August 18, 2021
Another character building day: hello Vermont
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We got some very encouraging comments on yesterday’s post. They mainly said days like yesterday are character building days. Well, today was another character building day. We got up to hearing the rain hitting the roof of the motel. We decided to sleep in and hope the rain passes. When we got up we checked our weather apps. There was a big green and yellow blob right over us on the radar. We packed up and then did more logistics planning (more on this later). At 10:30 we had to leave so we could get our miles in for the day. As we were leaving Ross checked the weather app one more time. We had gotten 2.5 inches of rain so far this morning and there were flash flood warnings in the area. Yippee! We take off and ride in the rain, getting soaking wet. It continued to rain for most of our ride, stopping about an hour before we stopped riding. Fortunately, the rain was not as heavy as yesterday so the riding was not that bad.
After 24 miles we stop at a C-store that has a deli so we get lunch. We continue on and within a few miles we get to the bridge over Lake Champlain. We stop for a couple of pictures, cross the bridge then stop for pictures at the entering Vermont sign.
A few words on New York. I want to say how much we enjoyed our riding in New York, even the last few rainy days. We started riding in New York by riding through many miles of grape vineyards, then we went through the amazing Niagara Falls area, then we went through miles of orchards, then the historic Erie Canal. We ended up riding through the Adirondack area with some of my favorite type of terrain to ride. I love riding remote, low traffic back roads that wind through forested areas, goes past many lakes that are ringed with vacation cabins, ride along creeks that cascade downward with many rapids and small falls. We really enjoyed riding in upstate New York.
We entered the new state of Vermont. The roads were not as nice as the New York roads. There was little traffic, but no shoulders on the roads. We also had a couple of steep climbs to end our day. We got to our destination of Middlebury around 5:15. Middlebury is a cute little town that has a definite New England charm. We are in a motel for the night. We looked at the weather for tomorrow and it looks like rain all day again. We are hoping it is light rain and not a torrential downpour all day. We feel like we have enough character now and don’t need to build up any more.
This morning while waiting around to start riding we made our plans for the end of the trip. We are not going to Portland, we are ending the trip on Saturday in Kittery, Maine. This decision was made solely on the availability of hotels over the weekend. We have found it extremely problematic getting hotels or camping on weekends and as we get to more popular and populated areas it is even more difficult. Tomorrow we are riding to Lebanon, NH, the next day is in Concord, NH, then Kittery, Maine. After spending the night in Kittery, we are taking a train to Boston. Ross will continue on the train to Philadelphia to visit friends and pick up his van. We will ship our bikes home and then fly home on Wednesday. We have our hotels reserved through Kittery. That is the end game.
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Oh, today is my last day of adult noon hour swim time at the local outdoor pool. That's more of a fun way to be all over wet! Does make you think summer is winding down here in the Wisconsin though ;-)
3 years ago
Today's ride: 50 miles (80 km)
Total: 3,683 miles (5,927 km)
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3 years ago
3 years ago