Day 46 - Troy, NY to Brattleboro, VT - 80 miles - 4,948 feet of climbing - 5:37 hours in the saddle
Hill….New State….Hogback….Covered Bridge….Roadside Stands….Flora
Today ride is the 2nd biggest climbing day of the entire tour. As we rolled out of Troy this morning, it was cool and sunny. At mile 4 we met our first challenge of the day, a relatively long hill for this early in the daily ride. The legs hadn’t fully woken up yet. This was just an introduction of climbing to come. No pacelines today, so here are some scenery pics from the early part of the ride.
We crossed into Vermont, our 13th state. Two more states to go and we will set foot in both of them tomorrow. A quick pic and headed up the road.
After SAG 1 at mile 32 we started the big climb of the day, Hogback Mountain. My Wahoo shows a 7.6 mile climb with 1,575 feet of elevation gain. And remember in the profile, green means 0 - 3 percent grade, yellow means 3 - 5 percent, orange means 5 - 7 percent and red is just plain nasty! For future riders reading this blog, the first 3 miles and last 1 mile of the climb was easy, the middle 3.6 miles was challenging, but quite doable! I even took some of these pics while pedaling on the climb. Erika sent me a supportive text while I was on the lower part of the climb. My biggest cheerleader! Strava shows the segment to be 9+ miles, starting near the rest stop in Bennington. We climbed high enough to ride past a ski resort!
Rode on/through a one lane, wooden covered bridge. That was a first for me on a bike!
Beginning in Ohio, and becoming more prevalent as we ride East, are the roadside stands selling everything from firewood (don’t know the difference between campwood and firewood), flowers, eggs, fruits, vegetables, baked goods, honey, maple syrup and even popcorn! Most work on the honor system, with the cash placed in a padlocked box.
Just one more day of riding, before the ceremonial parade to Revere Beach in Boston! I can’t believe we are about to complete the journey that I have thought about for so long. Anxious to hug Erika tomorrow in Boston. Then see Kenly, Daniel, Isabel and Jonah back in Dallas on Saturday and the following weekend, see Sam, Katie and Olivia on Naples Island. I am grateful for the support and encouragement of my family!
Check out this Relive video of today’s ride.
Savor the Journey // Achieve the Goal
Great pics! The roadside stands are very encouraging with the honor system still prevalent. Have a great next 2 days and enjoy tne ride into Boston as the end of a lifetime adventure.
ReplyDelete