Monday July 22:  Brattleboro, Vermont to Manchester, New Hampshire
Distance:  78.4 miles
Total time:  6 hours 15 minutes
Riding time:  5 hours 43 minutes

Today may have been our most efficient riding day of the whole trip.  The Three Amigos were all business.  It was a combination of the fact that we're so close to the end, and everyone can smell the  barn; and that Mother Nature threw everything she had at us today, including hills, rain and the occasional headwind.  We rode very hard, attacked the hills, and took very short water and rest breaks.

The day started like the previous 50 days.  We had the same breakfast - cereal, eggs, yogurt, bagels, pancakes - that we've had 50 times before.  You can sense the lack of enthusiasm as we inhale the necessary anonymous calories to sustain us through the ride.

Then it was out the door for the penultimate time.  Here are Leonard and Ray, first off the mark as they've been almost every day.

At a little over one mile from the hotel, we left Vermont behind and I at least came home.  We crossed the mighty Connecticut River and entered the Granite State.  That's me to the left and Michael to the right, headed east into the rising sun.

Here's the mandatory Amigos Welcome to New Hampshire picture.  Live free or die, baby.

And that's me touching New Hampshire soil again after 51 days on the road.

While yesterday's 6,000-plus feet of climbing were our most in one day since the Donner Pass, today was no slouch at 4,500 feet.  There were three stinker climbs in the first 30 miles, and after that it was up and down to the bitter end.  I have to say that low-tax New Hampshire's road shoulders were better than Ben & Jerry & Bernie's Vermont shoulders, and we were able to scream down the descents.  I hit over 40 miles an hour for the first time in my life on one of them.  And then the rains came.

It started raining at about the 30 mile mark, and steadily at 39 miles.  It rained until the end, it's still raining, and it's supposed to rain on our parade on tomorrow's final run to the Atlantic Ocean.  I guess this is part of the punishment for our glorious Run in the Sun earlier in the ride.

Tonight we had the traditional last night banquet.  Each of us got up and spoke about what the experience meant to us.  Some were funny, some very serious and emotional.  Jamie had written a very funny song about the ride, to the tune of Yankee Doodle, so the Amigos led everyone in a rousing rendition.

It was a great opportunity to thank the staff - Mike, Jake, Jim and Mark - who were truly outstanding and provided great support so that all we had to do was ride.

Tomorrow is a short day, just a little over 60 miles.  I'm lucky that the route actually passes two blocks from our house in Exeter New Hampshire, so I'll stop off and see my wife Kristin and daughter Katie before continuing on to the wheel dip in the ocean.  I'm looking forward to completing the journey and looking forward to being home.  But Nietzsche talked about "the melancholy of everything completed."  I'm curious to see how I react to not having to get up and cycle a great distance.