To get out of the cold, I hopped in my tent at 7:30 last night. The camp managers told me not to worry about bears; the only critter they’ve seen in camp was a raccoon. I slept fitfully anyway.

I was shocked that my tent poles stayed in the ground all night. The wind blew hard through the tree tops but my tent never flapped. Maybe the full moon was working it’s magic. Temperatures fell to 45 in the wee hours. I was bundled up from head to toe and didn’t much notice.

I broke camp at 7:30 and backtracked two miles to a family restaurant for breakfast. It’s the first place that served hash browns since Pennsylvania. One disturbing fact about eateries up here: they serve coffee in three-ounce cups. That’s not a cup of coffee; it’s a biopsy.

I started the day riding in long pants. I switched to shorts after breakfast and rode 20 miles until I couldn’t take the chill any more. You’d think it would warm up but it never did. And the wind, mostly a headwind, increased in intensity throughout the day.

The route clipped the northwest corner of Rhode Island, climbing more hills. The hills today topped out at 500 feet. Many featured steep climbs. I managed to cross Connecticut without walking up a single hill. My ego is happier than my knees.

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After my tour of Rhode Island I entered Massachusetts. The road surface deteriorated and the traffic increased in volume and speed.

At Manchaug, I stopped at a convenience store for a snack, and to warm up. Five miles later in Whitinsville, I stopped for lunch. I ordered way too much food: a salad with chicken, hot chocolate, and a bowl of clam chowder. (The waiter called it “white”.)

Before leaving I changed into my long pants. They helped quite a bit, especially when it started to rain. It was a light spitting mist, the kind that would have felt wonderful on hot day. Today was not that day.

My struggles with the weather distracted me from the scenery. So much green. So many lovely homes. Loads of creeks and lakes (mostly kettle ponds, I think. And, of course, so many stone walls.

I climbed another 500 footer before descending into Westborough. Prior to going to my hotel I went to a bike shop to use their floor pump. Landrys Bike Shop has been around since 1922. They were very nice to me – and to a little girl shopping for her first bike.

Landrys was about 1/4 mile from my hotel but I had to go 1 1/2 miles to get there because Landrys is on Massachusetts Route 9, an insane, high-speed, four-lane highway with a jersey barrier down the middle.

My hotel is an extended stay place. It’s basically an efficiency apartment. If I could find a grocery and tolerate another minute in the cold wind I could buy fixings for dinner and breakfast. I will settle for McDonalds next door.

In my tent last night I discovered that in another 25 miles I could have stayed in a hotel in Ayer. I’m glad I didn’t change plans. I’d have frozen stiff.

So there you have it. My three-state day. Tomorrow my plan was to ride to East Derry, New Hampshire, but I’m not hearing back from my Warmshowers host. It is supposed to rain all morning so a hotel will probably be what I do. There seemed to be plenty within a few miles of my route which skirts Nashua to the south.