The Islands

Nope. Not the Caribbean. The Vermont islands, up north, on Lake Champlain. After the race on Saturday, my mother met me in Burlington, and we drove up together to North Hero State Park for a three-day vacation/mapping trip. The area was fantastic. The flat terrain, and being surrounded by water almost made it feel like Cape Cod. But far better than the Cape, we had it all to ourselves. I think there was one other person who stayed in campground while we were there. I got to work, train hard, spend time with family, all while re-connecting to the wilderness. Man, I love this job!

The training up there was great. Of course, open water swimming is abundant. Anywhere you want to go, you could find a great place to launch. And the riding too; countless flat and scenic roads. On Tuesday, I crossed the border to Quebec on my bike, and rode 100K on some of the nicest flat farm roads I’ve seen… It was a real treat for a TT rider living in Vermont. The rest of the time, I was winding down lake-side roads, and through small, lake-side towns.

The trip hit a logistical hitch when I, ahem… drove over my cell phone. It was a 3-year old free phone that was begging to be put out of its misery anyway, so I’m psyched to have a new one – it even plays music and lets me check my email! Take notice though, as the new Multisport Maps phone number is (802)318-6152.

As always, some photos from the trip:

Sunset at the State Park beach:



Late-evening ride south of Alburgh:



View off that same road:



Beautiful riding on Isle La Motte:



Same road, same great riding:



Me on the bike in Quebec:



Me LOVIN' the Canadian riding:



Me, uh... Working hard:



My mother:



A family I saw while out riding... classic Vermont stuff: