Vermont to Switzerland
Enjoying the last weekend before school starts. Exploring Northshore Beach in BTV with the girls.
We wandered the beach the the girls moved into 2 of the driftwood shelters people have made on the beach. Temps were perfect, the water cool on the toes, and the girls a delight to explore with.
Snuck in an S24O last weekend. Drove part way, and traversed road, dirt road, TAM (trail around Middlebury), forest road and single track to Silver Lake in the GMNF. Came into the forest service campground via the Leicester Hollow Trail – a rocky, root fun ride of single track.
Made camp and dinner, enjoying a Heady Topper that I packed in ice for the trip. After hanging my food I tucked in for the night and listened the the loons, the owls, and the small critters that tried to steal my dinner when I got up to rearrange some gear. Awoke early and enjoyed the view of the lake, before taking off for the car.
I was going to ride out the campground road, or explore some VAST and MTB trails to VT Rt. 125, but after walking up some steep gravel decided to roll back down the Falls of Lana trail and get to Middlebury for some real food.
~70 miles round trip to the car, and I actually completed the trip within 24 hours of leaving home.
A short, but steep hike up Bamforth Ridge. I was going to summit Camel’s Hump, but ran out of time and legs.
A nice ride with Greg, Jim and Julia up and up and up to Devil’s Washbowl, a short little road that is lots of fun.
And, getting there and back is part of the journey. Pave, dirt, some Class IV road, some hike a bike and three covered bridges.
A lovely afternoon out.
Enjoyed the 2013, and likely last* (for awhile) VT Fall Classic Brevet and Populaire. I rode the Populaire, with Greg. Felt great at the start, ended up coughing up blood and struggling by the end. Finished with a couple minutes to spare.
*I’m burned out from being brevet organizer… so I’m taking some time off. There is movement to continue with some of the VT rides, and I’ll post up any solid information as soon as I hear something.
I set out with a friend and a couple of online acquaintances in early November to do a bit of late fall bikepacking. I need to write up a full trip report – but here is a photo dump from the ride. We covered 56+ miles, much of it on trail and class 4 road. Machines were all Pugsleys – a single speed, an IGH Necro, and my white 2×9 all with bikepacking bags. We also had a first generation along (the first one sold in VT) with racks and panniers.
The start was in Pittsfield, VT. We crossed the Green Mountains near Chittenden Reservoir and made our way north to Silver Lake to camp, taking the Leicester Hollow trail in from the south. Fire, chatting, eating, and then sleeping as snow started coming down.
At 2am everything was white – but by 6am when I got up to start a fire everything was just wet. We left the park on the Leicester Hollow trail, which was the only dirt on the second day.
We stuck to pavement back to start, as the weather turned as we climbed Brandon Gap – we had rain and freezing rain and sleet coming down the east side.
The last 10 miles were truly a death march – I was a little sad we eliminated all the dirt and trail – but thankful to eventually be warm and dry.
Got out for a very short, very cold ride on New Years day. We’ve had a bit of coverage over the ice from a recent storm – but the woods and path are still hard enough to skate on.
Sweltering in the humid tropical heat (for Vermont) I’m catching up thinking about cooler times. Fargo setup for long winter rides, The Pugsley atop Smugglers Notch (I rode most of the way up VT 108), and an in town adventure with Greg to check out the Donahue Sea Caves.
Jen wandered into my office last week and said ‘We’re going to Jay Peak, I found a cottage to rent, water park tickets included. Pack your bike.’
We rented a slopeside / golf course side cottage for 2 nights at the main ski area. Played at the waterpark and ate way too much resort food. Jen got in a trail run, I got in a punishing bike ride.
I rode down from the lodge on VT 242, caught VT 101 and VT 100, and then picked up some side roads to intercept VT 58 and pass through Hazen’s Notch. I left early and had no luck on a Saturday morning finding an open cafe and coffee. I barely managed to make it back after ~38 miles on 2 water bottles and 3 clif bars. I bonked hard climbing the 7 miles up VT 242 from Montgomery.
It felt great to be out on the dirt, exploring a new (to me) area. Lots of cool roads in the NEK to explore… so I’ll have to get back. The bike and my legs felt off all day. I certainly don’t climb like a used to – the long dirt climb back to the cottage was pretty rough. Nothing in the tank, and my legs felt flat.
Been a long time since I have written those words. Dirty ride with Greg in Middlesex, VT. Mountain bikes, with studs. Dirt roads, some trail. Ice, mud, snow, hike a bike, slop on the way down when the temps warmed up. Just under 18 miles, with a claimed climbing of ~2750′ according to the online maps. Will have to run it through TopoFusion later. Pretty amazing scenery, and a convenient place for the two of us to meet at the Red Hen Bakery.
Some thoughts from the ride: I started keeping my kit ‘ready to go’ – so I’d always have the same things at the ready. While this has been working – I looked at the sky, at the road, and the temps as we were suiting up in the parking lot and decided to leave the camera in the car. I also figured we’d get up the first few climbs and decide to bomb back down – so I left extra calories with my kit bag. The first rule of bike club is: always take the larger camera. The second rule of bike club is: always take some extra food. The third rule of bike club is: always take the same kit, repeat and modify as needed.
I did the entire ride on some licorice and my coffee and bagel from an hour before. Yes, we did less than 18 miles, but I was feeling it at the end.
