I'm baaaccck!

Hurricane Irene left us with seven inches of rain in a couple of hours time, and of course there were roads that closed and since have reopened. What that meant for Kathy and I on our self contained trip was two days of postponement, BUT we were able to get in five days and four nights, so I'm very thankful for that.

We started in Colebrook NH and rode to Island Pond VT, then to Coaticook QC, back into Vermont, NH and finally Maine. The bottom picture is in Vermont and I was amazed at the first one. This person has definitely put some thought into the signs that adorned the road, and were interesting to say the least. The were the subject of government waste and religion, so I'll leave it at that. :)

Can anyone read this sign?

The two photos above were taken In Coaticook QC.As luck would have it, I've actually been to this area several times before on commercial bike tours. What's amazing here is that it is roughly 20 miles from the Vermont border,and offers so much to see. There is a camp ground where you ride mountain bikes, swim and hike.Outside of the campground is a gorge that the above bridge towers over. Now let me give you a quick history of the bridge. It was built in 1988 and officially opened in 1989 at the then cost of $628,000. The other amazing fact is that it is the longest suspension bridge of its kind in the world! Also included in this are lots of hiking trails, and a tower that will take you to the top, 125 steps later. So needless to say, this was an amazing sidetrip. The bottom photo is of Kathy as we came into Norton Vermont. I thought that this was a great way to welcome residents and visitors alike. And of course, I'm enjoying seeing Kathy in her new Chase Cyclery jersey as well... we had to do some testing you know. LOL!

Ok, so that's it for photos(for now). I'll add another post later that will describe the way in which we packed... tradional panniers versus bags. Can you guess who had the advantage?