting behind here, partly because the internet has been so crappy for the last two nights, and partly because a lot of our attention is going to stewing over issues with our fast approaching flight to Amsterdam.  So, we’ll be brief.  Easy to do, because yesterday is a bit of a blur for some reason - maybe because it’s almost time for dinner, today’s ride was pretty challenging, and I’m tired and starved.

Not much specific comes to mind when I think back other than what we can see in the few photos below.  So I ask Rocky what she remembers.  Not much either - look at the video, she helpfully suggests.

So, a few things.  The scenery was beautiful again.  We’re really in more rugged country ever since leaving Middlebury, and our days have been significantly hillier and more challenging than in any other region we biked on this tour.  I think our Garmins registered seven climbs yesterday, none severe but in the aggregate they had their effect.  We can really tell that we’ve been getting by on a steady diet of gentle terrain for the last two months.

The ride was a mix, like the previous two days.  Part of it was on quiet side roads (and I think all of today’s photos came from these miles), but more than we would have liked was on highways again.  As the terrain has gotten more challenging, the roads have become steadily less welcoming. 

The highlight of the day may have come at the end, when we were delighted to find an authentic Greek restaurant right next door to our budget motel.  Over delicious Mediterranean preparations of baked scrod we looked at the blown up photographs of Santorini and Mykonos on the wall and fantasized about a fourth tour of Greece someday.  We’d better hurry - Greece is a tough ride, and Team Anderson is getting noticeably less tough with each passing year.

The short story of the day: the weather was great, we’re in a new state, rah, rah, rah!

Has there been another morning that was foggy on this tour? Oh, yes - Gills Rock, up in Door County. I think that’s it though.
Heart 2 Comment 0
Leaving Manchester, we finally get a brief look at what must be the historical center of town.
Heart 2 Comment 1
Kathleen JonesWell actually, it’s downtown Manchester Center. Not to be confused with Manchester Depot where the trains came in. Manchester has the stately colonial mansions down Rte 7. However, it’s all part of Greater Manchester as the chamber of commerce puts it.
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3 years ago
What an elegant building, and an interesting one. This is the Bennington County Courthouse, in Manchester - one of two county courthouses in Bennington County. The other is in Bennington. Manchester is the northern shire, and Bennington the southern one. I’ve never heard of a county with two county seats before. Are there other instances?
Heart 3 Comment 3
Kathleen JonesWell heck, you taught me something. Never knew why it was called the Northshire. Too busy at the tavern, I guess.
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3 years ago
Scott AndersonTo Kathleen JonesWe’ve been speculating about what you meant by closing down that tavern. Multiple readings are possible.
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3 years ago
Kathleen JonesTo Scott AndersonI was young and carefree and not long out of college and over 21 and it was a tavern.
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3 years ago
Heading south, hills ahead.
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Looking west. We’re generally following the Batten Kill River, seen in the foreground.
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River Road gave us out most pleasant miles of the day.
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The most appealing barn quilt we’ve seen for a while.
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The Chiselville Covered Bridge, built in 1870, is one of the most attractive I’ve seen.
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The Chiselville Covered Bridge.
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Barn of the day. Too bad it was closed today.
Heart 1 Comment 4
Jen RahnChocolate chickens?
Who lives in the Chocolate Barn?
Chocolate cows* maybe?


* I've always wondered where chocolate milk comes from. Now I know. Vermont!
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3 years ago
Scott AndersonTo Jen RahnOf course - the source for chocolate milk! So obvious!
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3 years ago
Graham FinchYou must have been gutted.
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3 years ago
Scott AndersonTo Graham FinchUdderly.
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3 years ago
On Maple Grove Road, another highlight of the day.
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On Maple Grove Road.
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Video sound track: Summer Song, by Grover Washington, Jr.

Cute!
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Q

I’ve seen many hop fields, but never with them trellised like this. Neat!
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Numero ocho!
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Ride stats today: 44 miles, 2,600’; for the tour: 2,447 miles, 77,400’

Today's ride: 44 miles (71 km)
Total: 2,447 miles (3,938 km)

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