Day 48

Day 48 was difficult from two aspects.  It was one of the longest climbing days of the tour, over 5,000 feet.  Though not close to as high as the Rockies, the climbs were long and at times the grades were steep. Making it worse, was there were not shoulders and a lot of traffic.  I had more close calls today than in the previous days altogether.  I also had a flat tire which slowed me down.  Bruce and Dan, both from New York, stopped to help me fix it.  On this tour, if someone has a problem, other riders always stop to help.  Though it rained in the late afternoon and is still raining, I made it before the rain started. 

The route was scenic.  After a few miles we left New York and entered Vermont.  The first picture is of the Vemont sign.  The second is of farm land right after the sign with the mountains behind them.  The whole route was green like this.  We went through several small towns, one of which was having their blueberry festival.  We saw lots of pull outs on the road leading to hiking trails and a number of kayakers next to the river.  There were houses the whole way.  The last picture was of the view from the summit from the pass at Hogback Mountain.  On a clear day, the locals said you can see for 100 miles.  Kim and I definitely need to come back and spend more time here.  

The last picture is from supper.  Kim and I along with Karina, Jeff and Julie went out for supper at local restaurant next to the river.  The view was very nice and the food was great.  

Tomorrow we leave Vermont and enter New Hampshire.  Again a lot of climbing.  The forecast is for rain all day.