The Cross Country Tour is ending with a bang. I somehow had almost forgot how tiring and demanding certain days could be. Fortunately today's leg, with about 6,000 feet of climbing, graciously reminded me. Even with very good weather conditions the ride was a significant challenge.
Leaving metro Albany we headed east and quickly crossed the Hudson River. At the 32 mile mark we entered Vermont, which among others things is known for skiing, which typical involves steep mountains. And so let the climbing begin. It started for real after the handsome old town of Bennington and pretty much continued to our final destination of Brattleboro. Road grades were around 8-9 percent for significant distances. We also had a couple of really fast descents. One of the staff (Rick) told me in a prior year he had exceeded 50 miles per hour. I didn't have near the nerve, or the proper traffic conditions, to come anywhere close to that.
My riding buddy Jim and I stopped at a McDonalds in B'boro before the hotel to reload with sundaes and smoothies. So good.
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| Entering Vermont |
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| Outside Bennington VT before a mountain ascent |
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| Mountain lake near Wilmington, VT |
Gorgeous pictures honey! You surely can see the light at the end of the tunnel now. This time tomorrow we will have had dinner together and enjoying the thought of a quick dip in the Atlantic on Friday morning with a big celebration afterwards. :)
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