6-2-31 Day 5 Jefferson, NH to Richmond, Vermont: 100.5 miles in 6:38 hrs
Stellar day for sure. With a super forecast and decent legs today I decided to give it a good push to make the most of the a great day. The crap weather from yesterday had passed to the east and it was totally wonderful when we woke up. After a couple of corn muffins at the motel, I got on the bike at 8 AM dressed in a longsleeve jersey and shorts and started pedaling west towards the Vermont border. We went right over the Mt Washington access roads, and it’s a shame that we didn’t have more time to explore the area by bike – but on the trans trips you pretty much have to keep moving. Bill and Judy went to a Mickey D’s 7 miles up the road while I got in some extra miles. Within 30 min I was in Vermont. NH was shortlived on this trip, and too bad my experience this time in NH was that of a total pisser of a storm most of the day yesterday. There was a thick fog hanging over the valleys with a “smoke” hanging over some of the mountaintops. Felt pretty good after yesterday’s rain ride so my first 10 miles solo felt great. Just past the Vermont border Bill and Judy were parked and Bill joined me for a 50-mile section of riding – and it was just spectacular!
If you get the chance you just have to ride in Vermont, the mts coupled with the scenic farming country in the valleys is very beautiful, and every little town you ride through is out of a picturebook, with old storefronts and churches. This is quite the contrast to the stark, hinterlands feel of Northern Maine, where there was nearly zero farming and very little in the way of civilization – just the northern woodlands that stretch all the way to the Canadian border.
We climbed a lot the first 2 hrs, with nothing really off the charts hard, but long and just steep enough to let your legs feel that you’re in the mts. After the second or third climb the long sleeved jersey came off in leu of a sleeveless and we kept craking. Again, the scenery was stunning with these dairy and ag farms everywhere tucked between mountains. I can see why they call these the Green Mts. The city of St. Johnsburry is a pretty cool place, kind of a hip place for outdooring, and that was our first big city in Vermont. The temps eventually got up to around 80, and add to that just a bit of humidity, so we were working on the climbing portions, and I was definitely wiping and my mopping forehead up each and every accent. Bill did a super job of hanging on the climbs today. We made a boo-boo by riding on a restricted section of Rt 2, just outside of St. Johnsburry, on this gnarly middle ring 4-mile climb up the mountain.
We had missed an alternate Rt 2b route, and got on the main route that paralleled I-91, and as we were riding I had thought that I saw a sign that declared no bikes, blah, blah, blah, the signs you see as you enter an interstate. Then I definitely saw a second sign as we were climbing a mile up on this monster climb, and I was like “what the hell are we going to do when we get pulled over? I had told Judy to drive 10 miles up the road and wait for us. How am I going to explain that to officer man? Well, luckily we topped out and then the Rt 2b rejoined with Rt 2, so we were only illegal for about 4 miles. Hung at this vista point for a coke and a few pics and then down we went.
Now that was the biggest climb, but it seemed that each and every town was situated at the top of a small little power climb, so we had a ton more climbing in the first 50 miles. An interesting side note was as Bill and I were going through this one little town, where the houses are literally right on the road, this massive Rotwiler dog lunged out onto the road at me, and I mean all the way to the berm. Thankfully it was on a chain, and when it reached full length, about 2 feet from my leg, the chain went taught and this thing nearly broke its neck. I thought I was a goner for sure until I saw this thing damn near do a summersault when the chain taughted up. I laughed so hard I nearly cried thinking of that thing having enough chain to reach the road for God’s sake!
By 1 PM Bill turned the biking over to Judy and we took off for the second leg of the day, the first stretch to Montpelier, VT. We thought, just looking at the name, that we would do this monster climb – I mean Mont Pilier right – mountain? Nope, fooled us all. It was right on a river. And Judy lucked out by getting a section that was mostly flat to rolling in a beautiful river valley. We had talked about stopping at the Ben & Jerry’s store in Waterbury, VT, and not more than 15 miles later we were indeed in Waterbury. Cool place, cool vibes.
By then I had in about 85 miles, not quite enough for a full day, and at 1:30 PM too early to say done. So we rode the mile up Rt 100 to the Ben & Jerry’s factory and all bought some icecream to eat out on the patio. Everyone opted for NOT doing the tour. After some delicious, and totally overpriced icecream Judy and I headed back to Rt 2 West and continued to put in some more time while Bill did sag. Judy felt like *&^%$ after sitting around eating icecream and then jumping back on the bike, so she fell off the back a bit. Good thing was that we managed to get in another 15+ miles to end the day at 100.5 miles and for Judy to get in 39. Now we’re just 15-20 miles away from a ferry ride across Lake Champlain to the New York border.
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