Author Archives: Sam Graulty

I’d kind of thought the Dirt 251 project had been put on hold until next spring. Temperatures were falling, Maddie and I had pretty much prepared the house for winter, and we got very decent snow! But as quickly as the inches piled up, they disappeared, fully succumbing to a streak of over 60° andContinue reading “Ride 14: Montpelier, East Montpelier, Plainfield, Marshfield, Cabot, Woodbury, Calais, Worcester & Middlesex”

The transition from fall to stick season had continued its relentless march southwards and with peak foliage already nearing the Massachusetts border, Maddie and I decided to get a ride in. I’d been keeping some of the southern routes in reserve for times like this, figuring there would be a day with sun and moderateContinue reading “Ride 13: Rockingham, Grafton, Chester, Baltimore, Weathersfield & Springfield”

Riding a “Century” AKA 100 miles in one go, had been a goal of mine for some time. With all the riding I’ve done this summer and all the more riding I had to do for this project, it appeared that I had both the fitness and ample opportunity to do just that. However, itContinue reading “Ride 11: Milton, Georgia, St. Albans Town, St. Albans City, Swanton, Alburgh, Isle La Motte, North Hero, Grand Isle & South Hero”

I had spied a good day on the weather calendar the other weekend, and I got it into my head that I wanted to do a 251 ride on that day, so I took off a few hours on a Wednesday afternoon and made it happen. Consequently, it needed to be relatively short and relativelyContinue reading “Ride 10: Bethel, Randolph, Brookfield, Roxbury & Braintree”

Labor Day weekend arrived and it both came out of no where and couldn’t come soon enough. I was certainly ready for a break and seeing as how COVID has seemed to distort time, let’s just say I was happy to see the calendar advance. For the first part of the weekend, we joined aContinue reading “Ride 9: Fairfield, Bakersfield, Enosburgh, Richford, Berkshire, Franklin, Highgate & Sheldon”

With the summer quickly fading away, I decided to make my first visit out of state since the winter. Some of my family was gathering in the Berkshires where I grew up. So I got tested and headed south, but on the way, figured I may as well do another 251 ride, so took aContinue reading “Ride 8: Brattleboro, Vernon, Guilford, Halifax, Marlboro, Newfane, Brookline & Dummerston”

The Salsa has certainly given me some good miles this summer, so it’s currently in the shop getting some TLC from the fine folks at Bootlegger Bikes. That doesn’t mean 251 rides stop though! I looked through my map and found a route that was lighter on the dirt so it could be more easilyContinue reading “Ride 7: Williston, South Burlington, Shelburne & St. George”

For the next 251 ride the pendulum swung back to the group-ride side of things, and swung pretty far that way. Thanks to some amazing biking friends I was encouraged to sign up for the Peacham Fall Fondo which was due to happen this autumn. More on the details of that later, but unfortunately theContinue reading “Ride 6: Peacham, Groton, Ryegate, Barnet & Danville”

Having taken last weekend off from 251 rides, I was excited to get going on this one. It was also the beginning of a week off from work, so I was especially ready to be on my bike for a while. In choosing which ride to do, I wanted to check off a southern oneContinue reading “Ride 5: Weston, Andover, Windham, Townshend, Jamaica, Londonderry, Winhall, Peru & Landgrove”