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Riding my bicycle across the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route
Where’s Francis? Follow along daily on my map: https://share.garmin.com/FrancisDavis (ask me for password)
It’s been good. Yesterday provided some of the best riding I’ve ever done. One sweeping road between Warren and Hancock particularly engendered this excellence. A mild descent, tight corners, and beautiful scenery. Rolling fields were interrupted by boulders and mountains covered in thick green trees on either side. Closer to the road, when it was wooded, the trees were sparse pine, growing in a big substrate. The road itself was beautiful, perfectly cleaving between two mountains. That was the best riding of the day. Mark and I had another late start from our WS in Montpelier. The people were too nice! We set off and, about 15 miles in, stopped for lunch at a corner outside seating restaurant called “Canteen” in Waitsfield, VT. I’m writing this just as much for you as I am so that I can remember it so that I can return. It was that good. Continuing on through Warren, a tiny New England town situated next to the Mad River, we stopped at a popular local swimming hole. The Warren Falls swimming hole was beautiful. Crystal water flowed over beautiful boulder structures, creating pools, small waterfalls, and an idyllic setting. It was perfect for swimming, and many locals were there. After swimming, it was 5:00 and we still had about 30 miles to do with one large climb into the Green Mountains. As evening set in, there were about 5 miles of riding left. I was whipping down the backside of the mountain gap we’d climbed, hearing newer, higher pitches of wind flowing through my helmet straps. Another great section of road. Corners. No traffic. Steep. It was so good I blew right past the dirt road turnoff for our campground. Fortunately I only made it about a mile before I realized my mistake. After turning around and just pulling into the dirt road, a truck approached me from behind and I saw Mark’s jovial face poking out of the passenger window. Apparently he’d ridden 5 miles past the turnoff, all downhill. A kind Vermonter gave him a ride back to the dirt road. We set off again. At this point it was dusk, and the dirt road was never ending. I stopped to put the bike lights on, sending Mom a brief text that I was OK, but not at camp yet.. Reception was spotty. Overjoyed, Mark and I rolled into camp around 9:30 in the dark. He set up the tents. I made dinner. Cheap ramen with duck eggs, spinach, and green onion. It was fantastic. Full, I sat in my sleeping bag looking at the stars before I was overcome with sleep. TM: 5:20, AVS: 11.3, DST: 60
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Let me begin with an explanation. At best, these blog posts offer me some creative outlet, some way to analyze my experiences on these trips. At worst it serves as a diary where I write down some loosely strung together thoughts and the days happenings before I pass out from exhaustion. I’m typing on a small, folding keyboard so typos are prevalent. Keep this in mind. Today was a much needed reprieve from the last few hardcore days. From hiking Mt. Washington, to Tuesday’s gravel road debocle, I was looking forward to today as a day to recollect, relax, and enjoy Vermont, the beautiful towns, scenery, and views. I did just that. We had a late start after a pancake breakfast with maple syrup made by our hosts. The riding was good, the roads flat, and the weather temperate. Mark and I stopped at a few convenience stores to use the bathroom, and to get Creemees (maple syrup ice cream). Otherwise an uneventful day. Montpelier is beautiful. We’re staying with a lovely family through WarmShowers, and we had traditional Mexican for dinner. Homemade tortillas dipped in a molé sauce with yogurt and feta. Something reminiscent of coleslaw, and a chili spiced watermelon feta salad, all excellent. After hours of great conversation, we’re finally headed to bed. Another day tomorrow to a campground in Ripton, VT. Hopefully as good as today. TM: 4:00, AVS: 12.6, DST: 50 Today we put the adventure back into adventure cycling. The morning was ours when, after an overwhelming buffet breakfast at the lodge, we had a 3 mile straight descent from the White Mountains. Following Google Maps, we took a B road to continue on towards our Warmshowers that evening. Much to our interest / dismay, we discovered that it was a gravel road. Both Mark and I are running road slicks on our bikes... Little did I know it then, but that would be the tone for much of the day. The gravel roads were both good and bad. There was no car traffic, and the roads were super remote allowing for a better immersion with nature. Many of the vistas we saw throughout the day and the constant mountainous surroundings are not done justice to in the pictures! On the other hand, the constant jostling and running over rocks jostled you to the bone. It wasn’t very comfortable, or fast. In addition, Mark and I decided to make bout a 5 mile detour to find some kind of store to buy lunch. We were really in the middle of nowhere today.
It turned out to be a long day. Between the never ending gravel, a few wrong turns, and the incompetence of Google Maps, a 50 mile proposed day turned into a 64 mile adventure. At the end, we had to climb up more gravel for about 3 miles to reach our WarmShowers hosts, who run a farm. They are really great. The son did a cross-country tour 3 years ago. Additionally, there they have all kinds of off-roading machines. Haven’t driven any, but they’re fun to look at. The family is really nice, they have 4 dogs and 4 cats. We were fed a MASSIVE dinner of spaghetti and meat sauce. Then these beautiful maple syrup bars with ice cream for dessert #1, finishing with strawberry shortcake for dessert #2. Finally, we were driven in the truck (proper field off-roading) to their neighbors vista to look at the sunset and the White Mountains. A really great way to round out the night. Our sleeping accommodations are two couches; also excellent. It was a lot of food/ I’m nearly comatose now, and fighting off sleep (a losing battle). I’m starting a new segment below where I write down some more of the stats from the cycling computer. Nothing that interesting! TM: 6:01, AVS: 10.6, ST: 64.10 |
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