Bike Across America – Day 49

Sunday, August 6, 2017

Start: Brattleboro, Vermont
End: Manchester, New Hampshire
Mileage today/cumulative: 78 / 3,589
Elevation Ascended: 5,030′
Weather: Sunny, 57° at start; sunny, 76º at finish
3D Relive Video (approx. 1 minute)

What a difference a day and a new state makes. The sun was shining bright at luggage load and everyone was in good spirits knowing that today was the penultimate ride of the tour. All of the foul moods caused by yesterday’s ride were gone and all of us were itching to get back on our bikes.

One mile into the ride, we happily left Vermont and entered New Hampshire, where the road immediately improved. It was another day of climbing but the terrain was so similar to East Tennessee (up-down-nothing flat), that we never felt challenged. I suspect that riding nearly non-stop from the Pacific Ocean also helped.

Riding through New Hampshire was pretty spectacular. The locals commented on the unusually mild temperatures and lack of humidity; we were  struck by the thick forests and old New England towns, many of them established in the mid-late 1700s. Because it’s Sunday, church bells were ringing in Antrim, NH. We also noticed that all of the churches have steeples (directing the viewers’ eyes vertically to the heavens) and are painted white. In the early colonial days, metal was extremely hard to obtain and expensive; therefore, most steeples were made of wood and anything made of wood was immediately whitewashed. Today, those churches remain painted white for protection and tradition.

Another first on today’s ride were Moose Crossing signs. We desperately wanted to see a moose but they weren’t cooperative. If we had seen one, Bev would have said hello to it from a safe distance. We’ve also seen Snowmobile Crossing signs since Minnesota and even saw snowmobile trails in Wisconsin, complete with their own smaller scale traffic signs nailed high up on utility poles.

Tonight was the America By Bicycle banquet to celebrate our achievement. It was also our last “rap session” where we got our route sheet for one last 52-mile celebratory ride that will include a police escort for the last few miles. After that, bikes get packed up and goodbyes are said!