Day 48 (Saturday, Aug 6th (Latham NY) to Brattleboro Vt (79 Miles)

We are counting down on two fingers, ie, there are only two days of riding left.  So we are getting down to the wire.

We've had multiple responses to the question of the most photographed item in this pages of this blog site.  Several have claimed it is the Black Rocket (my bike), several have said it is my riding partner Barry Lucas. It is true that both of them are frequently in the blog site.   But the item I have in mind for most frequently photographed is neither Barry nor the Black Rocket.   This item is in many photographs but is not always the focus of the photo.  I will save the answer for after the last ride.

That's later.   Let's talk about today's ride.   We departed our lodging at Latham NY, (just outside of Albany) at 7:30 am.   Of course, we were all bright and chipper as we stayed at a Holiday Inn Express last night.    We started the day heading East and after a long downhill, crossed the Hudson River at Albany at the 5 mile point.    We then had a long uphill and some rollers as we inched toward the Vermont state line at 32 miles.   We then rode into the town of Bennington, where we visited the First Congregational Church and the grave of one of America's most beloved poets, Robert Lee Frost.   We continued on to Brattleboro and negotiated two steep climbs and a fast downhill descent into Brattleboro.    We arrived at about 3 pm and had some time to enjoy the city of Brattleboro.

Tomorrow, we ride into Manchester New Hampshire, where we will have our final banquet before Monday's last ride to Wallis Sands Beach in Rye, New Hampshire, for our wheel dip celebration in the Atlantic Ocean.   Judi and sister Chris are enroute to New Hampshire now and will join us for this final celebration.

For now, here are a few pics of todays ride:

Today Route begins in Latham NY (near Albany and ends in Brattleboro, Vermont (see middle of the map), a total of 79 miles and several big hills.

We cross into the Green Mountain State early in the day (ME, Blythe and Matt)

The countryside in Vermont is rolling hills and small farms (here is a Vermont dairy farm, probably owned by Ben and Jerry's)

Here is a new twist, ie, the barn is sitting on top of the silos

In Bennington, we visited the famous Old First Congregational Church

The "First Congo" is a famous Vermont church, on many calendars and the Church attended by Poet Robert L. Frost

The Cemetery has graves that date back to the Revolutionary War

The Congregation is still active and meets together in family groups as you see here.

Robert Frost (Poet Laureate of America) is buried here with his family.  His epitaph says "I had a lover's quarrel with the world"

"The woods are lovely, dark and deep, but I have promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep"

Robt Frost

After our visit to the church, we then completed long climbs into Wilmington and then up the steep slopes of Hogback Mountain.   We then had a fast and furious 15 mile downhill as we cycled into the town of Brattleboro, a city of history and old architecture.  Here is Brattleboro's Hotel Brooks.

And the street corner on Main Street with many shops and restaurants

Brattleboro also has two nice bicycle shops and many good restaurants.....worth a trip back.

We then reach our lodging at the Holiday Inn Express (second night in a row) with the America By Bicycle Vans parked for the night.

Tomorrow we have our second last ride as we journey from Brattleboro to Manchester, New Hampshire.   We will cross the state line early this morning.   It rained last night and looks as if it may continue today.   We are all hoping for a little sunshine, but it we good either way as we approach our final banquet tonight in Manchester.

More Later, Love to All, ME