Day 19 - Middlebury, VT -> Lebanon, NH

Thur, July 13

69.8 Miles (845.6 total)

Interesting day. We started damp. A light rain was just ending when we woke up, and we packed up our tents wet. Mae made us breakfast - oatmeal with homemade granola, honey, and cinnamon sugar. It was a hearty breakfast to start a ride. 

We were looking at a long one today. We were supposed to camp in Bethel, a little over 40 miles away. But due to rain and flooding, the camp was in poor condition. They said they would take us because we had called ahead, but no others because of how soggy the ground was. We didn't want to deal with those conditions, so biked the next day's planned route to my cousin Pat and his wife, Katie's house.

The route started with an almost 10 mile climb, and it began to rain not long after we got started. Not a great start. A little less than halfway up the climb, we stopped at a store and Dad asked around if someone had a truck and would be willing to take us to the top. He found a guy! Van took us the rest of the way, saving us a ton of time and struggle. After that, it felt like 75% of the rest of the ride was downhill! We followed the White River the whole way down, and it was gorgeous. Beautiful, clean looking water over rocky beds surrounded by trees. And the rest of the day felt really good! Really windy at times, but it still felt like we were moving at a good pace. Then we crossed into New Hampshire and climbed a seemingly endless hill to Pat's place. Really nice to be seeing family we don't see a ton and spending time together. And they're really coming in clutch for us. They took us in a day earlier than planned and are now hosting us for two days. Super helpful and generous. There was also a severe thunderstorm warning on the weather app, and it was intense for awhile. We were super thankful to not be camping tonight.

Other than that, the air quality has been good the last couple days. Haven't had to wear a mask while riding again due to wildfire smoke. And no flat tire today! Hopefully the problem was fixed for good and we'll be set the rest of the way.