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- Sam Crosses Vermont (Barely)
Welcome to the Bike Bulletin. It’s the newsletter that brings the open road to your inbox.
I’m out west this week visiting an old friend and attending Red Bull Rampage in Utah. It’s a freeride mountain bike event where the best of the best huck themselves off of cliffs in a way that should only be reserved for Buzz Lightyear.
—Sam Westby @samcwestby
This is a weekly newsletter about bike trips, urban cycling, and a love for two-wheeled transit. The more time you spend on a bike, the better.
RIDE REPORT
Sam Rides the VTXL
Last weekend, my friend Talmage and I took on the VTXL. It was my 3rd attempt to complete the 300 mile gravel route from the top of Vermont to the bottom. Why 3rd? Because it’s hard, the weather can be unpredictable, and I usually have a time crunch. We budgeted riding 4 days from Friday to Monday.
Things started out okay. This is a one-way route which means we left our car at the bottom of the state and got ourselves and our bikes to the top. How? Some people pay for a ride. Others take a bus to Burlington and add 60 miles of riding. We took a one-way U-Haul. We rented it at the bottom of Vermont and dropped it off in Colebrook, New Hampshire 6 miles from the start.
Things started to fall apart in those 6 miles, literally. Talmage’s pedal stripped out of the crankarm and we needed to call a bike shop’s emergency number. Thankfully he was available. The mechanic drove out to us, took Talmage’s Cannondale back to his shop, swapped the cranks, and 3.5 hours later we were back on the road.
Slow start.
Fall peaked early this year in New England. When Talmage and I (unsuccessfully) attempted this route the same weekend last year, tree colors were popping. This year, most of the leaves up north had fallen. Why? Drought and cold.
Night 1 got down to below freezing. We came prepared and stayed warm enough, but it’s an extra challenge that we had to manage. Things warmed up over the weekend as we traveled farther south.
You’d think our bad luck was over. Nope!
10 miles into Day 2, I saw something fly off of Talmage’s drivetrain and he skidded to a stop. His derailleur cage exploded. Massive watts? A loose screw? We weren’t sure. All we knew is we needed another bike mechanic.
As we’re standing around looking confused, a man named Silas pulled up in a red pickup truck and asks us if we need any help. Ya, we need a lot of help. He ended up giving us a ride to the closest bike shop 15 miles backwards on the route. Our plan was to hitchhike back to where we broke down. We were getting nervous we wouldn’t finish by Monday night.
Silas had to get to his daughter’s soccer game, and on the way to the bike shop he said he had a great idea.
His wife was at the soccer game with another car
His house was only a mile from where we broke down
We should drop him off at the game and drive his truck back to his house when the bike gets fixed
That’s exactly what we did. I dropped Silas off at his daughter’s soccer game and went back to the bike shop to wait with Talmage. After a couple hours, Talmage’s bike was functional again. We drove Silas’s truck back to his house, left the keys under the visor, and continued on our merry way. What a guy!!
We had a bunch of positive encounters with Vermonters this weekend and were able to finish in 4 days.
WHAT I’M WATCHING
Utah Bikepacking Adventure
Mick and Danielle designed their own bikepacking route across Utah. It’s a well-made video that made me feel like I was riding with them.
Watch on YouTube
A Note From Sam
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