Windsock 100

 

Strava Jeff, inspired by a Velocity Cycling Club ride he'd heard about, came up with the idea of a day-long, all-asphalt ride around the edges of the Edmonton, visiting as many small airports as possible. He pitched it as a kind of Airports Gran Fondo, with a randonee component, where we'd take pics of ourselves and/or our bikes at each of the airports en route.

But seeing as how it was just him and me doing the thing, the "Gran Fondo" name seemed a bit of a reach. So we re-branded, as they say, and called this ride the Airports Century: 100 miles and 5 small airports to the north, east, and south of the city. By the time we finished, however, we'd come up with yet another name for this endeavor: the Windsock 100.   

Goldy

I've heard and seen pictures of winter bicycle-tire chains modelled on the style used on car and truck tires, but I'd never actually seen one in person until I visited Green Mountain Bikes in Rochester, Vermont. (This is a gem of a shop, by the way, a cool, eccentric space full of small wonders, including some fine bicycle poetry. It's one of those rare bike shops you just want to hang out in forever.)

On a neglected shelf in a corner of one of the many small rooms, I found this beauty: a gold-metal, wrap-over grip strip, designed to fit over a bicycle tire (mountain-bike tire, I think). Essentially, it's an ingenious tire-chain-like get up that is installed in one go, over a removed tire. Does it work? I have no idea.  

Judging by the dusty packaging, I'm guessing old goldy here has been on that shelf for many moons. I thought of buying it as a souvenir, stuffing into my already full pannier, but, in he end, I decided to leave it on that dusty shelf, for someone else to find. 

Maple State

Okay, Vermont, enough already about your maple everything.

I get that you have a lot invested in this, that your whole maple-identity is a lucrative business. I know that you are the United States’ leading producer of maple syrup, generating over 2 million gallons of the stuff in 2016, accounting for 47% of the entire nation’s output. I get that it’s a big deal.

But the proliferation of maple “products” I saw in Vermont was just silly.

Vermont Bike Ferry

The Island Line Trail, a popular 14-mile cycling path which runs from Burlington, Vermont, to South Hero Island, Vermont, is missing something—200 feet, to be exact.

Old Brick Store

Quarter past a boot. Tractor o’clock. Ten to the hammer.

I can’t help it. The huge clock on the exterior wall of the Old Brick Store in Charlotte, VT, invites such cornball jokes. And the grand old building invites visitors to step inside, and into a charming mixture of past and present.

Green July

About a month ago, when Val and Tando said, “Hey, let’s go ride our bikes around Vermont for 10 days,” I immediately thought of Danny Kaye and Bing Crosby in the 1954 classic film White Christmas, part of which takes place in the fictional resort of Pine Tree, Vermont. Kaye’s character says, in response to Vera-Ellen’s invitation to join her and her sister for a winter adventure, and again later trying to convince Bing’s character to go along, “Vermont should be beautiful this time of the year, with all that snow.” The only difference, in my case, was the last part of my response. “Vermont should be beautiful this time of the year,” I told the fellas. “All that . . . green.” 

Solar Shields

At first, I told myself I’d only wear them while cycling. They were, after all, ridiculous—cheap, oversized, drugstore sunglasses, the kind with side-wraps. The kind you see being worn only by old, cane-wielding  men in the park. The kind that fit over your actual glasses. They cost $25, my Solar Shields.

Dusty 100 2017 Report

A big, dusty shout out to the 15 riders who rolled up to the start line on Sunday for the third annual Dusty 100 Gravel Challenge. We had a little bit of everything: racing bikes, mountain bikes, fat bikes, a single speed, aero bars, a skin suit, a floor pump lashed to a top tube, and a thumping bass line from the campground down the road. And, of course, a solitary bugle.

The gravel gods must have liked the bugle call, because they definitely smiled on us: perfect weather and better gravel-road conditions than anticipated made for a stellar day on the quiet, scenic roads of Smoky Lake County.

A Few More Dusty 100 Notes

This rain today may actually be a good thing for Sunday's ride; a little precipitation (the key word being little) may well firm up some of those soft gravel sections on the Dusty 100 route. 

A couple of route notes. We had a question about why we're not using the Iron Horse Trail that runs parallel to our route between Smoky Lake and Waskatenau. That's a fair question. Fact is, the first year of the Dusty 100 we tried the Iron Horse Trail, but it was so horrendous--we're talking 6-inch-deep river rock and baby heads--that most of us bailed and went over to the road. (Val stuck it out on his fatty, but he paid for it. He was vibrating for days.) 

But we're going to allow the Iron Horse as an option; it's a little bit longer than taking the road, but certainly more scenic than the infamous Warspite Mind Warp Zone. I've included the turn off for the Iron Horse on the cue sheet.

Also, Aaron kindly sent a link for a turn-by-turn GPS file:https://ridewithgps.com/routes/21742703


We ride regardless of weather. 9 am start. The bugle waits for no one.