Touring in Vermont

Does anyone here have any experience on traveling by bicycle in Vermont? I
don't want an organized tour; I like to just meander around and wherever I
wind up in the evening I try and find a place to stay. Any tips?

thanks,

Pat in TX

In article ,
"PatTX" wrote:

Does anyone here have any experience on traveling by bicycle in
Vermont? I don't want an organized tour; I like to just meander
around and wherever I wind up in the evening I try and find a place
to stay. Any tips?

http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/l...05&doctype=jou
rnal

"PatTX" wrote in message
...
Does anyone here have any experience on traveling by bicycle in Vermont? I
don't want an organized tour; I like to just meander around and wherever I
wind up in the evening I try and find a place to stay. Any tips?

thanks,

Pat in TX

====

I have cycled from southern NH to Montreal and back a couple of times..

My thoughts: cycling in Vermont is mostly north/south. Going east west
can be tough because of the mountains.. There isn't too much traffic, the
scenery is beyond beautiful. Plenty of places to stay; Inns, B & B's,
motels,
etc.. the camping can be a little sparce.. I have guerilla camped a few
times..
I've also camped on private property, dairy farm. Just asked the farmer
first.

On Oct 19, 5:52*pm, "PatTX" wrote:
Does anyone here have any experience on traveling by bicycle in Vermont? I
don't want an organized tour; I like to just meander around and wherever I
wind up in the evening I try and find a place to stay. *Any tips?

thanks,

Pat in TX

Here's part of my trip report in 2004 covering Vermont:

Monday, May 24, 2004 - Day 3

Left motel at 5:00 and rode until 10:45, reaching Brattleboro,
Vermont - 70 miles. I brought the bike to a shop for work on the
steering,
which is quite loose. Fortunately, they took care of me right away.
Overtightening the assembly had damaged the ball bearings. Obviously,
it
was my mistake in reassembly that caused the problem.

I went to a restaurant to wait and have some breakfast. Weather
is
probably in upper 50s. Temperature hasn't changed. It's mostly
overcast; a
little drizzle and light rain, but mostly just cloudy. I've had my
glasses
on and off a couple of times, because they tend to fog up.

I had thought I was going to make Mass again, but what I thought
was
the beginning of a 7:00 a.m. Mass at a Church I passed in Springfield
was
really the end of a 6:30. I arrived just in time to be dismissed.

Quite a few rolling hills as I've gotten further north, but easy
hills
compared with yesterday.

By the way, I took Route 75 from the Airport to the
Massachusetts
line; miscellaneous local streets until US 5 became legal for bikes;
Route 5
since then.

About 10 miles out of Brattleboro I hit a thunderstorm and rode
in the
rain for over an hour. I left the raincoat on quite a while longer to
stay
warm, as my feet were wet.

I stopped at a roadside truck stop about half way from
Brattleboro to
White River Junction and asked a truck driver about motels between
White
River Junction and St. Johnsbury, which I knew I couldn't make.

He was helpful but events took their own turn. Because of
insufficient sleep the previous 3 nights, I "hit the wall" mentally
about 10
miles further out and stopped to take a nap and decided I needed an
earlier
quit time, which I did in White River Junction a little after 6:00.

I've had a warm bath and a good meal and hope to get to bed
early.
It's raining again now (9:30 p.m.) with more forecast.

The Connecticut River "valley" is only partially that. There's
quite
a lot of up and down.

There's stereotypical Vermont stuff to see - old barns converted
to
sell gifts, antiques and Vermont produce, quaint farms (long horned
cattle,
goats, etc.) towns with white wooden Churches, a few "common" town
squares.

Mileage for day - 140
Connecticut - 12, Massachusetts - 50, Vermont - 78.
Mileage for trip - 457

Tuesday, May 25, 2004 - Day 4

I "waited out" some rain, since the radar showed it was passing
-
showed in fact, that it had already passed. I welcomed a little extra
sleep
anyway.

I left about 6:25 and biked 64 miles to St. Johnsbury, arriving
about
11:15 and stopped to eat and rest.

There were a few flat stretches that acted like a real river
valley -
but also still a lot of climbing. The small town scenery was like
yesterday; village greens with white Congregational/UCC Churches,
sometime a
bandstand.

After St. Johnsbury, I continued on Rt. 5 for 9 more miles - I
had
been on Route 5 since Springfield - then switched to 114 to the
Canadian
line, which I hit around 4:30 at mile 113 for the day. The country
was
markedly less populated and less "quaint" - mostly wooded land. Still
plenty hilly but less so than further south.

Temperatures today were mostly in the 50s peaking at 61° or so.
It
started raining near the border and continued for a couple of hours,
so I'm
all wet again.

I took Quebec Route 147 to Coaticook, where I got some Canadian
dollars at an ATM. Then I switched to Route 141 to Magog where I quit
for
the day at about 7:15.

Mileage for day - 145
Vermont - 113, Quebec - 32.
Mileage for trip - 602

"Ron Wallenfang" wrote in message
...
On Oct 19, 5:52 pm, "PatTX" wrote:
Does anyone here have any experience on traveling by bicycle in Vermont? I
don't want an organized tour; I like to just meander around and wherever I
wind up in the evening I try and find a place to stay. Any tips?

thanks,

Pat in TX

Here's part of my trip report in 2004 covering Vermont:

Monday, May 24, 2004 - Day 3

Left motel at 5:00 and rode until 10:45, reaching Brattleboro,
Vermont - 70 miles. I brought the bike to a shop for work on the
steering,
which is quite loose. Fortunately, they took care of me right away.
Overtightening the assembly had damaged the ball bearings. Obviously,
it
was my mistake in reassembly that caused the problem.

I went to a restaurant to wait and have some breakfast. Weather
is
probably in upper 50s. Temperature hasn't changed. It's mostly
overcast; a
little drizzle and light rain, but mostly just cloudy. I've had my
glasses
on and off a couple of times, because they tend to fog up.

I had thought I was going to make Mass again, but what I thought
was
the beginning of a 7:00 a.m. Mass at a Church I passed in Springfield
was
really the end of a 6:30. I arrived just in time to be dismissed.

Quite a few rolling hills as I've gotten further north, but easy
hills
compared with yesterday.

By the way, I took Route 75 from the Airport to the
Massachusetts
line; miscellaneous local streets until US 5 became legal for bikes;
Route 5
since then.

About 10 miles out of Brattleboro I hit a thunderstorm and rode
in the
rain for over an hour. I left the raincoat on quite a while longer to
stay
warm, as my feet were wet.

I stopped at a roadside truck stop about half way from
Brattleboro to
White River Junction and asked a truck driver about motels between
White
River Junction and St. Johnsbury, which I knew I couldn't make.

He was helpful but events took their own turn. Because of
insufficient sleep the previous 3 nights, I "hit the wall" mentally
about 10
miles further out and stopped to take a nap and decided I needed an
earlier
quit time, which I did in White River Junction a little after 6:00.

I've had a warm bath and a good meal and hope to get to bed
early.
It's raining again now (9:30 p.m.) with more forecast.

The Connecticut River "valley" is only partially that. There's
quite
a lot of up and down.

There's stereotypical Vermont stuff to see - old barns converted
to
sell gifts, antiques and Vermont produce, quaint farms (long horned
cattle,
goats, etc.) towns with white wooden Churches, a few "common" town
squares.

Mileage for day - 140
Connecticut - 12, Massachusetts - 50, Vermont - 78.
Mileage for trip - 457

Tuesday, May 25, 2004 - Day 4

I "waited out" some rain, since the radar showed it was passing
-
showed in fact, that it had already passed. I welcomed a little extra
sleep
anyway.

I left about 6:25 and biked 64 miles to St. Johnsbury, arriving
about
11:15 and stopped to eat and rest.

There were a few flat stretches that acted like a real river
valley -
but also still a lot of climbing. The small town scenery was like
yesterday; village greens with white Congregational/UCC Churches,
sometime a
bandstand.

After St. Johnsbury, I continued on Rt. 5 for 9 more miles - I
had
been on Route 5 since Springfield - then switched to 114 to the
Canadian
line, which I hit around 4:30 at mile 113 for the day. The country
was
markedly less populated and less "quaint" - mostly wooded land. Still
plenty hilly but less so than further south.

Temperatures today were mostly in the 50s peaking at 61° or so.
It
started raining near the border and continued for a couple of hours,
so I'm
all wet again.

I took Quebec Route 147 to Coaticook, where I got some Canadian
dollars at an ATM. Then I switched to Route 141 to Magog where I quit
for
the day at about 7:15.

Mileage for day - 145
Vermont - 113, Quebec - 32.
Mileage for trip - 602

=====================

I hit the wall reading your posting .. why so many miles?
I've cycled up through, across, all over Vermont,, but I hardly
ever go more than 50-60 mile in one day.. lots of stopping,
site seeing, yard sales, coffee, mooing at cows, feeding horses,
waving at friendly people, checking out the historic sites...

:: I hit the wall reading your posting .. why so many miles?
:: I've cycled up through, across, all over Vermont,, but I hardly
:: ever go more than 50-60 mile in one day.. lots of stopping,
:: site seeing, yard sales, coffee, mooing at cows, feeding horses,
:: waving at friendly people, checking out the historic sites...

Until I got to the end of the post, I was thinking "He must be talking about
kilometers!"

That's too many miles in one day for me as well.

Pat

On Oct 21, 2:20*pm, "PatTX" wrote:
:: I hit the wall reading your posting .. why so many miles?
:: I've cycled up through, across, all over Vermont,, *but I hardly
:: ever go more than 50-60 mile in one day.. *lots of stopping,
:: site seeing, yard sales, coffee, mooing at cows, feeding horses,
:: waving at friendly people, checking out the historic sites...

Until I got to the end of the post, I was thinking "He must be talking about
kilometers!"

That's too many miles in one day for me as well.

Pat

Why ride all day, like I do?

1. Personal style

2. Sense of achievement. I'm not very athletic, but I do have the
ability to sit on a bike for long hours and grind out quite a lot of
miles, which gives me an athletic achievement after a fashion.

3. It makes it possible to do a long trip in limited time, so I can
say I've biked all 48 contiguous US states, 8 of the 10 Canadian
provinces, with Alberta and Saskatchewan on the agenda for next
summer; and a tolerably good sampling of Europe.

4. A bicycle already goes slowly enough to permit one to "smell the
roses".

"PatTX" wrote in
:

Does anyone here have any experience on traveling by bicycle in
Vermont? I don't want an organized tour; I like to just meander around
and wherever I wind up in the evening I try and find a place to stay.
Any tips?

thanks,

Pat in TX




http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/vermont2008

Rich in NY

"Ron Wallenfang" wrote in message
...
On Oct 21, 2:20 pm, "PatTX" wrote:
:: I hit the wall reading your posting .. why so many miles?
:: I've cycled up through, across, all over Vermont,, but I hardly
:: ever go more than 50-60 mile in one day.. lots of stopping,
:: site seeing, yard sales, coffee, mooing at cows, feeding horses,
:: waving at friendly people, checking out the historic sites...

Until I got to the end of the post, I was thinking "He must be talking
about
kilometers!"

That's too many miles in one day for me as well.

Pat

Why ride all day, like I do?

1. Personal style

2. Sense of achievement. I'm not very athletic, but I do have the
ability to sit on a bike for long hours and grind out quite a lot of
miles, which gives me an athletic achievement after a fashion.

3. It makes it possible to do a long trip in limited time, so I can
say I've biked all 48 contiguous US states, 8 of the 10 Canadian
provinces, with Alberta and Saskatchewan on the agenda for next
summer; and a tolerably good sampling of Europe.

4. A bicycle already goes slowly enough to permit one to "smell the
roses".

=================

If I did your mileage...

I would be looking up at the roses,, from 6 feet down.


hahahahahha

Does anyone here have any experience on traveling by bicycle in
Vermont? I don't want an organized tour; I like to just meander around
and wherever I wind up in the evening I try and find a place to stay.
Any tips?


Look for the Champlain bikeway, along both Vt and NY sides, even over QC.

For lodging, camping in Vt State Parks works well.

As noted elsewhere, north-south is easier, especially Champlan and
Connecticut Valleys. But Middlebury Gap has its appeal.

--
mac the naïf