Three Months

Day 93, July 3, 2011, Three Months

Route from Hanover, NH to Brookwood Campground, Ticonderoga, NY

96.1 miles, averaging 13 mph

Worst Moment – Having wet feet for the whole day is really uncomfortable.  About an hour after leaving Ruby this morning, there were serious thunderstorms and rain showers. I got quite a drenching.  There were three different times it rained today while I was cycling, but I really got wet feet on the first shower and while the rest of me dried out, my feet never did.

Best Moment – It was really great to see Steve and Kim Meilleur, friends from Phoenix who now live in Vermont.  They drove from their home near Burlington to Ticonderoga to spend the evening with us.  And they brought cookies from their favorite cookie shop called Cookie Love - the best cookies ever!

With today’s ride, it has been three months since we left Phoenix.  I’ve ridden just over 6,500 miles and been in 19 different states (then there are a few states that I’ve been in twice (– like NH & NY.)  In contemplation of the experience – it has been absolutely, astoundingly, amazing.  Often, I really have difficulty to come up with a “worst moment” of the day.  But that had always been sort of an end of day, campfire reflection while backpacking or camping, and I felt it appropriate to continue on this journey. 

Since, in Hanover, we were about 10 miles south of the Adventure Cycling Route and it would be a day of well over 110 miles if I went back to the route, I gave Google directions for bicycles another chance. 

I did pretty well getting past Dartmouth College, out of Hanover, and into Vermont.   I could have probably followed the Google directions, with the help of the GPS, but it was taking a long time to verify location with the GPS because of the weak signal, and I really wanted to be certain that I was on track, so I opted to follow the road maps instead.  And with the exception of riding through Rutland, VT, this went fine.  (Rutland prohibits bicycles from riding on the street – so I had to ride on the sometimes non-existent, but always bumpy sidewalk.)  There wasn’t a lot of traffic and most of the roads had decent shoulders.

The Vermont countryside is spectacular!  There’s lots of water, covered bridges, picturesque farms and green mountains.  I rode over the 2150-foot Sherburne Pass and through the Killington ski area.  Since this was during the second rain shower of the day, and I was riding in the clouds, I couldn’t/didn’t take photos.  The temps were hovering in the mid-60’s. Sorry Phoenix!

Nearly as I was leaving Vermont and headed to the ferry that would take me across Lake Champlain into New York, there was the third light shower of the day.   I now know why the mountains are so green – they get lots of rain.

I crossed an entire state today.  I rode east to west entirely across Vermont – The Green Mountain State! Whooo Hooo!

If you would like to donate to my ride, my link for the Lance Armstrong Foundation is http://grassroots2011.livestrong.org/billsbigride197.  I really appreciate your support.