September 3, 2021
Day 95: Woodford to Brattleboro
Across the Green Mountains
“Vermont was an independent territory for 13 years. It was Ethan Allen that helped make Vermont a state.” Dot says. Ethan Allen and the Green Mountain Boys came to the aid of the colonists during the American Revolutionary War.
There is a drizzle and fog early morning, we stay comfortably in our tent for a while, but it won’t let up. So we pack up the wet tent and go to the game room at the office of the campground where we eat cereal and milk we bought at the grocery store yesterday. The temperature is cooler this morning. We set off in the fog with our lights on the back of bikes. We still climb another couple of miles until we pass the State Park. Rachel is happy we stopped earlier yesterday and doing this climb at the beginning of the day rather than at the end. Highway 9 is known as the Molly Stark Trail. Molly was the wife of General John Stark that won the battle in 1777 near Bennington.
The road is pretty good until after Williamstown. We stop at Dunkin Donuts for a quick cup of coffee and donut. Gradually the road becomes worse, the shoulder varies in width from 8 feet to nothing, and the surface deteriorates. At one point on hill with a blind curve, the road surface is extremely broken up and there is no shoulder. We push the bikes along the road until it is safe to cycle again.
One final climb up to Hogback Mountain scenic overlook, we can see a hundred miles (according to the sign) and indeed there are a lot of tree covered hills to our East and South. No ocean yet though.
We end with a long downhill, with some 8% grades, and happy we are not coming from the other direction. As we reach the edge of town, there is a covered bridge, a little further we stop for lunch at the Village Country Deli. We cycle through downtown to an intersection that we learn later is called Malfunction Junction by the locals. Our warmshowers host is nearby and up a very steep hill. Dot is a retired teacher and knows lots of history of the area, especially how Vermont came to be a state. Dot also shuttles hikers on the Appalachian Trail.
Tonight is Gallery Walk in Brattleboro, so we take Dot our host out for a beer. Then we walk around the downtown. We are here until Monday after the Holiday Weekend, when we will ride to Keene on the Fort Hill and Ashuelot Rail Trails.
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Today's ride: 34 miles (55 km)
Total: 3,875 miles (6,236 km)
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