Today is billed as the biggest climbing day of the ride. It was awesome! With this kind of scenery, I'd much rather climb than ride the flats looking at corn fields or western desert. The hills and mountains are beautiful. They're heavily wooded and, at times, you catch the scent of pine as you're going up.
The descents today weren't as spectacular as yesterday's, but there were paybacks for all the work today.
The temperatures were in the 50's this morning. Many riders began the day in arm warmers, vests and / or jackets. Conditions were absolutely perfect, with temps in the low 80's by time of arrival in Manchester.
We entered New Hampshire within a mile of the motel in Brattleboro this morning. We stopped for the standard state line photo, and immediately began going up.
A significant portion of the day was spent on state roads with wide, clean shoulders. Knowing what winters must be like in this part of country, the roads are in amazing condition!
The route took us through New Hampshire communities of Keene, Antrim, Bennington, Greenfield, Francestown, New Boston and the overnight in Manchester.
We've experienced many traffic rotaries since entering New York, which are also used in Vermont and New Hampshire. I've also heard them called round-a-bouts. I believe this is another way to control intersection traffic as opposed to using signs and signals. It can be tricky to navigate, especially on a bicycle, as the vehicles in the rotary have the right of way. I have found myself, more than once, in the incorrect lane to exit the rotary. Fortunately, drivers are fairly gracious to cyclists.
I've also noticed an abundance of swimming pools since leaving Michigan. The majority of homes have above or in-ground pools. I find it interesting considering the mild weather we've seen since being here, and also assuming pool season to be fairly short.
We've also been blessed with a plethora of Dunkin' Donuts. I stopped today to get treats for breakfast tomorrow morning. I've been able to avoid temptation until now.
The final group banquet will be this evening. It will be the last time to eat dinner together, followed by comments from all of the riders about what the ride has meant for them. It will likely be the latest any of us has been up in quite awhile.
Tomorrow is the final riding day. We'll gather at the Junior High School in Rye, then be escorted by the police for the last three miles to the beach and the Atlantic Ocean.
This has been a great group to ride with. There are a wide range of abilities. Again, the Dutch riders are incredibly strong. There is a woman from Pennsylvania who is able to hang on to them, and has also been known to lead. Then there are the riders that are persistently consistent. Always finishing at the end of the day, and one of them has ridden every inch! An amazing accomplishment given the 100+ mile days out west.
There are several husband - wife teams -- two of which are on tandems. Each has been on for the full ride. That's 50 days on a tandem with your spouse!
There is the family that is riding the triple. And, a few other families that are riding as singles.
As usual, the majority of riders are men riding as singles, but this time there are quite a few females riding as singles. This is different than what I've seen before. It's been great to ride and talk to all of the them to hear their stories.
It sounds like a good chance for rain tomorrow. We'll see if we can stay dry to the beach!
~ Lisa
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