Crankin your trip the Berkshires sounds lovely.

Yesterday I rode 38 miles with a friend. East of Tucson, one of the regular routes for cyclists is out to "Pistol Hill". It goes through some beautiful desert, though housing developments are everywhere, even so far away from any kind of services. The first half has a climb, a short descent and more climbing. The last half is mostly downhill or relatively flat. Total of 1500 feet of climbing. It was not super hot, but humid (for Tucson- 70% to start) and I was happy to stop and refill one of my bottles with ice for the last 5 miles.