Vermont---"What kind of man gives cigarettes to trees?"

I slept reasonably well despite the heat and humidity...until 2 a.m. when I decided to roll over and one of my hamstrings quivered its way into a hard cramp. The other hamstring soon followed and I laid there for about 10 minutes willing myself to relax. Fun times...

We had all agreed to try and get up earlier...and by 5:30, Karen and I were rolling down the road. We rode north on Highway 5 towards Bradford and then turned around to ride south...I wanted to be on Highway 5, along the Connecticut River all day. The views were pastoral, and the route was dotted with small towns like Hartford, Windsor, and Putney. There were great little markets selling Vermont's pure maple syrup. I needed an easier day...





I loved today's ride...better road surfaces, undulating hills with some long, sweeping downhills, and light traffic. At one point I was stopped with Laura, and we heard cute little voices behind a hedge. "Marco..." "Polo..." Oh man...it was in the upper 90's and we were near a swimming pool. Would it be wrong to invite ourselves for a dip in the pool? :)I


By noon I had 70 miles, and finished just after 2 p.m. with 3984' of elevation gain, 100.3 miles, and an average of 14.2.





We needed to pick Patty up at the Albany airport at 6:50 p.m., so we had some time to kill. Yeah, right. We stopped at Woodward State Park along Highway 9. What a beautiful place! We went down to the lake for awhile, then took showers. It was a good plan...we were clean and wouldn't have to bother our Warm Showers hosts with that detail. We got to Albany about an hour before Patty was due to land, so we made good use of our time and got an oil change. The garage even had wifi. Gotta love efficiency. We were parked at the airport just a few minutes when Patty texted me to say she would soon be out.

We still had a two hour drive to Rome...to our Warm Showers hosts Larry and Patty. I have to tell you a funny story...when I stayed with Smitty and Roberta in Hawai'i, we were talking about my route and comparing it with their route in 2011. They stayed in Rome too...with the SAME Warm Showers hosts! Larry and Patty welcomed us even at the late hour...had a wonderful dinner of spaghetti, bread, and green salad for us...and beds! They have three cats, and Gepetto seemed to take a shine to me...very sweet cat.





Patty's bike had a flat on the rear wheel. I would have liked to have fixed it for her...I certainly thought about it, but just never got around to doing it. Larry offered his help and his workshop and the two of them had the tire changed and back on her bike in short order.

Thank you, Larry and Patty, for all of your help, and your gracious hospitality. Smitty was right...we were in for a treat.




maybe you can't...because you won't...