Day 50: The Mountains of Vermont

Latham, NY to Brattleboro, VT
Miles:  79  Climb:  5,358

We left Latham, NY,  northwest of Albany, and headed east across the Hudson River.  The route was immediately challenging with a climb, giving us an early taste of what our day would be like.  We rode Route 7, and did a steady, gradual climb for 30 miles.  Shortly after crossing the Vermont State we had an eight mile climb of 6 - 9.5% grade to get over the first mountain. The climbing was challenging, the scenery was breathtaking, and the descent was exhilarating.  One rider hit 50 mph on the descent. Not me. I was satisfied with getting to 38 mph before I started pumping the brakes.

We rode from one quintessential New England village to the next, Bennington - Wilmington - Brattleboro as we crossed the Green Mountains.  Each village was as beautiful as the next.  In between villages the ups and downs of the stream bordered mountains made it one of the best days we've had.  I stopped at the peak of Hogback Mountain and had an old fashioned Coke while I took in the view of the mountains.  This is a beautiful part of the country.  The towns are quaint, filled with character and charm, the terrain is rolling, and the landscape is lush green.  I am glad I rode west to east because New England is making a nice finish to the journey.

The highways are more narrow here than in the Midwest, the traffic is heavier, and there often are no shoulders.  Where shoulders do exist they typically are too rough to ride on, so we are riding on the roads with traffic.  The term we use is "taking the lane" meaning that we move far enough into the lane that cars approaching from behind need to pass us with the same room they would give a car.  Some Vermont drivers today let us know they did not appreciate having cyclists "take the lane".

Tomorrow we will get to Manchester, New Hampshire.  We have even more climbing than we had today.  I am really tired from today's workout, but I am looking forward to tomorrow's ride.  I expect it will be as beautiful and challenging as today, and it is the next to the last day of the tour.  I want to make tomorrow's ride a good one.  It is hard to believe we're almost done.

The forecast for tomorrow is 90 degrees with the possibility of thunderstorms late afternoon.  We are planning an early start to try to finish before the storms arrive.