August 29 - in and out of new hampshire

we crossed vermont, went in and out of new hampshire, and then entered into massachusettes, the final state of the journey.

it was very foggy, 100% humidity, but it wasn't raining.  air temp was cool and we started out with jackets.  we didn't get more than a mile down the road when a pick up truck turned around on the highway, went passed us and pulled over.  as we got closer, the driver waved us down.  he wanted to show us what he thought was either a small moose or a large buck on the other side of a field.  i can't see all that clearly anyway, but with the condensation on my glasses, it really made it hard, but i would have voted for the large buck. 

we reached brattleboro, but not without maurice first getting a flat 2 miles short of downtown, for a late chai latte and breakfast.  maurice has become my brother in his fondness for cafes and chai lattes, when he's not drinking an espresso.  brattleboro sits on the conneticut river, which is the boundary between new hampshire and vermont.  there's a lot of activity downtown and way too much traffic; several roads come together and then split apart there.  and everything slopes to the river, though not much actually crosses it.  there are a lot of shops and it appears vibrant.  it has a reputation of being a top 10 small town. 

the rest of the day was spent going up and down hills, several 8% and one i would swear was at least 10%, but none of them very long.  it felt like riding through the foothills back home in tennessee.  maurice and i discussed the differences between here and east tennessee.  the buildings are different; more colonial and more wood siding.  we've seen three covered bridges so far.  the air is cooler; of course, but that's hard to compare on one or two data points.  the towns are built tighter, closer to the downtown, and most centers of towns is where the commercial activity takes place.  i'm not sure how they pull it off, but there are no strip developments.  but the country side is amazingly similar.  i think the undergrowth may be less dense here, and things are a little drier,  and i'm sure the trees are different.  but today we rode along a mountain stream for periods and we could easily have been in the smokies.

we arrived in willard brook state forest to spend the night.  it's a pretty state forest, the camp site was in a level area covered in pine trees.  there is no undergrowth, so the whole camp site is open, but considering we were the only ones there, not a problem.

we finished todays ride outrunning or dodging rain for the last 20 miles.  it was overcast, the clouds hanging low, and moisture filled the air.  and it was cool; maurice slipped his vest back on.  and speaking of maurice, i know he was tired and a little sore, this being his third day, but he really sucked it up at the end.  80 mi day on top of 70 yesterday, so he did very well indeed.

tomorrow, we have a light day, riding only 45-50 mi into the inner ring of boston.  we have a warm shower arranged in arlington.  this will be my 13th consecutive day riding without any rest days.  then on saturday, we will ride the final 15-20 miles down to the harbor and the official end of my journey.