Day Nine

Today was a day of visiting Bennington and riding. The day broke bright, with full sun when we woke up. But by the time we left the motel, there was mixed sun and clouds. Temp were moderate, around 70 degrees with 76 as the forecast highs.

Our plan was to ride into Bennington, VT, and take some pics of the painted Moose Gary and I saw 4 years ago when we were here. Then ride up Hwy 100 to the top of the state, then back down to our motel in Massachusetts for the night. We also wanted to see some covered bridges along the way.

Well, the best laid plans..... We did ride into Bennington, but alas, there were no Moose to see. They have been replaced by painted panthers!!! We could not find any of the Moose Gary and I saw. 

It was lunchtime, so we found a good brew pub downtown and shared a plate of Nachos with chicken. The BEST Nachos we've ever eaten. And shared a glass of very good local beer. A good lunch. 

Just as we finished eating, a cloud came up and a shower happened, just enough to wet the seats on the bike. We walked around downtown a little, and returned to the bike so we could ride Hwy 100.

Hwy 100 is one of the "must do" roads in Vermont. It runs north-south the length of the state, and has many curves and elevation changes along the way.

So, we started out, got behind traffic and putted along at 5 mph BELOW the speed limit. To our dismay, the top speed was 50 mph, with many villages dropping the limit to 40, then 30, and 20. So, we could not have any fun or make any distance. Oh yes, double yellow lines and no passing, so we were terribly disappointed. Each time a car ahead of us would turn, it was replaced by another.

About 20 miles up the road, a sign indicated road construction for the next 10 miles. Shortly thereafter, a sign said "Pavement Ends". Great, just what we wanted... And for the next 10 miles, we rode on dirt! At least it wasn't loose gravel, so we could manage about 25 mph.

Finally we got through the construction zone and we're able to ride a little more like we wanted to ride, about 5 to 8 mph above the speed limit. That was nice. 

A few more miles down the road, we spotted a sign advertising fresh pies. So, we had to stop for some fresh coffee and something sweet. Yummy, it was good. The operator of the place rides motorcycles too, so we talked about trips and rides. It was a good stop.

However, the day was getting away from us, and we had ridden only about a fourth of Hwy 100.  So, we rode another maybe 40 miles before we needed to turn back towards the motel. At that point we had ridden 100 miles for the day.

Heading south, we were on the lookout for real Moose, but didn't see any. Janice did spot one deer across the way.  No Moose for us, it seems...

We also saw no covered bridges. So, we're going to head out tomorrow and find some bridges before we head into New Hampshire. Maybe we'll make better progress tomorrow...