Mileage: 79.2 miles Average Speed: 14.3 mph
Vertical: 5319 feet Depart: 7:34 AM Arrive: 1:54 PM
Calories: 5619
Link to Garmin ROUTE DATA
Today was an absolutely gorgeous day on the road. Just about everything was perfect. The weather was great: clear skies, temps in the 50s at start, mid 70s at the end, good roads in general, nice towns on the route, and beautiful riding in between.
We arrived at the Hudson River about 5 miles into the ride. I always think of that Army school on the Hudson when the name is mentioned, so I enjoyed the crossing.
We passed through Troy, NY and did a tough climb through and out of town. I spent the day riding with Gary Weinstein, who has improved dramatically since the start of the ride. I think his method of showing up for a few days of hard riding, then going home to work and rest, has really paid off. At any rate, we had a good time on the ride. At the first SAG, Rod Grimsley had a variety of relatives who live in the Bennington area show up, and they brought a variety of goodies for the SAG. I especially enjoyed the oatmeal raisin cookies. Shortly after the SAG, at 32.8 miles into the ride, we crossed the Vermont border. We timed it so we got there just after our thoroughbred crew, so I took there picture at the sign. This group is most of our very fast riders, who keep a pace line much of the time. You can see Mark Weisbarth, Mark Koltz, Jeff Gordon, Joe Schneider, Alex Steussey-Williams, and Dave Sullivan, with just a glimpse of staff Jeff in the background.
The Vermont countryside was very nice and extremely green. Here is a quick glimpse. 
We also had a stream either alongside the road, or often crossing the road, which I always enjoy on a ride. Here it is from a bridge we crossed.
After we left the town of Bennington, we quickly started a long climb (7 miles) of about 1500 foot elevation gain. This brought us to the town of Wilmington, which had this inn that looked fairly New Englandy to me. 
We also had our second SAG here in Wilmington, before starting another climb to the summit of Hogback Mountain. The view of the Green Mountains from there is great, but just looks like a bunch of trees in the picture, so I show the lodge instead.
From the summit, it was a reasonably easy ride the last 17 miles into Brattleboro and the motel. I liked this old church I found in town, so here it is.
Tomorrow is another relatively tough climbing day, and we will have our ride ending banquet there, because everyone will disperse once we hit the beach on Monday.
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