Tuesday morning we decided to ride out to Florence and Ann wanted to try riding the Ridley. She got this bike from a friend last summer but it didn't fit her well because this particular model, the Helix, had a seat post that was part of the frame. We tried it last fall but it was just too tall for her so I cut it down and put a very large seat post clamp on it.
We got up too late Saturday morning to do our customary Wallingford for breakfast ride because Ann had relatives in town visiting. When we got back to Rutland later in the day we headed out for another night ride.
I spent Friday running errands around Rutland and was going to ride at Pine Hill in the afternoon but a thunder storm ripped through the area and stayed in and cleaned up the basement. Ann got home from work around 7:15 PM and she really wanted to ride so we headed out before the sun had even set at 8:00 PM.
Ann got back from work and wanted to ride and who am I to say no to that, even after riding a 40 mile gravel grinder earlier in the day. The sun had already set and the temperature was perfect.
Originally I had planned to head out when Ann left for work and I had my smoothie for breakfast but for once I actually fell back to sleep. I wanted to ride the CAADX again but discovered a broken spoke so I waited until the bike shop opened and dropped it off to get it fixed. I finally got out around 12:30 and while it was sunny the temperature was in the low 70s and in the shade it was downright chilly.
Saturday afternoon, Ann & I drove to Connecticut, after we rode down to Wallingford from Rutland. The following morning we were both up really early so we headed out at 5:30 AM for a ride to Ovens of France in Woodbury.
There are 8 trail systems managed by the Slate Valley Trails organization with 60+ miles of trails. On Friday, Juneteenth, I headed over to Poultney, about a 30 minute drive from Rutland, and parked at the Slate Valley Fairground Trailhead to ride this trail system.
After working around the house all morning and big storm moved through the area with tornado warnings across the spectrum going out and I slept through it all during a midday nap. A tornado actually struck in Woodstock, VT and caused quite a bit of damage. I awoke to blue skies and sunshine and went out for a ride on the single speed.
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| Team Abrahammer |
Since 2012, The Connecticut Veterans Legal Center puts on a charity ride for Veterans to support their ongoing efforts to provide legal representation at no-cost to low-income Veterans. I have been meaning to do this ride over the years but there was always some conflict but this year I was wide open so I joined Team Abrahammer for the ride. Being a Veteran myself I have seen very few organizations in the area that support Veterans and I was proud to be invited to ride with my friends in support of this organization.
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| Don't Take the Box! |
One of my bucket list items when I first started coming to Rutland was to ride the dirt roads in and around Hubbardton and to visit the battlefield. It's the only battlefield of the Revolutionary War that is on Vermont soil. There was another one called the Battle of Bennington but it was actually fought in Hoosic, NY. What interesting to note about the Hubbardton Battle, though, was that it was more of a delaying action so that the main body of the Continental Army could reorganize and eventually defeat the British at the Battle of Saratoga.
Got back to Rutland yesterday and couldn't wait to head over to the PHP on the Cujo after getting the rear wheel fixed by JT at Rutland City Bikes. Originally, I was going to convert the Cujo back to tubeless last year but then I got sidetracked and bought the fat bike. The last time I rode at the Park I had to take the full susser because I re-discovered that I never did anything about it.
We took Ann’s new camper out to Lake Waramaug State Park for two nights of camping. It was my first time with a camper and I was pleasantly surprised at how fun it was.
