Duxbury, Moretown, Waitsfield, Fayston, Warren, Granville, Hancock, Stockbridge and Pittsfield

Miles: 57, all on pavement

To date: 627 miles and 101 towns. I hit town 100 while riding on route 100! I would have had trouble planning that if I had tried.

Today was the first day I started out in the rain. I was determined to get at least something done while I had another opportunity to bike without my gear. Luckily, the rain stopped soon after I crossed my second town of the day. It held off until just after I met Shasta in our prearranged spot at the end of the day. We loaded my bike onto her car and made it to the Interstate—when it started to pour. Cars were stopping on the road. Visibility was near zero. There was more than an inch of rain on the road in almost no time. It splashed up as we drove through it, making it difficult to hold the road and even harder to see. All I could think was how happy I was to have pushed and made it to my day‘s end before the deluge. It was another lesson for me in learning to trust what comes and believe my needs will be taken care of. I know everything doesn’t always fall into place so nicely, but for now I am grateful for every blessing that comes my way. Again, I could not have planned it any better than it evolved.

Today was a watershed moment for me. Not only did I cross town 100, I also literally crossed from the Mad River watershed into the White River one. Even though I didn’t need to, I rode through Rochester again and stopped at the bike shop. They tightened up my brakes and oiled my chain free of charge. I also treated myself to a chocolate croissant at Sandy’s, a cafe and bookstore in Rochester. This enabled me to use their wifi and call Shasta to give her my end-of-day ETA.

I’ve driven many times over most of the section of road that I biked on today. Yet I had never stopped at some of the scenic places along the way. Even with rain threatening, I made it a point to rectify some of my lack, and I took the time to make a well-worth-it walk into Warren Falls. I took fewer pictures than usual as I could tell the rain was threatening. Later in the day, when I was pushing against really strong headwinds and the sky was covered in dark, menacing clouds, I dawdled less and made a final big push. Still I ended up with a battery reading three to four bars. All in all, a satisfying day. Tomorrow I start to tackle the northwestern quadrant in earnest.