Ride 16: Craftsbury, Albany & Glover

Well, when we last left off, Governor Scott had just announced that multi-household gatherings would soon be banned and this weekend marked the first time that folks could be together outside unmasked! It’s been a long winter and we’re certainly not out of the woods yet, but I was so relieved to be in person with friends and so thrilled to be picking up this quest. In many ways, it felt like I wasn’t gone for long, just a brief pause. The winter was a strange one: light in the snow department and we had an early blast of summer-like dry weather. But now things are more like they should be and we had a break in the rain to tackle a group ride and check off some towns!

This whole group ride was the idea of Cameron, a friend from college who’s been living in Craftsbury this winter and not only wanted to see some buddies, but also have some subjects to get material for his photography portfolio. He’s been getting some work as a photographer and wanted to be sure he had enough good shots to show his skills. So he invited the crew from the last 251 ride of 2020 (Tyler, Brad, Dan, Rafa) plus his buddy Eli (who he cycled with from Tierra del Fuego to Vermont!) for a social ride that would be punctuated by pizza. I certainly couldn’t say no and figured I might as well count it towards the 251 totals. So Tyler, Brad and I carpooled (remember CARPOOLING?!?) up to Craftsbury where we all rendezvoused and prepped under steely skies and higher than expected winds. After hemming and hawing over how to layer I was finally ready to go and we were off. The cabin where Cameron was living sits on the shoulder of Craftsbury Common, an unincorporated village of Craftsbury that takes the form of a prominent rise. It’s the oldest significant European settlement in the area and served as the hub of commerce for many of the surrounding communities. Its clustered whitewashed buildings all surround the grass-covered common, many of them now used by Sterling College, a very small institution that used a hands-on and work-based curriculum to focus on ecologically minded majors. The Common was also used for filming of Alfred Hitchcock’s “The Trouble With Harry”. Once past the grassy central common, we turned onto Dustan Road and cruised down to King Farm Road to work our way north towards Albany. We passed by Little Hosmer Pond and close to the Craftsbury Outdoor Center a headquarters for world-class nordic skiing and biking (plus amazing chili). We also were a stone’s throw away from Hosmer Point camp where our friends John and Maggie got married. It’s a super fun place and a dynamite wedding venue. We continued north trending up, but enjoyed a great view from Chamberlin Hill and also spooked a porcupine off the road on the descent! We had a few more ups and downs (and even popped into the town of Barton for a hot-minute, however I have bigger plans for Barton) but soon enough, it was time for a break.

Brad is MORE than ready for a group ride!

Having called ahead a pizza order (smart thinking Cam) we arrived at Parker Pie: a general store/restaurant/bar/concert venue/community center. Despite not having done huge miles, we were all ready for a treat. The pizza came out quickly and we all bought some drinks, including I think three for Eli: coffee, a soda and maybe a tea of some sort? Either way, I got a sarsaparilla and it was delicious. So was the pizza. Not the best on earth, but a good crust which was somehow 1/3 pizza crust, 1/3 soft pretzel and 1/3 hard pretzel. Fueled up, we headed south past Lake Parker. At this point the wind had picked up a bit and the sun stubbornly refused to shine. On us at least. We could see blue sky, but we never seemed to catch the rays. But luckily, sometimes headwinds on an uphill turn into tailwinds on a downhill (when your route has enough twists and turns) and we got to be pushed on some farm roads with amazing views to the northeast from Phillips Road. We eventually got to our first Class IV road of the day. We’d had some rough patches of dirt roads, especially where the town highway department had just laid down some gravel. And while a “Gravel Bike” is technically capable of riding over loose gravel, it’s not exactly Type I Fun or particularly comfortable. So we were nominally ready for some rough stuff, but unfortunately, a gravel snake up and bit Rafa: sending her to the ground with a bloody gash and scraped knee (don’t worry, no photos of that below). But she and the bike got patched up quickly and we all carried on.

I couldn’t get a shot of all the pizza whole: we were too hungry.

Slight downhill + tail wind + view = a reminder of why I love biking

After getting back onto proper dirt roads, we did an up-down, up-down on Bear Call Road and Beach Hill Road. And even pondering what exactly a bear call would sound like or the good view at the top couldn’t help me: it was a slog. But coming down off of Beach Hill on Andersonville Road was super fun and I got to really open up the bike and fly. Plus the sun just barely started peeking out and it’s amazing how much that can bolster your mood. Towards the bottom of the hill, we made a quick pit-stop at a small cabin that Cameron’s Mom owns and then split with Eli and Rafa. They each had other things to get to that day, so they took the shorter way home. We swung north out of Glover and back into Albany. We were headed for more Class IV, but first there was climbing…again. This ride wasn’t very far above the “Golden Ratio” for gravel (1000 feet of climbing for every 10 miles), but it sure felt like it was. But we worked our way up Centebar Road to where it meets Lafond Road and becomes a Class IV. There was a very funny sign there which was probably the best town sign I’ve seen so far. Check it out below. From there we enjoyed some more sunshine, a little bit of head wind and more views. We eventually worked our way back to King Farm Road and up onto the Common, but we didn’t take the road all the way back: Cameron had one more trick up his sleeve. He let us down a cross country ski trail that plopped us right into his back yard! We hung out a bit with Dan’s new puppy Arlo and enjoyed some delicious Cooler Ranch Doritos. A perfect recovery snack. I’m not sure where or when the next ride will take place, but I’m already month ahead of when I began last year, so I’m hoping to making a big dent in the list. But here’s to numbers 89, 90 and 91. Only 164 more to go!