Conference noted::bicycle

153.0. ""VERMONT BIKE VACATION"" by NUGGET::MITCHELL (Chet Mitchell) Fri Oct 03 1986 22:19

                  Biking Vermont - Top To Bottom
                                By
                          Chet Mitchell

       The July, 86 issue of Bicycling Magazine had an article by Don Cuerdon 
entitled "A Green Mountain Boy Tells How to Tour Vermont In  One Week." The 
idea excited me. I talked  it over with my wife, Cathy and we decided to take 
the trip.

       We had been biking for one year.  After jogging 3-4 miles a week during 
the warm weather for two years, I took up take up biking last summer and soon
found myself riding  90 miles a week and loving it. Cathy was doing far fewer 
miles  than that. Her longest previous trip was 42 miles. She was apprehensive
about doing back to back days of over 50 miles each.

       The "Vermont End To End" as Don described it, started near the Vermont-
Canadian Border in North Troy, Vermont and followed Route 100 through the center
of Vermont to the  Massachusetts-Vermont Border, a journey of about 210 miles. 
It was a favorite route of Olympic Skiers staying in shape during the summer 
months. Our goal was to take the same route, but end up in Brattleboro..a 226
mile trip.
     
       The biggest concern we had was how to get our bicycles to the Top of 
Vermont to ride our bicycles back. We knew we could box our bikes, put them on 
a Vermont Transit Lines bus in Brattleboro and ride with our bikes to Newport. 
Not only did we not know what "boxing our bikes" meant, but the thought of 
taking our bikes apart and putting them back together at the other end was not 
my idea of fun (Mr. Non-Mechanical).

       This  caused  us to go through all kinds of scenarios before the trip to
avoid boxing our bikes....driving the bikes to Newport on our car....where  
would we leave the bikes....we would still have to drive the car back to the
other end of Vermont and take the bus back....or, have someone else drive us to
Newport and drop us off (how many people have friends that would do that).

       Finally,  we decided that if we wanted to do the "End To End" we HAD TO 
LEARN what "boxing a bike" meant and how to "put a bike back together". If I 
ever wanted to take a trip on a plane, bus and take my bike with me it would 
be useful to  know how to box a bike and put it back together.

       We  called  the local bike shop. They said they had plenty of bicycle
boxes and would be happy to give us a couple. Ron explained that boxing a bike 
meant taking off the pedals, handlebars, seat, disconnecting the breaks and 
removing the front tire. All of these pieces had to fit neatly inside of the 
box. This sounded a lot like having to re-build a bike from scratch in 
Newport.

       I asked Ron to box the bike for me the day before the trip and to give 
me a few pointers on how to put it back together again. We also asked him to 
show us what tools would be needed to put it back together. Ron agreed.

       The  day before the trip we arrived at the bike shop.  To  my horror, I
found that Ron had boxed my bike. There was a great sense of loss here. The 
bike I had been riding for the past year was broken down into pieces and 
stuffed in a box. I felt as though I had just lost a friend.

       Ron showed us, quickly, how to put the bike back together.  He started
with the pedals, the seat and the handle bars. They appeared, to my surprise, 
less difficult to do than I had imagined. It was the brakes that appeared 
tricky and, later, proved to be the toughest part of the bike to put together.

       Ron and others in the bike shop assured us that putting the bike 
together would be an easy task. He sold us a small tool kit. We walked out of 
the bike shop with out bikes stuffed  inside  of boxes.

       We left from Hollis, NH on Sunday August 17th for the Vermont Transit 
Lines Bus Terminal (VTL) in Brattleboro, Vermont. The trip down Route 101 and
Route 9 to Brattlebo went much faster than expected. We crossed the NH-VT 
border at the Connecticut River and spotted the Vermont Transit sign. It  
couldn't have been easier to find. We arrived at 9:20 AM, well ahead of our  
10:40 AM departure time.

      The station manager was quite friendly. We asked for two tickets to 
Newport and told him we had out bikes with us. He asked us if they were in a 
box, half expecting us to say no. When we said yes, he looked relieved.

      There was a Friendly's and a Ho Jo's next to the bus terminal, so we  
downed some coffee and a roll while waiting for the bus. The VTL bus leaves for
Newport every day at 10:40am and arrives in Newport at 4:10pm, after a bus 
change at White River Junction. The tickets cost us $23.35 apiece.

      We had heard some horror stories about bike forks getting bent when 
stored inside of the bus luggage compartments and  having heavier bags piled on
top of them. The message on our FUJI bike boxes said to store the boxes upright
. Asked the VTL bus driver if he would do this and he said "that would be 
impossible."  

      When I checked the luggage compartment, I could see that he was right. 
What he did do was place the bike boxes in a luggage compartment that was
separate from the other luggage. It worked out well.

      We said hello to another couple, Al and Maureen, two school teachers from
Springfield, Massachuseusetts, who were also putting their bikes onto the bus. 
We chatted and found out they were going to  Newport and taking the same trip 
we were, after reading the same article in Bicycle Magazine.  We finished the 
trip best of friends.

     The trip to White River Junction passed quickly. We left at 10:40 AM and 
arrived at the White River Junction bus terminal at 12:30 PM. Our bus for 
Newport was scheduled to leave at 1:35 PM, giving us time for a quick bite to 
eat.  

     It might be better to bring your own lunch than to eat at the bus stations
restaurant. We ended up cleaning our own table, scrounging  for  eating  tools, 
serving ourselves at the self serve salad bar (really wanted a sandwich) and, 
had to corner a waitress to make out a check for us.

     It seemed like the bus stopped in every town on the way to Newport, but 
we arrived, in Newport at 4:10 PM, as promised. Somehow, I had pictured myself
arriving at a modern bus terminal in downtown Newport, complete with rest rooms
, lines of buses, etc..Instead we arrived next to a dumpster at a grocery store
that had a VTL sign on it.  The  dumpster  came in handy for getting rid of our
bike boxes.

     Fortunately, our school teacher friend Al, knew more about putting bikes 
together than Cathy and I did and offered to help us. We must have looked 
strange to people with empty bike boxes, bicycle parts strewn all over the 
ground,  standing  in front of a grocery store dumpster in downtown Newport.

     The nice part was that we were a common sight in Newport as many people on
bikes had been there before.  For people in Newport, we were nothing unusual 
("Just stack your box over here").

     The pedals, seat and handlebars went on fairly quickly. It was the brakes 
that gave us the most trouble.  The brakes that went on so easily at the bike 
shop, did not go on easily for us. They they locked the ties and we didn't know
how to adjust  them.  Al helped us through it.  

     We arrived at 4:10 PM and we got our bikes together by 5:50 PM. The only 
adjustment we had to make the next day was to lower Cathy's seat and raise 
mine a bit.

     We had decided to stay in Jay, Vermont at the Jay Village Inn which is 16 
miles Northwest of Newport.  We had called a couple of days earlier for 
reservations and confirmed them while at the bus terminal in White River 
Junction. We said goodbye to Al and Maureen as they were headed for a hotel in
Newport.

     I fell in love with the Newport and Jay countryside on the way to the inn. 
What beautiful country. Everything was green...everything we came to Vermont to
see...mountains, lakes, trees, fresh air, cows and farms. The people were very 
friendly.  

     We stopped at a country store and talked to the owner...a transplanted New
Yorker fulfilling a dream.  Owning a own home in Vermont with a store and some 
farmland.  He said he would not trade his life here for anything. He said to be
sure NOT TO TELL ANYONE HOW NICE IT IS HERE. He didn't want lots of people 
moving in.

   We made it to the Jay Village Inn, parked our bikes in a building in the 
rear and settled in. The Jay Village Inn is a quaint country inn. They do most 
of their business during the ski season (January-April) and are friendly to 
bikers.  They day we left they were expecting a tour of 25 cyclers from Stowe.

   The town of Jay is what you see near in the inn.  It consists of the Jay 
Village Inn, a grocery store and a gift shop. 

   When we woke the next day we saw a deer walking across the yard behind the
inn. The inn owner said we were lucky it wasn't a bear. We finished our bacon
and eggs breakfast and started our trip. 

   Our objective on our first day was to leave Jay for the Vermont-Candadian 
border, just north of North Troy and to head for Stowe. We had estimated this 
first day trip to be about 50 miles. 

   We  set out for the Canadian Border with some warnings not to go across you 
may have trouble getting back in the US, unless you have a valid passport. Our 
decision was to start at the border, but not go across.

   We arrived in North Troy and followed the signs to the border. While we 
didn't see it at the time, we passed the US Customs Station...a small red brick
building off to our left on the side of the road to the border. The building 
for Candadian Customs looked like a typical toll station you see on the 
Massachusetts Turnpike.

   We took some pictures and started our trip southward. As we started down the 
road we had come, we were told to pull our bikes over to the side of the road 
by someone in US Customs. Since we had not stopped there on the way by and had
not left the US, we planned to go on by.

   The US Customs Agent was angry. "Where are you going. Common over here."  I 
had visions of our bike bags being emptied in a search for contraband. I told 
him that we had just gone to the border to take pictures and had just come 
back.  We had never left the US. 

   He said, "How do I know that you haven't been in Canada for three days?" I 
repeated that we had just passed this spot a few minutes before and had just 
take some pictures.  He asked where we were from, when I said, "Hollis, New
Hampshire", let us go.

   We continued on Route 105 to see "Big Falls" in North Troy, the largest 
waterfall in Vermont. It is on a dirt road off of Route 105. While a beautiful 
sight, we didn't stay long as we had many miles to go before making it to 
Stowe. 

   We were advised to continue on this dirt road until hitting Route 100 in 
Troy. While we did this, I would  not advise it.  I'm not too happy about the 
effect of dirt roads on my bike and this one seemed to go on forever. It would 
be better to go back to Route 105 and continue on to Route 100 from there.

   It started to rain when we got to Troy. We stayed at the general store in 
Troy for a few minutes and decided to drive on in the light rain. The rain 
stopped 10 minutes later. We were not any worse off because of it. The light
rain felt good on a humid day.

   It was cloudy and threatening to rain all day. In fact we were lucky enough 
to miss it all day. It seemed to rain just ahead of us or just behind us for 
the rest of the day.

   The 57 mile ride to Stowe (counting the trip to the border) was primarily a 
downhill ride. While there are some uphills, there are a lot more downhill 
than uphills.

   What a beautiful ride. There is very little traffic on this route until you 
get to the road between Morrissville and Stowe. There is a significant increase
in traffic in this area. Drivers were courteous to bikers, for the most part. 
If you like cows, farms, mountains, rivers, trees, country stores and small 
town atmosphere, you will love this part of the world.

   We stopped by a stream just outside of Morrisville. As Cathy dipped her 
tired feet into the cold stream, I took pictures from the bridge. It was quite 
noisy in this area as some road construction was underway and the traffic had  
increased significantly as we approached Stowe.

   We brought a book along with us entitled "Guide to the Recommended Country 
Inn's Of New England" by Elizabeth Squier. We followed this and Don Cuerdon's  
recommendations on places  to stay.  Cathy called ahead to an inn called the  
Butternut. It was off of Route 100 on Route 108 in Stowe. We reserved a room
for the night.

   Stowe was filled with tourists. It had many of the quaint shops, stores and 
inns that you can see on Cape Cod or in Kennebunk, Maine. We passed many hotels
on Route 108 en route to the Butternut...a  delightful country inn run by a 
transplanted Texan. He took great pleasure in showing us around the Inn.

   After parking our bikes, unloading our panniers, and taking a shower, we 
donned bathing suits and headed for the pool. There was a refreshing stream 
passing near the Butternut with picnic benches alongside of it. 

   After a quick dip, we stopped next door to a European style deli and bought 
our dinner (dinner was not served at the Butternut). We ate dinner outside near
the stream. I had my first taste of Ben & Jerry's Vermont-Made ice cream.

   After eating,  a few games of pool, and some tv, we had no trouble at all 
falling off to sleep.  Breakfast was served at 8am, as it was in all the inns 
we stayed in.  The French toast with fresh rasberries was the best breakfast  
of our tour. We started on our way toward Rochester at 9am.

   This ride turned out to be both up and down hill...in contrast to the 
down hill ride from Jay to Stowe. Part of our problem the second day was the
expectation that we had fewer miles to travel than the day before. Don Cuerdon 
had said trip was about 45 miles...to Tupper Farm Inn in Rochester. It turned 
out to be 57 miles.

   A few miles outside of Rochester,  we arrived in Waterbury. We made two
pleasant stops...one at the Cold Hollow Cider Mill and the other at Ben & 
Jerry's Ice Cream Factory.

   The Cold Hollow Cider Mill is a comfortable place and a welcome sight for
thirsty bikers.  Its a cider mill and country store that sells most of the 
traditional Vermont products. 

   The apple cider we bought was some of the best we had ever tasted. Our 
normal routine was to by apple juice or grapefruit juice at country stores 
along the way to keep us in liquids. On this day we bought 3 quarts of apple 
cider and polished it off before we hit Rochester.

   Ben & Jerry's is a unique Vermont institution. Time Magazine labeled their 
ice cream as the best in the world. One out of every 100 Vermont families own 
stock in the company. I fell in love with it the night before in Stowe (never
heard of it before the trip). We took the 1/2 hour tour (which runs every 1/2
hour) and consumed the free samples.

   After crossing the junction of Route 89 and Route 100 in Waterbury we 
experienced the worst uphill ride of the trip. It lasted for about 3 miles.  
To me, it worse than Terrible Mountain, which would come later.

   Of course the long downhill ride through South Duxbury into Moretown was not
difficult to take either. All of the long uphills were followed by nice down 
hill rides.

   I stopped for a drink of cider along this route and saw my wallet on the 
ground. After that I learned not to keep it in my back 
pocket of my shorts, but in my bike bag.

   We stopped for lunch in Waitsfield where the Green Mountain National Forest 
starts. We stopped for sandwiches and drinks at the general store and ate in a 
park across from the general store.

   Again, if you like mountains, undeveloped land, streams, greenery, streams, 
waterfalls, little traffic, and small towns, you will like this part of 
Vermont. There were very few people on bicycles here, to my surprise. In fact, 
there were very few people.

   The park lands continue along Route 100 through Warren and Granville. One 
sign in Granville showed that the Granville portion of the park continued for 
9 miles. A good part of this ride is a moderate uphill, although, again, this 
is followed by a nice, long downhill ride past a good-sized, roadside waterfall.

   When we reached Hancock we were tired, looking for Rochester and not finding
it. It was 43 miles since Stowe and we were ready to stop for the night. We 
stopped at a gift shop and asked for the nearest country inn. We also asked 
where Tupper Farm was in Rochester (Don Cuerdon recommendation).

   The lady said Rochester was 8 miles away and that the best place to stay 
there was the Rochester Inn and they served dinner (we were ready for a good  
meal after a steady diet of sandwiches). She said Tupper Farm was 2 miles 
beyond that (it turned out to be 5 miles). She also said that it was a downhill
ride all the way into  Rochester...a  statement that did not escape 
our attention. 

   We enjoyed the downhill ride into Rochester and spotted the Rochester Inn.  
We were ready to stop after the 52 mile ride from Stowe. After registering we 
discovered there was no hot water for a shower. Someone had accidentally turned  
off the main hot water switch, apparently thinking it was a light switch...a
fact not discovered for several hours.

   While eating our dinner, we bumped into Al and Maureen again. They were 
traveling the same route and looking for a place to stay. It was almost dark 
and, after Al discovered the lack of hot water, decided to continue on to 
Tupper Farm Inn.

   We saw Al the next day and he raved about how nice it was at Tupper Farm Inn
...the food, prices, service,  etc were great...and they were used to dealing 
with bikers. The Inn was filled with a group of cyclers on a tour with Vermont
Bicycle Touring.

   We left the Rochester Inn at 9am the next day and went past the Tupper Farm 
Inn 5 miles out of Rochester Center. There was a horde of bikers in front of 
the inn, getting ready to start out on their ride. We found out later that they
were heading for Tyson...our destination.

   The ride to Tyson was about 38 miles. When we stopped at a country store for
more fruit juices, several riders from the Vermont Cycling Tour, passed us. We 
played bicycle tag with them the rest of the way to Tyson. 

   It was an uneventful ride through Talcville, Stockbridge and Pittsfield. 
There was a significant increase in traffic in this area as there was some road 
construction going on...widening of Route 100.

   There was another tough uphill ride on the route toward the junction of 
Route 100 and Route 4 in Shelburne Center. It lasted about 2 miles and was 
followed by a nice downhill ride into West Bridgewater. Some of the members of 
the bicycle tour took an alternate route here...a much flatter route into West 
Bridgewater but, they also missed the nice downhill ride.

   Cathy had some trouble with her chain during the uphill ride. I was up ahead 
of Cathy, waiting for her when Al came along to help. Her chain was jammed so 
badly, he had to pull the wheel and chain off to fix the problem. We thanked Al
for his mechanical skills and general willingness to lend a hand.

   We stopped for lunch with the bikers from the Vermont Cycling tour at a 
picnic area (the junction of Route 4 and Route 100. It was near 2 general 
stores  and a bike shop. Al took Cathy's  panniers off of her bike and did some
minor adjusting to her chain to keep the chain from jamming.

   Cathy and I finished lunch quickly and headed toward Tyson and the Echo Lake 
Inn. We saw more lakes in this area than on any other part of the tour. It was 
another beautiful ride with more downhill than uphill. We found out later that
most of the Vermont Cyclers took an alternate route, off of route 100, to see
see some of the Calvin Coolidege historical places.

   When we arrived in Tyson we spotted the sign for the Echo Lake Inn, took a 
tour around Echo Lake (actually we were looking for the Inn and got lost). 
After we we made it to Echo Lake Inn and told not to park our bikes on the 
porch, we discovered that Cathy's panniers were missing from her bike.

   There was a look of panic, followed by a look of surprise. Visions of lost 
travelers checks, credit cards, clothes, camera, etc.) flashed before us. We 
split up and back tracked to see if we could find them.  

   The last time we saw them was at the picnic area in West Bridgewater. Cathy 
thought they might have fallen off her bike during our tour of Echo Lake. She 
headed for Echo Lake on her bike. I headed back toward West Bridgewater. I rode
back toward West Bridgewater scanning the roadside for 2 blue bags.

   I kept hoping that I would see some of the riders from Vermont Bicycle 
Touring, hoping they might have spotted them. I found out later that they had
taken another route. I had stopped 2 sets of riders to ask them if they had
seen anything, without success when I saw and stopped the Vermont Cycling Tour 
van.  

   "Are you the one who lost the panniers?" asked the driver, before I could 
say a word. They picked up  the  bags  for  us  from  the  picnic  area. They
were headed for Echo Lake Inn and said they would leave the panniers there. 
They even offered me a ride back, but, being the steadfast person I am, refused 
the offer.

   I rushed back to Tyson to tell Cathy the good news. All was well except for
me...the 16 extra miles made it 53 miles to Tyson instead of 38. When I got back
to the Inn, Cathy was still out scouring the Lake for the panniers. People 
with cottages around the Lake must have wondered who this lady was beating
the bushes near the road.

   The rest of the day was fairly uneventful after that. Al and Maureen debated
whether to continue on toward Ludlow, but finally decided to stay at Echo Lake
with us. We played some tennis, went for a dip in the pool, and generally
relaxed till dinner.

   We had dinner with Al and Maureen and shared our experiences on the tour. We
found out that Al and Maureen had all of the same experiences we had had. They
had started at the Canadian border in North Troy, stopped and the cider mill and
Ben & Jerry's in Waterbury and had even eaten lunch in Waitsville in the same
park we had eaten in.

   All of the bikers split up the next day, taking vastly different routes. Many
on the Vermont Bicycling Tour headed for White River Junction. Al and Maureen
wanted to make it to Brattleboro the next day. AL said he wanted to bike back
to Springfield, Massachusetts from Brattlebo. Maureen rolled her eyes again.

   We had just completed 3 days of 50 miles or better and, in our minds, the
vacation was ending too fast. If we continued at this pace, we would be back in
Brattleboro the next day. We decided to continue on Route 100 to Weston, a trip
of only 16 miles. Of course, Terrible Mountain was between us and Weston.

   We said our goodbye and headed for Weston, and were apprehensive about our
trip over the mountain. The trip to Ludlow went well. It was only when we left
Ludlow Center, that the uphill started, and didn't let up for the next 5 miles.
We did a lot of bike walking up Terrible Mountain. The only thing that bothered
me was the two bikers who rode non-stop up the mountain without a problem. They
could have stopped once to make us feel a little better.

   The 3 mile downhill into Weston was great. The first 2 miles are a 10% grade
down. We actually expected Terrible Mountain to be worse than it was. We were
surprised when we arrived in Weston as we were expecting more hills than we
found. In fact, many of the bikers in Tyson, went on Route 30 to avoid the
mountain.

   Weston is another tourist town with many things to see, all within a short
walking distance of each other. We took a room at the Weston Inn with the dinner
and breakfast package deal thrown in. The rooms were small, but nice and we
could walk to all the sights. It was like living in someones country home.

   We checked in and went for a tour of the Weston Bowl Mill, the Vermont 
Country Store, a Wooden Toy Shop, a Weston Museum. There is a lot to see here.
We particularly enjoyed the museum. I expected to be in there for 15 minutes,
but actually spent one and one-hours poking through the place. There are very
knowledgeable, volunteers there who know the history of Weston quite well.

   The next day, we started the last leg of our tour and headed for Brattleboro
down (you guessed it) Route 100. We were told it was mostly a downhill ride to
Brattleboro from Weston..taking Route 30 out of Rawsonville. Cathy kept 
reminding me of this as we chugged uphill through Rawsonville.

   It was a tough ride through Rawsonville as, not only are there are a lot of
up and down hills (mostly up), there was several miles of road construction
going on. You couldn't enjoy the few downhill for fear of slipping on the dirt
and rocks.

   Once through most of Rawsonville, the nice downhill ride to Brattleboro
prediction came true. The ride into Jamaica was great. We stopped for some
homemade chocolate there. The miles through West Townshend, Harmoneyville
and Dummerston passed by quickly with a nice steady downhill all the way. We
stopped for lunch at a general store again (more sandwiches).

   As we approached Brattlebo, the traffic picked up again. The last last 10
miles into Brattleboro, we were averaging about 21 miles per hour. The trip to
Brattleboro from Weston was 47 miles. While we were sorry to have the trip end,
it would be nice to get back and not have to live out of panniers.

   After getting lost in the middle of Bratteboro's downtown area, we soon found
some signs to Route 9 West. The Vermont Transit Lines terminal was located near
the NH-VT border at the junction of the Connecticut River and Route 9. I saw
Friendly's and knew VTL was nearby. I spotted our van and mentally patted myself
on the back for completing the trip.

   We took some pictures of ourselves at the van and loaded out bikes on the
back. After logging our miles for the day (47) and for the trip (226 for Cathy
and 243 for me), we headed home for New Hampshire.

   We had a great time. It is one of the most enjoyable times I have ever had.
Cathy later called it "exhilarating". The trip was all we talked about for the
few days. In fact next year we are planning a New Hampshire end to end or 
border to border and looking forward to it.