As I mentioned in my introduction to Ride 27, Vermont was going to get a new municipality. Since it fell on a Friday and because it was right around the corner, I decided that on July 1st, its first official day of existence, I’d ride through the City of Essex Junction. This would obviously be one of my shortest rides and the only time I’m planning to feature a single city or town, but I managed to find some neat little nooks and crannies of the 4.7 square mile city. A few more numbers: Essex Junction is now Vermont’s 10th city and 10th most populous municipality. It’s home to GlobalFoundries’ Burlington Design center, the state’s largest private employer with approximately 3,000 employees. According to the Times Argus, the 725-acre campus (formerly occupied by IBM until 2014) houses 3.5 million square feet of manufacturing, laboratory and office space.
I headed towards a canoe access point located right near one of the entrances to the GlobalFoundries campus. It actually took me a second try after I got flustered by a section of road that switches from two way to one way during commute times. I eventually made it and was quickly on my bike. I’d also forgotten my Wahoo, but I was able to fairly effectively navigate by phone, just like the old days. I headed towards the GlobalFoundries west gate and made a left onto Franklin Street and into the first of many apartment complexes. They all come with their own special brand of overwrought names and this one didn’t disappoint: “Riverside in the Village”: sounds like it’s a combination of settlement in the English Midlands and suburban New Jersey. Anyway, I zigged and zagged through there and popped out on Park Street (AKA Route 2A). The crowd was already growing at Rocky’s, a pizza and creemee joint, that I admittedly have never been to, but it’s supposed to be pretty good. I continued on towards Five Corners. Essex Junction obviously developed as a railroad hub and this intersection is perennially complained about, constructed and proposed to be fixed. It’s also been redeveloped extensively as of late. There are still some interesting older buildings that remain, like those housing El Gato and Firebird Cafe. But the new ones that sprung up recently are needed, mixed use buildings, but they have the same cookie cutter look of many of their ilk. Like all of Essex Junction, it’s been a story of steady growth over many, many years. If you want to dive really deep on this, check out the Landscape Change Program from UVM. Cataloging photos for them was actually my first work study job and you can easily get lost finding cool retaken historic photos.
I continued out Maple Street towards the other side of the GlobalFoundries headquarters. The houses I was riding through were lovely victorians and other 19th and early 20th century styles. They all pre-dated the building boom that IBM brought in the late 50’s and into the 60’s (basically everything in purple on this old map). I soon came to Maple Street Park, a centerpiece of the Essex Junction department of Recreation and Parks. It consists of a number of sports fields, tennis courts, a skatepark, playground, public pool and as of about ten years ago a pump track and jump park. Seeing as how I was looking to wring out as many miles as possible out of this new city, I thought I’d add in a pump track loop. It wasn’t fast, and I steered far clear of the proper jumps, but it was a fun diversion and certainly the first actual dirt of the ride. I hopped back onto Maple Street and made a left onto Maple Street Extension. This dead end allows access to a powerline corridor and the thin path carved into the sandy soil alluded to occasional use by bikers and walkers. It also represented the top of my biggest climb (about 150 feet) and my highest elevation of the day (485 feet). Essex Junction certainly isn’t Barre when it comes to city-limits climbing. I entered a wooded housing development of medium to large houses on Kiln Road. Much of the next part of my journey would be in neighborhoods like this. I didn’t take many photos, because honestly it’s not what excites me. It’s pleasant to look at, but cruising perfect pavement, bordered by too green lawns that roll out to McMansion-esque homes isn’t why I began this project. I did manage to find a small island of wildness though: in between Brickyard Road and Rosewood Lane, there is a patch of woods that has been left semi-natural. I did my best to follow the many paths, walking some wet spots, but like many natural places when there are children nearby, it has its own magic and complexity that seems to intentionally confuse anyone who’s gotten too far along in years.
I continued to cruise around gentle neighborhood curves, passing over Indian Brook. This small stream had been dammed and also more broadly impacted by the area’s development. I eventually crossed Main Street (AKA Route 15) and took Athens Drive to enter yet another bucolically-named, multistory development via its backdoor. This one I did end up getting turned around a bit and took a right after the central pool instead of a left. Just past a thick wall of evergreens was the Tree Farm soccer fields. This huge complex consists of at least 15 fields and hosts local leagues and regional tournaments. It’s also host to a few scruffy trails and a VAST snowmobile corridor. I hopped on one of those and took it most of the way north parallelling the fields. I actually crossed into Essex town at this point and hightailed it back through the fields, taking a short bike path back out of the city to head over towards Route 2A.
In order to get over to 2A, I took a fun little cut through that carried me across some railroad tracks. These carry freight and also the Vermonter Amtrak Line which runs down from Saint Albans to Washington DC and back every day. The station in Essex Junction is actually slated to get a much needed upgrade soon, with a line extension all the way to Montreal hopefully not too far behind. Being able to bike to a train station and take it to Montreal would be so fantastic! I followed the busy road south for about half a mile and made a right into the Champlain Valley Expo campus. This huge facility is the site of the annual Champlain Valley Fair every year. The Fair is best known for its throwback touring bands, figure-8 car race and being the last hoorah before school starts. I’ve actually never been to the fair (I much prefer the Addison Co. Field Days) but I did see Wilco at the Expo in 2012. It was also a major Covid vaccine site and where I’ve gotten all my shots. On this particular day, coming in from the back as it was, it was difficult to determine what was happening. I saw some trailers and thought maybe something involving horses was going on, but I never found any confirmation there or online. I didn’t go all the way down towards the cluster of buildings, but instead ducked into the woods up a steep sandy hill. There is a small series of trails that are between two neighborhoods. The developments are seemingly actually divided along the Essex town and Essex Junction line, one of the few spots I saw much of a differentiation. I sped through another neighborhood of smaller midcentury homes and took another short cut through into Pearl Street Park. While technically in Essex Town, this small park has some nice amenities including a 9 basket, 18 tee disc golf course.
I crossed busy Pearl Street, down West Street past the community gardens and regional Department of Natural Resources office, turning onto Hiawatha Ave. I couldn’t confirm where the name came from (presumably the Native American Leader) but there is a school with the same name. I followed a short paved path between streets to head over to another trail that I thought I may be able to take. On the map, it showed as connecting, but it was a steep slope, so I wasn’t sure. I hunted back and forth, but didn’t find anything, and instead took Wilkinson Drive to South Street. Very quickly, the scene changed from suburban to agricultural. The Whitcomb Farm is one of several farms that used to dot Essex. The town still has some, but it’s certainly the last operation of its kind in the Junction. Their homestead is relatively intact and the surrounding lands have been conserved by the Vermont Land Trust, so it will always be in farming. Interestingly enough, there is a public right-of-way that bisects much of their cropland. I took a left onto this rough path called Whitcomb Road (no sign to speak of though) and followed it though some sprouting corn. It would certainly be knee high by the fourth of July, as the saying goes. It stayed double track for its entire length and towards the end even had corn growing up in the middle strip. It was an odd feeling being in a place that felt so relatively remote. I could still hear planes, but birdsong and other natural sensations certainly dominated.
I pulled onto Cascade Street and the transition back to suburban development was made clear again by an old barn and farmhouse standing, faded but proud, with a line of identical condos looming behind. Further down the street, I passed yet another barn, this one in further disuse, but just across the street was a sign commanding “-Slow- Turtle Crossing”. So maybe, despite the growth and sprawl that’s happened, people and the land have maybe reached an understanding. I continued down the street past a park, and turned again onto Park Street, just above the dam on the Winooski. Interestingly, this dam is certified as “Low Impact” which I’d never heard of, but seems pretty legit. I turned right onto Mill Street, getting one last view of the Winooski above the dam and getting back to the car as the sun began to weaken. It was strange only being in the saddle a little over an hour for one of these rides, but this wasn’t like any other 251 ride. I’m happy to have checked another off the list and gotten up to 186! I’ll soon be within striking distance and could finish this year if I really focus. I’m just happy I’m not doing them one by one. Maybe that will be my next great challenge…
The Details:
https://www.strava.com/activities/7399693099
https://ayvri.com/scene/gdkz16el5z/cl5ir7w9j00013b6ur1kab9pu
Dirt 251 