“Focus on the journey, not the destination. Joy is found not in finishing an activity but in doing it.” – Greg Anderson

Hello everyone,

The last real day of riding was from Brattleboro Vermont to Burlington, Massachusetts a ride of 92 miles. In every other ride, I really did not have an opportunity of savoring this day; in 2012 I was focused on meeting a friend and in 2014 it rained much of the day. On much of the route, there is a lot of traffic and typically so-so roads at best. When it is wet, potholes and other debris may be lurking there; traffic tends to spray water and being wet and riding 92 miles is not the best feeling. I did get to ride in 2014 with Herm most of the day and that was a treat but it would have been much better id dry conditions.

As you may recall from the ride to Burlington, I got into my bags the last SAG and changed / added layers of clothing. I am forever grateful for that opportunity, but it did cause me some issues the next morning. I couldn’t find a couple of things and looking for them put me behind my normal schedule so I would up leaving after everyone else had already gone. I probably could have really rushed but wanted to take the day easy and enjoy the scenery. The weather was looking like gorgeous dyad riding alone didn’t bother me. I also decided to keep my output level really low so that the effort felt almost non-exixtant – maybe a level 2 or 3 on a 10 scale. The one downside was that it was a long day and there was almost 2 full pages of turn instruction on the cue sheet.

At mile 2.4, I hit the New Hampshire state line and took a photo of the sign and tossed my sand. The start was fairly flat, but there was some large / difficult climbs ahead. I think I hit 3 or 4 big ones around mile 20. My speed went way down but my exertion level went to a 10 especially near the top. Those climbs made for some good descents though. There was a lot of heavy traffic but the setting was mostly rural with lots of rivers and lakes.

The first rides that i saw was at the first SAG at mile 35. I took my time and remarked to Tom that some of the roads had been quite a bit improved via resurfacing. It was a good SAG and was able to meet Ian’s wife Sara and son Ben who fly in from the UK. Most of the riders left before I did but I did catch some at the Massachusetts state line for our second photo and sand tossing event of the day. Www were inner last state -number 14. Mary Clare had actually went past the state line nd had to pedal up a big hill to have her picture taken but she seemed pretty happy as usual.

While we pedaled away, I let most of the other riders pedal away in front and just enjoyed the day. I did catch up again at the SAG at mile 60 which was our last SAG of the day and the last of the cross country ride. There was a Johnny-on-the-spot there that Mac said we had to pay $20 so that the team could use it. From that point on, I ode with Sabine all the rest of the way. I guess that was appropriate because she was the first rider that I rode with in LA before the tour and she was also the last. She used the term “symmetry” . It was also very nice in that she had programmed every turn into her Garmin and we didn’t have to follow the cur sheets. The cue sheets are very good but Tracy had changed the route. The old route was more through business districts and this one was through residential areas with much less traffic. The only downside was the vast number of turns and Sabine had them all preloaded so we just followed her Garmin. We stopped along the way for coffee and fruit as the day was getting warm but still beautiful.

With about 1.75 miles to go, Sabine asked if we could get to the hotel by 4:00. Doing some quick math, I thought we needed to increase our speed to over 15 mph and have no traffic lights. Luckily the new rout had no lights and we actually got there with a minute to spare. Not that it really mattered but that was her arbitrary time limit.

I heard a funny story about Ted as well. I guess Ted’s wife brought along Ted’s 92 year old mother as as a “surprise”. ted’s mother must have a real sense of humor because her goal was to lay down in the weeds off the side of the road and thought that would act as a BIG surprise for Ted. I think she thought that he’s stop thinking a local needed help and then she would scare the willies out of him. Unfortunately, Ted had mechanical problems and missed the 4 places that Ted’s mother had lain down in the weeds. Cars were stopping to see if she needed assistance but she explained she was just playing a joke. I guess that it was the 4th try that ted actually happened by and was “surprised” by his 92 year old mother laying in the weeds by the side the road.

Next – the last day of riding…

Thanks for reading

~Chuck