Middlebury, VT to Rochester, VT 30 Miles, July 24

We woke up early ready to leave Middlebury at 6:00 AM under dry but cloudy skies. We had an easy 10 mile ride to East Middlebury where we started serious climbing over the Green Mountains. Serious climbing meant serious walking. But, after the initial shock at the bottom, our hills leveled out a bit and we were able to ride most of the way. It felt great to be back in the mountains. We had thundering creeks tumbling beside the road, with all the leafy green foliage Vermont is famous for.

I stopped in the lovely little town of Ripton to take some pictures of a Community Building that dates from 1781. People here cherish their history. Breadloaf was the last community before the serious climb to Middlebury Gap. This section involved a little bit of walking as the rain began. We pushed hard for the last three miles to the top and congratulated ourselves as the rain became heavier. It was thrilling to reach the top of the Green Mountains, even with the rain. We have survived our first steep climb in the Green Mountains of Vermont. We saw a sign that warned us of a 12% grade for two miles of our downhill, as the rain came even harder. I was nervous as I squeezed wet brakes with not very secure results. After six miles of downhill we arrived in Hancock, a small town with a store where we were able to wring ourselves out before the last four miles into Rochester.

We met Reverend Gregory Homan who gave us permission to stay in the Federated Church of Rochester for the night. We took care of drying out all our possessions before going to use the computer at the public library. When I told the librarian about our trip she called another bicyclist in town, Ginny Bowman, who immediately spoke to me on the phone and invited us to her home for the night. Ginny and her 15 year old son, Montana have done a coast to coast cycling trip to raise funds for juvenile diabetes and wanted to share their home with other cyclists. We jumped at the chance to join Ginny and her family.

Ginny met us after work and walked us to her home. Her home was originally a church built in the 1827, then a school. Ginny and her husband, Eric bought the building and ran it as a youth hostel. Now, they have turned the building into a home for themselves and two children, Montana and Ada. As I said, these Vermonters do cherish their history.

Ginny prepared a delicious dinner with fresh vegetables from the garden. We certainly are in Vermont at the right time of year. Our clothes are hanging on the drying racks, Eric is drying our shoes on a special boot drying rack and we are promised a sunny day for tomorrow.