brighton campground, brighton vt, wednesday 8/30/23, 21:19
after months of moderate preparation, this was the morning for joe and i to take off on the vtxl! but the weather did not seem to be in our favor, heavy rains and storm clouds lined the highway as we left easthampton.
we had a lovely stop at the king arthur flour superstore for breakfast on the road, and then continued on to canaan vt. under the torrential downpour we resigned ourselves to getting very wet and left the dry car to pack up our bikes. we set off up a steep dirt road, already soaking wet, with our tires sticking to the peanut butter mud.
we rode for more than an hour before hitting any pavement, which took us to a crazy climb along a power line road. we climbed for a while and then descended for a while and then climbed some more. we were deep in the woods at this point, the rain had mostly stopped and we rode for hours without seeing another human.
then the rain started picking up again. we turned onto a road with some loose packed gravel with large rocks, which rattled us around and it was hard to get traction and we worked very hard and didn’t go very fast. and we were pretty tired at this point, definitely ready for some hot food.
we made it to this tiny town and stopped in the market for gatorade and saw there was a restaurant nearby so we went to check it out. it was less of a restaurant and more of someone’s house. they were doing takeout only. they knew every single person who walked up by name. when we ordered they didn’t even ask our names (probably just wrote down sweaty bikers). after a wait (in which we got a couple beers from the market) we got our food and rode the 2.5 miles to camp. we set up our tent in a beautiful site by the lake, scarfed down our sandwiches and enjoyed some beer, and settled into our tent as the rain started up again. we played some cards and read and then lay our sweet heads to rest as winds howled and rain pelted our tent.
TODAY'S RIDE
Distance: 40.8 miles
Elapsed Time: 5hr55
Ascent: 2,810 feet
Starting Time: 13:24
Finishing Time: 19:19
TRIP TOTALS
Distance: 40.8 miles
Elapsed Time: 5hr55
Ascent: 2,810 feet
Starting Time: 13:24
Finishing Time: 19:19