VT Americana/Gaps Ride 9/10/2016
Southeast MA to Waterbury VT & back
~585 miles

Now in the final month of the Americana Grand Tour, time to buckle down a bit and get a couple remaining New England bonuses that have been taunting me all season from northern Vermont. Nothing on the calendar for the weekend, so I decided to make a nice long day ride and finally hit the “Gaps” ride, up and down the passes of the Green Mountains along the way. The NER grapevine spoke of new pavement in the area and I had been eager to see what all the fuss was about for these roads for the past couple years since we got rained out of running them during the Stowe trip.

Up around 0420 and on the road by 0530 in the dark to make some early miles on the slab. The weather called for scattered storms around the region to the north so I wore my Gore-tex, despite the forecast for higher temps. I also took the opportunity to test out version 2 of my hydration rig for longer solo rides – a thermos jug bungeed onto the right rear peg. My first attempt had failed spectacularly during the Minuteman 1000 rally earlier this year when I lost the jug along the way due to insufficient tie-down. Now I had a block of 2×4 duck-taped to the thermos to brace it securely against the tip over bar behind the peg. I used a black rubber bungee as well, for better grip. Camelback tube and a badge retractor clipped to my throttle cable completed the rig. It worked pretty well and came home with me at the end of the ride so progress has been made. Next is to figure out how to secure the hose end in the jug without a bunch of duct tape.

I needed something cool/meaningful in New Hampshire still, so I stopped by Monadnock State Park en route to VT for a shot of the entrance:

I have many fond memories of hiking Monadnock as a kid and young teen, and for a while it was a regular hike each year with my sister. Still hope to keep hiking it every so often (despite the crowds) for a good many years to come, just part of New England tradition for me.

Cut over to BONE road Rte 137 north and it’s just a frost heaved mess! Definitely in need of some TLC from the local highway dept to become a fun ride again. Picked up Rte 123 (also BONE, in much better shape) in Hancock and followed it clear across the remainder of New Hampshire. The morning had been completely overcast, but I finally caught my first glimpse of sunshine as I passed the pretty Lake Warren. My stomach rumbling by this time, I paused on the bridge crossing the Connecticut River to document my entrance to Bellows Falls, VT.

Miss Bellows Falls diner has been on my list of restaurants to try as it is on the BONE list and has been recommended by some fellow riders.

Wasn’t much happening there for some reason this Saturday morning, with only one local customer in there when I walked in.

Service was friendly though, and the short menu was easy to choose from (ham and cheese omelet, side o bacon please!). Good grub…no pics because I fairly dove into the plate when it was delivered, the miles having sharpened my appetite somewhat.

Now safely satiated and no longer a danger to stray breakfast food that might cross my path, I set off for the mountains, cutting through Rockingham up to Springfield and picking up the very nice Rte 106 (BONE road) which took me as far north as Woodstock, a very picturesque town just starting to buzz with life for the day. Cut over to VT 100 (always a pleasure) via 107 and then up and over Brandon Gap, my first of the day. I must admit, I was expecting a longer ascent to get to the top and when I arrived, was like “that’s it?” I’ve ridden up a few of the mountain-top roads in the northeast (Ascutney, Equinox, and Whiteface) and was expecting something similar. This gap was a bit closed in and wooded, but still some nice views at either end:

After descending the western side and heading north on VT-53, I had my first encounter with that most dreaded of VT sights to a rider:

Yes, a local driving a Subaru. Aargh, going five miles under the limit….for MILES and no good passing opportunities presented themselves. (ST owners will feel my pain here). Lake Dunmore was nice to cruise by with lots of small sailboats out grabbing some breeze. Finally my red friend turned off and I immediately came up behind….ANOTHER Subaru. This guy I was able to quickly pass however (along with a few other cars) on my way up Middlebury Gap. VT-125 had new pavement and was a very enjoyable ride. I stopped in to see what Texas Falls was about:

Stopped at the Warren Store to check that out and get some lunch. Crossed over this nice covered bridge:

Another classic general store, but quite a good sized one. All kinds of goodies inside for traveling folks and locals alike.

I then hit Lincoln Gap, which was fun, but included several sections of gravel/dirt road which kept me pretty alert and the speed down. The top was packed with parked cars, ostensibly for hikers on the Long Trail and I could barely squeeze in to get a couple pics of the sign:

Rode back down the western side of the gap, and struck out west to US 7 on a slight detour to take a bonus photo of this large syrup jug at Dakin Farm in Ferrisburgh:

The clouds were getting pretty active around the mountains at this point and I hit a few spritzes during my side trip, but that was it and I escaped whatever rainfall might have been in the area. Retraced my steps back through Bristol and stayed on VT 17 this time to run the Appalachian Gap. Wow wow wow. What. A. Road. Freshly paved and painted, curves, twists, and switchback for a few miles up to the top and rewarded with a beautiful view back down over the road and out across the VT landscape.

See? Fresh!

Note the hydration rig…still there!

After getting over my initial high, I simply couldn’t keep going without running that ascent one more time. So back down I went a few miles until it leveled out and u-turned back up that wonderful piece of road (maybe a slight bit faster this time) :).

Back down now to VT 100 and got stuck behind a line of cars doing 2 under the limit. I’m not sure but there MUST have been a Subaru up there at the front of the line somewhere…

Agonizingly, finally arrived in Waterbury and got my bonus pic in front of the Ben & Jerry’s factory entrance:

This was my turnaround point and it started spritzing out again at that moment. I’d taken the tour once before long ago and I had another ice cream stop planned on my route back through NH, so I hopped onto the Interstate at this point and zoomed southbound, dodging whatever weather was in the area. The day had actually stayed relatively cool and comfortable due to the cloud cover, not even reaching 80 at any point during the ride.

Crossed the Connecticut in Ascutney and got onto NH 103 eastbound. Now, this is listed as a BONE road, but it was pretty busy for some reason and seemed fairly straight, so didn’t feel especially enthusiastic about it at the time. I stopped off at Sanctuary Dairy Farm Ice Cream in Sunapee, for a scoop of Maple Walnut and enjoyed it sitting in an Adirondack chair after chatting up the goats, who begged for just a tiny bite.

They were very happy goats and put their front hooves up on the fence to get closer to you to be pet.

How often do you get to pet a goat, honestly? I mean, unless you drive a Subaru… 😉

It was cool to see that the donkeys were from a local donkey rescue shelter that I had visited during a rally last year (it’s pretty cool that there ARE donkey rescue shelters…or at least one of them):

Enjoyed the rest of the ride back to I-495 in MA (and thence home), via  NH routes 114, 77, 13, 122 and 119 in MA. Arrived home around 20:00, some 14.5 hours after morning departure, glad to peel myself out of the saddle