Keene, NY to Burlington, VT 53.6 miles

I forgot to mention that stone mason Jon, my Warmshowers host, had built a masonry heater in their house. I have always liked the idea of masonry heaters and this was a fine example of one. He also built a handsome stone shower in their bathroom which was the original dream project that launched him on his journey to becoming a stone mason.

After a quick stop at Cedar Run bakery & market in Keene I was ready to get started on the climb that 9-N offers on the way to Elizabethtown. I had driven this road many times before but this morning, I was appreciative of its climb in elevation like never before.

Coming down the other side I stopped at a place called Craigarden Farm Store. It is also an artist retreat and apparently a bike tourist haven because the two people I talked to there had done bike tours.

While eating a sandwich for lunch on the front porch of River and Rails Market and Deli in Whallonsburg, NY, I noticed the sky becoming ominously dark, and the wind picking up. I decided to seek shelter for myself and my bike. I had just ridden past the Wallonsburg Grange and a place called Whitcomb’s. To get my bike under cover at the Grange would involve carrying it up a flight of stairs I opted to ask at Whitcomb’s. It turns out that Whitcomb’s is a community arts center that is housed in an old auto shop/ gas station. The kind folks who were there let me roll my bike inside, sit in a comfortable chair and eat my desert while the storm blew over. Thank you for the shelter.

I don’t remember the guy’s name I met on the Essex to Charlotte Ferry across Lake Champlain but he thought he remembered my cousin from North Carolina staying at his mountain biking/ Skiing base camp business called Madbush Falls in Waitsfield, Vermont.

If there was a welcome to Vermont sign when I got off the ferry, I missed it but I had made it to my 11th state! When I crossed into New Hampshire two days later, I cheated and took a picture of the welcome to Vermont sign.

I wasn’t riding long in Vermont before I came to a covered bridge.

The rain caught up with me the last 15 miles and I showed up at my Warmshowers hosts’ house in Burlington soaked. My hosts Sue and Charlie welcomed me and gave me some rags to wipe down my bike before rolling it inside. Sue and Charlie are snow birds that live in Burlington in the warm months and Florida in the cool months. They were terrific hosts and I enjoyed spending time getting to know them. Thank you for hosting me Sue and Charlie!