my ride home today

Clock out of work. Today is the day we try the “long way home”. 18ish miles opposed to the usual 6. Unlock the bike, hop out the parking lot going down Stratton Rd. We are avoiding Rutland altogether today. Stratton Rd turns into Cold River Rd, something we have already rode before. East Claredon Rd branches off to the right and is a bitch of a steep hill up. Short, but steep. Turn down N. Shrewsbury Rd. “From this point on, we are now going further down this road than we have ever before”. Nice little downhill with some crappy railroad tracks. Stop at Hwy 7 and wait for the light to turn green. Turn down 7b and enjoy the small town of N Shrewsbury (or is it Alfrecha?). Turn down Alfrecha road and enjoy the corn fields. Are we in Vermont or back in Illinois? Look at the mountain directly in front of, definitely NOT Illinois. Turn down Creek road. On the map it looks pretty cool, on the road it is a very nice little road. Enjoy the coolness of the shadows. Road turns to dirt just in time for the monster hill we have to climb. Turn down Walker Mt Rd, get ready to grunt. Road stays dirt, goes up. Shift into the lowest gear on the middle ring, grind up the hill. Hill continues up, we continue to grind up it. Hill still continues up, shift into the granny gear. Notice it may be faster to walk up the hill, continue to grind up the hill. We knew this hill was long, so no surprise here. Hill is over, adrenaline takes over. Pump fists, flex muscles, be happy. Turn down Quarterline Rd at the ball field mowed into a hay field. If you build it, they will come. Notice Quarterline is dirt, be happy. Grind up a hill. Top the hill and notice the next hill staring at you. Be amazed at the long, steep white road a head of you. Start to grind up the hill. No middle ring here, go strait to the granny gear. Grind up hill. Continue to grind up hill. Notice it appears that you are going nowhere. Notice it may be faster to walk up the hill. Continue to grind up hill. Wonder when this ends. Continue to grind up hill. Hill ends. Dirt road, still going slow, no fist pumping or muscle flexing, ear to ear grin will suffice. School House road branches off to the left, sign announces you are entering a class 4 road. Assume that means it’s not maintained very well. Enter a nice little green tunnel. Turn the corner and be happy that the green tunnel continues. Enjoy the crappy little road and green tunnel. No steep up hills, no steep down hills. Green tunnel continues. Road starts going down, shift into the big gear. Enjoy the green tunnel and kick ass road. Road turns to pavement, we turn down Boardman Hill Rd. We have been here before. Dirt road, steep slightly bumpy down hill. Speed picks up road turns to pavement, road drops down the hillside. Steep turn next to the entrance ramp. Cars suddenly appear. Welcome to West Rutland. Turn down Hwy 4, cars buzz by, no more country roads without cars. Perform track stand in the middle of road while waiting to turn left onto Pleasant St. We live on this road, we have ridden it many times. Notice how quickly we went from the middle of nowhere on gorgeous dirt roads back to ordinary. Turn into driveway. Go inside, hop on the computer. This is a ride we don’t want to forget. Continue to grin.