Touring in Vermont
With John and Pamela

We could see Mt Ascutney off in the distance and decided to head over to ride up. John had raced up it a few years back and we started talking about when the race might be this year. Shortly after that conversation we were passed by a Mercedes van packed with bikes. The thing that stood out was it was not one sold in the US. It was a very bike friendly vehicle, small and fuel efficient, yet with enough headroom to get bikes in upright. We saw it again a few miles later when the occupants had stopped to take a photograph of US. This ended up being one of our most fortuitous random meetings on a roadside. Dominique and Cristine had done the Ascutnet race the day before and were starting back to Montreal, where they live. They noticed John's Rapha cycling jersey and our touring gear and thought we might be English tourists. The two ladies had recently been gifted a couple of Rapha jerseys and admired the style.

We chatted a bit, talked about hillclimbs and excahnged contact info. We have since become great friends and have spent many weekends together cycling!

Now knowing the race had been the prior day, we continued toward the mountain. We chose to leave our panniers and the gate and ride up with a bit less weight. We did have our walking shoes, so once at the top, we hiked up to the lookout tour and were rewarded with a grand view.

Once back at the ranger station we asked about local accomodation. They recommended nearby Windsor and we looked in the yellow pages and called the Juniper Hill Inn. We landed on our feet there. It was a fabulous place at the top of a good hill, with wonderful food and hospitality. After a fabulous night there we headed back down into Windsor to explore it a bit more.

more vermont touring