Ride 2: Sharon, Barnard & Royalton

5/6ths of the squad under beautifully hot conditions.

It was less than a week ago when this whole project kicked off and things sure felt different on ride number 2. First of all, there was the weather: overcast and chilly last Sunday and hot and humid this time. Plus there was the company, or should I say there was company. What a great squad: most of us are buddies who have known each other for years and have a solid text thread going that’s nominally about gravel biking, but also about all the other silliness that old friends discuss. That group was Kevin, John, Brad and Chris (missed you TyCo!). In addition, there was Kevin’s friend Tom and my wife Maddie! It was so much fun to have people to chat with and frankly distract me from the heat!

We met up at the Sharon Academy right off of 89 shooting to get riding by 8:00 and beat the heat. After gearing up, we began the long climb out of Sharon and into the hills south of Randolph. On the elevation profile it looks punishing (and it was no walk in the park) but the steady climb was punctuated by enough breaks, shade and views that it wasn’t half bad.

Taking a break not in the shade. Clearly it was still early.

After reaching the top of our steady up, we were rewarded with a super fun downhill on some pavement. Maddie (per usual) was a speed demon and I tried to be, but was foiled by a dropped chain that occurred when I pedaled hard to pass some folks on the down. At the Barton General Store, we stopped for a snack, a water bottle refill and some more shade time. There were a ton of boaters on the Lake and even a physically distanced 5K/10K running race going on. With all this activity it almost felt like a regular summer day.

Note Chris fishing something out of his fanny pack.

Announcement: make sure you keep snacking!

We then started up and out, from Barnard, huffing up past Silver Lake State Park. At the top of a hill after that we had our first mechanical: John snapped his chain. I wish I could say this was the fist time I’d been on a ride with him where he’s snapped his chain, but it’s at least the fourth. John does not baby his gear and has been known to really throw down the power when it’s needed. He rode a fully rigid, single-speed mountain bike for years if that helps paint a picture. Luckily, he had all the right tools to fix it (and luckily for him he’s now the proud owner of a carbon, full-squish mountain bike too). With some help from Maddie, he was all set and we were off again.

There was some nice up and down for a while working our way back down towards the White River. We had another mechanical (a flat for Chris), but despite the dude at the shop giving him a Schrader, not a Presta vale, he had it fixed in no time. The Woodstock/Royalton Turnpike was certainly a highlight of a downhill. A lovely narrow green tunnel. We developed a nice mellow routine of going at our own paces, getting a bit stretched out, but re-grouping at any junctions. I was going a bit slower to take photos and there were just too many opportunities! At one point I was telling Maddie about this amazing barn I saw, and she asked if I took a picture. I hadn’t because I figured I’d taken too many, but you can’t take to many! So in that spirit, here are some more pictures from that section:

The classic blue/green/brown sandwich of a gravel ride landscape.

Happy I didn’t hit this little dinosaur on the descent!

After getting down to the river, we followed it along Back River Road which was a great way to work our way into town. After another stop on the green, some folks (Maddie and Tom) wisely took the low route and continued to follow the river, while the masochists among us decided to throw in one more climb for good measure. Up and up we went on Oxbow Road and with the timing of the climb both in the day and in the ride it was by far the toughest. However, other than Chris randomly having a bee fly into his shirt and sting him a few times no one was worse for wear after.

Industrial ruins before the Oxbow Hill Climb.

We made a few more turns to wind into Sharon and by this point we needed to be cooled from the inside and out. So after quickly getting out gear squared away, we drove to South Royalton and had an amazing dip in a swim spot right in town. Emily (John’s wife) had baked some ciabatta rolls the day before and Chris came through with some fantastic sandwich fixings. We just sat there getting healed by the waters of the White River, cured meats and canned beverages.

This was a truly different experience for one of these rides and I’ve got to thank my partners for the company and the route (well done Kevin!). I’ve had people say they want to come along and I hope that more often than not I’m able to have a big gaggle of folks along with me. Oh and ending at a swimming hole isn’t bad either.