Dirt Roads Of Vermont Epic Sojourn
DROVES

Memorial Day Weekend, 2009

GPS file

Day 1 PDF (reverse for those starting in Waterbury)
Day 1 excel (reverse)

Day 2 PDF
Day 2 excel
Lincoln Gap and Granville Falls are optional extensions to this loop

Day 3 PDF (reverse for those returning to Waterbury)
Day 3 excel (reverse)

The Vermont Gazetteer is a great resource. Bring the pages you need. Vermont County Maps can also be purchased from JIMAPCO. Rutland, Addison, Windsor and Washington Counties cover most of where we will be. Another great map is the Northern Cartographic - Lake Champlain bikeways map.

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For fans of D2R2 and other long hilly dirt road rides, we present Dirt Roads Of Vermont Epic Sojourn.

Over many years of doing TOSRV-East and other rides in Vermont, John and Pamela have strayed from the official routes and discovered some fabulous hard pack dirt roads in Vermont. In 2008 on Day 1 of TOSRV-East, we managed to completely avoid the official route, ride about 70% dirt roads, while crisscrossing the official route a few times and gaining over 15,000 feet of climbing in the 100 miles. We had some great descents, magnificent views, and fabulously quiet back roads. Susan Raye, Susan Lowery and Roy Zagieboylo joined us on this great day and can vouch for how lovely the roads were. Pix can be found here.

We've also done a few other tours in Vermont and have explored many other dirt road options and now have a two great routes between Ludlow and Waterbury. See shots from our last two tours in Vermont in 2007 and 2008, to give an idea of the types of roads we love.

John and Pamela have *reserved* the Grunberg Haus in Waterbury for Saturday and Sunday of Memorial Day weekend this year. We've also booked a couple of beds for ourselves at the Trojan Horse Hostel in Ludlow on Friday night.

Our plan is to drive up to Ludlow on Friday, and stay at the hostel. We will have breakfast on Saturday morning at the Hatchery, at the corner or Rt 100 and 103 in Ludlow. We will plan to start riding around 8AM Saturday. We will ride north along mostly dirt roads on the west side of Rt 100, making our way to Waterbury for Saturday night, taking in lots of breathe-taking sights and descending lots of hills. We will take it easy on Sunday, doing a shorter loop that has the option of climbing Lincoln Gap before returning to Grunberg Haus. Then Monday, we will head back south along the ridge and down more descents to the east of Rt 100 returning to Ludlow, before we drive home, exhausted.

We have a reservation for ourselves and tentative reservation for the rest of the inn under John's name at the Grunberg Haus. There are many rooms with different amenities and rates. Look here for information Then call them and tell them you want one of the rooms blocked off for John Bayley (for Saturday and Sunday). We will let the unused reservations go in mid-May. Book early, and let us know you are joining us - so we can put together a list for dinner logistics.

If you like to get off the beaten track, love dirt climbs and descents, have a sense of humor when things don't go according to plan and are fully capable of doing the ride *unsupported*, please join us. This will just be a bunch of friends out for a ride. There is no SAG. You gotta get there and back on your own. We are not running this as an official trip this year. (insert all necessary legal disclaimers here). Folks are also welcome to come out an join us for part of any ride. The routes are linked at the top of this page.

Grunberg Haus does a full breakfast, but not dinner. We are arranging for Saturday and Sunday dinners to be catered. Cost will be around $30 per person per meal. We need to know what you won't eat. We are looking at a bar-b-q with veggie burger options, and penne with chicken and veggies for the two nights. The Inn is about 7 miles from civilization and down a whopper of a hill. Having dinner delivered seems like a good idea. So we do need to know how many will want dinner, and we need a commitment from you to cover costs if you are having dinner.

There may be someone driving, who is willing to carry a SMALL bag. I will send out email to confirm if this is the case. Vermont weather at this time of year is still quite changeable. Carry rain jacket and arm/leg warmers, gloves etc with you at all times. If someone does drive and takes bags, it is NOT A sag or support service. This MUST be a really SMALL bag with your toiletries and off bike clothing, and it would go straight to the inn - you won't see it during the day.

As most of you know Vermont dirt roads are a hidden secret that we dare not share with the world. The surface is treated in such a way that the dirt packs down and water runs off, making these roads a delight. The roads are re-graded annually are usually in far better condition than most paved roads in Massachusetts. It is now grading season however, and we encountered some very freshly graded roads last weekend. I followed the darn de-grader up Moretown Gap! It doesn't take long after the road is graded for cars to pack it back down. John guarantees we will encounter some loose surfaces. Please pack your spirit of adventure and sense of humor with your patch kit. ;-)