After riding 82 miles the day before, (read Part 1) I woke up a bit sore but excited to get back on my bike. The plan was to take the next two days to complete the 150-160 miles in front of me. I left Burlington around 7:30 and headed south on Route 2.
It was overcast and I remember feeling pretty tired. I've found that when I'm beat I can improve things pretty drastically by cramming my face with a lot of calories. So I just ate and waited to feel better. Honestly I didn't really enjoy riding next to the highway, but things soon got better. After 32 miles of route 2 I turned onto River Road/Junction Road and headed into Montpelier. That road was a lot nicer!
Crossing over the Winooski River
I thought this sign was appropriate.
Riding through Montpelier on the side of Route 2 was hairy, probably stupid. But I was only on it for a short time before I climbed up Berlin Street and it immediately went up. Little did I know that it was only the beginning. After a couple miles of gradual hill, my route went strait up. Oh well, thats Vermont! I mostly rode RT 302, then I got on 110 in East Barre to Washington. Then more climbing until it let up in Corinth. I really felt the weight of the bike and the road based gearing, and I was pretty beat. But the terrain was a lot more interesting and I had no problem enjoying the fact that I had nothing to do but ride my bike at whatever pace I wanted. No pressure, all adventure. My type of riding.
At a little before 2 my Garmin Fenix gave me a low battery warning, and my auxillary battery was dead so I couldn't charge it. I switched to my Strava App in West Fairlee. Here is the map of where I had gone so far.
I had traveled 72 miles, and although I was tired, I only had another 70 or 80 to go. I couldn't see riding another 5 hours and then bugging out in my bivy at 7pm, only 30 or 40 miles from home. So, I decided that I would just ride until I got home.
For the next 30 miles I traveled through the back roads between West Fairlee, Thetford, Lyme and down the Grafton Tpke (over the Dartmouth Skyway) into Canaan.
Love rules.
In Canaan I realized that I was right next to the Northern Rail Trail. I decided that even though it would be a bit longer mileage wise, the flat trail would be very welcome to my weary legs. I was now over 100 miles into my ride and I had around 50 more to go. But I had food, water and lights. No reason to stop now.
All said and done, I rode 157 miles with 8159 feet of elevation gain. After riding 82 miles the day before. And all it did was fuel my desire to do longer adventures... This year is going to be awesome.