Day 51 Brattleboro, VT to Manchester, NH  78 miles and 4357 feet of climb

It was beautiful this morning as we pulled out of Brattleboro, VT, quite a change from the heat and humidity of the last few days. It was overcast all day, which helped keep it cool. A few miles into the ride, we entered New Hampshire.

Today, I rode with Brits, Sean, Andy, and Alan ( L to R in the picture above.)
Chris and Steve started a bit after us because Steve had to take care of some travel complications.

We rode on some busier roads, but much of today's ride was on hilly, winding country roads that passed through small New England towns like New Boston, Francestown and Greenfield. All have historic churches and village greens at their centers.  Much of the ride today looked like a postcard from New England.

A light rain started around noon, and a decision was made by my riding mates, Sean and Alan to make hast to Manchester and our hotel before the rain became heavier. We left the last SAG stop and picked up the pace considerably. Some of that was because Sean and Alan knew that their British teammates, Andy, Chris, and Steve would be in hot pursuit trying to catch us before we made it to the hotel. The last 15 or so miles were great fun as we pushed it hard up and down the winding country roads to Manchester. The climbs felt good to me today. Once in Manchester, close to the hotel, I turned off to get some lunch. I believe that Sean and Alan made it to the hotel first, but I'm not positive.

It was another great day of riding. Many of the roads were cloaked in a canopy of trees, and some ran adjacent to brooks and streams. If I didn't have to get back to real life and work after tomorrow, I would dip my front wheel in the Atlantic Ocean, have some lunch, fill my water bottles, turn around and ride my bike all the way back to California.

Tonight at the final supper (we still have one more day of riding to the coast) they asked everyone to stand up and talk about how they felt about the ride. The British riders gave wonderfully funny presentations that poked fun at America and expressed how much they enjoyed the ride. It was clear to me that emotionally, this was the only way that they could even begin to cope with their new-found knowledge of the absolute awesomeness of our great nation. Put yourself in their shoes. Imagine coming from a tiny island nation like Great Britain (where cold beer and ice machines are still a foreign concept) and experiencing all the greatness on display here in the United States. I'm sure it was utterly overwhelming to them, much as they would never admit it.

The US riders all expressed their feelings of joy at completing the ride and the hard work of the staff. It was a pleasant last supper together. I got through my brief testimonial without crying, but just barely.

Tomorrow we ride 62 miles to the coast and dip our front wheels in the Atlantic Ocean.