We found out a couple days before the trip that the first part of the trail was closed due to painting of the I-89 underpass. So we met at 9:30 AM at Green’s Corner, just past the 3 mile mark on the trail, and started bicycling around 9:40. The weather was sunny, cool, and only slightly breezy, making it a perfect day for bicycling.

The trail was in pretty good shape, with a packed fine gravel surface, though it was uneven and rutted in places. Apparently the whole thing is going to be resurfaced this summer, starting in May (with resulting section by section closings), so it should be even better soon. We kept up a pretty steady pace with only brief stops of a a couple minutes in a few spots, and traveled the 23 miles to Richford in about two hours. We took the short trip down the road from the end of the trail to the town green, where we spent about 15 to 20 minutes resting and having lunch.

Ed had brought his camera and said he planned to take some pictures on the way back and to travel at a more leisurely pace, so David and Darryl soon left him behind. David was getting pretty tired on the way back, so the slight headwind might have felt stronger than it really was, but we still managed to get back to the car around 2:20, for a travel time (not including lunch break) of about 4 hours for 46 the 46 mile round trip.

Trip leader: David Hathaway; Darryl Smith, Ed Linton.