Ann and I have an ongoing conversation about cold and cool. She says that it is cold when it gets into the 50s. That's cool to me. The temperature has to be much lower for me to call it cold. Well guess what? This morning in Burlington it was cold. It was in the mid-30s when we got up. It was in the low 40's when I started our ride. I wore long-fingered gloves and three layers of clothes.

There were lots of short, steep hills on our route and it seemed like we had head winds whichever direction we rode. I rode solo all day. I snuck out before most the riders left. I wanted to ride at my own slow pace and didn't want to slow anyone down. The strategy worked although I had to stop a bunch of times to eat and rest. Lunch was at a country store where I had a good egg salad sandwich and some Fritos. A few riders passed me here, but they stopped later for lunch and I passed them back. I was very tired when I arrived at the Phineas Swan Inn. What a wonderful inn. It's very antiquity with period furniture. It also has a good selection of snacks, local beer and wine. I had a local double imperial IPA which was excellent. The brewery sells limited quantities and has a following similar to Pliney. The inn's owners, Darren and Lynne, are very friendly. We had several sit-down chats. Their dogs are friendly, too. I was in the main house in the Blue Room. The bed was decorated with a dozen pillows. The bed was so high that I had to take a running leap to get onto it. My bathroom was across the hall. It was very large and I had it all to myself.

Back to the ride, I saw a lot of corn fields on the route. The farms growing the corn had huge barns and tall silos. I will take some photos later if I can see a picturesque setting. The leaves are starting to turn but they are not prime yet. Maybe they will be near the end of our tour. The small towns are not as New Englandy as I expected. Being Sunday, I looked for churches with tall bell towers. I haven't found any yet.

Happy Hour and dinner were at The Inn where the rest of our group are staying. I had a really good creamy soup that had pumpkin, pumpkin seeds, ginger, etc. in it. It was followed with cod, mashed potatoes and green beans. Dessert was a no wheat chocolate cake with strawberries, chocolate syrup and whipped cream. Delicious.

Back at the Phineas Swan, I was in bed by 10:00.

Covered Bridge