Just Folkin' Around, Mostly Vermont

Fresh set of knobbbies, some free time and so many great roads to explore in VT ... so I'll try to keep the rides and road shots coming and see if I can hit every town in the Green Mountain State.

I'll start this off with an overnight trip from this weekend.
I decided to invite myself to visit a friend in southeastern NH and took most of the day getting there with a goal of getting lost at least once. Started out heading through "downtown" Huntington, VT and got the trip started on Route 17 heading over the gap toward Sugarbush.

Still a little snow up on top

South on Route 100 to Warren and then I had to check out the Warren Store for breakfast


It lived up to the hype. Good food, keep Vermont wierd T-shirts and tons of provisions. And the view is nice too.


Then cut over to Roxbury Mountain Road


Anytime you see ________ mountain road, it's probably good
Roxbury Mntn Rd comes out at Route 12A, which is a great ride, but today I had a dirtier route mapped out and went straight across and up Tracy Hill Road, to Beaver Meadow Rd to...


Brand new road sign, but it doesn't look that well traveled


Ah yes, I see why


Son of a... Now I have to turn around


and face that mud puddle that nearly got me the first time again.


Made it back out without incident, but wasn't sure what my next best option would be. Let's just say there weren't any bad choices and I just kept moving forward, guessing turns and spent about an hour on great dirt roads without seeing any traffic but a stubborn Canadian goose that didn't want to get out of the road.
Eventually I came back out on Route 12A again, then turned off and Strafford Rd and that led me to




Then on to Route 132 for a while. Quite a nice ride, but keep an eye out for sand


Eventually made my way to Lyme NH, where I took route 10 for a while, then just alternated numbered routes that went either east or south, meandering toward my destination


There was more traffic on most of these route, so there are less pics

Nice spring ride! Gotta love that adventurous mix of old snow and road sand - makes highway corners more fun!
Just wanted to say from another song writing, guitar slinging rider.
(too bad about the gate - looks like a great road)
Any links to your music we could check out?

Hey there,just did almost the same route yesterday,what a day! RT 10 down to Hanover is a cool road.

There's a more to come, but my laptop got hit with a virus last night as I was working in photobucket.
And yes, thanks for asking, there's a place to check out my music if you're into that sort of thing www.rebeccapadula.com

I really should have purchased a NH map, not sure where this one was


Took a quick break in Dunbarton I think


nice town green


And made it to Milford where the BBQ was ready and I was greeted with a cold beer

I had to get back the next day, so I beelined it on Route 101 to Keene, then 12 north to Bellows Falls, VT and picked up the interstates 91 to 89. I had to treat myself to some good riding roads a little though, so I hopped off the highway in Sharon, VT and cut over to catch route 12A, which is a favorite of mine. Much of it parallels Route 100, but the road surface is much better that 100, which suffers from growing potholes and cracks.




There is still a lot of evidence of last year's post-Irene flooding down around here


12A becomes 12 and I stayed on until it was time for a quick break in Montpelier


There were lots of bikes on State Street, so I caught a window seat


There's always great peoplewatching and plenty to do in our capitol city

Route 2 pretty much parallels the highway, but it allows me to turn off on Cochran Road in Richmond and then a left onto Wes White Hill, a twisty paved road that culminates in dirt that goes through the forest and past a nice pond.








In just a few more quick backroads I'm home, and ready to roll out again soon

Very nice...have always wanted to do a run thru Vermont and Maine.

Love the dirt roads off of Rt 12.Give me a P.M. I have lot's of other great roads around Central Vermont.

Very nice! I always stay in warren or waitsfield for 2-3 nights during fall foliage. Great to see some pics of the area and of State St. in Montpelier, I usually stop at Positive Pie 2 for a VT burger and some good people watching.

Great ride

I got my GS after I moved from New England, and am constantly yammering about getting up there to ride. This just makes me want to go home even more!

I really like Vermont. It is one of my favorite states. We get to Northfield every summer to take our son to hockey camp. I would love to ride up through there.

Thanks for posting!

I had an hour to kill after work, so I might as well show you a few of the sights starting out in Malletts Bay, Colchester VT


Most of the sights in Colchester are reserved for shoreline property owners, but if you have a bicycle, there is an awesome causeway path across the bay to the Champlain Islands







Airport Park


And Bayside Park is nice too


Cut through Colchester Village and towards Essex and there's some quiet roads to be found too


eventually popping out in downtown Westford


and time to head home

Hey Dave
You will love VT, do it!

Took a loop through the Champlain Islands after work yesterday, this is where the bike path causeway across the bay goes. Here's the car causeway aka Route 2


another damn nice day


The wind is usually blowing pretty good across the Lake


Looking pretty quiet at the Snow Farm Winery in So. Hero today






This will be a busier spot in a few more weeks


but for now I've got it all to myself




Most things are still closed for the season still




Did I mention what a nice day it was?






Heading back


Until next time...

Foggy and cool this morning, so I booked it to my destination... Rochester, VT


Every Saturday at 10 a.m. at Wildflower Antiques on Route 100 there's an acoustic music jam session, open to players and listeners. I unzipped my guitar bag and slid into the circle for a while.


By the time I'd had enough picking, the sun was out and so was my camera as I headed north on route 100 with no hurry to get home to my lawn mowing.


In Hancock I took Route 125 toward Middlebury




Testing out my moving shots, keeping the camera on a lanyard


Most of route 125 have been recently repaved, so it's in excellent shape



Middlebury's Breadloaf campus


a great run, but I was starting to look for a detour


Yup, this looks promising

Followed the signs for #59 past tons of hiking trailheads, through a bunch of gates ( they were open)


and eventually came out back on 125 just uphill of Ripton village


then my camera batteries died. I'll have to take some shots of Route 116 another time.

Great ride reports and pics. So much fun riding the back roads here in VT. Sounds like you did the Natural Turnpike in GMNF...great fun and twisty dirt road...with tons of trails to explore off of it I was in riding in and around Huntington, Starksboro, Hinesburg, Richmond yesterday...but no photos.

Keep the pictures and reports coming!