The Bicycle Adventure Club - Come Ride With Us!

VT Northeast Kingdom Fall 2019

September 28th to October 7th

Ride Director: Julie Leever
Ride Co-Director: Tom Leever
Report by: Larry Gibel

Our trip featured some of New England’s classic roads passing through picturesque towns and villages, through beautiful forests and over many covered bridges. We passed many old style small farms and homesteads, meandering streams, and beautiful vistas. The routes were mostly quiet “Country Roads” and one of our companions recalled to me riding and hearing this tune being sung by a fellow rider.
We gathered in Burlington at a hotel near the airport assembled our bikes and had our first happy hour and meeting with Julie and Tom. During happy hour our leaders provisioned us well and set a tone for the ride with cordial introductions for all and an emphasis on safety and camaraderie. Riders were asked to get to know and spend time with each individual of the group, and later asked to recount these endeavors. Routes, nourishment options during the ride, and information about towns and local cultural sites were always reviewed in clear and helpful detail. The cue sheets and GPS files are very acurate. Each evening
volunteers helped set up for our gatherings and clean up after. Julie and Tom set a cadence for the trip and their cheerful and friendly demeanor and this was embraced by all participants.
Our first full riding day was typical for the trip. Breakfast and loading the luggage trailer by 9AM, embark and ride at your own pace, and be self supporting. The ride from Burlington took us out past the airport and we soon were in the country. We travelled in view of and through well preserved old covered bridges and by old steel railroad bridges. After 32 miles of intermittent climbing in cool weather we were hungry. Most stopped for a hearty lunch at an old fashioned country store in Cambridge featuring hardware, groceries and a sandwich counter and ate outside at the picnic table. We ended the day in Montgomery Center with accommodations at “The Inn” located in a very picturesque setting next to the Trout River, built in the 1800’s, nicely modernized and preserved. We imbibed at the old bar and lounge, and had a delicious group dinner in a dining room decorated in authentic old New England style trim wood work. Everyone felt well rewarded.
Leaving town, we soon travelled through another very impressive covered bridge then up an equally impressive hill that just kept giving. The primary route to Newport took us across the border through Canada, where the leaf colors were bright, and back into the USA at Richford, Vermont. There were a couple of steep but short climbs of about 18% grade. Others, without passports, stayed south of the border for a shorter route including a 7 mile climb averaging 7% grade. The roads were very picturesque, none were flat. The Newport accommodations were a modest motel in town, with good eating options nearby or via short taxi rides organized by Julie and part of BAC trip expenses. Our next travels took us over hill and dale out in the countryside. There were a few flat sections! We ended by climbing up a short steep rabbit ears shaped hill that made many glad to arrive at the Wildflower Inn outside of the hamlet of Lyndonville. We spent three nights and two lovely days at this beautiful inn located near the top of a broad ridge. A cow pasture with grazing Scottish “striped” Galloways set the foreground for a view of the adjacent valley and ridge to the west. During our stay here some rode the optional routes including visiting Johnsbury home to the Fairbanks Museum a large Victorian natural history museum and planetarium, as well as St J Atheneum
which is a magnificent architectual example, a public library, and a spectacular art museum, Others hiked and stayed closer to the Inn; day hikes included walking along the ridge and seeing a golden eagle, and walking in the woods and encountering a hillside trimmed with miles of plastic tubing running from maple tree to maple tree, joining like veins. All joined at the “sugar house” down slope where maple sap is boiled down to syrup. We met cheerful mountain bikers enjoying the well used NE Kingdom Trail System and a less cheery “old timer” lamenting the changes brought about by these new-comers, and also informing us of interesting history of this area. We had dinners at the Inn and enjoyed more than savory dishes, so much so that many felt compelled to meet and congratulate the chef for treating us to his culinary skills.
It was a good thing that we were well satiated before our travels to Stowe, for the ride deserved preparation. We saw plenty of beautiful views on the 12 miles of well maintained dirt roads and 49 miles of asphalt pavement. The 3800 feet of climbing logged on our GPS included a 2.5 mile dirt climb with a14% segment; most of the riding was up and down with very little flat. We had lunch in Island Pond at a country market with a food counter. We ate at the entrance to a pedestrian bridge river crossing built with massive glue lam beams in the style of the old covered bridges. The ride continued for some 30 more miles, seemed almost flat in comparison, and was really a delight. We were happy to arrive in Stowe, at the Green Mountain Inn for two nights. The Inn is a large classically anointed old New England style hotel located a block from Stowe’s art museum and its small historical museum, and located near interesting shops and restaurants. The next day people spent time in town or did one of two loop tours. The hardiest cycled up Smuggler’s Notch, named for a route used for illegal transport, including bootlegged alcohol. This is a difficult route; when trafficked, riders encounter a 22% section on the inside turn of a switch back; at least a
few of our intrepid participants went to ground. Bob returned to this area the next day, on the ride back to Burlington, and conquered the climb. Others took a shorter and easier route, and this was the only day I did not feel I earned my beer. The Leever’s have led this and similar rides in northern Vermont many times over the years. That they enjoy the Northern Kingdom is obvious. It was quite apparent that each and every one of this ride-group greatly appreciated their excellent planning, their desire to be inclusive, the beauty of the region, the challenging riding, and the collegiality of their fellow riders. This was a wonderful experience for all involved.