Vermont - a biker's dream

Just returned from Vermont and 3 day weekend of bicycling in perfect weather and beautiful country. I fit in 3 rides, two 40 mile plus rides in a row. Friday I biked with Tom around "the lake", he on his mountain bike, me on my hybrid. Glad to have a hybrid because 4 miles of the trip was on dirt road. It was good to be able to "hang out" on each other's turf together.

Saturday, after 20 minutes of looking at a map to plan a route, I jumped on my bike in frustration and did what I do best with maps - left it at home. Decided I was better off letting the road speak to me. The road talked me right into a dead end at the interstate. That was when God sent a lone rider pedaling along and I hooked up with him for 5 miles or so. Joe, probably in his 50's, turned out to live very close to our cottage on the lake and chit chatted with me at a liesurely pace. It was neat to be a able to share with him why I was training and the great things God is and will do on this bike tour and with the money raised. Since the road seemed to speak better to Joe, or maybe because he knows the area better, I took his advice on a bike route that would take me 40 miles. Joe's route took me on 22A which has very mild elevation changes compared to what I am used to in New Jersey. I found myself missing the hills and turned up an inviting country road that promised hills. It did not dissapoint.

Sunday I jolted awake at 4:15am (yes, that is a.m.), unable to sleep any longer even though I was not due to get up for 45 minutes. I had promised to bike with another vacationer (we'll call him Scott - yes,that's his real name=) who had heard that I was training and wanted to join me. Unfortunetly, he was leaving at 9 that morning and I had church at 9am too. So we had agreed to meet at 5:15am to bike together. The route we had chosen was perfect, green mountains in the distance on the way to Rutland, horses grazing along the fence, waterfalls that serenaded us as we rode by, a beautiful marble bridge and church in the town of Proctor, and then there were hills.... I know, I know, wasn't I just missing the hills the day before? Yes, but that was before I had so eagerly agreed to ride with Scott who's average rides are 40-50 miles and who at one time was part of a group of guys who would average 22 mph on rides that long - he did say those rides were torture - ya think? Thankfully, my competitive spirit did not let me down and I averaged 16 mph the whole 44 miles - a personal best thanks to Scott.


I forgot to remind everyone that the actual Sea to Sea Bike Tour started last Monday and they have already biked through most of Washington State and will be in Oregon today. Please continue to pray for safety for the riders and crew and for God's mighty hand to change lives for the better.