Rooted Vermont

In early August, I participated in Rooted Vermont, a 48 mile gravel bike race in northern Vermont. It was a meaningful weekend for me on several levels. First, as you may recall from a post last year, during my last organized gravel event, I bonked after 60 miles, and had to call it quits. Needless to say, I went into this race, at 48 miles and 4,000 feet of climbing, with some trepidation.

But just as important, this race took place in a part of Vermont very near to where my mom retired. My mom passed away 20 years ago last month (she never knew 9/11), and we hadn’t been back to the area since then. When I signed up for this race, I didn’t really think about being back to my mom’s old haunts. But when we got there, emotions flowed like a rushing creek.

I had forgotten how beautiful northern Vermont is. And how green! Living in the high desert, we don’t see lushness like this. It is stunning.

This was the third time I had registered for Rooted, but the first time I actually attended. In 2019, I had a scheduling conflict. Last year, Covid interfered. This time, I had no excuses!

We drove over 5 hours from Maine to Stowe, with Toto the trailer and Piper, to an idyllic campground. The weather was perfect; clear blue skies, not too hot, low humidity. Just what I look for in race day weather. The problem was that this was Friday, and the race wasn’t until Sunday, and the forecast for race day wasn’t quite so promising!

As we approached our destination, we passed a roadside ice cream stand that featured Maple Creemees. What, you ask, are those? They are a Vermont specialty, essentially soft served ice cream flavored with natural, local maple syrup. I’m not a soft serve kind of guy, but somehow, these were richer, tastier and far more decadent than your typical DQ scoop. I was hooked!

Gail, Piper and I attended the Friday night welcome party, where we feasted on delicious tacos and complimentary beer, courtesy of one of the event sponsors, Lawson’s Finest. There were lots of dirty legs.

We awoke Saturday to another gorgeous day. We took advantage, and explored, first (of course), a local coffee roaster located next to the Green Mountain Club’s headquarters. The GMC is an organization primarily focused on maintaining and protecting the 272 mile Long Trail, that stretches from the Canadian border in the north, to the Massachusetts border in the south, passing through some of the most stunning parts of a stunning state.

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We then set off for an easy bike ride from the Village of Stowe to the resort, a short but steep ride to a ski area that has changed a lot since we regularly visited in the ’80’s and ’90’s. Among other “improvements” (ahem), the single chairlift was replaced with a modern chairlift, and what used to be the sleepy side of the resort, Spruce Peak, has experienced serious development, including new condos, hotels and a gondola that connects Spruce with the Mount Mansfield Base. I wonder if the old chairlift blankets are still offered on cold and windy days?

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On Sunday, race day, the weather looked iffy, at best. It was mid-50’s, and cloudy, and rain was in the forecast, but not until 2 that afternoon. Our category (the Little Sip) was scheduled to start at 8:30 am, which gave me around 5 hours to complete (given that I anticipated having to stop at several aid stations for refueling and nature breaks). That means I had to average roughly 10 miles per hour to be safe. Ordinarily, that would be a breeze on pavement. But this race was largely on dirt roads and some single track, with lots of climbs, so for me, I thought 10 mph was a realistic target.

The start was cool, dry and festive. People were anxious, but happy.

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The ride started with a serious climb, around 2 miles from the start, as you can see in the topo map above. My friend, Dennis, pictured above on the right, is faster than I, and as we reached that first climb, I was eating his dirt. Part way up the climb, I connected with Katrina, who rode at a similar pace as I, so we decided to stick together, and frankly, she deserves a lot of credit for pulling me through. We knew a bunch of people in common, and ironically for a coffee snob like me, Katrina owns two cafes in the Stowe area. We had lots to talk about, so we chatted the entire rest of the ride, which proved a valuable distraction, and before we knew it, we were headed for home, a full hour ahead of my target time. Thanks, Katrina, for getting me through.

I was thrilled to see Gail and Piper at the finish to welcome me back; and we feasted on post-race delicacies and, of course, another Maple Creemee!

Beyond feeling a tremendous sense of accomplishment, what I loved most about the event was the people I met. We all shared a sense of community and common goal that was worth all the effort. It’s been a long time since I’ve seen so many dirty legs and smiles in one place. I can’t wait for the next one which, coincidentally, happens this weekend at Rebecca’s Private Idaho, where Gail and I will both be participating in and around beautiful Sun Valley, Idaho.

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Keep moving, stay safe, have fun!