Just Folkin' Around, Mostly Vermont

So, it will be a long day of riding across VT, NH and ME to get to the coast. This time I went through Crawford Notch in the White Mountains and stopped at Whitehorse gear in Conway for some unfinished shopping from my last visit. I left the camera in the sidebags when I took off, so there's nothing until I stopped for lunch.



Didn't really stop for pics, I was in the riding zone. Skies were threatening all day, but finally opened up as I reached route 202 in Maine near Augusta and I jumped on Interstate 95 for the last few hours to the campsite in the rain (and some lightning :eek1) and was able to set up camp just as the sun set and rain turned to a light drizzle.



My sister and her family finally showed up to meet me around midnight and in the morning we set off to explore the park and enjoy the glorious sunshine.

Top of Cadillac Mountain





The rocky coast



Beer break at the campsite



view from the trail above Sand Beach, which was our favorite spot and where we spent most of our second day hanging out



A stop at the sandbar after some ice cream lunch in Bar Harbor



Thunder Hole





Those were the best shot from 2 days of family fun, and then I'm back in the saddle headed for VT. This time my plan was just to follow route 2 the entire way.



It would be easy navigating once I got away from the coast



But, as it turned out, Route 2 is the blandest way to get across ME and NH, somewhat scenic but not really worthy of pulling over to capture the views. It does move along pretty good though aside from occasional construction, packs of Harleys and truck traffic.

Once I got into Vt it gets a bit better



Again I was in the zone and not a ton of riding pics



I was hoping this place would have sandwiches- nope. It does have a lovely selection of local cheeses, wine, olives, etc.



Ah, food at last. This place was in Plainfield VT and was sort of a fine dining bakery. If you're in the area and in the mood for a coffee, the baked goods are amazing - well worth a stop.



Until next time.

Great Reports and pics FolkGirl, please keep em coming!

I rode to Old Songs Festival last weekend in Altamont, NY. I think I have a couple pics, but mostly I was racing the darkness on the way there and back. Especially the way home, bike kept cutting in and out and finally lost power and quit in Whitehall NY. I coasted into a gas station and it turned out to be a loose connection at the battery. I was so glad it was an easy fix. My wrenching "skills" are limited.

Very nice

Spent the early eighties weekends riding around Vermont, we into our 4th year of an annual 10 camping trip with the dogs, having more fun every year!

Thanks for sharing!
Marc
VA

FolkGirl,

Great pictures of Acadia. Rode the KLR up there a couple of years ago and the top of Cadillac Mountain was so fogged in you could only see out ten yards tops. Camped in the rain, rode home in the rain. Hoping to do it again some sunny weekend.

Dave

Took a short ride last night to Bread and Butter Farm in Shelburne to hear some friends play and get a super local burger. It was packed! They do this every Friday from 4:30 to 7:30 through October. Locally grown burgers and salads, homemade bread and music.

I started this ride a few weekends ago with intentions of taking lots of photos. Here is States Prison Hollow Rd in Monkton, VT just a few minutes into the ride.


The dirt turns to fresh meat


Batteries were low and I was racing darkness to get to Altamont, NY for the festival, so I was preoccupied with navigating and keeping moving. I made it though, here's the campsite I got.


This weekend I'll be back to exploring VT

Enjoyed the pics and trip report. Keep riding and be safe out there.

Forcast for Friday called for fog, we hit the road at the crack of nearly noon. That morning would be our only chance to sleep for most of the weekend.



Took route 22A out of Vermont from Vergennes to around Granville NY




Stopped for lunch and followed Route 22 all the way to the festival- easy directions to remember.


We made it


Up late playing music in the camground on Friday night. Saturday got pretty wet.


More good tunes and then packing our soggy t-shirts for home.


Nice easy ride, not too much traffic, contractor garbage bags and duct tape even kept my little guitar dry.
I'd go again.

When I lived in Upstate NY we only went to VT to ski and pick apples. I now see, from your photos, that I missed out on a lot of natural beauty and great riding. From Glens Falls it was only 45 minutes to Rutland and I had a bike the entire time.

Thanks for taking us along.

Ummm, you're going to do a nice ride or two and post pics when the leaves change colors . . . aren't you?

you can bet on that.

My Mom decided to make a last minute day trip to VT to visit my Aunt in Rutland, so I decided to meet her there.
But first coffee in Bristol with my scooter driving bandmate


The coffee at Bristol Bakery is excellent and it's right near the turn from Route 116 towards Lincoln if you're planning to hit the popular Lincoln Gap (dirt on the Lincoln side, twisty on both and closed winters).


Route 7 is not the most exciting way to get down to Rutland


I spent a while behind a slow moving RV with just enough traffic in the opposite direction that I couldn't get by


The conversations on both ends of the ride were great though.

Four more days til I'm on vacation!!!! Where am I going? riding. I really don't know care where I'lI actually go.

Yeah, I was pretty excited to be heading out.


Spent the first two days visiting family and making some quick last minute mods. A side trip to see inmate captainredbeard to purchase a new (to me) seat and Dad made a larger kickstand plate. Then northwestward!

Wild turkys in the Berkshires of western MA


Great Barrington, MA


Campsite in Watkins Glenn, NY


Just before I realized the battery was dead and got to meet the family camping next to me who had jumper cables.


And got to visit the first of many bike shops along the way. I walked in hoping they would be able to help and quietly saying to myself "this is all part of the adventure." They had a battery that would fit and while the woman behind the counter was taking my info, she asked my name, I said Rebecca and she said OK Becky you're family now. Yeah, they hooked me up.


Then on to Ohio


and into southern Michigan, where I noticed that my sprocket had taken on sharp pointy wave shapes and visited BMW in Grand Rapids. Where I got some fast service, great route recommendations and my choice of test drive to breakfast.

Aside from some friendly folks, they also have a nice lake


OK, OK it's a great lake


These are from Sleeping Bear Dunes


Northport, MI


Campsite out on the point at Leelanau State Park


Lighthouse


Lake


The "Tunnel of Trees"


Then across the Big Mac Bridge and powered across the very windy Upper Peninsula and into Wisconsin.

So WI, IN, IL, and most of OH... there was corn and soybeans and I was in the zone




By Columbus, OH, the front TKC from the start of the summer was done, cupped to hell and like riding a jackhammer on the highway. I got a new tourance, much sportier.


I camped in Buckeye Lake OH at the KOA and discovered the rear tire looking pretty low in the morning. Yup, nail in it. The campgrounds crew had a compressor and we added some air and I limped it a few miles down the road to Honda where they had a new tube for me, but I did get some shit for having all the adv stickers, but no spare tubes

Later that day in Distant PA just as the riding was getting really good again with corners and elevation changes and such, Boom! The rear blew at 60 mph and it felt like I'd hit a patch of ice. With a handful of front brake I got it to the shoulder and resumed breathing. This is where that AAA coverage came in handy. I got 100 free miles of towing and used 99 of them to get to BMW in State College PA, conveniently next to a Fairfield Inn and a restaurant with some good beer.


Looks like the boys at Honda might have been moving a bit too quickly getting me moving again and pinched the tube. :huh

But it's all part of the adventure, and has motivated me to learn to do this stuff myself.
And the best riding of the trip was just ahead, PA rocks! Thanks to some great route reccomendations I was winding my way through state forests for most of the day. I think it was route 147.


Route 6


The Grand Canyon of PA


It's nice, but they oversold it


Then a stop at Cooperstown NY





The Adirondacks warrant further exploration as well



And back home to VT for a victory ice cream

Glad to hear everything is OK and you didn't crash. And thanks for taking us along on your trip. RRs are a lot of work, so we thank you for taking the time and expending the effort to post up for those of us who don't get out on our bikes as much as we should or would like to.

Epic New England (and beyond) RR. And totally evocative. I went to UVM back in the eighties, and lived in Montpelier in the early nineties. I feel like I was in your ride report, having driven most every Vermont road you photographed in either an old Saab 900 or Vdub Jetta.

Vermont's funny that way. Decades roll by, and the people change, but besides, say, Burlington & Rutland, every nail and clapboard in towns like Warren and Waitsfield feels EXACTLY the same. You just get creakier.

It was also eerily evocative because you happen to ride a carbon copy of my first bike: a 2006 Ice Blue Metallic F650GS. Same vario cases. Identical from tip to tail. Funny.

Really enjoyed your report & pics, from start to finish. Thanks for posting. And yeah, Subarus!