Chapter 7: When the Going Gets Tough...

Day 4: Tuesday, June 27, 2017

It's only 40 miles from Brattleboro to Bennington, Vermont. Uphill.

We began climbing as soon as we got onto Route 9 in Brattleboro. I shifted my front gear to the smallest chainring, then gradually worked the rear shifter onto the climbing gears while focusing on staying as close to the side of the road as possible with only a narrow shoulder to work with. One semi after another blew past, rattling my balance and my nerves. It didn't take long before I realized that this was the major highway for trucks heading across the state. 

We climbed steadily for several miles. When it looked like I'd reached the top I stopped. When Rob caught up I said, "This is no fun." I showed him the map, which had a detail of the local roads. 'There's another road here," I said.

A car pulled in beside us and the driver, a slender older man, said, "I bicycle around here a lot. I was wondering if I could help you in any way."

"We're looking for Stark Road," I said.

"You passed Stark Road a while back. But you wouldn't want to take it anyway. It's steeper than this."

"Oh. Well, we've got a downhill coming," I said.

"Oh, you'll only be going down for a couple hundred yards. No, you're not done climbing yet."

He said we'd be climbing until about the last three miles into Bennington and there was no way to avoid the traffic. He wished he could tell us that there was another, better way to go. He apologized for not being able to help us out and drove off.

Rte. 9 is the major east/west route across southern Vermont. I'd driven this road before and remembered it as a scenic byway so I figured it would be a fun way to go. I was wrong.

I stopped to wait for Rob at this roadside memorial. We were both ready for a break and some food. We still had some of the hard-boiled eggs that John Whiting had given us the day before. It hadn't been too hot so they were still good and much appreciated.

"Truck Lane 1/4 Mile"

Translation: You're not at the top yet and the climbing is going to get worse. But at least the cars and trucks will have some more room to get around you.

After 17 miles we arrived at the top of Hogback Mountain. With its fine views and a deck and picnic tables it was the perfect place to stop to eat lunch and regain our positive attitudes. Studying maps can help. We tried to figure out an alternative plan but kept coming up empty. 

On a fine day you can see New Hampshire and Massachusetts. This wasn't a fine day, and we were very glad for the cloud cover. It reminded us that we could have been much worse off. It could have been very hot or it could have been raining. In many respects the weather was perfect for the day's ride.

Outside the gift shop were some signs describing Route 9 as The Molly Stark Trail. And we would see many more references to Molly Stark along the way. The woman was never anywhere near all these places that honor her. She was a nurse and had 11 children. Her husband rallied his troops during the Revolutionary War by telling them: "There are the Red Coats and the enemy are ours or this night Molly Stark sleeps a widow." And the farmer soldiers were so inspired that they won the Battle of Bennington. That's why Molly Stark is famous. I'm still trying to make sense of that. 

Chapter 6: Backcountry History

Day 3: Monday, June 26, 2017
44 miles
Rindge, NH to Brattleboro, VT

You can find all sorts of historical gems tucked away on the country roads of New England. As we bicycled through Francestown on Sunday I noticed a church with a building of old stables dating back, one assumes, to the horse and buggy days. When I mentioned it to John Whiting, he said, "Oh, our church has old stables, too." So I stopped and took this picture on our way out of Rindge.

To the left is the First Congregational Church of Rindge, but I was interested in the old stables straight ahead. The historical summary of the church makes only a brief mention of the stables when discussing the construction of the church in the 1760s: "Horse stables were built near the Meeting House and on the Common." 

While writing this up, I did a little online research and found out that the building with the stables in Francestown isn't a church, but the town hall, which is on the National Register of Historic Places. I found it on googlemaps and took a screen shot, so I could fool you into thinking I did take a picture after all.

The Francestown town hall - it sort of looks like a church, doesn't it? - was constructed in 1847 so perhaps the stables were built then as well.

After enjoying John and Lynne's delicious breakfast we headed directly west on Route 119, a rural two-lane highway. Except for a stretch of heavier traffic the last few miles into Brattleboro, the riding was terrific with long stretches of downhills and manageable uphills.

The Fitzwilliam Inn
Restaurant & Pub - Rooms Available

I took this picture because it is an example of the sort of picturesque inn we often stumbled upon in the small New England towns we rode through. And probably to remind myself to come back one day and stay. What do you think, Rob? We could come here after a day of hiking Mt. Monadnock and then do some bicycling the next day. Check it out. The prices look reasonable.

Not too many cars on this stretch of two-lane highway in southwestern New Hampshire. Yes, that's Rob coming up the hill...

And enjoying a beer on the rooftop of the Whetstone Station in Brattleboro. The bridge in the background goes over the Connecticut River, which forms the border between New Hampshire and Vermont. The picture below is the view of the river. Are those storm clouds moving in?

We camped that night at Fort Dummer State Park, an unremarkable campground just outside Brattleboro, situated next to the interstate with no swimming and only a couple of short hiking trails. But what was remarkable about it was how much trouble we had finding it. We saw not a single sign directing us there. We realized that our map was no help after heading down the road it should have been on, with no luck. Fortunately the woman working the customer service desk at the local grocery story gave us directions. We took a local street until coming to a "Dead End" sign. We stopped, wondering what to do, then saw someone working outside an apartment building. He assured us we should keep going and we'd come to the park, at the top of a significant climb. 

The climb was a killer. And we did it twice because we wanted to get our campsite set up before enjoying our beer in Brattleboro. At one point Rob got going so slowly that he came to a stop before he could unclip from his pedals and fell off his bike. I missed seeing it, but he told me. That would be the only time for this trip. Which is an improving trend. He fell 3 times on our Maine trip in 2015 (I fell twice) and two times last year. 

Even though it hides some of its parks, Vermont generally does a great job with them, offering hot showers and, for an extra $7, lean-tos. We asked the park ranger if rain was expected. It was. When I heard the rain during the night I thought about how glad I was that we paid the extra money and how fortunate we were that our bikes and tent all fit easily in the lean-to and would be dry in the morning. 

We rode 44 miles along Rte. 119 from Rindge to Brattleboro.

No wonder it felt like we had lots of downhill riding. We did. But I am surprised that the last hill to the state park doesn't look more significant.