David Shedd, the Senior Editor of EasternSlopes.com is a bike nut. He regularly pedals 40 miles in the rain before breakfast on work days. For fun, he races, sometimes for 12 hours on a mountain bike, sometimes up the Mount Washington Auto Road in New Hampshire.
Most of us will never be that fanatic, but ordinary mortals can have a lot of fun riding a bike and do both the world and ourselves some good. Once upon a May weekend, before Memorial Day (off-season and therefore cheaper . . .), my sweetheart Marilyn and I parked our car on Friday night, never saw it again until Monday afternoon. We spent our days exploring the beautiful, flower-filled countryside of Vermont’s lower Champlain Valley on our Burley tandem bicycle.
We used a service called Country Inns Along The Trail. With one phone call and a couple of emails, we designed exactly the trip we wanted: three nights in three different inns, with about 20 to 25 miles of biking between inns each day. Each inn provided dinner and breakfast, and Country Inns Along The Trail made the reservations, planned a daily route, provided maps and directions, and moved our luggage for us.
We started in beautiful Middlebury, Vermont with an exceptional dinner followed by a peaceful overnight, then a hearty breakfast at the casual-yet-elegant Swift House Inn. Though we were sorely tempted to linger there in quiet luxury, we instead jumped on the bike, pedaled out of Middlebury, promptly missed a turn on the map (my fault, not the map’s) and took a roundabout 30-mile ride through the rolling green Vermont countryside to our next stop in Shoreham. We’d originally planned an easy 20-mile day . . .
A note on maps and route finding: missing a turn is annoying in a car but on a bike it can make the difference between an easy day and a challenging one. Pay attention! We were lucky; my miscue took us through some delightful countryside, and we ended the day only 10-miles more tired than we had planned — nothing Ibuprofen, a great meal and a good night’s sleep in a comfortable bed couldn’t fix.
The Shoreham Inn is down-home, super friendly, popular with locals and visitors alike, and really geared (pardon the pun) to cyclists. Our hosts, Dominic and Molly, were friendly and welcoming, the room was clean, comfortable and quiet, and the food was hearty and absolutely delicious – perfect for fueling heavy exercise.
On our second day, we started off pedaling in the morning sunshine, rode three miles to Lake Champlain where a cable ferry could have taken us across to the restored Fort Ticonderoga in New York . We took a look at the wind-whipped choppy water and the building clouds to the west and decided to forego the fort and make haste to our next inn. By the time we reached the town of Orwell, it was pouring. We continued in a downpour along the mostly-flat road (inches from being closed by flooding–we were the last vehicle that made it through) along Otter Creek to the town of Brandon and the warm, and very welcome Lilac Inn, another friendly, casual-elegant, romantic stopover. When we arrived, they treated us like honored guests despite our drowned-rat appearance. We stripped off our soaked raingear in the foyer and they threw it in the dryer for us as we headed upstairs for a shower (hot this time . . .) We enjoyed another great dinner, another comfortable bed, and another lavish breakfast to pedal on.
Instead of taking the “pre-planned” route back to Middlebury, we explored gravel roads on our fat-tire tandem, reveled in the dry weather and lush scenery at the peak of lilac season.
Over the three days, we biked about 75 miles of quiet roads in beautiful settings, burned several thousand calories each, significantly improved our leg strength and cardio capacity, and felt like we’d done something worthwhile. We ate heartily, slept well, and, even in the rain, enjoyed every minute.
You could do it, too. Just get on a bike and go. Life isn’t a spectator sport. Get out pedaling in the rain and enjoy!
Bike Tour Central
Vermont is bike-tour central especially around Lake Champlain where the rolling terrain makes for ideal riding. Yes, there are some hills to huff-and-puff up, but that means there are also some hills to coast (Wheeee!!!) down. Coasting on a tandem is a lot of fun.
Lots of individual inns, including the three we visited, offer biking packages. You stay in one place, explore the countryside by bike. But there’s always the danger of getting too comfortable (especially if the weather’s less than perfect) and doing more relaxing that biking.
We wanted the built-in challenge of having to get from one inn to the next each day. Because we were new to tandeming on this trip, we wanted to bike alone, at our own pace and the self-guided trips designed by Country Inns Along the Trail let us do that without having to worry about our luggage or reservations. They also provides detailed maps which included lots of side trips and points of interest along the routes. They’ll even rent you a bike if you need one. Their service was impeccable.
If you are just getting started in bicycle touring, you might want to check out the (more expensive) guided full-service trips, where your group is accompanied by a tour guide who will fix a flat tire for you and a “sag wagon” to pick you up if you poop out. Google “Inn to Inn Biking Vermont” and “Vermont Bike Tours” for a complete listing. There’s also a good resource at www.vermontvacation.com, the site for the state tourism board.
Fuel Stops
You are your bike’s engine, and any engine needs fuel. A gourmet dinner and hearty breakfast were part of the package at the inns we stayed in, which left us on our own for lunches. The first day, where there were no restaurants along our (planned) route, we carried sandwiches from Middlebury Bagel & Deli. With our long detour, they turned out to be lifesavers.
In Orwell, we ducked into a little cafe called Made in Vermont to get out of the rain and found a genuine local haven with good food and friendly people who welcomed a couple of oddly dressed, dripping-wet stangers.
Biking Comfortably
Biking in the rain requires good raingear. Otherwise you are wet, cold and miserable.
Staying hydrated is critical when you’re biking. We used small hydration packs instead of water bottles, which we found more convenient. The packs also held snacks and additional clothing.
Bike seats take some getting used to. Before you take a trip like this, be sure to get in a few rides to strengthen you legs and toughen your butt. Carry a small tool kit with you to make seat-position adjustments as you ride.