Better Than Forecast (June 2)

With the forecast being less than stellar and a short mileage day ahead, our departure time was postponed until 10AM.  A bit of a sleep-in and a leisurely breakfast, and by 10 the rain had pretty much stopped.  Quite a few riders had already made their decision to hop in the van, though.  It was another cool day; the temperature started at 6C and rose all the way to 7C by the time we were done.  Pretty much the same terrain as yesterday - hilly, rural, farms and forests.  I did see a sign proclaiming maple syrup for sale, so we must be getting closer to Canada!

We must have been closer to civilization for parts of today, though, as some of the housing was newer - almost suburbish.  I knew there would be (and was looking forward to) lots of forests and greenery as we rode through the rural parts of the east coast, but I must say that I'm ready for some good ol' mountain views!

Just one SAG stop today and she was serving hot chocolate; perfect!  Up until that point we managed to stay pretty dry.  After the SAG the rain fell a bit harder for a while but not as much as yesterday.  The hill climbing also picked up so we stayed nice and warm.  And - better road surfaces today meant we could release the brakes and really enjoy the downhills.

We worked our way through a number of small towns and shortly after crossing I84 for the second time we came upon an old stone marker by the side of the road and a street sign denoting the state line.

It seemed that the moment we passed in to Massachusetts we entered cottage country - lovely tranquil lakes, their shorelines dotted with cottages, and quiet, hilly, twisting roads taking us from one lake to the next.

Close to the end of our ride we made a sharp right and immediately faced a huge hill.  I couldn't shift down fast enough and had to walk part of it.  Oh well - probably just as fast.  Back down the other side and then to our destination of Sturbridge.  We have a rest day tomorrow.  Not much to do in town but the hotel/conference centre is on a lake so hopefully the sun will shine.

Stats for the day:
65 km from East Windsor CT to Sturbridge MA.  Temps 6C to 7C and intermittent light rain.  Once again my GPS didn't like the thick cloud cover.  It showed 2500 feet of climbing but I'm guessing it was closer to at least 3500.