Rich planned a ride to Vermont with overnight stay on September 18th. The plan was to ride VT 100 N from Wilmington to Stowe on day 1. The ride plan for day 2 was TBD. We met at 9:30 at the Ducan’s on route 70 in Lancaster, MA on a beautiful September morning. After some breakfast sandwiches, we were on our way. Rich was riding his brand new Indian Roadmaster. Beautiful bike.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/Y37hdTS5ep3YKCYJ8https://photos.app.goo.gl/vMQaEbuKbe9Q6YbQARich took the lead at a spirited pace onto route 2 W to I-91 N. Once in VT, we exited at the highway onto VT 9 W. Most of you New Englanders if not all, know what a great road VT 9 is, with both sweeping and sharp curves and plenty ups and downs. We enjoyed it all the way to Wilmington where we took a left onto 100 N. For those reading this post from outside New England, VT 100 is a premier motorcycling road that meanders the full north-south length of the state. It’s quite diverse from farm land to forest with tight curves in places. Depending on the traffic it can be a normal or slow ride. We did encounter several VT motorists, all in Subarus, who were taking their time at less that the speed limit. Generally, things don’t move quickly in VT.
Route 100 is very rural with villages along the way, but food stops are not plentiful. You won’t find many fast-food joints along the way. It was after 1 PM and we were hungry. We were putting along and Gary spotted the Vermont Country Store in Weston. It included a restaurant and plenty of paved parking so we stopped there for lunch. Gary and I both enjoyed a cheddar/ham melt. Rich had a skillet of mac and cheese, that the yellow jackets seemed to enjoy as much as him. A couple of lunch pics.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/VqF3sUi53jTDFjEM6https://photos.app.goo.gl/CULhswqiWznCu3t69https://photos.app.goo.gl/DCDx1DmaK58TH7zC9With our stomachs full and after puttering around the massive Country Store, we were on our way. Route 100 meanders quite a bit making the ride north to Stowe interesting. We did get a stuck behind a couple of vehicles that were following a pick-up hauling a large horse carrier. But it wasn’t terrible and we had more opportunity to look at the scenery than we would have if we were blasting along. It was a pretty ride. We arrived at out hotel at about 5:30.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/Z185oEsjg1hNXZhFAThere were a couple of motorcyclists checking when we arrived. One rode a BMW 1250 GS, the other a Triumph Speed-Triple. Given their tires, they must have been sticking to pavement like us.
The Inn Keepers saw us in our riding gear and asked us if we ever attend the Laconia Bike Rally. Well of course we do! I was even wearing a Bike Rally T-shirt that I showed him. He then proceeded to tell us of his younger V-Twin racing days at the Loudon race track. This was before the state of NH bought it. You could tell he enjoyed reminiscing with us. So, check-in was a little long, but enjoyable.
The hotel did hot have any food options. The Inn Keeper told us where the restaurants were for dinner and breakfast. We would have to ride to dinner. But for breakfast there was a Duncan’s at a Shell Station about a five-minute walk from the hotel. That’s where we got our breakfast the next day. For dinner we went to The Bench restaurant on route 108. It was about a 10-minute ride from the hotel. Decent pub-style grub.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/My2zU8XsT5zia4sE7After dinner we met in the hotel lobby, planned the next day’s ride, and played cards.
On Friday morning we had kick stands up at 8:30.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/QyYfhTDiVEpoU2ZX9Our plan for the day was to first ride 100 S to Waitsfield and take VT 17 West. This route goes through the Appalachian Gap with a top elevation of about 2,300 feet. Years ago, Barnstormer told me of this road and called it "The Dragon" of New England. I rode it solo from east to west in 2010. I rode it again with Bernie west to east in 2014. East to west it goes past Mad River Glen ski and then gets steep and curvy with hair pin curves. We were moving along at a fast pace when we reached its crest. We didn’t stop to take pictures from a parking lot viewing area to the right. But I found a couple of pics from 2010.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/RizRhx4LNNkaYDUA8https://photos.app.goo.gl/BiVZwAdqBNEK9Lrz8After we crested, we could see a gray dump truck a couple vehicles ahead lumbering down the road. So, the pace down was not fast, but a lot safer.
We followed VT 17 W to VT 7 S. When we were planning a ride, Gary mentioned that he heard that VT 125 was a beautiful road. So, we road it west from VT 7 and he was right! This part of VT is mostly rolling farmland with big sweeping curves and beautiful agricultural views. It reminded me a bit of Aroostook County in Maine.
From VT 125 we turned south on to VT 22A into New York. The views were similar to VT 125. I noticed a lot of slate rock formations. This part of NY/VT makes slate roofing tiles. You could see crates of slate sitting in the sun.
We followed NY 22A to NY 22 and continued south to NY 7. This was a long segment with similar views and various towns along the way. We turned east on NY 7 and continued to VT 9 to Bennington. We continued to follow VT 9 east, which is very hilly with wide sweeping curves with a speed limit of 50 mph. We were riding considerably faster. There were beautiful mountain views along the way, and a small wind farm along a ridge close to VT 8 south area.
We stopped for late lunch at the Yahoo Eatery in Wilmington. The food was good. A couple of pics.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/7j1tQ3xwgE2CPfVe7https://photos.app.goo.gl/REZUbq2TBYLbctMH6After lunch we took 100 S to Jacksonville, VT then picked up VT 112 S to head back to MA. There was a Porsche Carrera in the lead the entire way to route 2 in MA. It was moving along a very fast pace. I think Rich was determined to catch it, because we also move along at that pace. We did catch up.
Back on route 2 E, we exited on MA 32 S to Petersham for our last rest stop of the day. We said our good byes and were on our way home. I got home at about 5:30. My trip total was 562 miles. It was a great ride with spectacular WX, roads and scenery. The company was pretty good, too.
