Connecticut---"Yeah, I just stare at my desk; but it looks like I'm working. I do that for probably another hour after lunch too. I'd say in a given week, I probably only do about fifteen minutes of real, actual work."

Martin was up with us at the crack of dawn and fixed us all breakfast. Scrambled eggs and toast, juice and tea. I think he would have ridden with us a bit, but his daughter is in a soccer playoff game today. I had talked to him and his riding buddies last night about changing today's route. We had had a lot of urban and highway riding and were looking for something a bit more bucolic. Highway 1 along the coastline seemed to fit the bill. Martin uses RidewithGps and also has a Garmin Edge 705, so he mapped the ride and downloaded the file onto my Garmin. I had turn-by-turn directions...yay! Thanks so much, Martin...our stay with you was absolutely delightful.




We drove as far as New Haven and started riding from there. Oh.my.goodness. The riding was spectacular. The scenery was spectacular. The weather was spectacular. Okay..the road surface wasn't always that great, but it was the best riding we have had so far. We had two MAJOR bridges to cross, and the Garmin was stellar in giving me the directions to the pedestrian/bike paths.












We jumped back into more elevation gain today. Connecticut is hilly, and we were trying to stay along the coast to minimize some of that...it's still hilly.








Laura and her husband Jon are in the market for a new house. And we saw some beauties today. We stopped at a smaller ranch style home on the water to take a look at the real estate flyer. $789,000. I think Jon is going to have to get a second job.












It was a day of "moseying". We took lots of pictures, stopped to drink in the views, and took our sweet time. We ended the day in Mystic...a pretty coastal town where we had to do a little overlapping on the route to get in 100 miles before we entered Rhode Island. Mystic. Seems like I read a novel that took place in Mystic, Connecticut, but for the life of me, I can't remember what it was. I finished the day with 100.1 miles, a 12.1 average, and 3703' of elevation gain.


It was late in the day, but fortunately, we only had an hour or so to drive to Chepachet, Rhode Island where we are staying with Peter and Paula. They live in a wonderful old house that Peter has refurbished...you ought to see the exposed chestnut beams. When he bought the house, it had no electricity and no indoor plumbing. He and Paula have added on a large room with a wood cook stove and lots of windows. I love how they live...wood fires, large gardens, lots of dogs. They fed us well...chicken, sweet potatoes, barley, and cranberries, and we so enjoyed our conversation with them.







The air was chilly and we brought our sleeping bags inside and upstairs. I think after all of the climbing, I will sleep well.
maybe you can't...because you won't...