and pedal uphill to go downhill, eventually--fast but not too furious.
sunday, day 1: i met up with joel and sawyer at the top of stage coach road, in fayston, high above waitsfield vt, prime green mountain territory. sawyer's in-laws have a house that looks across the valley to mad river ski area. it was a grand site to final pack. after locking down what we were leaving, we took off--uphill even more. we 'peaked' out at a mcmansion in the clouds and pointed things down--into the woods on the left in the picture. much to our surprise, we hooked back up to a road and popped out right across from the driveway we started at! that was interesting.
we contemplated a second path back through the woods, but after a few hundred yards in, with a stop to watch twin fawns in a swath of chest high ferns, we turned back to some "marked" trails joel had spotted earlier. more climbing before we eventually started down, right next to a foreboding sign--danger! complete with skull and cross bones. this had to be the way.
it turned out it was a way, and after a wonderful descent--with plenty of danger--we finally t-d out onto another road that ran a few quick miles down to the highway where we turned toward waterbury.
we headed for the prohibition pig--a pub that carried fine craft brews as well as food. it was a good place to stop and eat a late lunch, complete with a great selection of hot-sauces. while the others went right in to sample the first beer, i took a bit of time to put on the water bottle cages i picked up at waterbury sports.
after eating, soy and joel went across the street to pick up some 'cans to go' and we continued onto little river state park. we were camping there the first night and waiting for matty to come up from boston. it was a good place to stop as it had vt's largest reservoir, a pleasant place to swim and play a little frisbee. i found a pair of goggles that inspired a photo.
back at the tent site, matty pulled in and we set up bivy bags or hung hammocks, brewed some tea and lit up a small fire. it was a fine first night.
monday, day 2: i wake up early and this trip was no different. with a bit of prep, i was cooking oatmeal as the others got out of their sleeping bags. we ate, cleaned up, broke camp, loaded the bikes, and matty drove his car off to a long term parking spot. when he rode back over the hill to us, we headed off to find the single track up and over the first mountain.
riding up hill can be a grind, but the switchbacks made it almost easy. well, maybe just a lot easier than it would have been otherwise. it was a challenging couple miles, but definitely rewarding. as we topped out, we got another couple miles in the woods before hooking into an improved gravel woods road. that made things faster--hitting the waterbars at speed, made for exciting air time. at one point we came around a corner and met a huge gap over a stream with "road closed" signs everywhere. when we got off the bikes and walked up to the edge, a worker on the other side directed us to follow the pink flagging around the construction.
as we remounted and started away, he warned us of a dump truck that would be coming up the road. we were still going down hill and the road twisted and turned significantly. at one point the boys went off ahead. as i was pedaling hard to catch them up, i corned almost into the path of a large front-end loader. we both were surprised! he turned toward his side and i managed to slide a bit to my side, enough to fly by without getting scooped up. until i caught up with the others i was keeping far right in case the mystery dump truck came around the next corner.
a few miles later we were out to black top and hunting for the turn off to single track up to the von trapp brewery and bierhall. when we found 'pipe line', and started up, it didn't take too long before it turned technical. i admit that at one point, i mumbled to sawyer, "i don't think this bike was made for this type of trail." the craziest, rootiest, rockiest parts mellowed out at some point and soon enough we saw a sign for the 'bierhall'!
we each tested at least one beer and ate a sandwich while watching a couple groups play around at frisbee golf. after lunch we got in some more climbing up to some really sweet single track dropping down north of stowe, headed to morrisville. i was really pleased at how agile the bike was. it could rail the switchbacks with ease and negotiate more technical parts--only this time going downhill.
back onto roads and climbing out of the valley, we stopped at a farmstand and picked up some goat cheese for supper. just after that we pulled up under an oak tree to let a shower pass. as we dropped down the other side of the last climb, i noticed joel with his phone out, capturing a kodak moment. just as i was thinking this was not going to end well. he went down, skidding along the pavement on his hand and hip--ouch! that couldn't have felt good. it looked bad enough to even be a trip ender. we patched him up and pedaled into morrisville. oh--he got the picture...
rock art brewery was closed by 15 minutes when we pulled up, but truth be told, that might have been a good thing. long story short two catholic school board members took us up to elmore state park where we got a shelter for the night. dinner was tasty, though we probably all could have eaten more. we walked down to the lake for a swim in the dark.
back at camp, we all turned in early--resting up to go back outside and play in the morning, if joel wasn't too stiff!
sunday, day 1: i met up with joel and sawyer at the top of stage coach road, in fayston, high above waitsfield vt, prime green mountain territory. sawyer's in-laws have a house that looks across the valley to mad river ski area. it was a grand site to final pack. after locking down what we were leaving, we took off--uphill even more. we 'peaked' out at a mcmansion in the clouds and pointed things down--into the woods on the left in the picture. much to our surprise, we hooked back up to a road and popped out right across from the driveway we started at! that was interesting.
we contemplated a second path back through the woods, but after a few hundred yards in, with a stop to watch twin fawns in a swath of chest high ferns, we turned back to some "marked" trails joel had spotted earlier. more climbing before we eventually started down, right next to a foreboding sign--danger! complete with skull and cross bones. this had to be the way.
it turned out it was a way, and after a wonderful descent--with plenty of danger--we finally t-d out onto another road that ran a few quick miles down to the highway where we turned toward waterbury.
we headed for the prohibition pig--a pub that carried fine craft brews as well as food. it was a good place to stop and eat a late lunch, complete with a great selection of hot-sauces. while the others went right in to sample the first beer, i took a bit of time to put on the water bottle cages i picked up at waterbury sports.
after eating, soy and joel went across the street to pick up some 'cans to go' and we continued onto little river state park. we were camping there the first night and waiting for matty to come up from boston. it was a good place to stop as it had vt's largest reservoir, a pleasant place to swim and play a little frisbee. i found a pair of goggles that inspired a photo.back at the tent site, matty pulled in and we set up bivy bags or hung hammocks, brewed some tea and lit up a small fire. it was a fine first night.
monday, day 2: i wake up early and this trip was no different. with a bit of prep, i was cooking oatmeal as the others got out of their sleeping bags. we ate, cleaned up, broke camp, loaded the bikes, and matty drove his car off to a long term parking spot. when he rode back over the hill to us, we headed off to find the single track up and over the first mountain.
riding up hill can be a grind, but the switchbacks made it almost easy. well, maybe just a lot easier than it would have been otherwise. it was a challenging couple miles, but definitely rewarding. as we topped out, we got another couple miles in the woods before hooking into an improved gravel woods road. that made things faster--hitting the waterbars at speed, made for exciting air time. at one point we came around a corner and met a huge gap over a stream with "road closed" signs everywhere. when we got off the bikes and walked up to the edge, a worker on the other side directed us to follow the pink flagging around the construction.
as we remounted and started away, he warned us of a dump truck that would be coming up the road. we were still going down hill and the road twisted and turned significantly. at one point the boys went off ahead. as i was pedaling hard to catch them up, i corned almost into the path of a large front-end loader. we both were surprised! he turned toward his side and i managed to slide a bit to my side, enough to fly by without getting scooped up. until i caught up with the others i was keeping far right in case the mystery dump truck came around the next corner.
a few miles later we were out to black top and hunting for the turn off to single track up to the von trapp brewery and bierhall. when we found 'pipe line', and started up, it didn't take too long before it turned technical. i admit that at one point, i mumbled to sawyer, "i don't think this bike was made for this type of trail." the craziest, rootiest, rockiest parts mellowed out at some point and soon enough we saw a sign for the 'bierhall'!we each tested at least one beer and ate a sandwich while watching a couple groups play around at frisbee golf. after lunch we got in some more climbing up to some really sweet single track dropping down north of stowe, headed to morrisville. i was really pleased at how agile the bike was. it could rail the switchbacks with ease and negotiate more technical parts--only this time going downhill.
back onto roads and climbing out of the valley, we stopped at a farmstand and picked up some goat cheese for supper. just after that we pulled up under an oak tree to let a shower pass. as we dropped down the other side of the last climb, i noticed joel with his phone out, capturing a kodak moment. just as i was thinking this was not going to end well. he went down, skidding along the pavement on his hand and hip--ouch! that couldn't have felt good. it looked bad enough to even be a trip ender. we patched him up and pedaled into morrisville. oh--he got the picture...
rock art brewery was closed by 15 minutes when we pulled up, but truth be told, that might have been a good thing. long story short two catholic school board members took us up to elmore state park where we got a shelter for the night. dinner was tasty, though we probably all could have eaten more. we walked down to the lake for a swim in the dark.
back at camp, we all turned in early--resting up to go back outside and play in the morning, if joel wasn't too stiff!
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