Wretched Excess

Since we're approaching the end of the tour and should be in great shape by now, it shouldn't surprise you that Greg and I set not one, but TWO personal bests today. We consumed FIVE pastries and made THREE separate stops during the ride for coffee.

The pastry extravaganza started with a Dunkin Donuts doughnut at the first SAG (accompanied by coffee, of course). Seven miles down the road we passed Crazy Russian Girls Bakery.

They had a sign out front saying "free coffee for cyclists", so we had to stop. I had a cinnamon raisin scone. This place was indeed run by crazy Russian girls, although they really were part Russian, part Swiss. Crazy Swiss Girls would only confuse people, I guess. Crazy Swiss girls is definitely an oxymoron.

At our second SAG, we were greeted by Vera, the Strudel Queen. I kid you not. That's her license plate. She's a friend of fellow tourers Sandy and Stu, and lives nearby. Her strudel is to die for:

Apple rhubarb raisin strudel, homemade by Vera with the fruit grown on her property. Unbelievable. Note also the chocolate chip cookies at the upper left, supplied by Janie's sister. That brings our total to four, counting cookies as pastry.

Finally, after a tasty sandwich in Brattleboro, Greg and I stopped in Mocha Joe's for a latte. I couldn't resist the coffee cake, bringing us to FIVE. I believe we have set the bar high for a standard of wretched excess.

We also had a fine selection of critters today, including crawfish

and a few strangely painted moose.

When we weren't eating or drinking, we did manage to take in some of the best scenery of the tour.

The Green Mountains in Vermont match anything we saw in the west, although in a more subtle way. This is great biking territory. We had a lot of climbing today (6000 ft. in 80 miles), including one sustained climb of 1600 ft. out of Bennington, but we stopped and enjoyed the scenery, the pastry and the coffee. One of the top days of the entire tour.

We only have one more serious day of cycling. It's hard to believe.