Short and Sweet

Riders: MB and Bill

Miles: 65

We didn't ride too far on Sunday but the riding we did get in was good. We stopped at P&H for a quick breakfast again before trailering up to Groton. The trails were a little beat from Saturday but still in decent condition. We rode up through the hills of Topsham and out towards Barre before heading back. Hope the trails can take the warm up they are forecasting.

Ride on!

Sunshine, Freshly Groomed Trails, Whiteout

Riders: MB, Bill, Gregg

Miles: 162

Gregg's fire damaged sled is still in the shop but he got the dealer to give him a loaner Nitro so he made it out on the trails with us on Saturday. We got over 2' of snow over the past couple of weeks and nobody got out and broke in our feeder trail so we ended up trailering up to Groton to ride.

We had a quick bite at P&H and then met Gregg up at the heights. The weather was perfect and the trails were groomed out and covered. We hit a stretch of trail that was freshly groomed and we all took turns making first tracks. It was sweet.

We rode out of Groton, through Peacham, hit Marty's in Danville, rode up through Burke and got to the outskirts of Island Pond before heading back. We stopped at Marty's on the way home to get some lunch and steaks for dinner.

By the time we were coming back through Peacham it started snowing really hard and it was dark so it was hard to see. There were almost whiteout conditions and it was slow going but we all made it back safely. WooHooo!

We loaded up Gregg's rental sled on the trailer and left our sleds at his house while we drove down to Lucky's in a blizzard to pick up Gregg's sled and drove off the rental. We probably only got up to 45 mph on 89 because the snow was coming down so fast.

The trails are getting better and better. It's shaping up to be a decent season.

Ride on!

Conditions Improving

Riders: MB, Bill and Tate

Miles: 70

We rode out of base camp again on Saturday. We only got about 6-8" since the last time we were up. We still don't have nearly as much snow in Vermont as there is in Boston but the conditions are improving. It's nice not having to waste time trailering the sleds down the road. We usually try to get out early but we planned a later start because Tate had to get his hand warmers fixed even though he really didn't need them.

Bill and I had a quick breakfast at P&H and by the time we got back and got geared up Tate was ready to go. Going through the open fields was a little bit of a challenge for me but once we got on the groomed VAST trails it was pretty decent riding. Very few surprises in the trail and hardly any ski chatter or ice. Up in the higher elevations the conditions were actually good. We took the route 5 trail into Topsham, Corinth, stopped at the radio tower and headed back around through Groton. The railroad bed down to the Grill was probably the worst part of the ride because it was bumped up from all the traffic.

When we got out in the morning the sky was blue and the temps were warm (upper 20s/low 30s) but on the way back it was a whiteout with snow coming down in steady sheets. The snow was coming down so haard it was difficult to keep my shield clear.

Let's hope the next big storm goes far enough north so we can keep improving the trail conditions.

I'm happy to say it was another good ride without incident. WooHooo! We're on a roll now.

Ride from Base Camp

Riders: MB, Bill, Tate

Miles: 97

About 5 years ago we got stuck on our access trail where a small bridge got washed out and we have been trailering our sleds down the road ever since. This weekend our neighbor, Tate, showed us how to access the new trail so we were able to ride right out of our base camp. It was only 10 miles from the camp to the main trails at CA 1. It wasn't a bad ride through the woods but there were a few fields we had to get through that were ungroomed and tough to navigate.

The conditions weren't great. There wasn't much coverage in most areas and there was lots of ski chatter and icy spots. We rode through Groton, into Cabot (why??), then into Danville. We stopped at Marty's to have some lunch and pick up steaks for dinner.

The ride back was sloppy and slushy but any day of riding is good riding, well, unless there's a fire or something. ;)

Still waiting for some good snow in the North East Kingdom.

Still waiting for good conditions.

Missed Photo Op

This was the first picture I took after I forced Gregg off the trail to tell him he was about to go up in flames.

When I was telling Shannon about what happened she said she was surprised I didn't have any pictures of the actual fire. I told her I was tempted to grab my camera first but thought Gregg would appreciate it if I helped put the fire out before snapping pictures. Of course, as soon as the flames were out I pulled out the camera and got pictures of the aftermath. I hope I won't have another opportunity to get those kinds of photos.