Bicycling New England, the
Erie Canal, & around Lake Ontario 2005
Montpelier to St Johnsbury VT

June 6, 2005
Distance 37.6 Miles
Climbing Elevation: 3,630 feet

Today was the first day of riding and we climbed over 3,000 feet. This was not a good start for Mary Kay since she lost 3+ weeks of training during the last month because of a sore back, working 14 hour days for one week and an infection that became ugly after a tooth root canal. As a result, she suffered today as we went up long 6 and 7 percent grades. After conquering the first two or three of these grades we began to stop part way up and walk the rest of the hill, in all we walked part of three hills.

We started the day by walking back to see the inside of the Vermont state capital. Since this is a small state, the senate chamber only had 30 chairs and the assembly had chairs for 150 members. In one room, there was a painting of the Civil War that covered one entire wall. It was well worth the stop.

We stayed on Hwy 2 the entire distance between Montpelier and St Johnsbury. At West Danville we met George and Jane. For the rest of the ride they followed us to St Johnsbury. We passed several farms along route 2.

After taking our showers, we met George and Jane and the four of us walked up a long hill which we will need to ride our bicycles up tomorrow morning. The bad news is that once we reach the top of the hill we immediately began to go down a hill that is just as long and just as steep. There is no road that goes around this hill alongside the river. We did find a good restaurant and then walked up and down the hill to return to the motel.