New England

This is a ski resort. Ski resorts are typically located at the tops of mountain passes. Guess what we did today?

If you guessed "climb" you'd be correct. Today's ride had over 6000 feet of climbing, the single biggest climbing day of the tour. We also has a bit of a "warming spell", shall we say. I saw a thermometer in Brattleboro that read 100 degrees, and no, that's not a dry heat. The air was warm and sticky at 7:00 a.m. Funny thing about biking in humidity though, you don't notice the heat as much as you might think. I was completely soaked in sweat, but the breeze actually felt pretty cool. Once we stopped riding then we would really notice the heat.

The big challenge is staying hydrated. The volume of perspiration has to be replaced, or else bad things happen. I went through 6 bottles of Gatorade plus a coke, and still bonked when I got to the hotel room.

Here's a picture of Jerry, our 80 year old rider, making his way up to the top of Prospect Mountain. Age is truly a state of mind. He's a daily inspiration to me.


Every uphill has a corresponding downhill. These were great descents, rarely steep enough to be scary, but fast enough to hold 30+ MPH for long periods of time. It makes all the uphill grunting worthwhile.

We crossed into Vermont about 30 miles into the ride. Vermont is actually an old Indian word meaning "Subaru". It has to be. Why else would every 3rd car on the road be one? The state is unbelievably green. And hilly. I think I mentioned that already.

What would a day be without a little adventure. Some fresh tar had been poured in a little seam crack in the asphalt. I went rolling through it in slow motion and managed to coat both tires. After the gravel stuck to the wet tar I now was riding on knobby tires.
A cop saw me stopped by the side of the road and pulled over. He was actually a really nice guy. We chatted about the trip and Vermont and all sorts of stuff. He loaned me his pocket knife so I could scrape off some of the rocks and get back on the road. When I got back to the hotel, and finished my bonk session, I had another 30 minutes of work to get the rest of the tar off the tires.


Family members are starting to show up at the hotel. We have several spouses here in Brattleboro. Ray's cycling club, the Cyclonauts, rode out and met him at the 2nd SAG today. and I joined them for lunch after the ride. My lovely wife is currently in transit and will be waiting for me at the hotel after tomorrow's ride. Seven weeks is a long time without my best girl. I can't wait to see her.

Today's Google Earth file: http://tomerceg.googlepages.com/brattleboroVT.kmz