Lake Champlain Tour

So it begins:

The bikes - her bike  Trek 1.2    50/34 compact double   -  11/32  cassette- Brooks 68S saddle - Toppeak MXP trunk bag with expandable panniers.  Conti- 4 season 700x28 tires
His - Kona Jake the Snake  42/36 compact double -11/32 cassette -  Brooks 68 saddle - Trunk bag with expandable panniers ( some brand I can identify anymore)- Schwable marathon 700x28 tires.

The route for the first day:

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We pack everything into zip lock gallon bags and press all the air out to compact it as much as possible.  It looks like about 15 pounds of stuff when its all said and done.  The area we are riding into has had lots of flooding so I call ahead to Local Motion in Burlington and get a non-biker on the phone.  She said everything up north should be fine.   We shall see.   We have the route picked out and drive up to my nephews in Fairfax to drop the car and launch the next day.   We have an enjoyable stay but are of course chomping at the bit.

Good weekend

Two 60 mile rides and a 25. One great loop - Montague, Whatley, Hadenville, Leeds , Noho and back. The girls in Hadenville have big brown eyes.

Brattleboro Ride

54 miles...

Start

Mile 12

Mile 29

Mile 31

So watch out for railroad tracks or you both end up in a pile.

Theresa did the tuck and roll.

I on the other hand even have road rash on my stomach. Over the handlebars at 15 mph.

Off to work

The trip in.

Comutaah

Park the car and ride the comutah

Bike that is. 44 miles round trip . 1.5 hours each way. Took the Bionx off and changed out the tires to slicks . Not bad.

Shelburne Falls

Or hill fest. 9600ft of vertical gain - 54 miles. Great views. Bridge of Flowers and lunch at McCuskers market. I took the picture of these cows in the field and they all came over , obviously not camera shy.

Top of the hill

Or Maybe over the hill. That's what I felt like for sure. So we head down the back side and pass a group that are involved with a race on the same course . The foundation is Keep on Pedaling. Check out the web site and the founders story. AKP Do something folks .

Donate - volunteer , kill the TV and get off the couch!

The hill

So out we go and head up to Rt 315 . The hill is 1000ft of vertical gain in 2 miles with and 18% grade for the last 100 yards or so. Talk about a workout. View from the top.

Day Two

We went out to Battenkill bike shop which by the way is an great shop. The owner was super helpful and pointed us to a ride up Rt 315 to Pawlet and back. This shop has the most accessories I have every seen in a bike shop . If you want it, need it ,lust for it they have it. Gear whore heaven. Here is the link: http://www.battenkillsports.com/

Great shop!

First day

So the first day the weatherman says temps in the upper 80's . What ?? Its late September. Oh well off we go. We started from Arlington and went up to West Rupert via rt 30. Nice road and yes it was HOT. But hey if you get tired you can always hitch a ride home . First day 56 miles.

Touring 101

Well we have been into touring as of late. Its is not accident as my wife brother just completed a ride from Portland to Portland west to east having done Portland to Portland east to west the year before. So we were of course inspired. So for our first "tour we packed up and went to Arlington VT to do a little riding. Here is camp pictured above. Nice campground right on the Battenkill River.

Time to start

Commuting that is . Snow is gone !

New Soma

New Bike Soma smoothie. By Soma fabricators out of San Fransisco. Steel frame weighs in around 18 lbs.

We did 50 miles on Saturday and 20 on Sunday. This is the model of bike I just bought. I will get a pic up of mine soon.

Rain

I have just turned a little over 800 miles on the Bionx and its been fun. Now if we can just get it to stop raining!