Day 48 - 79 (turned out to be 100) miles from Latham, NY to Brattleboro, VT

Michael rode the Cervelo the 79 miles, well since I got to the motel early, I rode on to make it a century. There was rain above and below where we were and the course we were riding; so, fortunately none of us got wet today. The day turned out to be a good one with the temperatures in the low 70's and the sun came out the second half of the ride. So, all was good.

The route had two long climbs and a lot of small ones. The total ascent was 5,150'; so it certainly was not a flat day. This is the most climbing we have done since SD when we climbed Mt Rushmore.

During this ride, we left our 8th state NY and entered our 9th, VT. The scenery in both states is full of trees  everywhere as you will see in the pictures below. The state has many old towns founded in the 1700's; however, VT was not one of the 13 colonies like NY we just left and NH we enter tomorrow. However, VT has lots of maple syrup!

VT State Line. I had the Cervelo resting against the sign for the picture. After I took it, I noticed it had fallen just before I took the picture. Oh well!

The first VT town we entered - Old Bennington, chartered in 1749. That's Phillippe (Israel), Brian (Austrailia) and Rick (VT) in the picture.

Typical site during this ride. All green as opposed to mostly brown in WY.

There are lots of beautiful lakes and rivers in VT. Here's one.

And streams.

Our second town in VT, Wilmington, chartered in 1751.

This picture was taken at the top of the highest climb at an elevation of ~2,500'. You can see for miles in many directions. I think was told I saw three states: MA, VT and NH from this vantage point.

Arrived in Brattleboro. A very popular town with lots of tourists and shops, etc. to visit.

We attended Mass at St. Michaels built in 1855.

Notice the hill in the background; it runs for miles and the trees are so dense you cannot see the ground anywhere. Very pretty. I found in riding around Brattleboro that the whole area is like this.

Here are Alan and Mitch dividing up the tips we collected from the riders for the Support Staff.

Here is the Support Staff. From l to r: Karen (route info), Mikey (mechanic), Pam (nutrition, etc.), Jeff (ride leader), Judy (motels & food) & Jim (mechanic). They did a super job and exemplified by the amount of tip pool the riders contributed for them.

Tomorrow is  the second to the LAST day of our xUSA tour. I can hardly believe it.

We will leave VT and enter our 10th and final state - NH with the ride to Manchester. However, Anne and I have plans to make a ride into and right out of ME on Monday.