Cold ski...

it was windy and minus 10 ish

first ascent with new kicker skins...
look ma no herringbone

coming down stem turns over the rutted ice logging road

on the way up

I went out this morning on the last day of my 2 week winter break. Headed up Woodard Hill road in Little River SP. It was a good first workout for the winter thighs. A bit over a mile up the whole time and off into the woods some. It was mighty cold...the iphone stopped working after a while, even inside the jacket!

Back "roads" of Orange, VT

8.82 miles, 2116 feet of climbing!

Fall Classic was populaire this year...

Maybe 40 people or so at the start.

Mike and I cruising along as the sun rises.

Mike and Harris coming up the hill.

Amazing fall colors.

Snack stop at Jericho general store.

These were dangerous horses as indicated by the "Danger Horses" sign.

It was a great ride. For the past few years it has been a rainy slug fest but this year it was absolutely amazing. We had a 7 am start this year. If you like riding a bike this is the ride to do! Fall colors, lots of quiet back roads and fall colors. What more could you ask for. (other than the Village Cup Bakery which was not on route this year) :)

I was planning on the 200k but opted for the 100k at the last minute. It was nice to get in earlier and spend time chatting and eating pizza rather than getting in and just running home. Plus work was much more enjoyable today as I climbed up ladders and such all day.

It is interesting to reflect back to 4-5 years ago and the change in fitness level when a ride like this would have wrecked me for a day or 2 afterwards. Looking forward to years to come which will hopefully include more time to ride and longer brevets, I'd like to try a 400k as my longest ride thus far is the 300k.

Geeking out on cue sheets!

Getting ready for the Fall Classic. I tend to zone out and miss tricky turns so I'm adding mini maps to my cue sheet.

D-O-R-K

doing outrageously ridiculous krap

Fall classic 200k...

Looking forward to this weekend, the beautiful and cafe filled fall classic ride. Lots of dirt, climbing and beatiful leaves, pastries and coffee.

400k vermont...

Riders at the 6AM Montpelier start

2AM on Rt. 100 at the top of  a climb

At the finish. An experienced rando and an ultra runner doing her first ever brevet! She (the woman in front) rode a bike she bought the day before the ride and drove from Michigan!

This year we have expanded the brevet work force from 1 to about 6. I took on helping with the 400k. It was a great experience and gave me a deep appreciation for all the folks who do the organizing. Oh, and thanks again to Mike for doing it all solo for so long, you are nuts! :)

It has been raining almost constantly this summer. On the day of the ride it rained heavily in many areas but spared our riders! All riders finished in plenty of time. Everyone enjoyed the route and the scenery. There was a road construction re-route that added a super steep dirt climb after the climb up out of Granville Gulf (which even the speediest and strongest riders commented on) but otherwise all riders approved the route.

Old digger ride

My son's first bike with gears, very exciting as the TrailABike days are left behind.

On our ride last weekend we passed this old excavator that reminded us of MaryAnn in the story Mike Mulligan.