Day 1
We're off!

Most of the riders have never been to New England and if you haven't been in this area, I highly recommend it.  The houses, barns, farms, and general terrain are much different from the deep south where I'm from and different from about every where else I've been too.  The color here this time of year is beautiful even though it isn't peak time yet...we still see a lot of green out there, but there's enough color to make it interesting.  Aside from the color, we enjoyed many miles of stone fences that were built in the 1800s (some in the late 1700s) and homesteads that are beautifully manicured in a way that is stereotypically New England.  Everywhere we rode we came upon colorful displays of yard art or decorations for Halloween.

All in all it was a pretty good day.  We stayed dry, the temperatures were perfect, the scenery was beautiful, and everyone got in safely...makes for a happy tour leader.  Everyone seemed to get along pretty well even though it was a little hilly in spots.  We only had a couple navigational challenges but it's a pretty short mileage overall so it's no big deal...get lost and we'll find you somehow.  Hey, if they get off route it's an adventure!  Plus, they can come back and ride again and see the real route for the first time...now that's the ticket.  Karen and I split the time in the van and spent the morning stopping to take photos of the scenery.  Barb spent the day driving through folks and setting up SAG at about 15 miles out...quite a challenge to fix snacks for 10!  But I must admit it's as hard to keep up with 10 as it is 50...now that may seem silly, but when you have 50 we don't miss them right away when they get off track.  Most find their way back before we know they are gone, but with 10...make a wrong turn and we know it.  We may not know where they'll end up, but we know when they are gone.  When I asked everyone at rap how many didn't get lost today, no one held up their hand.  So even with the short day, bonus miles were abundant. 

Tomorrow we have another shortish day of only 38 miles so we'll start again about 9:00.  Looking forward to another great day of leaf peeping.  Check in tomorrow and see what we're up to.