VT, NH, MA!

Today we started in Vermont, rode through a small piece of New Hampshire, and ended up in Massachusetts! Another day of some nice climbs - a few short/steep ones, and a few long gradual ones. Again, only about 5,000 foot total vertical gain. I did feel better when I later heard that one of the short hills was a 12% grade - I was wondering why I feeling a bit sluggish!


Very pretty route. I really enjoyed the New Hampshire bit - the quiet road was lined with pine trees and ferns! Interesting combo!


The route from Brattleboro, VT to Burlington, MA was 91 miles, but Harry and I were able to round up to 100 by cruising around Burlington upon arrival. So, officially, I had twelve "Century" days during this trip. This is counting days of 100 miles or more only -- not days that are "close to 100".

Sadly, Alec did not ride with us today since he is still feeling quite ill with flu symptoms. It just wasn't the same to be riding without him. Indeed, I think it got our little group all out of sync.
For the first time, we got separated! Here's how it happened:
Harry, Ira, and I were joined by Willie after the SAG stop. At around 45 miles, one of the little American flags on Harry's bike fell off, so the three guys stopped to get it but the plan was for me to just continue on since I was a bit slow on the hills today (mostly due to a chest cold making the deep breathing of the climbs turn into coughing fits, etc); no big deal - they would all catch up. So I carried on. Since nobody had caught up to me by the time we were to make a significant turn onto a different road at mile 49, I decided it would be wise to just wait there; we could re-group as everyone made the turn. After a few minutes, I happened to glance up and I see Harry absolutely flying down the descent. He was only in my view for less than one second, but it was clear that he was in chase mode - trying to catch me, no doubt. The problem was that he went straight pass the turn. There was no way I would be able to catch him from where I had come to a stop. And I could not yell nearly loud enough due to a hoarse voice today.
The only reason this is a bit of a dilemma is that - as you know- Harry does not even carry a route sheet with him - usually I am there in the # 2 spot to navigate! OK, I figured, Ira and Willie must be right behind him and they will be able to chase him down. (I knew that even on a day that I am not sick, there is not chance I could catch Harry if he was in full chase mode). Here's where it got weird: Ira and Willie were not showing up. What the heck happened to them??? (I found out later that they stopped for one of Willie's fire-station stops and sent Harry on ahead with a brief instruction to watch for the turn). Cell phone was of no use - no coverage for me in this spot.
Anyhow - to make a long story short - Willie and Ira did finally show up at the turn. We sent "fast Ira" off on his bike even though it was quite unlikely Ira would catch him. Ultimately we were able to chase down Harry by flagging down a man in a truck to go look for him and deliver the message about where we were. The plan worked really well, and we were able to carry on, with Harry really only getting 4 extra miles in round trip. (Seems he does pay some attention after all; when he saw that he was on a route labeled "South", he knew he should be going "East", so he did stop and that let our stranger in the truck catch him).
Ah well, guess it's kind of surprising things like this didn't happen more often on this trip.

Almost to the Atlantic. Ceremonial 18 miles to dip the front wheel tomorrow!