Starting Point: Lyndonville, VT
Ending Point: Richford, VT
Via:
Egypt, VT, West Burke, VT, Perry, VT, Barton, VT, Orleans, VT, Coventry, VT,
Newport Center, VT, North Troy, VT, Highwater, Québec, Canada.
Mileage: 62.9
Time: 8:10
Mph: 7.7
Terrain: extremely hilly
Temperature High: 50
Temperature Low: 45. With the high
headwinds, it is certain that there was a wind chill factor.
Lunch: egg salad sandwich
Dinner: Chinese Veggie Delight
Weather: partly sunny
Wind: stiff headwinds most of the day at
least 15mph
Lodging: The Crossing Motel
Cumulative Mileage: 210
Miles to Go: about 1,633
Projected Distance: 1,843
Percent Completed: 11%
The
Northeast Kingdom of Vermont has a great deal of wide-open space, not many
people and some claim, at least via Google, that the area is 20-30 years behind
the rest of the state in terms of multiculturalism, technology and economics.
The place where I stayed couldn’t even guarantee that a room was actually
non-smoking. The first room had a subtle aroma of burned tobacco covered over
by deodorizers that weren’t working. It was, despite that challenge, a real
gift to have found it.
Thanks to my
experience with Adventure Cycling Association during my fund-raising Tour of
Vermont in 2002, I was aware of a way to get around going over the notch of Jay
Peak. In order to avoid the pass, one has to go into Canada on a lonely stretch
of road that extends from North Troy to near Richford and then go back into
Canada on a different route. When I went into Canada near North Troy, the
border guard wanted to know if I had any weapons or “Rambo”-sized knives. He didn’t
doubt me when I said that would be too heavy.
The
unfortunate thing was that by the time I made it back to the US border, night
was imminent. I’m a firm believer in not bicycling at night. My destination for
today was Frelighsburg, Québec, Canada, but the headwinds
were so constant, powerful and draining that I had no energy to speed up and
there certainly were no taxi services available in the area.
So Richford was my
new destination.
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