Left from Newfane on Route 30 heading north at about 12:30pm Friday. It was just too gorgeous a day not to go for a good long ride, sunny and about 80F or so. Just right for the leather jacket as long as I could keep all the vents open. Fortunately around these parts I dont have to worry about sitting in traffic waiting for a some light for 20 minutes at a whack!!
Took off up through the next village of Townsend where I split off to the right on 35 for about 5 miles or so. Like Route 30, I cant say much about it just the road I have to take to get most anywhere else. Route 30 does have a couple of nice twists and S curves, and only a few driveways to concern yourself with darters, just pass the town green if you are heading north but being the more or less main road you will rarely have to yourself to play on.
My first fun road is the Grafton Road that amazingly will lead in to the bustling burg of, you guessed it, GRAFTON!!! Famous for the Vt Cheddar Cheese factory there and thats bout it but again the getting there is so much the point of the journey. Not the smoothest of tarmac you will find but at leastly mildly entertaining. Not overly technical but mostly empty and should put a smile on your face. A pastoral brook paces you on the right and some scenic hills to glance at on the left. Stone walls are a common occurence if you forgot you were in the middle of New England.
Coming to a less than perfect halt at the stop sign ( the first stoplight on this little trip wont occur for about 35 miles and it was green!!!!) ie not the picture perfect pause and go. Oh well, there shall be more chances. Across the road from the front tire is the very common combination post office and town hall. Hanging a right and passing the General store, its only a a couple tenths of a mile to the roughly 125 degree left turn onto 121. Now if the Grafton Road was say a 5 of 10 for fun, then 121 is probably a 6.5-7 but there is a price!! Crank up that preload before you head up here, there are a couple of really nasty spots ahead. I guess I should qualify my technical scale a bit by stating that from the pics and vids I've seen of roads like the Dragon, on my scale of 1-10 those places are probably somewhere in the 11-12 range. In other words, you want me at the back of the pack, so you can scrape that peg and not have to watch my poor attempt to ride that racing line hard. The Z4's have certainly helped my confidence inthe bikes abilities, its mine that need some work!!!! Man the practice is fun tho!!!
The last quarter mile or so on 121 is my favortite part for its S curves and the log cabin there that is on my dream house list except for its proximity to the road. This brings us into the town of Chester. Straight through the stoplight-less intersection of 103 runs up into the 'burbs of Chester, aptly named for the old railway that runs through it is Chester Depot. Could have turned left onto 103 and ended up in the same place but chose this direction because of the Stone Village. Stone Village is a series of houses and one incredibly beautiful church with amazing native stonework. I really have to learn to stop and get out the camera.
Next town on the road is Ludlow, the first stoplight on this little odyssey. For those not familiar with the area, Ludlow is the home of the ski resort Okemo. So the place is lousy with flatlanders of every stripe (you know who you are!!
) even in the summer b/c of golf. So much worse in the winter though. Now we are heading into an the relative unkown. I dont think I have been out this way in many many years. I have a good idea where I;m heading to just not sure what is really b/w here and there. Staying on the 103 for the next half hour so is mostly changes in elevation and nothing to exciting in term of getting to lean the bike over at all. Often at the top a good incline you are rewarded with a valley vista off to one side or the other for your trouble. Now about and hour and a half from the start, Rutland is looming on the horizon. Merging onto 7B then 7 itself takes you down the strip mall that is this piece of Route 7. But this is a semi-nostalgical side trip for me as I havent been through this part of VT in probably 15 years or more. Rutland is about an hour from where I grew up and was (may still be) the site of one of only two honest to god malls w/i HOURS and I'm talking almost 3 hours, at least the way my dad drove!! Lots of new development and heading into the downtown area (big mistake HUGE) it was good to see the city thriving but still feeling like Vermont was in its soul.
To be Continued....
