Day 49--Brattleboro VT to Manchester NH--August 8th

Miles Ridden 80.6
Avg. Speed 14.6 MPH
Climbing 5400 Ft.
Total Miles Ridden 3567
Miles To Go 62

Another beautiful New England Day.  The New Hampshire border was a mile east of our motel so we got to our tenth and last state early in the morning.  The section of New Hampshire we crossed has to be about the hilliest stretch of riding I've seen.  I don't think we went more than half a mile without some kind of up or down.  Some of the hills were extremely steep but none were too long. There was an optional hill which is renowned for it's steepness. I wouldn't have been  interested but it was called Sullivan Hill and it was on Old Sullivan Road so I felt I had to do it. Somehow I missed the turn and couldn't find it--maybe for the best.  The people who did the climb said it was so steep that if you leaned back in your seat, your front tire came off the ground. 

We went through several villages on the way to Manchester. There were some old buildings but none of them had had the same New England feel that Vermont had. Keene had a very pretty town square but the rest of the town wasn't much.  I did talk to one of the crew members who lives in Vermont and he cleared something up for me. He said that the part of Vermont  we rode through yesterday and particularly Bennington and Brattleboro  is more like a tourist version than the real Vermont which starts another 25 miles north.  I will have to go back and see.

Our farewell dinner  and good-by event is scheduled for tonight and then we have an early start to head for the finish on the beach.

Last State

Lots of Sullivan stuff around here

Pond near Antrim.  There were moose crossing signs all over so I stopped to look for one.

The Old Meeting House from 1801 in Francestown

Stark cemetery in Greenfield. No trees or decorations, just old tombstones