New York then Massachusetts

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Friday 23rd:

We were up early as we wanted to travel a good distance today. The guys staying in the motel unit next to ours were packing all their gear into their pickup and all dressed in camo, ready or a days hunting....bear. Leaving here the temperature hovered between 5 degrees and not much over 7 for the first hour or so. After around 5 miles we re-joined our NEBDR route 3.

Some of the riding was single track/trail with plenty of loose rocks, water carve outs and overhanging trees. There were regular full track width puddles that kept you alert and muddy.

As we came into the small town of Blenheim we stopped and looked at a covered bridge. Apparently it is the biggest single span wooden bridge in the world 71m total length. It is unusual in that it is double barreled (dual carriageway) and was built in 1854. It was in constant use until the steel in it was cracked by the weight of ice in 1935. Must have been a cold winter that year.
Later on it was wiped out by floods and rebuilt exactly the same as original - off site! Transporting it to its original site must have been a monumental feat. It is now a monument to past engineering and is unused except by foot as a tourist attraction.



Continuing on we we had miles and miles of fantastic gravel and sealed roads through stunning scenery which you need to see to appreciate. We passed waterfalls and a Grand Gorge. We came to a busy working quarry where they were crushing and transporting, by huge mining type trucks, white rock. We don't what it is, maybe limestone. All the gravel roads in this area were white. We continued on in the picture postcard perfect countryside. White roads, red yellow and green autumnal trees, red painted farm barns, dry stone walls and lush green paddocks....what a vista! Shortly after the quarry we came upon an industrial monument with a very scenic weir next to it.



All this amazing scenery seemed to go on for ever. At one junction where we turned onto another forest trail there was a large sign saying "F**K Biden and F**k you for voting for him" This has been a constant theme from people we have spoken to here...they are over him & his government.

Towards the end of the trails we saw a Bluejay. Very attractive bird ...couldn't get my camera out in time so this is a google image below.

As we came into the large town of Adams, Massachusetts we tried a few hotels and motels but there was a bluegrass festival on and everything was booked out. On advice we ended up in the next town, Williamstown and got a good but expensive motel due to the festival being on.
267 miles miles today (over 400 kms) quite a big day. There was a good Korean BBQ restaurant within walking distance, so a good end to the day.

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