Bos/treal Day 4: Middlebury to Burlington

55.4 miles, 2500 feet elevation

Today’s Route: Brandbury State Park-Middlebury-Vergennes-Charlotte-Shelburne-South Burlington-Burlington.

We awoke at our campsite on Lake Dunmore to dry, but overcast skies, with a plan to reach Burlington by day’s end. Much of our ride followed the Champlain Bikeway, which was launched in 2000 and covers over 1,300 miles of interconnected routes, including a primary 363-mile loop around Lake Champlain. Today’s stretch was mostly low traffic scenic roads through dairy and horse farms.

I started by attempting part of the off-road portion on the Trail Around Middlebury (TAM), but found it too technical, with steep patches of explosed roots and rocks, so I quickly bailed on that adventure and headed back to the safety of normal asphalt, and the comforting cafes of Middlebury--because every epic ride deserves a good latte, especially in a commodious adirondack chair facing Middlebury Falls.

After our rest stop the sun emerged, and there was a 10+ mile stretch of gently rolling roads, very few cars, that ended up in Vergennes. This was one of my favorite portions of Vermont, with smooth roads and beautiful views on Morgan Horse Farm rd, a crossing of Otter Creek, and then a long stretch of farm land and mountain views on Pearson road and Green Street, capped by an exhilerating downhill into Vergennes.

We had lunch in Vergennes in a gazebo in the City Green, where Mark, Paul, and Monty were enjoying the vibes:

Vergennes is an unusual name for a Vermont town, and I found out some interesting facts about it. It's the oldest and smallest city in Vermont, and was named after Charles Gravier, Comte de Vergennes, the French Foreign Minister who supported the American Revolution. Like a lot of Vermont towns on rivers, Vergennes harnessed Otter Creek to power mills, and was instrumental in winning the War of 1812, because it's shipyard built the USS Saratoga. Who knew this quaint little city had such a big impact?

Beyond Vergennes, we rolled north into the outskirts of Burlington, and in Sherburne hit a stretch that was described on our riding cue sheet as "Danger! Steep hill - legs might fall off." It wasn't the most fun in the world, but it did give us a good excuse to celebrate at the top with some high fives and goofy poses:

From there we made our way into Burlington via the Island Line Trail, and enjoyed views of Lake Champlain, capped off by a brisk swim in some pretty cold water.

A group of us then Ubered to dinner at the Istanbul Kebab House on Church street, where the owners saw our very large group and decided to open up the roof for us. We feasted on mezze platters, lavash bread, and kebabs, celebrating the day's ride and the fact that our legs were still attached. Tomorrow: Montreal!