It was nice to see the sun this morning when it was time to ride, although it went into hiding for much of the day, but luckily no rain!

We had some difficulty getting started leaving Sturbridge Host Hotel, as the traffic light did not recognize any of our lightweight bikes, so we skirted across 4 lanes of traffic and headed north, first past Sturbridge Commons (where Nancy I. and I had walked yesterday), then through Southbridge, and onto Oxford.  The hills did not seem as steep or as long today, for which my legs are thankful.

The recent rain had made everything green and we rolled past cattle farms, through Manchaug and into Whitinsville.  There I noticed seemingly hundreds of yellow ribbons tied to phone poles for several miles. I asked a local and he told me a local boy had died in Afghanistan and there had been quite a memorial parade.

As luck would have it, the town of Westborough, site of our 40 mile sag stop, had a bike shop as Lynda C. and Chef Emily both had chain problems today.  I am thankful that my Orbea is performing well, though I confess to spending all my time in the small ring with recent hills.

I was riding with Gail, Wendy, and Marilyn again today and we passed on a Starbucks stop in Westborough, looking forward to ice cream noted on our cue/clue sheet at mile 51.  Sadly the shop was closed – not sure if just today or permanently.  We ended up “picnicking” standing over our bikes at mile 54 – thank goodness for PBJ.

We crossed several interstates today: I-90, I-290, and I-495, an indication that we are skirting around Boston.  Our hotel, the Holiday Inn Boxborough, is just off I-495, but there are no restaurants or other amenities for at least 5 miles.

All of the other cyclists were transported for a picnic at the home of Robin, friend of several of the riders from a Southern Tier tour.  I was invited out by Ralph & Anne Sheridan and had a delightful evening reminiscing about “old times” and catching up on current events.  Don and I will see them again in 3 weeks at Tanglewood.

Late in the ride, I realized we were riding along a ridge and could sometimes glimpse wide vistas on hills/mountains in the distance, with lots of trees. That is a big difference to the Southern Tier ride, when we were following spring across the country.  Here the trees are full and we can’t see the great expanses around us.

Kathy Q. from Dallas took this photo of me among the trees earlier in the day.

And special thanks to Ralph and Anne for a wonderful evening of friendship.

63.02 miles today; 4100+ ft of ascent (4400+ ft of descent – we are headed once again to the coast!).