Northeast Kingdom, VT - Day 1
This is the view that greeted me yesterday morning as I emerged from my room at the Wildflower B&B in Lyndonville Vermont. Bits of sunlight lit up the distant hills making them come alive with color. The temperature was in the low 40s with strong winds from the northwest making it seem even colder.
The fall colors surrounded me, muted in places and brilliant in others. I arrived here Monday evening, having visited a friend in the Champlain Islands about 2 hours west of here during yesterday afternoon and early evening.
This section of Vermont is called the Northeast Kingdom. Compared with the Champlain Valley to the west, this area is much hillier, forested, and less suitable for agriculture. However, it does make for fabulous cycling, especially during the fall.
Leslie, Mark, Doug, Ruth and Jesse (from left to right) arrived this morning for several days of riding. We headed out around noon with the air still quite chilly and windy.
Periodically, breaks would appear in the cloud and let some sunlight through.
Almost all of our ride was on quiet dirt roads - generally referred to as gravel riding. Most of our riding was either climbing up or cruising down a hill.
The fall colors surrounded us, and we rarely had any traffic going by.
Occasionally, we would cross or run alongside a stream, but mostly it was cycling through the woods.
Fall cycling in New England is some of my favorite riding. The views are stunning and constantly changing around every bend and over every hill.
As longer time readers of my blog know, Ruth is always looking for haunted houses.
As the day progressed, the temperature warmed up a bit to the low 50s and larger patches of blue sky appeared bringing more sunlight.
Towards the end of the ride, we paused alongside this very cute miniature horse.
To end this blog post, here is one more image of the beautiful landscape. Shortly, I will need to get ready for today’s ride. While this morning was chillier than yesterday, it should warm up a more as the day progresses, and there is no wind. I’ll try to post about today’s ride by tomorrow morning.