Alan’s Coast to Coast Cycling Adventures: Day 48: Brattleboro, VT to Burlington, MA

Distance: 80.85 miles

Elevation gain: 5,234 feet

Avg speed: 13.2 mph

Max speed: 47.4 mph

Moving time: 6:06:17

Today featured not just one state line crossing, but TWO - we rode (almost immediately) from Vermont into New Hampshire, rode about 40 miles through New Hampshire before crossing into Massachusetts, and eventually ended up in Burlington, not too far from “tomorrow’s” wheel dip. (I put that in quotes because I once again fell behind in my blog posts, and not only has the wheel dip already occurred but I’m already back in New Jersey. Better late than never….)

At our morning briefing today, Peyton informed us that there was no sign at the VT-NH line, so in my video for today I did not include a sign. However, had I thought it through, I would have realized that there was another opportunity to get a “Welcome to New Hampshire” pic at the Massachusetts border. Fortunately, others in my group took care of that FOR me:

Of course, since this sign was actually at the Massachusetts state line, I feel it appropriate to show the same location in the OPPOSITE direction now:

The Massachusetts state line actually snuck up on me on this ride, so I don’t have my “usual narration” of the crossing, but that didn’t stop me from breaking into song! (You’ll have to watch the video to see it though - as usual, it is linked at the end of this post.)

Just one of the many covered bridges we saw in New England

I chose to wear my Mets jersey for my arrival into the Boston area. It would have been more controversial for me to wear a Yankees jersey, but I wouldn’t be caught DEAD in one of those….

Although it hasn’t been my experience in New Jersey, there are many parts of this country where the people are incredibly patriotic. This was one of them.

Even though we still had about 19 miles left to ride, we had our awards banquet after today’s ride at our hotel in Burlington. Although there were many great moments, I only have a few good pictures to share of that experience:

Our wonderful staff members - we could not have done it without you! Left to right: Lee, Alena, Peyton, Fred, Lance, and Dana. Unfortunately, Paula was a bit under the weather, but she was an indispensable part of the crew as well!