Thursday, October 22, 2015

SaturdayBike on the Lamoille Valley Rail Trail

RIDE IS ON!!! See you there!!!!

Saturday, October 24, 2015

Since this week's Thursday ride was cancelled because of damp cold and wet fog (first cancellation of the season!) it is worth taking advantage of a good weather day to do another adventure. About 10 days ago, Dave and Connie organized a trip over to St. Johnsbury, VT to ride on the newly completed Lamoille Valley Rail Trail (opened officially at the end of September). It is about 17 miles of trail from St. Johnsbury to Danville, ending alongside Joe's Pond. It is part of a project that is patching together pieces of the rail route to establish the longest continuous rail trail in New England, stretching about 100 miles form S.t Johnsbury to St. Albans.

The surface is hard packed smooth stone dust. There are tunnels and bridges, lots of forest and good views of the Vermont hillsides. There is a good general store in Danville for hot soup, coffee and lunch.  When we did the trail there were many bikers, pedestrians, dog walkers, and two horses out enjoying the trail. The weather forecast is sunny and 53 degrees. Nice for late October!

The surface is fine for all bikes. A mountain bike is overkill. The only occasional surface issues I saw were at some of the road crossings, the interface between the trail and the road was not always perfectly aligned. The trail climbs gradually all the way to Danville. It is a hardly noticeable climb. The downhill trip back, however, is a hoot! It is certainly the easiest, flattest way to travel east-west across any part of Vermont!! Thank you to the railroad designers and engineers!

Check out the website: www.lvrt.org

Time:  Ready to ride at the Lamoille Valley Rail Trailhead at 10:30 am.

Carpool? If you like, meet at Attitash parking lot, far end away from the lifts, at 9:00 am to carpool., otherwise, meet at the trailhead in St Johnsbury.

Directions:

Take Route 302 over Crawford Notch towards Bethlehem and get onto Route 93 north into Vermont. At the Route 91 interchange, go north on 91. Take the first exit, Route 5, then take a right at the end of the ramp and go a short distance, noticing the sign for the bike path on the right. It is called Railroad Street or Main Street depending on map. Take the right and then immediate right again down a short steep slope into the trailhead parking lot. The map app says it is a 1 hour 15 minutes drive.

Bring snacks and lunch or stop at the General store in Danville.

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