Gary, Rich, and I took a ride yesterday to VT, with a return trip through NH. I planned the route using Google Maps on my home PC. I intentionally chose numbered routes with the expectation of having reasonable pavement conditions for the ride. We found out that sometimes things don’t go according to plan.
We met at the Duncan’s in Barre, MA at 10:30. We were on our way shortly thereafter. Since the food options along the route in VT didn’t look that great, we had an early lunch at the Wagon Wheel in Gil, MA. This is a typically stop for me and Gary. Not so much for Rich. The food is always good here. So, Rich enjoyed a double lunch of a chili dog and fried clams.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/2YmPHeBRFHzXETyU9https://photos.app.goo.gl/TV52SKHtvn1J9JA5AAfter lunch we took route 2 W to I-91 N to the first exit in Brattleboro on to route 5 N. After we passed through downtown, we watched for the signs for route 30 and exited off route 5 on a some-what rotary on to 30 N. This is a really, nice MC road. I’d been on it in the car several times. And in Paul Halliseys’ “Last Minute Ride” post of July 24th, he had a great ride following it to western VT.
https://www.valkyrieforum.com/bbs/index.php/topic,131827.0.htmlTraffic on the road was a little more than expected. It would have been more fun if we could have ridden a little faster. But we still enjoyed the road. We exited 30 onto route 100 N for a bit and then in Londonderry made a turn to the east on VT 11 to start heading to NH.
We’re not on 11 very long when we turned right on to VT 121 E. I chose this road because on Google Maps it looked to have some nice curvy sections and there was no indication that dirt would be part of the ride. I did notice that the 121 road-sign was oval and in black and white. This is a different style that other VT road signs, which are rectangular and are colored green. Maybe this should have been a hint of road conditions to come.
We followed 121 into Windham. Shortly after the intersection of Windham Hill and Hitchcock roads, we saw this.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/rw9vXa8Lcdz4kCmM8If the picture is not clear, the sign says. “Pavement Ends. Winding Gravel Road Next 9 Miles”. Oh sh*t. I was in the lead and stopped. Gary pulled up next to me on the left. I asked what do you think? Should we ride it? He paused and said sure, let’s try. Rich was in back-of us on his BMW GS, so he was probably happy to have a chance to use it in the dirt.
Most of New England has had a hot and abnormally dry summer. And it hadn’t rained in VT in days. So, there were no mud worries. The road was in decent shape and wasn’t too bad. But there were a couple of sections with loose gravel in curves and in a section when a tractor-trailer was passing that contributed significantly to pucker factor. The road also gave us a bit of a tease. We were back on pavement after the first leg of dirt quicker than we expected. I thought, that didn’t seem like 9 miles. And sure enough, we hit the dirt after a short stretch of pavement. I think the second leg of the dirt was a little tougher than the first. Seemed like it had more loose gravel.
We safely made it back to permanent pavement and continued to follow 121 E all the way to route 5. It was a beautiful section of road. But next time I’d choose a different route back east and avoid 121.
We headed south on route 5 and had rest stop at an Irving Station in Westminster, VT. We’d been on the road for a little over 2 hours. It was much needed. We snapped some pics there.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/dF11Zxs1TR9Pk6HS8https://photos.app.goo.gl/sF7JdzYyiEfZzJhT8https://photos.app.goo.gl/rZ9s6HTfoFpcdTDS8The Irving was right next to route 123 E with a quick jaunt across the CT river to route 12 in NH. We took a right on to route 12 S towards Keene, NH. Route 12 is a beautiful ride, especially around the area of route 63. Upon reaching Keene, it’s more utilitarian. We followed 12 S all the way to Winchendon, MA and gradually found our way home from there. It was long, but very fun day. Gary had 275 miles at the end on his ride. I had 268 miles and Rich had something in the middle. It was just what we needed to start the Fall Riding Season. The best time of the year to ride in New England.
