Kilometer 474
Norwell, MA
I'm going to call this Day 7, even though no biking occurred on days five or six. Instead, I attended several graduations and graduation parties and got bombarded with questions about biking.
Getting back on was kinda tough today. My calves were having none of it. Luckily I didn't go as much as I was going before, since I had fixed endpoints—one aunt and uncle's house to another aunt and uncle's house. Kinda handy to have family scattered across the state.
Less convenient, though, are the locations where my bike chooses to malfunction. I'm calling this Sam's Law: whenever someone (and by someone, I mean me) is as far as possible from a bike shop is when something goes wrong and whenever he's as far as possible from a source of food is when he's hungriest. Take this afternoon, for instance: where did my front right brake pad abruptly decide to loosen itself and fall off, rendering my front brakes useless? Naturally, on the emptiest stretch of highway on the South Shore.
Day 8
Kilometer 513
Milton, MA
The minute I hit kilometer 500, I started singing "I Would Bike 500 Kilometers" to the tune of "500 Miles." It didn't really fit.
The threat of thunderstorms cut short the day. And some day I'll have to pitch my tent under the rumble of clouds, but today, I redirect myself to yet another aunt's house, making this the fifth night in a row that I'm sleeping with a roof over my head. This, truly, is the high life.
Day 9
Kilometer 611
Westminster, MA
I don't think "every day is a new challenge" is a particularly apt aphorism, because some days present the same old challenges you've seen again and again. Like when your inner tube needs to be changed for the third time in a week. I found and removed a shard of metal from it this time, though, so maybe this'll be the last time. Fingers crossed.
Day 10
Kilometer 673
Keene, NH
On today's edition of "What Song Gets Stuck in Sam's Head for Ten Hours": "Three is a Magic Number" from Schoolhouse Rock. I now know my multiples of three very well, trust me.
I just about froze my fingers off this morning, but I made it out of Massachusetts. My hosts (friends of my parents) tell me that Keene is where the movie Jumanji was filmed, and as soon as they say it, I see the elephants and lions and monkeys running around the town square.
Day 11
Kilometer 808
Rutland, VT
I feel like I've complained a lot here about bike troubles or poor weather. But today I have absolutely nothing to whine about. The weather was perfect and the scenery was beautiful. I crossed the Connecticut River this morning and then (with such inspired lyrics as "Three times ten is thirty/Three times nine is twenty-seven/Three times eight is twenty-four" still reverberating through my skull) I watched as hilly turned into hillier and hillier gave way to mountainous.
At noon, I stopped at the Vermont Country Store and tried their (many, many) free samples of cheese, crackers, dips, sauces, cookies, and toffee. I circled the store until I was full. "Lunch". I stopped for a maple-glazed Belgian waffle ("mid-afternoon snack") at the Ludlow Farmers' Market, and in the evening I crossed the Green Mountains and descended into Rutland. Over eighty miles today.
Day 12
Kilometer 861
Middlebury, VT
I think I heard a bear outside my tent last night. I frantically googled what to do about bears at campsites and was helpfully told to hang my food from a tree.
People here are obsessively friendly. Just today, I've gotten two waves and a honk from passing cars, two offers for help when I was pulled over to check my phone, and unsolicited directions to the Birthplace of Stephen A Douglas. (I went.)
Day 13
Kilometer 958
South Hero, VT
My first real rainy day. Made good use of it, though. I moseyed my way north along the foot of the Green Mountains, then stopped for a bagel in Burlington before following a bike path along Lake Champlain and, eventually, into Lake Champlain via bike trail causeway. To cap it off, a bike ferry connecting the break in the causeway between Burlington and Grand Isle. Given that it's 54 degrees and raining, I was the sole passenger. Now I'm in a field on the island with the most spectacular view of the lake and the mountains behind. I'm calling it a day.
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