Riding Through Vermont

Troy, NY.

West of Keene, NH, the sun was drifting downward so I started looking for a place to stop for the night.  I spied a hemlock forest with a pine needle floor, my favorite, so I pulled off the road and set up my little campsite.  Then I noticed that my hammock was pitched right next to a well marked and well traveled mountain bike track.  So I hiked that trail.  It went back and forth for miles.  Very nice.  Back at my night spot, two coeds came down the trail on their mountain bikes, standing on the pedals, bumping along, and giggling.  They greeted me cheerily and wished me a good campout.  I didn't feel at all out of place in this forest.  Later three men followed, quite enjoying the rough track.  I've never done more than a few feet of mountain biking, but it might be something to try some day.  It would be a lot different from the kind of road biking I'm doing.

In Brattleboro, VT, I got to talking with a woman in line at the super market.  When she heard that I was biking from Maine to Florida she asked if I was trying to prove something.  My immediate reaction was No!  This is a life-style for me.  This is what I want to be doing with my time.  This is where I want to be.  But upon thinking about her question it occurred to me that perhaps on one level there is something I am trying to prove.  Could it be that I am trying to prove that it is possible and enjoyable to live a life away from the hectic and complicated life of the mainstream?

I crossed the entire state of Vermont in eight hours (8:15 AM to 4:15 PM).  I rode slowly, stopped a lot, walked up many a mountain and sped down the other side.  My GPS tells me my maximum speed was 37 MPH.  My, I hope that wasn't in a 35 zone.  I went through the quaint village of Wilmington, past the beautiful lake of Harrington Reservoir, over Hogback Mountain with its lengthy view, across the Appalachian Trail where I was more than two months ago, and through the handsome town of Bennington.  These brief stops lifted my soul, but between them was nothing but the Long Black Ribbon, which didn't do a thing for me.  The road itself has no aesthetic appeal; it is dirty, noisy, and at times hazardous.  There is nothing uplifting about it except for the elevation changes.  I'm beginning to think that the road has only one positive purpose - to get from one place to another quickly.  Must I?

One way to get away from the Long Black Ribbon would be to stick to dedicated bike trails, rail trails, and canal trails.  Actually, I was anticipating this, so I had in mind to take the Erie Canalway from here to Buffalo the Great Allegheny Passage from Pittsburgh to Cumberland, MD, and then the C&O Canal into DC.  I met an Albany man at a rest stop near Portland, ME, who was trying to tell me a good way to get onto the Erie Canalway, so that's where I'm heading now.