Day 11: Middlebury, VT

Date:           August 14, 2017
Distance:       34 miles
Average Speed:  10.1 mph
Maximum Speed:  37.4 mph
Feet Climbed:   2330
Day Trip:       Fair Haven to Middlebury

We had told Greg yesterday that we would have breakfast at 8:30am this morning, so of course we awoke at 8:15 and had to scramble to get downstairs on time.  We were only a few minutes late and that is pretty much on time for us.  All the other guests had already eaten and gone, so we had the dining room all to ourselves.  To accommodate Di's dietary restrictions, she had a frittata made especially for her - a five herb frittata.  I had the sausage frittata and then had a quarter of Di's.    They also had homemade orange muffins that were fantastic.

Di and her coffee seated in dining room #2

Di's multi-herbed frittata

My sausage frittata and muffin with fresh fruit

This is a picture of dining room #1

Close-up of chandelier from dining room #1

Because we are such intrepid cyclists, we couldn't wait to get on the porch with our coffee and enjoy the beautiful morning.  Most cyclists like to get an early start, but that seems like so much work to us, so we tell ourselves that we like to stop and smell the coffee roses.

Di on the front porch 

After we were lazy for the appropriate amount of time, we headed back to our room so Di could plan our route.  I don't think Di mentioned it yesterday, but we are in an exceedingly small room.  It is so small you can't walk around the bed - the person on the wall side of the bed has to crawl over their sleeping partner in order to get up.  I tried to take a picture of the room while Di was creating the route for today, but I couldn't get far enough away from her.  I had to leave the room and take the picture through the open door.

Its actually a nice room, especially if you like small rooms

Here is a picture of the sitting room, in case you want to know how the other half lives

Another view of the sitting room

We had climb two sets of stairs to get to our room (it made my legs burn)

That's Greg, the owner, hanging with us before we headed out

Greg took this picture of us

This is the park across the street from the Marble Mansion Inn

This is Di having a business meeting at the park in front of the Marble Mansion Inn

It was now 11am and we were finally on our way.  As far as havens go, we had a great stay in this one.  They should consider upgrading the name to something like Great Haven, or Good Haven, or at least Fairer Haven.  We rode our bikes about 50 feet and met Alan, a fellow cyclist who was entering Better Than Fair Haven from a different direction.  He started his trip in Albany, NY and is on his way to Montreal.  He asked us how far we had gone that day and we sheepishly pointed to the building behind us and said, "From there."  He had been on the road since 8am and had ridden close to 30 miles already.  I felt a twinge of guilt, but it passed. We chatted for a bit and then, as we parted, Alan said, "Well, I'll see you later up the road."  I told Di that we would probably never see him again, but it was a good sentiment to suggest we might all meet again.

The ride started out surprisingly hilly, and to remove any suspense from this entry, it remained hilly all day.

Hilly, though in this case in a favorable direction

The road we were riding, Rt 22A, was not the greatest of roads.  The breakdown lane was small and there was a lot of traffic, but it was very scenic.

A Rt. 2A vista

 At about the 6 mile mark we came upon Alan again.  He was eating a yogurt by the side of the road.  We spent time with him and learned he is a professor of criminology at the University of Maryland with an expertise in medical marijuana.  He is finishing the bike trip he and his buddies started 40 years ago but abandoned long before the finish.  None of those original riders would agree to do the ride with him, but his wife and daughter are meeting him in Montreal.  It was fun talking with Alan and when we parted he again said, "Well, I'll see you up the road."  He was going to Shoreham, about 17 miles away and we were off to Middlebury, about 28 miles away.  At some point our paths would diverge, so once again I said to Di, "Well, we'll probably never see Alan again."

Chatting with Alan

Just as we were leaving Alan, my Mom called.  I think she was bored at work, but it was great to talk with her.  I miss our Wednesday shopping excursions and all the laughs we have.

Talking with Mom

We rode some more.  We had some long inclines and it was getting hot, so we decide to take a break at the 14 mile mark.

Di grinding up a Rt. 22A incline

I'm sure you can guess who we met at the convenience store.

Well met for the third time

We had a long talk with Alan and then it was really time to part because we were now going in separate directions.  We are all headed to Burlington tomorrow, though, so we laughingly said we will probably see each other there.  But to make that event more likely, Di and Alan exchanged phone numbers and Di told Alan to call us if he wants to join us for dinner.  We'll have a car by that point, so even though Alan is staying in South Burlington, it will be easy for us to drive and have dinner in Burlington (way more fun than dinner in South Burlington, the Windjammer aside).

We had now left the iniquitous Rt. 22A and were on a quiet country road.  [Note to future self: if you are reading this before going back in time to ride to Middlebury, avoid Rt 22A.]

Ah, a non-Rt 22A road.  

Di is happy to be off Rt. 22A

A bucolic Vermont road

Even I am happy

We eventually needed to leave that beautiful road and hop onto a dirt paved road.  This road was a constant up and down, but at least the scenery was still beautiful.

Climb that hill, Di!

Di is impressed with the hay wheels (are they still bales if they are not cuboid?)

Here are two pictures that are very similar to ones I took last year when we rode this very same dirt road.  Interestingly, we remember last year's ride very well, but we didn't remember it as being hilly or difficult at all.  It must have gotten hilly in the intervening year.

Di by a single white fence

Di by two white fences

This picture serves to suggest it was hot

Di ignoring the apple orchard to her right

We finally left the dirt road and a nicely paved road brought us to an intersection with a sign that said Middlebury was only 4 miles away.  Even though we were quite close to our destination, we decided to stop in a yard by a church for a quick snack.

Di is happy because I was bitten by flies and she wasn't

A short while after resuming our ride we came to the outskirts of Middlebury.  The first thing we saw was the Middlebury College golf course.

Open to the public, in case you are interested in playing here

We found the Middlebury Inn and Di checked us in.

The interior of the Middlebury Inn.

The exterior of the Middlebury Inn

We relaxed a bit and then went searching for the Fire and Ice restaurant.  A couple of days ago we met Paul and his mother at a convenience store.  He is a teacher in Middlebury and he recommended we go to Fire and Ice for dinner.  His good friend, Paris, owns the restaurant, but he assured us that was not the reason he was recommending it, but rather, because the food is excellent.

View of downtown Middlebury as we search for food

Di in the middle of Middlebury

We are going to Burlington by way of Vergennes tomorrow (although for us it will be 40 miles)

Fire and Ice Restaurant (no connection to Game of Thrones, as far as I know)

We ordered the unlimited salad bar (an infinite amount of salad is Di's heaven)

Nice salads, if you are into that kind of thing

Di had the blackened cod and I the roast duckling (yummy!)

We had a great dinner at the Fire and Ice.  On the way out, a voice from within a side room yelled, "Thank you for coming!"  I couldn't see who had uttered those words, so I asked, "Who said that?"  A gentleman came out from the room and laughingly said, "I did."  I took a gamble and said, "Are you Paris?"  And indeed, it was Paris!  He, of course, was very surprised that I guessed his name and wanted to know the circumstances upon which I came to learn it.  I told him about our meeting with Paul and he exclaimed, "Paul is a really good friend of mine!  In fact, I am seeing him this weekend."  He said he would be sure to tell Paul that we took his advice, and on our part, we told Paris to tell Paul we were glad we heeded that advice because our meal was excellent.  It was a fun way to end our visit to Fire and Ice.

These last two pictures are self-explanatory, but to me, they help show why Vermont is both a weird and a great place.

Blow-up from the picture above (gently!)

Today has been the penultimate day of our ride.  As you can guess, I was really just looking for an excuse to use the word penultimate.  Tomorrow, Burlington!  Which will be the last day of our tour (the day after the penultimate day).