My intentions for a weekend of hill riding were good -- but the weather conspired against me. Sunday's planned ride through the foothills of Mount Ascutney and the Brownsville-Hartland climb were washed away when rolling thunderstorms came crashing through before I even got dressed for the day.
I did get in a quick ride Saturday, although not the hills I had planned for. We got a somewhat late start to Vermont, and after getting settled in at the cottage, I headed towards Windsor for a ride along the Connecticut River. The rolling terrain on the Vermont side is a nice little workout, but after crossing the covered bridge in Windsor to Cornish, New Hampshire, it turns fairly flat until crossing back into Vermont. (I totally forgot about that.) After looping the river, I headed up Back Mountain Road towards the entrance to the auto road up the mountain, knowing Shayne wanted me to do more climbing... But I took a look at the pitch of the road up Ascutney and said, "Maybe tomorrow." Hahaha... that climb taunts me.
Continuing up Back Mountain Road, I plotted a challenging route in my head for Sunday's ride to Woodstock, turned down Cole Hill Road and ended up passing Kennedy Pond on the way. It was a hot muggy day and the pond was open for swimming -- so I headed back to Ascutney, ended my ride, and grabbed the boys to go swimming. Who knew it would rain so heavily on Sunday? Oops.
(A least the boys had a great time at the pond.)
