Vermont to Switzerland
Its early for regular Sunday Dirt postings – but on the return leg of a fairly flat out and back to the Champlain Islands Wil and I took to some dirt. Smooth, firm, and in great shape. ~80 miles to Hero’s Welcome and back. I’m cooked. Longest ride since last fall.
(click to see the hundreds of bird houses…)
Another great day out on the bike. Spent the first 20 or so miles with the usual suspects then rode solo to meet the family in Cambridge for a harvest festival. Picnic lunch, great scenery and a field full of Trebuchets tossing pumpkins made for an interesting afternoon. Color was perfect. Temps were cool. Sky was blue. Could not have asked for a better day today.
Postcards from the Starksboro, VT control on the Fall Classic 200k.
Thanks for everyone who came out to ride. We had a setting full moon to lead ~30 of us out of town. Lots of hills, lots of color, 6 covered bridges on the 200k and lots of dirt on both routes. This is my favorite time of year in Vermont!
More later…
Exploring old roads can be an adventure. The usual suspects took a ferry from Burlington to the NY side of our almost great lake for 50-60 miles of proposed quiet country roads, mountain views, and dirt road exploring (single track and poor conditions were expected). Connecting the east and west sides of mountains through ravine and creek on logging roads is always exciting. ~18 miles from the ferry we turned up Black Mountain Road, which via topo and satellite image recon appeared to connect through, which would have left us with a handsome loop around Black and Jay mountains.
Reality on the ground is another thing entirely. Compass, smartphone (we had a decent signal), and maps were consulted. We retreated after following what we thought was two track up a creek. I’d guess we managed 4-6 miles of fire road, single track, and scramble – 3 miles which were hike a bike. Up and over and under trees, through brush, over rocks. After a good 2 hours of riding, stumbling, and cursing we took off for lower ground and dirt road and pavement.
On the climb down I struck my head on an overhanging branch, immediately developing a headache – so upon hitting the road I opted to cut it short and head back to Burlington. The usual suspects took off on another 15-20 mile dirt road loop. I made the second to last ferry, and was treated to a spectacular rainbow over the lake.
After confirming from my SPOT tracker where we muddled about, I’m pretty sure I know which fork in the unmarked, overgrown two track that we should have taken. Its likely that one can bushwhack all the way through… but it will be work. I may journey over before hunting season starts and see if I can connect our path from the east side of the route.
Planning a dirt / trail adventure for this weekend. How big of tire will fit the IF has always been a mystery. I’ve run 28s and 30s with fenders. It appears some 35 cross tires will fit and I can even squeak in some 40s. Guaranteed poor roads, dirt, and some single track or hike-a-bike. Fun.
RUSA certification of both routes is pending. I pre-rode most of the 114k route in the rain last Sunday. Course is as beautiful as ever, and will be much nicer when things start to dry out this fall and we get a bit of early color.
Some notes:
114k has ~35 miles of dirt road
200k has ~ 61.5 miles of dirt road
Surface quality will vary based on weather nearing event time. I’ve done most of these roads on Conti 28’s (26mm mounted) and recently on some fat(ter) Pasela 28’s.
Terrain ranges from high single digit grinders to double digit sharp rollers to several double digit climbs. Check the 114k elevation plot or the 200k elevation plot for a good idea of what gearing to bring. Or you can follow along in Google Earth. 114k link here. 200k link here.
What goes up does come down – and there are some wonderful dirt descents. Views to Mt. Mansfield, Madonna Mt., and Camel’s Hump are stunning from various vantage points along the course.
Course checked most of the 114k Fall Classic route on a wet, rainy, and muddy day. Slow going in some parts with all the water we had flowing… but good fun to be out on the bike. Modified the route as I took off and returned from home. ~3800 ft of climbing (by altimeter), average grade of 4% with max grades (several!) topping out at 16%. Lots of high single digit grades on dirt (short, sharp climbs) – and some double digit grinders. The wet slowed me down – but I still pulled out ~80 miles for the day. If we get a wet spell prior to the big day I’ll be running some 32 cross tires on the IF.
The first photo in this post is from a spot Thompson Rd., just as it turns to a single lane for a great descent. On clear days it looks like this.
This was the last ride for my current drive train components. Big ring is shark finned, chain was finished about 150 miles ago, rear cassette is showing its age in the middle range. I am debating running an 8spd setup on the rear – using my Ergo 10 lever to pull a Shimano rear mechanical over an 8spd cassette. Cost of keeping up the 10spd is pretty high when playing in the dirt…!
~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.
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…
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.
If we handed out awards, we would give them to:
First riders were in @ 4h20m from the start.
Last rider in just at the buzzer after fighting a tube / tire problem.
