Wanderlust has struck again. It’s the beginning of Fall 2019 and I found a good reason to be bad again. Hey, I’ve got the biking gear, experience and health to try it again. The only thing missing is a goal. Even that became obvious as I reconnected with some old high school friends a few years ago at time of our 50th anniversary of our graduation.
I decided the primary target of my bike ride was to visit Mike Kennedy who relocated Vermont shortly after graduating Wilkes Collge back in 1970. Of all our friends Mike took the farthest path away from Roselle, NJ where we all lived and did the hippie “drop out” thing – or at least that’s how I remember it. What better place to visit in the age of Bernie Sanders, a cycling boom and the climate crisis. A good time to recalibrate myself and my dedication to core principals and nature.
The route calls for taking Amtrak’s Vermonter to Burlington, a 9 hour train ride. Then, heading to see Mike in East Ryegate about 70 miles east and spend a couple days discovering the real Vermont with his guidance. From there I’m heading south back to New Jersey with a couple stops to see another close friend, Mike Hayser and Mary Ann’s sister Debby and her husband Tom.
So, the theme is reunions and ecology or at least how we fit into the Vermont and New England way of life. Did I mention it wll take about 500 miles of bike riding and about 10 days of my life to discover bike riding in New England and how life has changed for those ex-Jerseyites. Like my Epic Bike Ride 2018 I’ll attempt to post a daily blog of this trip. I hope you’ll join me for the ride.
My Plan C 