Archive for the ‘dirt road ride’ Category
Sunday, June 27th, 2010
~60 miles this morning. Dirt loop from town. Usual suspects +1 very tall friend of a friend. No wind shadow behind him, as the wind went under his torso and into mine.
In the background - a Custom Ti IF cross bike for a tall rider. Paul Racer Brakes, Shimano something, stiff wheels! - up front - my very small bike.
I had a spoke nipple pop on the way to our start – which happened to be a friends garage. Field replacement and upside down bike truing stand and we were rolling on time. Now to track down why this wheel was hand built with aluminum nipples… when I spec’d brass…
Posted in dirt road ride, ride, vermont | Comments Off
Thursday, June 17th, 2010
We had 20 riders start the first RUSA sanctioned brevet in Vermont – the VT 100k Cafe Cruise. Lots of fun. Thanks to all participants, and special thanks to Old Spokes Home for providing us with a launch and landing pad. The early morning bagels did the trick to get folks going.
Start photo compliments Chris McCown @ Old Spokes Home
If we handed out awards, we would give them to:
2 riders from the NYC area who road tripped to experience some good VT backroads and fine cafe food (stops at On the Rise and The Village Cup)
A tandem team who came over from the lakes region of NH for the ride.
1 rider from Montpelier, VT (40 miles+ or more one way) who rode to the 7am start @ Old Spokes Home, finished the event, then rode home. (He’s doing the NJ 600k this week)
2 riders who battled a mechanical and made it in just at the buzzer.
Climbing Stage Rd. - up and up on the dirt. Photo compliments Chris McCown @ Old Spokes Home
Finish photo compliments Chris McCown @ Old Spokes Home
First riders were in @ 4h20m from the start.
Last rider in just at the buzzer after fighting a tube / tire problem.
Posted in bbs, brevet, burlington, dirt road ride, mixed terrain, randonneuring, vermont | 2 Comments »
Tuesday, April 27th, 2010
The usual suspects (and a new face!) rode a preview of the dirt on the Cafe Cruise 100k Populaire that I’m running in collaboration with the New England Randonneurs on June 13th. The ride is being billed as a VT ‘Intro to Rando’ – we start in Burlington, head to Richmond for the wonderful On the Rise bakery, then climb up to Jericho for the Village Cup. Rough guess is that the route is 50%+ dirt, with one section of single track (doable on a ‘road’ bike).
Official route is pending RUSA certification and I’ll have more information up on the NERds website (and over there –>> in my ‘pages’) in a week or two after work and travel and house finding settle down. Also look for a return of the Champlain 200k/300k (and some more pictures here) with chartered bike ferry and the first official running of the Fall Dirt 200k.
And I should note: physics cannot be avoided. The climb from the river on Stage Rd. hurt. In a good way. If you like suffering as an out of shape, out of form, still looking for a house, stressed out parent of a two year old… excuses excuses.
Posted in burlington, dirt road ride, mixed terrain, randonneuring, ride, vermont | 6 Comments »
Sunday, April 18th, 2010
3/4 usual suspects took to some dirt north of town on a cold gray morning. The dirt felt like oatmeal – smooth and slick in some spots – but a drag on the tires for sure. 43 some odd miles from house to John’s for the neutral coffee garage start and back. Was a pleasure to blow off some housing steam and start to feel human again.
(photo courtesy of Mr. McM. and his iPhone)
And there is some hope on the housing front. But I’m waiting to get excited until we start moving furniture and unpacking…
Posted in burlington, dirt road ride, vermont | 2 Comments »
Sunday, March 7th, 2010
First sunny ride with the usual suspects. 36 miles for me (I pulled out early). South of town and to some fast smooth dirt. Road bike legs and lungs need some work. The boys probably topped out 45 for the day.
Posted in burlington, dirt road ride, ride, spring, vermont | 2 Comments »
Monday, September 14th, 2009
Took some reinforcements and managed to make the Rogers ‘Road’ connection work. We took off in the dry on some familiar roads, then tackled Coon Hill, Galvin Hill, and Austin House dirt in the pouring rain. The usual suspects were wet, tired, cold and hungry by the time we made it to the climb on Hardscrabble – with uncharted territory and a questionable connection ahead of us. We made it to the dead end and laughed as the ‘road’ was in worse condition than my solo adventure. Lots of mud. Slick rock. Roots. At one point we were essentially riding in what seemed to be a creek bed. There were a few instances of cursing and sliding off the bikes – but we made the connection and descended to Stage Road. A quick burn on the rolling and sticky dirt into Essex led us to the Clover Natural Market. Homemade soup and chili hit the spot. Warmed and relatively dry we wheeled back to town on a mix of dirt and pavement for about 60 of mixed terrain in the chill and the wet.
Posted in dirt road ride, fall, mixed terrain, vermont | 2 Comments »
Monday, September 7th, 2009
First annual Cafe Grand Prix – ~60 miles, 3 cafes*, 3k of climbing. Tolerable paved sections, dirt, a bit of single track. Classic VT views. BTV to Richmond via Mountain View and Gov. Chittenden. On the Rise Bakery. Cochran’s to Stage Road. Up up up to Leary Rd. and Nashville Rd. A bit of a delay searching out a dead end – then to Plains Rd. And into Jericho for the Village Cup. Rt. 15 to Weed, 128 and Towers then back to the dirt on Lost Nation and the back way with a view to Colchester Pond. Return round the Bay and into town with a final stop at Viva Espresso.
*We skipped the last stop as our relaxed pace began to encroach on family time. The next version might have to turn into a century and include Red Hen Baking.
Posted in burlington, dirt road ride, mixed terrain, mobile post, vermont | 3 Comments »
Sunday, August 30th, 2009
Solo adventuring today on some favorite roads. Household stuff to do – so I kept it short to 38 or so. Shot some video descending Governor Chittenden Road – but the bar mounted camera bouncing around makes it nearly impossible to watch.
Posted in dirt road ride, summer, vermont | 13 Comments »
Sunday, August 16th, 2009
Sunday dirt exploring and scouting for new links to my favorite roads. The usual suspects were at D2R2 baking and sweating in the heat. I spent the weekend with the family enjoying the water at the beach.
Sunday morning I explored some dirt in Colchester. Was nearly defeated by a dead end – but a motorist assured me that what was left of a road did go through to my destination. I made a weak attempt at the muddy trail on the skinny tires – was swarmed by bugs and left it for another time when I have reinforcements.
Posted in dirt road ride, mixed terrain, run, vermont | 6 Comments »
Monday, August 10th, 2009
Recent riding has been great. Dirt, fixed gear mixed, and towing the little one in a recently acquired Burley to preview a tri course.
Posted in ava, bikes, dirt road ride, fixed gear, mixed terrain, ride, summer, vermont | 4 Comments »
