Vermont Sports, June 2015

THE DOC'S GUIDE TO KNEE PAIN

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THE BIKE ISSUE Mondo Fondo Fun E 9 Great Gaps to Conquer E VT’s Genius Bike Builders E Why Unicycle?

E

Riders on VT's Inaugural Gran Fondo Gapfest

10

GREAT FATHER'S DAY GIFTS

THE TOTALLY SICK

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SPORTS NEW ENGLAND’S OUTDOOR MAGAZINE

PUBLISHER Angelo Lynn C publisher@vtsports.com EDITOR Lisa Lynn C editor@vtsports.com STAFF WRITER Evan Johnson C evan@vtsports.com ART DIRECTION & PRODUCTION Shawn Braley C braley@gmail.com ADVERTISING MANAGER Christy Lynn C ads@vtsports.com ADVERTISING SALES Greg Meulemans C greg@vtsports.com | (802) 366-0689 Dave Honeywell | (802) 583-4653 C dave_golfhouse@madriver.com READER ATHLETE EDITOR Phyl Newbeck C phyl@together.net MEDICAL ADVISORY BOARD Dr. Nathan Endres, Dr. David Lisle, Dr. James Slauterbeck —University of Vermont College of Medicine; Orthopaedics and Rehabilitation CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS Gary Kessler, Paul Coffin, John Suhar, Phil Keyes, Debbie Thomas, Sharon McQuarrie-Krampitz

Riders on the Vermont Gran Fondo head off to conquer four gaps, climbing more than 10,000 feet and conquering 103 miles.

Photo by Bob Crowley

FEATURES

EDITORIAL AND PRODUCTION OFFICE Vermont Sports | 58 Maple Street Middlebury, Vt. 05753 | 802-388-4944 We welcome unsolicited material but cannot guarantee its safe return. Materials submitted will become property of Vermont Sports.

Vermont Sports is independently owned and operated by Addison Press Inc., 58 Maple Street, Middlebury, Vt. 05753. It is published 10 times per year. Established in 1990.

Vermont Sports subscriptions in the U.S.: one year $25. Canada: US funds, please add $5 per year postage. Other international subscriptions, please call 802-388-4944 for information. POSTMASTER: Please send address changes to Vermont Sports, 58 Maple Street, Middlebury, Vt. 05753 LIKE US ON FACEBOOK! www.facebook.com/VermontSportsMagazine

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THE ENDURANCE SOCIETY WANTS (TO BREAK) YOU This May, Vermont hosted a totally sick 888-kilometer trail race. This June, something even tougher is planned. P. 14

TOWN & COUNTRY BIKES In Burlington, two renegade, well-educated bike builders are redefining how we use bikes. P. 16

MOUNTAINS ARE CALLING See the state, test your legs and check off Vermont's toughest gap rides with one of these fondos. P. 22

Ski Vermont

The Green Mountain Club

5 THE START The Secret to Happiness

7 HEALTH & NUTRITION

A Doc's Guide to Knee pain 9 SPEAK UP Safer Bike Routes

10 GREAT OUTDOORS Camp on the Connecticut

12 NEWS

28 GEAR 10 Great Father's Day Gifts

36 READER ATHLETE

Unicyclist Keith Epstein

MIND THESE GAPS The cyclists’ guide to Vermont's toughest hill climbs, with route descriptions, elevations and mileage. P. 24 ON THE COVER: Riders head for the hills on the 2014 inaugural Vermont Gran Fondo Ride. Cover photo by Bob Crowley

JUNEFESTS! Cows, bikes and yogis, oh my! Don't miss these three June festivals. P. 30

JUNE 2015

DEPARTMENTS

37

CALENDAR

42 ENDGAME

Bill McKibben Goes Elliptical

ADVERTISERS! The deadline for the July issue of Vermont Sports is June 21.

Contact ads@vtsports.com today to reserve your space!

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JUNE 2015

THE START

THE SECRET TO HAPPINESS "The best moments in our lives are not the passive, receptive relaxing times...

The best moments usually occur if a person's mind or body is stretched to its limits in a voluntary effort to accomplish something difficult and worthwhile."

—Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

M

ihaly Csikszentmihalyi, father of the concept of ‘flow,’ would like this issue. A social theorist, psychology professor and author, Csikszentmihalyi posits that people are happiest when they are so totally immersed in an activity that nothing else seems to matter.

Perhaps that’s why people came to Vermont from around the country to do last month’s insanely grueling 888-kilo-

meter, 10-day Infinitus race in Goshen’s Moosamaloo Wilderness. As racer Will Bradley put it, “When do you get to spend 10 days with just you, your mind and your body running in the woods?”

Bradley forgot to mention blisters—or the mosquitoes, bobcat and bear that were out there with him.

But you can read more about that in “The Endurance Society Wants (to Break) You.”

That may also be why hundreds of cyclists have signed up for this June’s Vermont Gran Fondo, a chance to ride four of the toughest gaps in New England, back to back. As Andrew Gardner writes in “Mountains Are Calling,” about the inaugural 2014 event: “Some were comfortable with the 103 miles and the 10,000 feet of climbing. Others were…less comfortable.”

Here in Vermont we have made a specialty out of pursuing the “less comfortable.” In the next month alone, you can compete in a Tough Mudder obstacle race in Mount Snow, the infamous Death Race in Pittsfield, or a new Addison County event so secretive that we only know its name: Sine Nomine.

Vermont Sports has always celebrated the most serious and hard core of athletes, but with this issue (thanks to our dedicated advertisers, the biggest ever) we are also broadening our focus to include some new departments. The Great Outdoors provides an insider’s guide to accessing some of the most compelling wild spaces around the state. Speak Up is where we welcome and share readers’ opinions: in this issue Secretary of the Dept. of Transportation Sue Minter on the state’s safer bike routes. Endgame is a new column devoted to why we pursue the sports we do. Here, environmental activist and author Bill McKibben explains how he got hooked on riding an elliptical bike.

I’ve read Vermont Sports for years and admired the work of previous editors, Kate Carter, Sky Barsch and, most recently, my husband Angelo Lynn.

Though I have also had the chance to edit national magazines (Audubon, Bicycling, EatingWell and Ski), I can’t think of any publication that can so totally appeal to all my passions.

Most of all, Vermont Sports speaks to the reason I first moved to

Stowe 14 years ago. I was training for an Ironman triathlon at the time and I found in Vermont an amazing community of people who are constantly striving to find flow, to push themselves and to seek out the “less comfortable.”

And that, Csikszentmihalyi would argue, is the secret to happiness.

—Lisa Gosselin Lynn, Editor

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JUNE 2015

HEALTH & NUTRITION

Ask the Sports Doc:

CAUSE OF PAIN

FRONT OF KNEE

DR. NATHAN ENDRES

Increased pressure across the knee cap joint, which can lead to cartilage damage over time.

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Malalignment/maltracking of the knee cap joint which leads to uneven distribution of forces across the joint.

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Patella tendinitis/tendinopathy- tenderness, swelling directly over the patellar tendon.

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Y

ou feel great on the bike. So you go out on a hard ride. But when you come back, your knee is killing you. What’s happening? More than likely, you’ve gone out too hard, too early. In fact, the majority of overuse cycling injuries, nearly 70 percent according to one study, occur during preseason.

So what is an “overuse injury?” In cyclists, knee pain can be classified into two types: acute, traumatic injuries and overuse injuries. Overuse injuries are typically caused by repetitive and excessive loading of bones, joints and soft tissue structures around a joint, with the knee being the most common site.

Fortunately, most overuse injuries do not lead to significant structural damage and don’t require a lot of time off the bike, especially if the right diagnosis is made early on and the right treatment is started.

So how do you do that? Knee pain can be sorted by location. The usual sites of pain include the front of the knee (anterior), inside of the knee (medial) and outside of the knee (lateral).

The following chart shows the most common causes of knee pain in cyclists, how to treat them and when to

JUNE 2015

OUTSIDE OF KNEE

INSIDE OF KNEE

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“WHY DOES MY KNEE HURT WHEN I RIDE?”

RISK FACTORS

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Iliotibial Band Syndrome. The cause is not entirely known. It may be related to friction and irritation of the IT band when it rubs over the outside of the thigh bone as the knee bends and straightened. Or it may be related to compression of fatty tissue beneath the IT band or chronic inflammation.

Point tenderness is usually on the outside of the knee.

Biceps femoris tendinopathy. Common in professional cyclists. Causes pain on the outside and back of the knee. You can feel the tendon like a bowstring when your knee is bent.

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Pes Anserine Bursitis (where the hamstring tendons attach on the inside of the knee).

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Medial Plica Syndrome. The medial plica, a thickening of the knee joint capsule, is a remnant from early human development that is present in 30% of the population. With overuse the plica can thicken and become painful. It can lead to pain on the inside of the knee and a popping sensation.

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Hill climbing, riding in windy conditions, riding in high gears. Rapidly increasing mileage or intensity, time trialing.

Toes pointing inward.

No pedal float or worn cleats.

Seat too high.

Narrow bike stance, with your feet too close to each other.

Riding a fixed gear bike.

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Excess pedal float or no float Repetitive twisting out of pedals Seat height (plica—too low, pes anserine bursitis—too high).

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Restrict the intensity of rides and the stick to relatively flat terrain.

Ride with low resistance and cadence of around 90 rpms.

Strengthen quad and hip abductors (mainly gluteus medius and external rotators). A quad strength program can be helpful for treating patellar tendinopathy. Avoid repetitive, deep squats and stair training.

Hamstring, quad, calf stretches.

Light bracing, taping.

Use footbeds to correct flat feet.

Raise the seat.

Change cleat position.

For chronic patellar tendinitis/tendinopathy advanced treatment options include percutaneous needle tenotomy (PNT) and platelet rich plasma (PRP) injections.

Altering cleat position, widen stance by moving feet outward (adjusting your cleats or adding washers to the pedals).

Lowering the seat and getting in a more upright position by raising the handlebars and/or moving the seat forward.

Footbed shims can be used if one leg is longer than the other.

IT band stretches, foam roller, massage therapy.

Rarely, steroid injections.

Even more rarely, surgery for ITB syndrome.

Hamstring stretching and occasionally steroid injections.

Adjust seat height Rest, anti-inflammatory medicine Very rarely, surgery to remove the plica band Surgery for a meniscus tear is quite commonly performed if nonsurgical treatment fails

Medial meniscus tear: pain on joint line, swelling, painful clicking.

get checked out.

Your best bet is to prevent overuse from happening in the first place. Now is the time to make sure your bike is fitted right and equipment is dialed in. It may take quite a bit of tweaking and experimenting with different set ups to find the one that works best for you.

Make sure you have a good training program in place and that you’re not doing too much, too soon. It never hurts to see a trainer or physical therapist to learn a stretching and strengthening program.

If you experience pain, start with the easy things: rest, back-off on the intensity and/or length of rides, use ice and anti-inflammatory medication and get your equipment and bike fit checked by a professional.

If you still have pain after that and can’t get back to riding (especially if you have swelling and/or painful catching, clicking, or grinding in your knee), see a sports medicine specialist. At that point, an MRI might be helpful to get a better sense of what is going on.

Most importantly, listen to your body. If your knee is hurting, remember that’s your bike’s engine. Take care of it and treat it well.



TREATMENT

Hill climbing, riding in windy conditions, riding in high gears. Rapidly increasing mileage or intensity.

Cadence too slow.

Inflexible hamstrings and quadriceps.

Flat feet.

Seat too low or too far forward.

Cranks too long.

Hard sprinting.

Dr. Nathan Endres, is an orthopaedic surgeon at UVM Medical Center and an assistant professor at the University of Vermont College of Medicine.

He specializes in sports medicine and

sports-related trauma around the knee and shoulder. An avid alpine skier and member of the U.S. Ski Team Physician Pool, he treats many athletes and the athletically-minded

SPORTS NUTRITION NEWS Recovery, With a Large Fries Before you shell out big bucks for specially formulated “recovery” drinks or foods, consider this study published in the March 2015 issue of the International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism. Researchers at the University of Montana had athletes fast for four hours and then work out on a treadmill for 90 minutes. They then gave half the athletes typical recovery foods: energy bars, peanut butter, and Gatorade. They fed the other half a fast food diet of hamburgers, fries and a Coke. Both groups then rode 12 miles on a stationary bike. After repeating the experiment a week later and swapping the groups, the scientists found that blood and tissue samples taken from both groups showed that those on the ‘fast food’ diet actually had higher levels muscle glycogen—the fuel that feeds your muscles—than the other group. Insulin, cholesterol and triglyceride levels were the same for both groups and neither reported feeling better or worse for the fast food. —Lisa Lynn

VTSPORTS.COM 7

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Fun & entertaining lawn games Expanded site overlooking Otter Creek falls

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SPEAK UP

MAKING OUR ROADS SAFER Editor’s Note: This new column is devoted to reader paving and maintenance to make roads more bikeJay Newport ! letters and opinion pieces. This issue, we dedicate friendly. In our paving projects, we are increasing Saint !

Albans this to the memory of cyclists Kelly Boe and Richard the miles of roads with paved shoulders three feet ! £ £ € € Tom. On April 14, Weybridge’s Kelley Boe, age 55, wide or greater. And this spring we met our new £ € ! was struck by a drunk driver, a repeat DUI offender, goal of shoulder sweeping on all bicycle-priority !

Lyndonville ! ! and killed while riding on a road near his home routes before Memorial Day. Stowe !

Burlington ! £ € with his wife. Two weeks later, on Sunday, April 26, We are also working closely with the cycling £ € Waterbury Saint £ € Johnsbury Hinesburg’s Richard Tom, a long-time stalwart in community to prioritize our future on-road biMontpelier !

Barre Waitsfield the Burlington cycling community, was struck by a cycle investments through an innovative planning !

N £ € ! car going what some have estimated to be 60 to 100 process. This plan has already incorporated input £Middlebury € ! m.p.h. in a 40 m.p.h. zone. The driver, 17-year-old from more than 2100 users through a “Wikimap” ! ! !

Joseph Marshall was also killed Here, Sue Minter, collected via Strava data (see map at left) . We will ! ! £ € the Secretary of the Agency of Transportation, shares use that to help identify opportunities to improve £ € what the state is doing to improve bike safety. roads for cyclists on the highest-ranked (read most Level of Public Input from !

White !

Rutland River Crowd-Sourced £ €

trafficked) bicycle corridors in the state. (http:// Junction £ € Wiki Interactive Map vtransplanning.vermont.gov/bikeplan). ast month our cycling community experienced !

Level of Public Input ! Ludlow Our “Safe Routes to Schools” program parttwo successive tragedies that have deeply afStrong Input -­ 1.20 -­ 1.30 £ € ners with over 80 schools to help kids learn how fected us all. The news of each tragedy struck Moderate Input -­ 1.10 -­ 1.19 Springfield ! to ride safely and correctly. Our publications— me deeply and personally. As an avid cyclist and as Low Input -­ 1.01 -­ 1.09 No Input -­ 1.00 £ € Bicycle Commuter's Guide, Share the Road broVermont’s Secretary of Transportation, I share the £ € Source: VTrans On-­Road Bicycle Plan chure and Parent's Guide to Safe Bicycling—are collective mourning for these neighbors, and feel a Crowd-­Sourced Wikimap – 2015 ! distributed through DMV offices, bike shops and special responsibility to find ways to prevent future !

Bennington !

Brattleboro Vermont Agency of Transportation other venues. tragedies.

Policy, Planning & Intermodal Development Division Mapping Section

In addition, we fund Local Motion’s statewide

These were the first bicycle fatalities in Vermont May 2015 bicycle safety education and outreach to law enin many years. From 2005 to 2014, there was only forcement and driver education instructors, and one reported bicycle fatality involving a crash with a the development of website that is packed with information about bike safety: motor vehicle (2010). Nationally, there are about 700 cyclists killed each year. www.localmotion.org/education/safestreets.

It is not only cyclists who are vulnerable. In Vermont, 44 people died in highLast summer I spent a week with my bike on a way crashes last year, including five pedestrians. Across the nation, nearly 90 people lose their lives each day in highway crashes—and more than 250 are injured every solo exploration of Lake Champlain's highways and byways in Vermont and New York. I marveled at my hour—due to drunk driving, excessive speed, driver distractions and not wearing a great fortune to live in this beautiful part of the world, seatbelt.

As a leader in the Vermont Highway Safety Alliance, I am working to drive and pondered what more we could do to improve the down our highway crashes and to help save lives. In 2014 we saw the lowest num- cycling experience and opportunity in Vermont. This ber of fatalities on Vermont roads since before World War II. But this is not good year, I bike with fellow cyclists in my heart and on my mind. While we can never bring them back, we can ride enough; our goal is zero deaths. And it will take all of us focusing on safety when we are on the road—whether driving a car, riding a bike or taking a walk. I hope the in their honor. Please, focus on safety. tragedies of this spring lead us all to become safer drivers and riders.

—Sue Minter, Secretary of Transportation

At VTrans we are dedicated to the mission of making our roadways safer for all users. Significantly, we have also changed our policy around roadway-shoulder 105

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VTSPORTS.COM 9

THE GREAT OUTDOORS

CAMPING ON THE CONNECTICUT

By Evan Johnson

B

etween Springfield and Windsor sits Wilgus State Park, at 89 acres, one of the state’s smallest parks, tucked onto a quiet bank of the Connecticut River. Wilgus is great for a break on a paddling trip or an extended stay to explore the river and nearby attractions. Your host is Eric Hanson, a ranger who has worked at the park and lived onsite for the past 10 years and enjoys hiking, paddling and fishing almost every day. “Until the fish go away, I’m not going anywhere,” he says.

Reservations are required for all camping sites and when summer vacation starts, the small park quickly becomes fully booked with families, parties and Boy Scout Troops. Hanson says families typically take longer vacations in July and August, but to avoid the crowds he recommends camping midweek early in the season. It’s the first park in the state to open and doesn't close until after Columbus Day Weekend.

The park’s access to the Connecticut makes it easy to cool off on hot days.

Other swimming areas include Stoughton Pond in Perkinsville and the Mill Brook in Windsor. For paddling, biking or hiking, Wilgus makes a great base camp for summertime adventure. For details, visit: www.vtstateparks.com.

Cabins & Campsites: Since it’s one of the smaller state parks, most of the 15 campsites have views of the river – not other campsites. The park also offers six leanto shelters and four cabins, which are furnished with bunk beds and furniture, for $48 a night for Vermont residents.

The cabins also have electricity, meaning you can bring a small fridge or an electric blanket. However Hanson requests for the consideration of your neighbors that you leave the karaoke machine at home (yes, this has actually happened).

Paddling: As one of a few campgrounds on the Connecticut River, Wilgus makes a great starting point for a trip on the river. Paddlers can take a leisurely trip down river from the park or sign up with North Star Canoe & Kayak Rentals for a shuttle north for a half-day paddle back with views of Mount Ascutney.

Both canoes and kayaks are available at the park for half or full-day rental.

Fishing: While the Connecticut is home to smallmouth bass, the neighboring

At Wilgus State Park, you can book a cabin or a campsite with river views and rent a kayak right there.

Photos by Debbie Thomas and Sharon McQuarrie-Krampitz

Pick up a map at Mount Ascutney State Park, the Brownsville General Store in Brownsville, or local bike shops on both sides of the river and check out trails like The Grassy Knoll, Rock and Roll, Chase and Falls Trail.

Black River is stocked every spring with 18- to 22-inch rainbow trout. Later in the spring, those rainbows make their way to the Connecticut at Hoyt’s Landing in Springfield. Vermont fishing licenses are available at the park’s office.

Biking: For road cyclists and mountain bikers alike, Wilgus State Park makes a great starting point. Road cyclists can link together loops on Routes 131, 106, 44, 44A and 5 that pass the Little Ascutney State Park and Knapp Brook wildlife management areas, the West Windsor Town Forest and Ascutney State Park. In

August, the Harpoon Brewery’s annual Point to Point Ride heads out on 25-, 50- and 100-mile bike loops through central Vermont starting and finishing at the brewery.

For mountain bikers, the Sports Trails of the Ascutney Basin (STAB) operates 30 miles of trails for non-motorized recreational use, located on the base and western flank of Mount Ascutney and the West Windsor Town Forest.

While the double-track trails date back at least 30 years, many of the new singletrack trails have been built and maintained by members of STAB.

10 VTSPORTS.COM

Hiking: Wilgus State Park is located just minutes by car from Mount Ascutney State Park, which is home to networks of trails leading to the 3,144-foot peak From the upper parking lot on the Mount Ascutney Parkway, you can hike to the summit via the Slot (.64 miles) or Slab (.55 miles) trail, which also connects with the Windsor, Weathersfield and Brownsville trails. The best views are from Brownsville Rock, Castle Rock, West Peak and the 24.5-foot observation tower. Keep your eyes peeled and you might catch glimpses of hang gliders as this is one of the most popular areas for hang gliding in New England.

Side Trips: Short daytrips include the American Precision Museum, Vermont Institute of Natural Science (VINS) Nature Center, the Constitution House State Historic Site, as well as Harpoon Brewery and Simon Pearce glass and pottery, which offer tours through the factory before letting you shop for the finished product.

JUNE 2015

OUTDOOR SHORTS DON'T CHASE THE BEARS, DRUNK Straight from a May 11 posting on the Facebook page of our neighboring North Adams, Mass., police department: "Chasing bears through the woods drunk with a dull hatchet is strongly not advised: The North Adams Police Department is urging everyone to NOT chase bears through the woods with a dull hatchet, drunk. Yes that really did happen tonight. We understand there are bears in the area. If you see a bear, LEAVE IT ALONE and call us.

We certainly don’t need anyone going all Davy Crockett chasing it through the woods drunk with a dull hatchet. It is just a bad idea and not going to end well.

It will however, certainly end you up in jail…which it did. The hatchet man was taken into protective custody due to his incapacitation from the consumption of alcoholic beverage. We are still trying to figure out what his end game was. Any thoughts on what he was going to do if he did locate it? We would certainly like to hear because we have no idea."

A PRESCRIPTION FOR FREE PASSES No joke, this summer you can get a doctor’s prescription for a free pass to a Vermont State Park. “We all know that the one of the best ways to stay healthy is

to stay active,” said Gov. Shumlin in a release that also noted that in 2013, Vermont high school students with 60 minutes of physical activity each day a week were less likely to be obese compared to the state’s average. For a list of the 16 doctors currently enrolled in the program and details visit http://fpr. vermont.gov/node/1264.

ANOTHER REASON TO HUG A TREE In new research published this past May, scientists at Harvard and Cornell found that the forests of New England soak up enough carbon dioxide every year to account for half the region’s planet-warming CO2 emissions.

THE NEW APP TRAIL MAP If you’ve ever wanted to hike a portion of the Appalachian Trail, the map you’ve always wanted is finally here.

This summer National Geographic is releasing its new series of pocket-sized, waterproof topo map booklets which feature elevation profiles, guides to campsites, water, road junctions and more. Four northern section booklets ($14.95 each) including the Vermont trail segment from East Mountain to Hanover, will be available June 26 at Outdoor Gear Exchange and via www. natgeomaps.com

THOUGHTFULLY BUILT WATER SHOES AND SANDALS SINCE 1991 JUNE 2015

VTSPORTS.COM 11

NEWS Vermont’s First Wild & Scenic Rivers

The (Last?) Summer Death Race Gives Back

Up until recently, Vermont was one of the few states in the nation that didn’t have a single river with the federal ‘Wild & Scenic’ river designation. In 2009, the Vermont Wild & Scenic Study Committee formed to change that.

Working with towns, it started a community-led process to identify characteristics of the Upper Missisquoi and Trout Rivers that made them eligible for protected status. In December 2014, Congress officially recognized the two Franklin rivers as ‘Wild and Scenic.’

Now it’s time to celebrate: On June 6, community members and partner groups will celebrate this recent designation with a dedication ceremony at The Abbey in Enosburg followed by a six-mile group paddle along the Missisquoi River from Richford to East Berkshire. Both events are free and open to the public.

How to Get a Bike Loan In Vermont, it may now be easier to take out a loan to buy an electric-assist or cargo commuter bike than it is to get a car loan, thanks to the Vermont State Employees Credit Union, low-interest VGreen loan progam. In June, VSECU, in collaboration with Go Vermont and VBike, extended its VGreen loans to cargo bikes and ebikes, making the purchase of an electric-assist cargobike a financially viable option.

Not only that, VBike is offering free consultations to help Vermonters choose the right cargo bike or electric-assist bike. The goal: save on carbon emissions by getting more people to use bikes in place of cars for short trips around town. For more information, visit www.vbikesolutions.org or www.vsecu.com

Organizers are hinting that the June 26 Death Race in Pittsfield may be “the last summer Death Race ever.” If so, it’s going out with a bang. Organizers have vowed that 100 percent of the 2015 Death Race entries will be divvied up among the Summer Death Race finishers to donate to the charities of their choice. Since 2004 when Wall Steeter Joe De Sena and Andy Weinberg held the first grueling event, the Death Race has become legendary for challenging contestants with physically and mentally excruciating tasks, such as carrying bags of stones up to the top of a mountain and diving into a freezing pond to collect pennies. The theme of this year’s race is “persistence.”

As always, the question is, how many people will actually finish?

Stowe: Vermont’s New Beer Town Stowe may soon be as well-known for its beers as it is for skiing. In May, Sam and Johannes Von Trapp fired up the new 50,000-square-foot Trapp Lager Brewery, located just off the Trapp Family Lodge mountain bike trails. The new brewery will allow the Von Trapps to ship cases of their acclaimed Golden Helles, Dunkel Lager and other Austrian-style brews to retailers around New England. Previously, the beer was only available in limited quantities in bottles or on draft at restaurants. The father/son team hope to open a brew-pub at the brewery next year. In the meantime, The Alchemist, maker of Heady Topper, one of the world’s top-rated beers, is building a 15,000-square-foot brewery less than five miles away on the Mountain Road. Add in Crop’s small-batch brews (with new chef Michael Kloeti, of Michael’s on the Hill, now overseeing the kitchen), and Rock Art and Lost Nation just up Route 100 in Morrisville and there’s microbrew tour in the making. Starting in July, you can also try them all in one place in Stowe now: Eric Warnsted, the chef/owner of Hen of the Wood, is opening a 25tap new beer bar, Doc Ponds, where Vermont Ale House used to be on the Mountain Road.

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VTSPORTS.COM 13

THE ENDURANCE SOCIETY WANTS (TO BREAK) YOU If May’s Infinitus, an 888-kilometer, 10-day trail race through the mountainous Moosamaloo Wilderness, sounds easy, consider June’s Sine Nomine.

By Lisa Lynn

O

n June 26, somewhere in Addison County in a mountainous stretch of private forest, a few dozen ultra athletes will begin a weekend in hell.

Truth is, that’s about all we can tell you: the event has been kept secret. In fact, the only thing the contestants knew when they signed up was the race’s name: Sine Nomine (Latin for ‘No Name’).

The website (www.endurancesociety.com) posted no registration information: no distances, no details, no location. There was just an eerily disturbing video reel showing vintage black and white clips of kids on a carousel, soldiers marching backwards, Albert Einstein, body builders and more. The voiceovers start with an ominous Latin intonation. The reel ends with Winston Churchill’s famous

speech, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” And then a shot of race organizers Andy Weinberg and Jack Cary dressed in period clothing.

Weinberg and Cary have been determined to keep the details under wraps.

“The original idea was we were going to have this secret society of endurance athletes,” Cary says. They created a logo (a crawling skeleton with a drawn sabre), and chose a motto: Sodalitas perdurantium. Robur corporis fortitudo menti,” Latin for “Society of those who endure.

Physical strength, mental fortitude.”

Almost instantaneously, people began submitting detailed resumes of their experience to qualify for one of the 50 spots. “We have ultra athletes, Green Berets, Navy Seals, you name it,” says Weinberg.

Ultra athletes themselves, both Weinberg and Cary have a cheery,

if twisted, sense of humor and an uncanny ability to make you think, “Hey, this amount of pain could be fun.” As 888K-contestant Will Bradley put it: “Andy is this lovingly sadistic jerk. You can be having a really bad day, but he makes you laugh and gets you motivated to go out and do another lap.”

Weinberg helped Joe De Sena found the now legendary Pittsfield Death Race and its offshoot, the Spartan Race. Cary ran what he calls “psychological operations” for those events, dreaming up things like a 26-question math and history test given to sleep-deprived contestants who had just summited a mountain carrying an 80-pound pack of concrete. “I’ve raced in the Death Race and other ultra events and I’ve quit.

I know what it takes to break me,” says Cary. “These events are all about trying to push your limits.”

Since parting ways with De Sena (and getting embroiled in lawsuits and counter lawsuits) Weinberg and Cary have launched their own endurance events. This past winter, they hosted Frigus, a series of cross-country snowshoe/sledding/ski races. And last month, they held an 888-kilometer, 10-day trail run called Infinitus

That one we can tell you about.

T

he fun started on Thursday, May 21 at 8:08 a.m. when 10 endurance athletes from around the country loped off to run for 10 days or 888 kilometers (whichever comes first) on rocky trails over the mountains and through the bogs of the Moosamaloo Wilderness in central Vermont. For anyone who’s not good at math, that’s 551 miles in 10 days—or more than two marathons a day.

Over the course of a week, the

A cannon blast announced the mass start of the 8K and the 88K races. The 88K took runners on backcountry trails from Goshen's Blueberry Hill Inn to Chittenden Reservoir. Photo by Mark McCaslin

14 VTSPORTS.COM

JUNE 2015

racers faced frost and snow on the trail, sleet, rain and, even worse, temperatures soaring into the high 80s. During a thunderstorm, one of the rivers racers had to cross rose chest-high. The runners encountered bear, moose, porcupines, snakes and one of the worst mosquito hatches of the past decade.

“The bugs are vicious,” said John Sharp, a muscular Texan as he ran into race headquarters at Blueberry Hill Inn’s cross-country ski center in Goshen one evening. He sprayed himself with mosquito repellant, wolfed down macaroni and cheese and guzzled a PBR before heading back out.

Several other racers were also taking a break that evening around dusk. Jessica Pendleton, 37, an insurance executive from Iowa, looked exhausted as she propped her feet up so fellow competitor Joel Gat could tape her blisters. Eight days into the event, she and Gat were in second place, both having completed 456 miles, sleeping only a few hours a night.

A mother of two, Pendleton ran her first marathon seven years ago. “I started running to lose weight after I was pregnant,” she said. “I did a couple of marathons, just walking and running at first, then a 50, then a 100. What I like about doing this is that it’s just you and running in the woods for a few days.”

Gat, a brewer from Arizona, warmed up for this 888K run by doing a 100-mile race two weeks before. That race had a wicked twist: “You had to run a mile, then chug a beer, then run a mile and chug another, and I got drunk after 27 miles and had to drop out,” he said with a big grin.

Nearly half the racers paused at some point each day to eat, sleep and catch up with their fellow racers.

“The worst part is always my feet,” said Rebecca Hansen, a 53-year-old premed student from Naples, Fla., who brought bags of bandages and salve.

Hansen has competed in the infamous Death Race in Pittsfield, Vt., Weinberg

JUNE 2015

30 a 48-hour Infinitus, which had the same rules: run as far as you can in said time. On Saturday, Weinberg and Cary kicked off an 88K trail race and, at the same time, a rather pedestrian, by comparison, 8K race on area trails. All the races began at 8:08. All told, Weinberg and Cary attracted close to 200 Endurance Society members to participate.

For these events, says Weinberg, “we wanted to capture the ‘fun’ of endurance racing without the commercialism that has become associated with many of them. These events are totally different from Spartan Races or Tough Mudders—there are no obstacles, it’s just trail running and testing your endurance.”

Cary adds, “We intentionally wanted to keep them small, and even secret.

But then we realized we also needed to get participants here so we couldn’t be too secretive. ” The pair also hope to put on ultra swimming events, and, perhaps, a gravel road bike race.

Part of the challenge of these Endurance Society events, Weinberg says, is the mental aspect, which is where Cary comes in. “These races tell you how far you can push yourself without breaking. I’ve been at that breaking point and I know how your mind can start to fail you before your body does.”

To spook some of the runners, Cary placed odd objects around the trails at night. A doll’s tea party might suddenly appear around the corner, or a string of hanging underwear A life size clown moved around the course. Masks and the number 888 randomly appeared in various segments of the course.

“After a few days of running your mind starts to wander and it’s easy to become disoriented at night on the trails,” notes Cary, whose day job is as a software engineer in Winooski. In fact, several racers went off course during the 888K and were temporarily lost. After that, the organizers refused to let anyone run solo after dark. Safety, after all, noted Weinberg, is essential. “We want to push people, not do them in.”

“The great thing about this event is that’s its not really a race against anyone but yourself,” said Salveson after finishing. “I’ve had a pretty easy life, growing up middle class and going to grad school.

This is one thing I can do that is really hard. In the end, it doesn’t matter if you run 500 or 400, we’re all out here rooting for each other and helping each other go as far as each of us can.”

At the start of the last day, Will Bradley was in last place and was pretty sure he was done. The least experienced of the group, his knees were sore and he was exhausted. He’d completed more than 270 miles, the most he’d ever run.

He disappeared upstairs in the center, presumably to sleep. But then, after a 20 minutes, he was back down again, dressed in his race gear; water pack, hiking poles, and trail shoes.

“Anyone for another lap?” he called out.

Before the start, the 10 contestants in the 888-kilometer looking fresh (top). Winner Greg Salveson signs in at race headquarters (above) after completing a 26-mile lap. Photos by Lisa Lynn

and Cary’s fledgling Frigus Race last winter (the 60K snowshoe race, held in subzero temperatures, was aborted midway) and a quadruple Ironman tri (that’s four times the regular distance of a 2.5 mile swim, 112 mile bike and a 26.2 mile run).

New Hampshire bike shop employee Kale Poland, who has completed a deca-Ironman (that’s 10 times the Ironman distance), was a favorite going into the Infinitus, but had to quit after 50 hours when his leg swelled up with gout.

I

n the end, the winner, and only person to complete the full 888K, was Greg Salveson, a 28-year-old graduate student from Boulder, Colo., who by way of preparation ran a 100-mile race every month in 2014. With his father as his support crew and an RV as his race headquarters, he slept fairly well. “I made sure I ate every 15 minutes and consumed about 8,000 calories a day,” he estimates.

His secret fuel: Snickers bars (“I ate about 40, and drank 16 bottles of Ensure to get the vitamins I needed.” He finished at 4:00 a.m., 8.88 days into the event.

His prize: a medal, a belt buckle with the Endurance Society logo, and a bottle of maple syrup.

The contestants in Infinitus paid upward of $479 (the early registration fee) to participate. Most of them rolled out Thermarests on the upstairs floor to serve as a make shift bed, and stopped only to grab a bowl of rice and beans or whatever else the organizers prepared each evening. Only one stayed at the inn.

“It’s the perfect marriage — a fine country inn and adventure racing,” said Blueberry Hill Inn’s owner Tony Clark, his British accent betraying a sense of irony. The area, with more than 60 miles of trails, has played host to numerous cross-country ski races before it cut back on its trail grooming operations a couple of years back. Now trail racing (and backcountry skiing in winter) is helping it make a comeback as a vibrant sporting center.

In addition to the 888K, on Thursday, May 29, the 72 hours of Infinitus (run as far as you can in 72 hours) started on the same course, and on Friday, May

VTSPORTS.COM 15

TOWN � COUNTRY

�

In Burlington, two renegade bike builders are rethinking how we use bikes.

�

By Lisa Lynn

16 VTSPORTS.COM

JUNE 2015

“I wanted to make bikes that make people happy when they ride them,” says Paul Budnitz.

Budnitz didn't come to bike building as a "bike geek," but as someone who was looking for a mode of transportation that could replace a car. In this titanium Model 1, he found his answer.

�

part 1: TOWN

Why spend $5,ooo on the ultimate town bike? If you truly love it, why not? says Paul Budnitz.

JUNE 2015

Photos courtesy of Budnitz Bicycles

P

op quiz, Paul Budnitz is: a) An artist who became famous for Kidrobot, a line of high quality vinyl art toys now featured in the New York Museum of Modern Art. b) The founder of Ello, the social network that national media has called one of the biggest threats to Facebook. c) A Yale graduate and an award winning filmmaker and photographer. d) The Burlington, Vt., builder of an eponymous line of gorgeous titanium bikes.

The answer is, of course, all of the above.

It’s a Wednesday afternoon in May and blinding sunlight is streaming into the stark, clean offices on Burlington’s Pine Street, Vt., causing Paul Budnitz to blink. He is just back from a vacation in Provence with his wife and six-yearold daughter. He is jet-lagged and has a migraine. But the slender 47-year-old’s

face lights up when he talks about the “things” he loves.

“Things ... I love things, not just anything but things that really matter. I want to design things that are beautiful, and simple and make people feel good,” he says, tucking his hands in the pockets of his black hoody sweatshirt as he walks through what may be, the cleanest ‘bike shop’ in America.

About a dozen employees, all with black shirts, sit quietly staring at white Apple monitors, some working on bikes, some working on Ello, Budnitz’s other project, the emerging no-ads social network that was named one of the nine top venture capital deals of 2014 by Inc. Magazine.

A wall carries tools so meticulously hung they look like artwork. While the titanium frames are built in a 40-person factory in Taiwan, they are conceived and prototyped here. An array of fin-

ished bikes stand gleaming by the windows, with price tags that start at $2,950 (if you opt for steel) and go to $10,000 or more once you customize them.

They range from Model No. 1, a simple city bike with a 3.5-lb twin-tubed single-arc cantilever (the fastest and lightest ) frame, to Model No. 5, a gorgeous cruiser which inverts that trademark frame, making a classic-looking ‘women’s’ option, and adds 29-inch wheels for better all-terrain action. In between, there is the compact 24-inchwheeled No. 4 which is described on the Budnitz website as the “grown up badboy bicycle,” designed to handle like a BMX bike but fit in the back of a car or a small apartment. There are also the Budnitz mountain bike and a fat tire model for riding in snow or all terrain conditions.

What’s noticeably missing from this line-up? The bike that’s usually built of

VTSPORTS.COM 17

titanium, the racing bike. There’s not a drop handlebar in sight. “There are plenty of racing bikes out there,” says Budnitz. “But how many people race bikes? I wanted to make bikes people would use every day, bikes people will love and hold onto for years. I wanted to make bikes that make people happy when they ride them.”

Unlike most bike designers, Budnitz did not start out as what he calls “a bike geek.” He rode a bike because “driving cars got to be not fun” —so not fun that he went for 18 years without owning a car. So not fun that “I actually moved to New York so that I didn’t have to drive,” he says.

There, he started to look for the perfect city bike.

“I would go into bike shops and ask to ride literally every bike they had in the shop,” Budnitz recalls. “I didn’t like any of them.” Then he began going back to the shop with questions and a tape measure. “I would ask stupid questions, like ‘so what’s this part?’ and the shop guy would say ‘oh, that’s a crank.’ Then I’d ask, so what makes a good one and who makes the best? Eventually, they would kick me out of the shop.”

Budnitz wanted a bike that was fun to ride, easy to store, light enough to carry up to a second-floor apartment and subtle enough not to get stolen. So Budnitz designed a bike made of titanium to be strong, light and rust-proof with no flashy logos, and one that didn’t need to be painted. A swoopy cantilevered frame not only gave it an elegant and slightly retro profile, but also helped absorb shock while still providing lateral stiffness. A grease-less Gates carbon belt drive and internal hub kept the gearing clean (and the rider’s pants).

Soon he was back at the shops. “At first, the shop guys were pissed,” Budnitz recalls, just a bit gleefully, “but then they rode the bike and then they wanted one.”

The components, from handlebars to headset, wheels to pedals to stem, can be built to spec with Budnitz parts (usually titanium), as well as Avid BB7 disc brakes. The bikes come with Shimano Alfine or Rohloff internal hub transmission and range from a single speed to 14-speeds (for an exra $1,700).

With this bike, as with all of his bikes, Budntiz provides a smorgasborg of options, including wood fenders handcrafted by a furniture maker in Oregon and a brass Bellini Incredibell. Next on the horizon, Budnitz bags, Budnitz watches and other accessories.

All the bikes have a certain Jackie O. pedigree to them: timeless yet cool, simple and elegant, understated, smart and fun.

“You should feel really good about what you ride and just love it,” says Budnitz. And many do: Andy Rubin, who

Budnitz’s grandmother had grown up in Bennington, he knew Vermont and it felt right. “Everywhere else feels ruined,” he says, “America has become so economically segregated. Here, I live next to a prefab home and my neighbors may not be in the same economic strata I am but we get along great.”

From his 1,500-square-foot home in Shelburne, he rides his bike up Spear Street to his offices each day. “I love the fact that there are no billboards here – that tells you who is in charge.”

L Details on a Budnitz bike might include wood fenders custom made by a furniture builder.

Photos courtesy of Budnitz Bicycles

developed the Android operating system just ordered 10 bikes for his new company. Jake Burton Carpenter of Burton bought one of the first fatbikes (painted Soviet army-tank green and red). But, as Budnitz is quick to point out, “We have bike messengers who have ordered them and paid by the month. These bikes are built to last a lifetime.” Each comes with free worldwide shipping and a 30-day guarantee.

Budnitz makes only about 250 a year. In five years, only one has been returned.

A

blend of high technology and urban utilitarianism, the bikes might be what you would expect from a guy who grew up in Berkeley, Ca., the progeny of a nuclear physicist and a social worker. In high school, Budnitz spent more time writing software than riding bikes. At 15 he was being paid to write safety analysis software for nuclear power plants and create video games for the Commodore 64 home computer.

When he got to Yale, though, he was done with computers, and turned his attention to studying photography, art and film. But not entirely done with them: Budnitz used his Macintosh to edit his film “93 Million Miles from the Sun.” According to Wired, it was the first film ever edited on a home computer and it went on to win a prize at the 1996 Berlin International Film Festival.

Budnitz paused his filmmaking to start a company MiniDisco, hacking Sony Disc players into recording devices and built it into a $10 million business.

He then sold it in 2001 to devote his attention to his newest passion: art toys.

Budnitz had seen how in Asia stylized vinyl toys were being bought, sold and collected by adults with a serious passion for them and money to spend.

He began working with artists to develop limited edition collections, sold them for $5 to $5,000 (some sold for as much $25,000) and called the company he founded in 2002 Kidrobot. His books “I am Plastic” and “I am Plastic, Too” (both published by Harry Abrams) showcase the art toy explosion and the designers behind it. In 2007, two of Budnitz’ more popular toys, Dunny and Munny, were acquired by the New York Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) for its permanent collection. The company grew to have stores in five cities, lines of apparel, events and nearly 90 employees. But, as Budnitz is the first to say, “I’m not the guy who runs a company. I’m not good with administration.”

He’s also a guy who likes a clean slate. At the height of Kidrobot’s rise Budnitz was living in an apartment in New York. One day, he took photos of everything he cared about, “things my grandmother had given, me albums, other photos, personal things.” He then put everything from the apartement (except one table) on the street, and moved to Boulder, Colo.

It was an effective way to downsize both his life and the company. Gradually, Budnitz transitioned himself out of Kidrobot and then sold it. Why? Well there was his new titanium bike company that was taking up more and more of his attention.

In Boulder, he began to focus more and more on that. Then, two years ago, after realizing he could live anywhere, he picked up and moved to Vermont.

18 VTSPORTS.COM

ast fall, Budnitz was talking a lot about Vermont’s no-billboard law as his latest company was taking off like a meteor. Budnitz, ever the hacker, had worked with some friends and the Colorado design team Berger & Föhr to create an ad-free social network they called Ello. The network was by invitation only, would never feature ads and would never sell data. It also didn’t require you to use your real name. Over the summer of 2014, Budnitz sent out invites to a hundred or so friends, many in the design world, with the signature Ello logo, a black eye-less smiley face.

And then in September a convergence of things happened that had a profound impact on the start-up. Drag queens who had been berating Facebook for not allowing them to use pseudonyms discovered Ello and started promoting it as the anti-Facebook. At the same time, Facebook’s data mining practices came under media scrutiny. By mid-September, Ello was getting as many as 40,000 sign ups in an hour.

Budnitz sought the help of friend and neighbor Cairn Cross, whose venture firm Fresh Tracks capital has funded a number of Vermont start-ups. Fresh Tracks invested $435,000. A PR firm was hired and soon Budnitz’s life went nuts: “It was liking trying to put wheels on a car as it was driving down the highway,” He says.

Working with Fresh Tracks, Budnitz set up Ello as a public benefit corporation so that it would be legally bound in its principles to not sell data or take advertising. For other companies, that might have been a poison pill. Not so for Ello.

New investment (to the tune of $5.5 million) came from a venture firm in Colorado. Soon, more than half of Ello’s team was based there. “They wanted me to move back out there as well,” says Budnitz, “but I’m staying here in Vermont.”

There is something about Vermont that seems perfect for him, “an innocence and an earnestness here and a focus on quality,” as he describes it.

Those are qualities that seem to match the man who made his fortune off art toys and the inner boy who rides his titanium bike to work.

JUNE 2015

�

part II: COUNTRY If you want a touring bike that is truly custom—one that might change the way you travel, Hubert Horacio D’Autremont may be your man.

A co-founder of one of Vermont's gnarliest dirt rides, The Irreverent, d'Autrement makes the Land Rover of bikes, classic, stylish go-anywhere rides.

JUNE 2015

Photos by Katrina d'Autremont

VTSPORTS.COM 19

With a degree in art history, d'Autremont believes touring bikes should look as good as they ride. Top right, the head badge is made by Danforth pewter, the racks custom made by d'Autrement.

Photos courtesy d'Autremont Cycles

H

ubert Horacio d’Autremont is not a Marcel Proust character, though his name may sound like it. “A guy once said to me, ‘How do you pronounce that? Redneck or fancy-like?’” says d’Autremont. He is standing in the middle of his Burlington workshop, a place cluttered with metal and machines, wearing jeans and a black t-shirt, black thick-rimmed glasses perched on his nose, grease on his fingers.

d’Autremont’s lineage is more Argentine than French, but he’s really a product of the American West. A relative of the d’Autremont brothers of 1920s train robbery fame, he was born in Montana to a rafting guide, and grew up in Arizona, rock climbing, mountain biking and adventuring. He came east to go to Middlebury College, started a major in engineering, then switched to history of art. He took a semester off to live in Oregon and enrolled in a bike building class there.

After graduation, while his classmates scattered around the world to pursue a variety of careers that might entail wearing ties or heels, d’Autremont stayed in Vermont to first work on, and then build, bicycles.

Not just any bikes—his bikes have this ephemeral quality as if they were vintage but made with a thoroughly modern and highly functional approach “It’s about time,” d’Autremont writes on his website. He uses the phrase in both its meanings: it’s about time someone made a bike like this and ‘it’s about time’ in a more literal sense: a d’Autremont bike looks like it belongs in another era, yet it has all the modern technology of shifters and brakes and he’s not above putting a carbon fork on a classic steel frame.

“In art and architecture there is a balance between having a respect for tradition and then learning how to evolve it. That’s what I like to do. My bikes don’t have the flashy paint jobs that will

“Some bike builders want to build Ferraris.

I want to build the best pick-up truck out there,” he says proudly. look dated in five years, they use simple colors and strive for timelessness.” d’Autremont, now 30, turns out only 15 or so highly custom bikes a

20 VTSPORTS.COM

year, largely some of the most beautiful touring bikes you may ever see. Each is meticulously handbuilt in his one-man shop in an industrial part of the city. At present, there is a waiting list of customers and d’Autremont has paused in taking new orders as he launches a sideline business, All Souls Tortilleria, a line of organic corn tortillas, with “three guys I like to cook with.” They include Vermont Bean Crafter’s Joe Bossen and Sam Fuller of the farm advocacy group, NOFA-VT. Burlington’s City Market will soon be carrying their tortillas.

S

hould d’Autrement agree to make you a bike, the process starts with a three-hour, in-person interview and fitting.

“It makes a big difference to actually see and talk with people and listen to how they are really going to use the bike,” he says. “For instance, two people could be six feet tall and 180 pounds but I would build a different cockpit

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for someone who, say, had a big upper body and short legs than someone who had powerful quads and maybe a more slender upper body.” The bikes can cost anywhere from $4,000 to $11,000.

“Most people don’t need a custom bike,” d’Autremont is the first to acknowledge. “But if you are planning to spend a lot of time on it, or take it touring and say load it up, you want a bike that’s going to be really comfortable as well a ride well.”

He builds lugged-steel frame bikes (as well as fillet brazed), a type that’s no longer mass-produced. And because he makes his own lugs—the sockets that join and fix the frame and stem—he can manipulate the size and width of the tubes, their angles and shapes to whatever suits the bike and the owner best.

“Steel is easier to fix, it can be built light and it’s strong,” says d’Autremont.

But he’s not overly concerned about weight or speed. “Some bike builders want to build Ferraris. I want to build the best pick-up truck out there,” he says proudly.

d’Autremont also fabricates many of his own fixtures and metalworking tools, including those that make the lugs, the vent holes, and the parts for bottle brackets and panniers too.

“I keep thinking, I could buy this

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symbol of my past and present,” he says. The head badge is custom crafted

by Danforth Pewter. It is, as one might expect, stunning.

If d’Autremont had his way, just about everything on his bikes would be custom, especially the new touring bikes he wants to focus on. “We’ve seen a boom in racing bikes and over the past 5 to 10 years and cyclocross has exploded.

Now everyone is building gravel bikes, and snowbikes but there are very few good touring bikes out there.”

H d'Autremont, in his Burlington workshop.

$2,000 fixture from someone or I could make it myself,” he says. “I have such a long list now of tools I want to make I have to be careful I don’t spend more time making tools than making bikes.”

One of the few things he doesn’t make is the head badge with his insignia of the Sonoran bumblebee. “It’s a native pollinator, it reflects where I came from and ties to the landscape. It’s a perfect

is most recent oeuvre might be described as the perfect custom touring bike—but not in the traditional ‘let’s load up the panniers with everything but the kitchen sink and ride the length of Route 100’ type of way.

For d’Autremont, bike touring means a different sort of travel: it means you might be riding on a road, or a dirt road, or a gravel road, or just a trail. (He is a also a founding rider of Waterbury’s 125-mile dirt/gravel/trail epic known as The Irreverent Road Ride). You might camp out. You might not know where you are going. But you have the bike to get you there. And the panniers, the bags and the lights, and all you need to make your bike a sleeker, more stylish miniature VW Vanagon.

To that end, he makes his own fenders, racks and even, with his friend Matt Renna, his own line of bags and cycling caps under the brand 27th Letter (&). The retro-styled accessories not only look like they belong to the bike, but they fit it perfectly. “There’s nothing I hate more when I’m riding a bike for days than rattling racks or loose bags” he says. His newest project will be a light, one that will match the bikes in styling and fit and help him ride through the dark.

“Bicycling has never really felt like it was part of the outdoors industry, or really an ‘outdoors’ sport,” says d’Autremont who has ridden crosscountry and tries to regularly get out on a tour.

“As someone who grew up planning and packing for rafting trips, I came to riding as an outdoor traveler, not a cyclist,” he says. In the next month, he and his girlfriend plan to take a month to ride around Montana and Idaho, on gravel roads, dirt paths and wherever their curiosity leads.

Where, might that be, I ask? “A set itinerary and a destination is the kiss of death,” he says and laughs. “Once you start saying that you have to be somewhere at a certain time, you ruin the adventure.”

VTSPORTS.COM 21

Mountains are Calling What better way to see the state, test your legs, and check off Vermont’s toughest gap rides than with a Gran Fondo? Here are four not to miss.

By Andrew Gardner

A

Gap rides let you criss-cross the spine of the Green Mountains. Events like the Vermont Gran Fondo or Darn Tough Ride (above) let you do them in good company.

Photo by Paul Coffin

true Gran Fondo is a race. By origin Italian, “fondos” began as long distance races that bear a resemblance to a single day from a Grand Tour (such as the Tour de France) with a touch of the same pageantry and competitiveness, but open to amateurs.

Yet just like football, cheese and many other American renditions of European culture, the Gran Fondos held here in the U.S. feel a bit different. Not all are timed.

There isn’t the same level of competition tied to each. They’ve been appropriated to represent tours, highlight reels of scenery, rest stops and friends on bikes.

There is one commonality between American Gran Fondos and the events that kicked off the European tradition: the course. Distance or terrain makes a Fondo a challenge and a mass start means you’ve got good company to pull you along. The Vermont fondos have

22 VTSPORTS.COM

the same appeal with a Green Mountain twist. Riders line up throughout the summer to string together two, four, six gaps into a type of ticked off checklist of pavement worth pedaling.

For its longest route, on June 13 the Vermont Gran Fondo (www.vermontgranfondo.com) enlists the four Green Mountain gaps and particularly Lincoln Gap as its ace in the hole. Lincoln bears the country’s steepest paved mile and it was the most talked about (read: cursed) after the first Vermont Gran Fondo last year. Hence, there exists in the Gran Fondo a type of challenge that draws riders who may not otherwise pin on a number and saddle up for an organized race.

Last June, I started the Vermont Gran Fondo and didn’t finish. The fitness of my rear derailleur was checked by a large gravel chunk at the foot of

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Brandon Gap, my progress stopped without ceremony. (This may be why I’m most looking forward to this year’s incarnation. A chance at equipment redemption.) While walking and thumbing a ride back to the start, I caught sight of cyclists in various states. Some were comfortable with the 103 miles and the 10,000 feet of climbing. Others were…less comfortable.

This month marks the Gran Fondo’s return to Lincoln, Appalachian, Middlebury and Brandon Gaps, the return to rest stop recaps and the after party and the return of riders to the LAMB ride, a Vermont cycling tradition living up to the evolution of the Gran Fondo.

But if you don’t feel your legs are quite ready yet, that’s not the only option. The new Farm to Fork Fondo (www.farmforkfondo-vt.com) on July 12 combines the Middlebury and Brandon Gaps with the Bethel Gap on a 102-mile

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route. Professional cyclist Tyler Wren has organized it with an appealing twist: rest stops at some of the region’s most beautiful farms and tastiest eateries, including Sweet Georgia P’s in Pittsfield, Sandy’s Bakery in Rochester and even the Neshobe River Winery near Brandon. As with the Vermont Gran Fondo, there are shorter loops on the roster too.

Later in the summer, you can tour the southern part of the state with the Vermont Challenge (www.vtchallenge. com), which allows you to do as many as four days of supported riding with meals and sag wagons provided, August 12-16.

The big day is Saturday, with a 100-mile tour that starts and finishes at Stratton Mountain Resort, tours up to Mount Holly, and two timed segments and 7,249 feet climbing.

Still hungry for more? Check off the steeps of Smuggler’s Notch (a 13.6 per-

cent grade from the Stowe side) with the Darn Tough Ride (www.darntoughride. com), September 6, which starts and ends in Stowe over Labor Day after taking you across the Notch, up to Eden and then

back to Stowe for a barbeque.

Of course, you can always create your own gran fondo. And to help you do so, a description of Vermont's most gap rides follows in "Mind These Gaps."

Tuck in, suck it up and get ready to pull: with more than 10,000 feet of climbing in a day riders on last year's 103-mile, four-gap Vermont Gran Fondo worked together to summit a gap.

Photo by Bob Crowley

VTSPORTS.COM 23

Map data ©2015 Google Report a map error

5 km

Ride with GPS - Map Your Bike Rides - View Elevation Profiles - Analyze Performance - Train Better

Mind These Gaps

2fondo

5/27/15, 6:06 PM

147.3 mi, +12655 /-12791 ft

http://ridewithgps.com/routes/8086119/printmap?privacy_code=80OfW8g4IEVIqEyQ

Bike Paths

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Riding Vermont's gaps and mountain passes is a rite of passage for cyclists. So get ready to check them off.

By Evan Johnson

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lip in and hold on. Summer is finally here and Vermont’s mountains are calling. Vermont’s small size, quiet rural roads and mountainous terrain make it one of the few places in the U.S. where it is possible to link, two, four or even six challenging mountain gaps in the span of the day. From Searsburg to Jay Peak, you’ll find spirit-crushing ascents with grades as steep as 24 percent (imagine biking up a steep staircase), rewarded by stunning vistas at the top and hair-raising descents on the way back down.

If you are feeling strong, try the Gran Fondo route (outlined below) and take on the four most popular ones: the Lincoln, Appalachian, Middlebury and Brandon gaps, make up a great 103mile route, commonly called the LAMB ride. Or start in Rochester and do the “Piccolo Fondo” (the easier Middlebury/Brandon gaps) and extend that ride by adding in Rochester or Roxbury gaps, as the Farm to Fork Fondo does.

The northern part of the state has its fair share of steeps too: there are few harder climbs than the squiggles and steeps on the west side of Smuggler’s Notch and Montgomery and Jay Peak have passes as well.

Vermont has plenty more vertical climbs for those with the legs and the stamina to try them. We’ve compiled a list of some of the toughest, and most beautiful gap rides in the state. For more, head to vtsports.com for cue sheets and GPS data to take with you.

Appalachian Gap 10 miles | 1,145 feet elevation gain There are few better views in Vermont than heading west down the Appalachian Gap with the Champlain Valley and Lake Champlain stretching out before you. But if you are following the Gran Fondo route, you’ll do it the other way. Going east, the App gap ride begins in Starksboro on Vermont Route 116 and travels north on mostly flat roads before splitting onto Vermont Route 17. From there, the road climbs

east over rolling hills for roughly eight miles with views of Mount Ellen, Lincoln Peak and Mount Abraham while gaining a relatively gentle 600 feet. The final push includes grades as steep as 15 percent in the last two miles before a winding descent down into Fayston, past Mad River Glen and intersecting with Vermont Route 100 in Waitsfield.

Lincoln Gap 6 miles | 1,484 feet elevation gain Just when you’ve finished descending from App Gap, west to east, it’s time to head back via the Lincoln Gap, east to west. To do so, take German Flats Road past Sugarbush’s Mount Ellen area to the Sugarbush Access Road and turn left to descend to Route 100. Ride about five miles before climbing from the town of Warren.

When attacked from the Warren side, the Lincoln Gap is one of the toughest climbs in the state, with multiple switchbacks and punishing grades as steep as 20 to 24 percent, including the steepest mile of pavement in the United States. In three leg-burning miles, you gain 1,190 feet in elevation.

Meanwhile, the road’s surface also goes from paved to gravel and then back to paved. After reaching the summit, the road includes a twisting descent into the town of Lincoln.

Another option: Start in the central valley towns of Hancock or Rochester and ride up Route 100 through Granville Gulch before joining the Lincoln Gap route. This beautiful, lowtraffic section of Vermont Route 100 is flanked by steep hillsides. In the Gulch, on west side of the road, Moss Glenn Falls brings traffic to a crawl as it cascades down a 30-foot rock face.

Brandon Gap 14.6 Miles | 1,333 feet elevation gain Connecting the towns of Brandon and Rochester, Vermont Route 73 has one of the more gradual inclines on the LAMB series of gaps. From the hamlet of Forest Dale, the west-to-east ride be-

data ©2015 Google km Report a map error The Vermont Gran Fondo strings together the top two loops 5(the LAMB ride)Map while the Farm to Fork Fondo will connect the Rochester Gap ride with Middlebury and Brandon gaps.

clocked speeds nearing 50 miles-perhour, but rough spots in pavement and http://ridewithgps.com/routes/8086119/printmap?privacy_code=80OfW8g4IEVIqEyQ Page 1 of 2 a few sharp turns should not be taken lightly. After descending, a left-hand turn onto Route 100 North brings riders into Rochester’s village.

Middlebury Gap

Standing, and delivering, on Smuggler's Notch.

Photo by Paul Coffin

gins a sustained climb, gaining roughly 1,200 feet over the next five miles to a final elevation of 2,173 feet. Nearing the top, riders can take in views of the Great Cliffs on Mount Horrid’s south-facing flank after passing the Long Trail trailhead and beginning a descent to Rochester. Being straighter than other gap roads, Route 73 presents tempting opportunities to let the bike go on the downhills. Riders have

24 VTSPORTS.COM

15 miles | 1,230 feet elevation gain Riding west from the Hancock general store, Route 125 starts to rise as it follows the Hancock Branch upstream, climbing as it passes Texas Falls. The final push to the top begins at the sixmile mark and climbs to a final elevation of 2,142 feet. Vermont Route 125 then makes a breezy, descent losing 846 feet in six miles.

While the eastern side is riddled with cracks and potholes, the western side of the gap is better paved, so you can fly past the Middlebury College Snow Bowl, the Rikert Nordic Center and the Robert Frost Farm. For a break or a snack, stop at the classic old Ripton general store. As it descends, the road hugs the East Middelbury river, providing a scenic way down and ending in East Middlebury.

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When it comes time to climb, there's safety in numbers. Vermont's rides and fondos have been attracting more and more riders to the state each year. Here, the Darn Tough ride looks darn fun.

Photo by Paul Coffin

OTHER CENTRAL VERMONT GAPS Rochester Gap 10 miles | 1,161 feet elevation gain Another shorter climb, the Rochester Gap climbs east from the town of Rochester 1,500 feet in six miles up Bethel Mountain Road and Camp Brook Road to the top of Bethel Mountain before descending towards the town of Bethel.

The road is curvy, with the steepest portion near the center of Rochester. Tack this on to your ride over the Brandon gap for more of a challenge.

Roxbury Gap 8 miles | 1,497 feet elevation gain A popular climb for riders in central Vermont, the Roxbury Gap connects the towns of Roxbury and Warren by way of Roxbury Gap Road and Warren Mountain Road.

While it and the Rochester Gap are not as steep or as long as the others on this list, it offers an easy extension to an existing gap ride.

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The Appalachian Gap is the one most riders tackle, but it's sister, the Lincoln Gap features the steepest paved mile in the U.S. Photo by Gary Kessler

Sherburne Pass 23.8 miles | 1,564 feet elevation gain Vermont Route 4 features significant climbing, no matter whether you start in Woodstock, to the east, or Rutland, to the west. When starting from Rutland, the ascent gradually steepens to

winding descent follows, dropping over 500 feet vertical in about a mile, then passing the access road to Killington Resort and Vermont Route 100. Vermont Route 4 continues a fast descent down to the village of Killington, where it enters a long flat flanked by steep hill-

the town of Mendon, and then gets even steeper. On the final approach toward the pass, riders pass Pico Mountain ski area and ahead, the looming cliffs on Deer Leap Rock. At an elevation of 2,209, the end of the climb is the Long Trail and the trailhead. A steep,

VTSPORTS.COM 25

Even the professionals find the last mile of the Appalachian Gap tough going during the Green Mountain Stage Race, which is held here each Labor Day weekend.

sides. End the ride at the parking lot for Killington’s Skyeship Gondola.

NORTHERN VERMONT GAPS Smugglers’ Notch | 13 miles | 1,239 feet elevation gain A common starting point for this ride is in Jeffersonville at the intersection of Vermont Routes 15 and 108. The climb east towards the notch is gradual for the first five miles. The real work begins after passing the entrance to Smugglers’ Notch Resort, at which point the grade increases from 3 to 9 percent over a seven-mile journey to the top.

The road includes grades as steep as 10 percent in the last mile before finishing at an elevation of 2,171 feet. A fast ride down into Stowe features multiple

tight switchbacks before finishing in the heart of Stowe Mountain Resort. This ride is featured in the Darn Tough Ride, scheduled for Sept. 6.

Jay Peak to Montgomery | 18.7 miles |1,679 feet elevation gain The stunning views of Jay State Forest are on full display on this approximately 12-mile stretch of Route 242 that connects Jay and Montgomery. Starting in Jay and heading southwest, Route 242 is flanked by the imposing peaks of Jay Peak, Big Jay and Little Jay on the north side of the ride and Gilpin Mountain, Domey’s Dome and Buchanan to the south. The route features a shorter, but steeper climb when starting from the north in Jay. Vermont Route 242 rises 1,600 feet over six miles, passing views of Jay Peak and Big Jay before a fast descent into Montgomery Center.

Hazen’s Notch | 11 miles | 1,287 feet elevation gain Like Smugglers’ Notch to the south, the steep and winding Route 58 is closed to traffic in the winter. This nine-mile notch has portions of rough dirt road, so more rugged tires, a cyclocross or even a mountain bike are recommended. From Montgomery Center, Route 58 makes a gradual ascent over the first four miles, gaining 852 feet. The final half-mile increases in grade up to 10 percent. After passing the Long Trail, the climb peaks at an elevation of 1,938 feet with spectacular views of Sugarloaf Mountain to the north and Haystack Mountain to the south. The road makes a 2.3-mile descent with steep grades as it crosses the scenic Missisquoi River, ending at the intersection with Vermont Route 100 in Lowell.

26 VTSPORTS.COM

Photo by Gary Kessler

SOUTHERN VERMONT Searsburg Mountain | 25.6 miles | 1,708 elevation gain While actual "gaps" are harder to find in the southern part of the state, there are plenty of good climbs, like this Searsburg Mountain route. From just outside Bennington, Route 9 climbs at a steady grade of about 3 percent for the first five miles, before a series of long, winding climbs to a plateau over Searsburg Mountain. On the way, you’ll pass trailheads for the Long Trail, convenience stores and Prospect Mountain Ski Area. You’ll also be treated to views of Haystack Mountain. On the descent, stop for a dip at Harriman Reservoir and finish with pancakes at Dots in downtown Wilmington – you earned it.

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Bag Balm

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28 VTSPORTS.COM

JUNE 2015

10 F

GREAT FATHER'S DAY GIFTS FROM $10 - $3,000

By Evan Johnson

ather’s Day is just around the corner and this year, we know you can come up with something better than a six-pack of his favorite beer. Perfect for the trail, truck or skin track, here is a collection of practical and durable items that are just as at-home in the backcountry as they are in the backyard.

And don't forget, Father's Day is June 21.

Break from the pack: High School XC Camps

Bag Balm Mopha Industries/E.H. Works Tool Roll The Mopha roll is as practical as it is good looking. At 16 inches long, the roll features ten pockets for tire levers, hex tools, spare tubes and CO2 cartridges.

The contraption can be kept in the glove compartment or strapped to a seat post or handlebars to keep everything needed for making roadside repairs more organized.

Tools aren’t included, but then again, he probably already has most of them. $44. www.handeyesupply.com

SOG SwitchPlier

Ursa Major Essential Face Wipes

Deuter Airlite 28

Miir Tallboy Pint Cup

Made in Vermont by outdoorsman Oliver Sweatman, these all-natural face wipes are infused with Ursa Major’s four-in-one formula that removes oils, exfoliates pores and soothes and hydrates skin, leaving Dad smelling great. Plus the individually wrapped wipes fit easily in the pocket of a bike jersey or backpack, making them great for traveling or after a bike ride. $24. www.ursamajorvt.com

Dublin Dog Grip Trek leash Here’s a gift for Dad’s other best friend.

The Grip Trek leash from Dublin Dog is designed to be lightweight, comfortable and safe with a texture that’s easy to grip and a cushioned loop that’s comfortable in the hand. The high-visibility 3M material is easily spotted, which makes it safer if Dad is out walking the dog at dusk, or simply trying to find the leash in the house. $26. www.dublindog.com

Sun King PRO A portable lighting alternative, the solar-charged Sun King PRO lamp can illuminate a tent, campsite, truck bed or boat. It also has a universal 5.5-volt USB charging port for handheld devices.

A100-lumen power LED bulb burns for 45 hours after a good day’s charge in sun. $44.99. www.greenlightplanet.com

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A big, comfortable pack for long days on the trail, the Deuter Airlite offers 1,710 cubic inches of storage space in a 2.4-pound pack. Other features include a ventilated back system to keep the sweat off his back, trekking pole attachments and detachable waterproof cover. $119. www.deuter.com

JetBoil MiniMo Stove An ultralight packing stove, Jetboil’s newest MiniMo can have water boiling in less than two minutes while a redesigned valve and regulator allow for great simmer control, even in weather as cold as 20-degrees Fahrenheit. The entire apparatus weighs just 14.6 ounces. $129. www.jetboil.com

Mad River Canoe Explorer 16 KX What Vermonter hasn’t dreamed of relaxing afternoon paddles on a nearby lake or extended river expeditions? For Dad’s ultimate gift, Vermont-based Mad River Canoe makes crafts that paddle smoothly yet can carry up to 1,100 pounds of passengers or gear. Sure it’s one of the pricier items on this list, but Dad is worth it. Aluminum: $2,705; Wood: $3,055. www.madrivercanoe.com

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Here’s a stylish way for Dad to enjoy his après-sport beverage of choice. These cups from bicycle and gear company Miir are constructed out of 18/8 medical grade stainless steel, are BPA-free and dishwasher safe. As an added bonus, each cup sold helps provide clean drinking water to a person in need. $12. www.miir.com

For the last multi-tool a man may ever need, consider the SwitchPlier from tool and knife manufacturer SOG. Designed for everyday use at home or on the trail, the SwitchPlier improves the modern multitool by introducing one-handed access to a pair of spring-operated pliers.

The tool also includes all the basics like a half-serrated blade, can and bottle opener, medium screwdriver and a ruler. $64. www.sogknives.com

Who better to learn the muddy art of cross-country from than 3-Time XC World Champion Lynn Jennings? You’ll leave camp armed with information, workouts, drills and techniques to be a better harrier come fall. Jump start your XC season at any of our week long camps in the perfect location for an XC camp. Find more information & sign up online!

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Fun fact: this stuff was originally designed for cow udders but was found to have the same soothing and moisturizing effect on the hands that applied it. Since 1899, everyone from farmers to athletes have found uses for the ointment that’s still produced in the Northeast Kingdom and a 10-ounce tin will last years. Look for the green can with a clover in your local pet shop, hardware store or online. For hands rough after climbing, carpentry or a day out in the cold, or for feet roughed up by time on the roads or trails, the balm works hard to restore skin’s natural softness. $9.99. www.bagbalm.com

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VTSPORTS.COM 29

JUNEFESTS

By Evan Johnson

S

ummer in Vermont kicks off in a big way this month with three festivals that draw thousands of visitors to our state. You live here, so there’s no excuse not to grab your bike or your yoga mat and plan your next weekend.

Photo by John Suhar

STROLLING OF THE HEIFERS June 4-7 | Brattleboro, Vt www.strollingoftheheifers.com

F

ifteen years ago, Orly Munzing was walking on an old logging road in Dummerston, Vt. and came upon her neighbor, Dwight Miller tending his orchard. When Munzing asked if he needed a hand, instead of handing her a rake or a pair of clippers, Miller asked her to spread the word about the difficulties many farmers faced and to encourage others to support their local food producers. “He said to take a good look because in 10 years you won’t see this,” she recalls. What started with one conversation with a neighbor was the spark for a yearly event that now draws tens of thousands for a weekend of celebrating where food comes from and the Tour De Heifer, a series of rides on dirt roads.

The Vibe: “It’s the most fun and familyfriendly agricultural Mardi Gras you can imagine," Munzing says. "You have to see it to believe it.”

Who Goes: Everyone. As many as 50,000 people may line the sidewalks for the Saturday morning parade. Sunday’s bike tours attract local riders who regularly tackle the winding dirt roads and weekJUNE 2015

end visitors looking for a chance to see some of Vermont's hidden dirt routes.

The Setting: The home of the Holstein Association of America, which tracks the genealogy of every Holstein in North America, Brattleboro frequently makes national lists of top places to live or travel to.While the parade and its related events are in downtown Brattleboro, Sunday’s Tour De Heifer has a more pastoral setting. Lilac Ridge Farm, located just a few miles from the hum of downtown is a certified organic farm on 600 acres that serves as the start and finish and the site the post-ride picnic.

The shortest Tour route is an out-andback 15-mile ride on rolling paved and gravel roads to the Green River Bridge.

The intermediate 30-mile ride winds south into the towns of Guilford and Halifax before a monster climb up Moss Hollow Road in Marlboro past Marlboro College and descending back down to the Lilac Ridge Farm. The toughest ride, the 60-miler, dips all the way into Massachusetts and then makes a rocky return by way of hilly and rugged gravel roads.

Don’t Miss: Saturday’s parade begins with farm animals of every kind leading the marchers. Aside from the Guernseys and Holsteins, expect to see oxen, goats, pigs, llamas and more strolling up Main Street. “It’s a big Noah’s Ark, Munzing says.

What You Could Learn:

Strangest Thing: Keep your eye out for

More than just an event, the Strolling of the Heifers has become a movement to promote local agriculture and a quieter way of life.

Before the cows start walking, sit in on the Slow Living Summit, a forum where experts explore topics of nourishment, wellness, food entrepreneurship, food systems, food justice and food policy. Speakers include Alisa Gravitz, the CEO of Green America, a nonprofit that promotes ethical consumerism; author Dr. Michael Finkelstein; Laura Lengnick of the Local Food Research Center; Allison Hooper, co-founder and CEO of Vermont Creamery; and Alex Wilson, founder of Building Green and the Resilient Design Institute.

the “Dairy Godmother,” and the volunteers dressed as flies who follow behind the cows armed with shovels and sawdust for clean up.

The Party: At the Sustainable Living Expo following the parade, you’ll find 11 acres of fun, food and exhibits including local food producers and craftspeople. Plus, the four separate entertainment tents host every kind of live music including rock and roll, funk, New Orleans brass, folk and of course dancing.

Marvel at performers from the New England Center for Circus Arts, place your bets at the goat racing or watch the crowning of Miss VerMOOnt.

VTSPORTS.COM 31

WANDERLUST June 18-21 | Stratton, Vt www.wanderlust.com

W

anderlust holds yoga and meditation retreats all over the world including Los Angeles; Melbourne, Australia; Whistler, British Columbia; and Oahu, Hawaii. The only stop in the East, Stratton Mountain Resort puts a uniquely Vermont spin on the popular yoga lifestyle festival.

The Vibe: While it might sound a little hippy-dippy, the Wanderlust vibe is “completely relaxed and positive” says Vermont Commissioner of Tourism Megan Smith, who has attended the festival as long as it has been in Vermont.

Who Goes: Wanderlust at Stratton attracts thousands of Prana and Lululemon-clad yogis from New York and all over New England and Quebec. Don't be intimidated though: Wanderlust welcomes everyone from yoga novices to certified professional instructors.

The Setting: Stratton Mountain’s 3,936-

Photos by John Suhar

foot peak—the tallest mountain in Southern Vermont—makes an awe-inspiring backdrop for the four-day affair.

While visitors stay in condominiums or lodging in nearby Dover or Manchester, it’s also possible to save money by camping in approved areas on the resort property. You’ll find windchimes, sidewalk chalk, flags and big, colorful tents as you walk to and from your classes and workshops in Stratton’s village; no cars needed.

Don’t Miss: The hula-hooping: “It’ll take you back to your childhood,” Smith says. The Beauty Bar offers complimentary spa treatments and The Kula Market sells homespun and local artisanal products.

What You Could Learn: With over 20 different yoga and meditation instructors bringing diverse philosophies and practices, visitors can expect to learn something new, such as how to do yoga on a paddleboard.

Consider a selection of courses in one day: “Dancing The Elements: The Zen of Alvin and The Chipmunks” with dance instructor Akil Davis, “Opening To The Flow: Meditation For Beginner Minds,” with Shawn Parrall or “Slack-

line Fundamentals” with trainers Jason Magness and Sam Salwei.

This year environmentalist and author Bill McKibben describes the fight to end reliance on fossil fuels; Guru Jagat, a teacher in the Kundalini style of yoga, encourages listeners to not give into the self-destructive power of negative thinking; and New York chef Seamus Mullen describes the healing power of food

Strangest Thing: At Wanderlust, be prepared for the unexpected. One early morning group hike to the summit was accompanied by a didgeridoo player.

32 VTSPORTS.COM

The Party: Most people go for the yoga, but everyone stays for the meals and the music. You can do a sake tasting, and learn how cacao can open your soul or sip kombuchas and feast on vegan and organic meals. Star chefs are usually in attendance.

For music, this year’s lineup includes the Quebeqois blues-rock quartet The Barr Brothers, the High and Mighty Brass Band, Trevor Hall, Tasha Blank, Kevin Paris, Jacob Cohen, folk duo Coyote & Crow and Lee Fields & The Expressions.

JUNE 2015

NEMBAFest 2015 June 19-21 | East Burke, Vt. www.nembafest.com

T

he New England Mountain Bike Association is a collection of 5,000 members in 22 chapters and its annual “NEMBAFest,” as it’s called, has been a tradition since 1997.

The event has been hosted at trail networks across its chapter states, but NEMBA’s president Philip Keyes says there’s something special about East Burke’s Kingdom Trails where it will be held this June. “Very rarely can you be in one area with so many other mountain bikers with smiles on their faces,” he says.

The Vibe: As one of the largest gatherings of mountain bikers, the focus is understandably on the riding. Imagine rolling out of your sleeping bag, getting a demo bike and taking off on some of the best mountain biking there is.

The Setting: Hailed as one of the top ridWho Goes: “NEMBAFest gets bigger every year,” Keyes says. “At the same time, the sport has also matured and now the people who grew up biking bring their kids. It’s a great mix.” Dedicated riders from the northeast meet major brands from all across the United States, which arrive in trucks loaded with top-of-theline demos. Riders can enjoy the latest from big companies like Trek and Specialized as well as smaller brands like Kona, Pivot, Rocky Mountain Bicycles, Santa Cruz, Salsa, Marin, Niner, Ghost, Xprezo and more.

JUNE 2015

ing destinations in the country, Kingdom Trails maintains over 100 miles of trails.

The festival will also offer shuttles to neighboring Q Burke Resort, which operates a 12-mile gravity-fed trail system accessed by the Sherburne Express High Speed Quad. With the festival scheduled over the summer solstice, riders can plan on enough daylight to push the pedals late into the evening.

Don’t Miss: The world championship freeride and trials rider Jeff Lenosky

will be on-site, exhibiting stunts on rails, ramps and over gaps. Meanwhile, group rides will depart every half hour to cruise the over 100 miles of trails.

Strangest Thing: In addition to the riding and the nightlife, stick around for the Huffy Toss, a yearly competition to see who can throw a clunker bike the farthest.

What You Could Learn: In addition to

The Party: If you’ve still got energy in your legs after a full day of riding, you can dance late into the night with live music from four bands on Friday and Saturday night. The après-ride scene features food trucks, a beer tent, contests and more. But don’t stay up too late­—you’ll want your legs to be well rested for the next day.

seeing the latest riding equipment and apparel, you’ll also be able to learn how to become a better rider, with clinics on singletrack and cross-country riding.

Representatives from Highland Mountain Bike Park in Northfield, N.H. will also offer “Ride Like a Girl” clinics for women.

VTSPORTS.COM 33

10

1

unique

Adventures for dAd Sponsored content by these area businesses.

Father’s Day package at trapp Family loDge - stowe

What better way to celebrate all things Dad than to spend the day mountain biking at the Trapp Family Lodge! Get full-day mountain bike rentals for all guests, plus complimentary trail passes, afternoon tea, cookies, valet parking and more.

Mention DAD20 to receive 20% off the guest room rates.

To book this offer, call 1-800-826-7000! Offer ends 6-30-15

2

NorthShore Kite • Sail • Surf - St. albaNS

Launch into kiteboarding with a 3-hour adrenaline-pumping session on Lake Champlain! This first course will get you on your way to riding the waves, and it’s a sport that’s easy enough for most to learn. Our PASA certified instructors guarantee a safe and successful experience. Already kite, but want more skills? We offer water lessons and follow you with our jet ski on Lake Champlain. Gift certificates available. Call us today at:

802-922-4072 • www.kitensail.com

3

dowNhill mouNtaiN biKiNg at SugarbuSh reSort!

Get Dad a MTB Quad Pack featuring 4 lift-served mountain bike tickets for just $99!

Sugarbush’s MTB quadpack includes: 4 sharable lift-served mountain bike tickets for 2015, with 25 trails over 18 miles. Give Dad a ride to remember!

Offer ends June 30, 2015

800-53-SUGAR www.sugarbush.com

4

give your dad a tri at kingDom games

Register your Dad for one of the spectacular triathlons hosted by Kingdom Games. Six events to choose from throughout the summer, with varying distances and courses to suit any athlete. Kids and short distance options available, so make it a family affair.

Make your gift even sweeter and “tri” it with your dad. Gift vouchers make the perfect gift!

www.kingdomgames.com

34 VTSPORTS.COM

JUNE 2015

5 7 9

6

umiaK SuP reNtal & river tourS Get Dad paddleboarding. Just $25 for 2 hours with our rentals at Waterbury Reservoir State Park day use area and North Beach in Burlington on Lake Champlain.

Or take Dad on a river trip on the Lamoille or Winooski rivers in a canoe or kayak. Fun for the family!

Call today for reservations:

802-651-8760 • www.umiak.com

let Jay PeaK’S PumP houSe iNdoor waterParK move you!

8

season pass at kingDom trails Just $75 for year-round pass! Good for summer mountain biking trails, plus fat-tire and Nordic ski trails throughout the winter.

Give Dad a gift certificate that lasts all year! Call:

802-626-0737 www.kingdomtrails.com

take DaD gliDing at Stowe SoariNg!

The Jay Peak Pump House is a place where you can surf, climb, drop 64ft and hit 45mph in the La Chute Aqualoop, or float the Big River like a boss. A place where the movement of the water does more than keep you entertained. It actually moves you!

Adults $39, Juniors (4-14) $29

802-988-2611 • jaypeakresort.com

Climb oN! with Petra CliffS iN burliNgtoN!

10

Experience the thrill of climbing indoors, or outside, with trained professionals who guide climbs up some of New England’s finest cliffs. Courses offered from Intro to Climbing to Advanced Multi-Pitch climbs. Indoor rock climbing is also great fun for the family. Half-day outdoor excursions start as low as $100 per person. Gift certificates available.

802-657-3872 • www.petracliffs.com

The best way to see Vermont!

Here’s an “unforgettable experience” that Dad will never forget. Take a glider and soar over Vermont’s most majestic terrain. Prices start at $99; open mid-June through October.

Morrisville-Stowe State Airport, Route 100

802-888-7845 www.stowesoaring.com

challenge DaD with passes to Shale hill adveNture farmS

If the special man in your family has ever thought of obstacle course racing, the course in Benson is the place to start. Featuring 30 obstacles in a 5k course, Shale Hill has been touted as one of the best training courses and host for events in New England. Buy daily passes, get the 4-pass voucher for $100, or get a month pass for $65! Or sign up for one of half a dozen races on the course this season, including the first tri-event featuring mountain biking, swimming and the obstacle course on July 18. It’s an adventure he’ll never regret.

802-537-3561 • www.Shalehilladventure.com

JUNE 2015

VTSPORTS.COM 35

READER ATHLETE

KEITH EPSTEIN

AGE: 36 LIVES IN: South Burlington, Vt. FAMILY: Wife, June; two daughters, Lillian and Mirabel OCCUPATION: Engineer at All Earth Renewables PRIMARY SPORTS: Unicycling, bicycling and skiing

Keith Epstein rode his first unicycle when he was a teenager at summer camp and since then has amassed a quiver of one-wheelers.

He has ridden on and off road, significant distances, and up some serious hills and he’s happy to see that his two young daughters have also taken an interest in one-wheel riding.

your foot on the top pedal. You can’t do that on a unicycle because the wheel will move. You have to put your foot on the bottom pedal and it took me a while to figure that out. It’s also easier to ride along a wall or a fence than away from one so you can put your hand out and prevent yourself from falling. There are a lot of tips you pick up after a while. If your wheel is getting ahead of the seat you need to pedal slower so your body can catch up and if your seat is getting ahead, you have to pedal faster. Side to side balance isn’t that big a deal but you have to stay on your seat; if there’s less weight on your feet you have more control.

VS: How many unicycles do you have ?

VS: What about two wheels?

VS: How did you start riding a unicycle?

VS: When did you buy your first unicycle and how much does one cost?

KE: I was 16 years old and I was at a summer camp in Watsonville, California and saw one lying around. It was an unstructured camp so I had time and decided that learning to ride a unicycle would be a good way to use my time. There was a small concrete paved area, maybe 20 feet long, and I went up against the wall to mount the bike and did that stretch over and over again, and fell over and over again, and banged my shins over and over again. By the end of the two-week camp I could ride, but I don’t recommend anyone learning that way.

VS: What was wrong with that approach?

KE: I told my parents I wanted a unicycle. Most bike shops have one that’s been hanging there for five years that nobody wants so we got one for about $100.

After you learn to ride, the next thing is learning how to mount without leaning on something. I had a goal of riding 100 feet down the road and if I fell off I had to go back and start from scratch.

I found the Unicycle Society of America on the Internet and began to subscribe to its newsletter. I found that not only were there other people who did this but they could do more than ride in a straight line.

Eventually I learned to ride with one foot, ride backwards, and jump up and down.

KE: When you get on a bicycle you put

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KE: I brought one to college and then I started buying more. At this point I have nine unicycles: There’s one with a 36” wheel that I’ve ridden in the Five Boro Bike Tour in New York City. That one can go very fast for a unicycle—15 mph.

I have an off-road unicycle with a 26” wheel, one with a 24” wheel, three with 20” wheels and a 16” and 12” for my daughters. The Finger Lakes One Wheelers bought the 16” bike when my wife was pregnant with Lilian so my daughter had a unicycle before she was even born.

She’s eight years old now and just learning. My five-year-old is motivated too, but it’s a little early.

KE: I have more unicycles than bicycles.

I have four bikes: a commuter bike, road bike, mountain bike, and one that I attach the bike trailer to for the family. Most of the riding I do is to work in Williston and back for seven miles. I’m very fortunate to be able to ride mostly bike paths through South Burlington. The Recreation Committee has done a great job so it’s a very easy commute. I also do some road rides.

VS: How far can you go on a unicycle?

KE: Fifty miles is the longest I’ve done.

You do have to stand up every once in a while and move the seat to shift your weight around. Thankfully, unicycle seats have gotten a lot more comfortable over time.

VS: Is there a local unicycle club?

KE: The founder of Front Porch Forum, Michael Wood Lewis, unicycles with his family and they started getting people together last fall in Burlington. One rider has a five-foot tall unicycle called a giraffe. The pedals are above the wheel and there’s a chain that connects them.

If you’re flexible you can put one pedal down and reach up to get on the seat without assistance. I’ve done a couple of rides in Montreal—Tour La Nuit and Tour de L’Ile—with unicycling friends from Vermont and Canada.

VS: How are hills on a unicycle?

KE: Uphill isn’t that bad because you’re in a low 1-1 gear ratio. It’s not any harder than on a bike but going downhill is more challenging because you have to prevent the wheel from wanting to accelerate.

When you go down a really steep hill, you’re pushing harder than your weight

36 VTSPORTS.COM

and you need to pull on the seat to hold yourself down. If you don’t hold your seat back enough you go too fast and fall. There’s a term for falling off: UPD or Unplanned Dismount. I rode a lot when I lived in Ithaca , N.Y., which is a very hilly place, but I haven’t done that many hills in Vermont.

VS: How do you do a planned dismount?

KE: To dismount you just stop pedaling, either lean forwards or backwards, and move one or both feet from the pedals to the ground while you grab the seat with a hand. With a little practice it can be done quite gracefully.

VS: Are all unicycles 1:1 gearing?

KE: Most are since the axel is the hub, but there are some geared unicycles. It’s a planetary gear system internal to the hub.

In order to shift there’s a button that goes through the axel so you kick it with your heel when you want to switch. Kick with your right heel and it’s 1:1, but kick with your left and it’s 1.4:1. You can get up to 20 miles per hour or more that way.

VS: What about off-road riding?

KE: Off road makes the easy trails much more challenging. I haven’t ridden off road since I moved to Vermont in 2008, but in Ithaca I did some of the mountain bike trails. You don’t go as far or as fast ,but you still get sweaty and have fun.

VS: What is the joy of the single wheel?

KE: It’s a different feeling. There is always something new to learn. Sometimes I ride it because it’s more portable and sometimes it’s just because of the variety and the fact that you can always learn a new trick. It’s a lot of fun. ­—Phyl Newbeck

JUNE 2015

CALENDAR OF EVENTS ROAD & MOUNTAIN BIKING JUNE 6/6

FEATURED EVENTS

To submit a featured event go to vtsports.com

June 20

August 1

No Limits Golf Tournament

The Bart Adaptive Sport Center hosts the 6th Annual No Limits Golf Tournament Fundraiser at the Manchester Country Club. Shotgun start is at 1 p.m. Visit www. bartcenter.com or call 802-824-6849 to register.

Whiteface Mountain Uphill Race, Wilmington, N.Y. Cyclists race an 11-mile climb up to the summit of New York’s fifth highest peak. www.whitefaceregion.com

6/7

June 20, August 9

Tour De Heifer, Brattleboro, Vt.

Lake Dunmore Triathlon, Salisbury, Vt.

Brattleboro’s Strolling of the Heifers weekend includes the annual Tour De Heifer bike rides on dirt roads with distances of 15, 30 and 60 miles. www.strollingoftheheifers.com/tour

Vermont Sun hosts a .9-mile swim, 28-mile bike and 6.2-mile run in Branbury State Park in and around Lake Dunmore. www.vermontsuntriathlonseries.com

6/14

June 20, July 12, August 9

Tour De Kingdom, Newport, Vt.

Vermont Sun Triathlon, Salisbury, Vt.

Kingdom Games in Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom hosts four days of long-distance rides through the NEK and northern New Hampshire. Rides total 440 miles with 25,000 feet of vertical climbing. www.tourdekingdom.org

Middlebury’s Vermont Sun Fitness Center holds a 600yard swim, 14-mile bike and 3.1-mile run in Branbury State park on the shores of Lake Dunmore in Salisbury. www.vermontsuntriathlonseries.com

6/13

July 5

Champ Ride, Burlington, Vt.

Great Race XXXVI, St. Albans, Vt.

The Vermont Center for AIDS Resources, Education & Services hosts a series of rides 17, 32, 67 and 100 miles long around Chittenden County. All rides start at Oakledge Park in Burlington. www.vtcares.org

The Franklin County Regional Chamber of Commerce hosts a 3-mile run, 12-mile bike and 3-mile paddle in the St. Albans Bay. Athletes can compete as a triathlon or duathlon, in teams or as individuals. For more info, visit www.fcrccvt.com or call 802-524-2444

6/13

Vermont Gran Fondo, Hancock, Vt.

July 18

Willoughby Triathlon, Sutton, Vt.

The Vermont Gran Fondo will test your fitness with its challenging climbs over distances of 46, 69 and 104 miles, plus four mountain gaps – Lincoln, Appalachian, Middlebury and Brandon. Event starts at the Middlebury College Snow Bowl. www.vermontgranfondo.com

Kingdom Games hosts a 7-mile bike on the logging roads of Bartlett Mountain followed by a 1.2 mile swim in Lake Willoughby and then a 2.6 mile run to the finish at the top of Mount Pisgah. Event also includes a youth division. www.kingdomtriathlon.org

6/15

Droopy Pedal Mountain Bike, Rutland, Vt. Rutland Recreation Dept, holds a 3- to 8-mile scenic race on the trails at Pine Hill Park at 6:30 p.m. www.rutlandrec.com

Fairfax Egg Run, Fairfax, Vt.

The Fairfax Recreation Department hosts 5K and 10K races with eggs made to order at the finish. www.fairfaxrecreation.com or call 802-849-6111, x8

September 12

Kelly Brush Ride

Scenic, fully supported ride on 25, 50 or 100 miles long, with options for 65 and 85 mile loops. Funds raised support the Kelly Brush Foundation's mission to conquer the challenges of paralysis through love of sport by helping athletes with spinal cord injuries purchase specialized sports equipment and to improve ski racing safety. Ride is followed by a barbeque. www.kellybrushfoundation.org

September 26-27

Adirondack (N.Y.) Marathon Distance Festival, Schroon Lake, N.Y.

Schroon Lake, N.Y. hosts a full weekend of distance racing in the Adirondack Mountains with weekend a half-marathon, relays, 5k and 10k races, as well as fun runs for kids. www.adirondackmarathon.org

September 27

Vermont Sun Half Marathon, Salisbury, Vt.

Vermont hosts a 5K, 10K and half marathon in Branbury State Park on paved out-and-back courses. www.vermontsuntriathlonseries.com

October 4

Kingdom Marathon, Coventry, Vt.

Kingdom Games hosts a marathon in the heart of the Northeast Kingdom on dirt roads through Coventry, Brownington, Barton, Irasburg and Glover. Options include: 26.2 mile, 17 mile, 13 mile with a special youth bike option on the 13 mile route.

6/19-21

6/20

6/20

Kingdom Trails and the New England Mountain Biking Association host the annual confab of trail riding, expo, demos, camping, parties and more at the Kingdom Trails. www.NEMBAfest.com

Friends of Northern Lake Champlain hold the annual Bike for the Lake with 25-, 50-, 70-, and 100-mile loops. Start and finish is at Sandbar State Park in Milton. www.northernlakechamplain.org

The 100/200 is a one-day bicycle ride that stretches from the North Troy border crossing at the Vermont/Canada border to the Massachusetts state line. www.100-200.org

Switchback Bike for the Lake, Burlington, Vt.

NEMBA Fest, East Burke, Vt.

Route 100/200 Miles, North Troy, Vt.

REGISTER TODAY! Online: www.active.com

Keyword Search: Great Race XXXVI

In Person: At the Franklin County

Regional Chamber of Commerce Office 2 North Main Street, St. Albans

Gravel road bikes… for dirt-road cycling adventures.

Packet Pickup:

At the Chamber of Commerce Office Thursday, July 2, 10 am – 7pm Friday, July 3 - CLOSED FOR HOLIDAY Saturday, July 4, 9 am – 5 pm At the Race site, entrance to St. Albans Bay Town Park Sunday, July 5, 7 am – 9 am

Come explore Southern Vermont’s scenic back roads. We’ve got rentals, too!

For more info:

802-524-2444 or www.fcrccvt.com

E x i t 4 , I - 9 1 , P u t n e y Ve r m o n t

JUNE 2015

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we s t h i l l s h o p. c o m

n

802-387-5718

VTSPORTS.COM 37

CALENDAR OF EVENTS 6/27

Long Trail Century Ride, Bridgewater Corners, Vt. The annual Long Trail Century Ride benefits Vermont Adaptive Ski and Sports and is a recreational century that starts and ends at the Long Trail Brewery on Route 4 in Bridgewater Corners. Distances include 20, 60 and 100 miles. www.longtrailcenturyride.com

6/28

Central Vermont Cycling Tour, Adamant, Vt. Different tours wind along country roads in the towns north of Montpelier from Morse Farm through the hamlets of Adamant, Maple Corners and Wrightsville. Distances include 13.6, 33.75 and 59 miles. www.crossvermont.org

JULY 7/10-11

8th Annual Prouty Ultimate, Lebanon, N.H. The Prouty Ultimate is two days of century bike rides supporting patient services and cancer research at the Norris Cotton Cancer Center in Lebanon, N.H. Friday’s ride is from Manchester to Hanover, Saturday’s ride is a loop starting and finishing in Hanover, N.H. www.theprouty.org

7/11

Tour De Grace, Stratton, Vt. This 17.5-mile downhill ride from Stratton Mountain to Grace Cottage Hospital is fun for all ages. Stratton Mountain buses will shuttle riders and their bicycles back to Stratton Mountain about every 30 minutes. www.gracecottage.org

7/11

Newton’s Revenge, Gorham, N.H. Riders race 7.6 miles up the Mt. Washington Auto Road, gaining 4,600 feet in one of the toughest hill climbs in the world. You must arrange a ride down before you race, you cannot ride your bike down. www.newtonsrevenge.com

7/12

Farm to Fork Fondo, Pittsfield, Vt.

AUGUST 8/8

Great Maine Getaway, Biddeford, Me. Two-day ride raises funds for the National MS Society. http:// bikemam.nationalmssociety.org

8/8

Harpoon Point to Point, Windsor, Vt. The Harpoon Point to Point presented by National Life Group is a cycling event to benefit the Vermont Foodbank. Choose from a 25-, 50- or 100-mile ride starting and finishing at the Harpoon Brewery. www.harpoonpointtopoint.com

8/8-9

24 Hours of Great Glen, Goreham, N.H. A 24-hour mountain bike race wrapped into a weekend-long mountain bike festival. Hardcore racers tackle the singletrack and carriage roads for 24 hours while families enjoy the festival games and 24 Minutes of Great Glen kids’ race. http://24hoursofgreatglen.com/

8/12-16

The Vermont Challenge, Stratton, Vt. The Vermont Challenge traverses Southern and Central Vermont over three or four days plus a one-day Gran Fondo century option for all riders. www.vtchallenge.com

8/23

Vermont Overland Grand Prix, Woodstock, Vt. A 51-mile dirt road bicycle race featuring 5,400 feet of climbing, seven sections of “Vermont pavé” (unmaintained ancient public roads), a village downtown start/finish and a street party afterwards. www.vermontoverland.com

8/23

Race to the Top of Vermont, Stowe, Vt. A run/bike up the Mount Mansfield Toll Road. The course is 4.3 miles long and climbs 2,564 vertical feet. Racers will experience a steady incline averaging about 11 degrees over the length of the course. www.rtttovt.com

RUNNING

Wrenegade Sports hosts a three-distance, fondo-style ride to celebrate the relationship between cyclists, farms and beautiful landscapes. Distances include 10, 40, 74 and 102 miles starting in Pittsfield, Vt. www.farmforkfondo-vt.com

JUNE

7/18

6/6

Tour De Zack includes a 27-mile ride from Quechee through West Hartford, and a 47-mile ride. All will meet at The Quechee Green, for a picnic provided by Jake's Quechee Market. www.zacksplacevt.org

An 11-mile run on dirt roads from Londonderry Depot to Jamaica State Park to benefit programs for youth in Southern Vermont. http://thecollaborative.us/westrivertrailrun/

Tour De Zack, Quechee, Vt.

7/18-19

Bike It If You Can Weekend, Fayston, Vt. The Westchester Cycle Club, Mad River Riders, White Plains Ski Club, North Jersey Whiz Skiers and the Ramapo Ski Club host a weekend of road biking based from Mad River Glen ski area near Waitsfield. Barbeque and brews follow in the afternoon at the MRG Basebox. www.madriverglen.com

7/18

Tour De Bondville, Stratton, Vt. The annual Tour de Bondville features a bike ride, golf outing and after-party benefitting the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. Choose between a 50, 53, 25 or 16 mile bike ride, a day on the links, or just the after party. www.tourdebondville.com

7/31- Aug. 1

Vermont Mountain Bike Festival, Ascutney, Vt. Vermont's mountain bikers gather for their annual weekend of bike rides, demos, live music, vendors, free onsite camping, and a whole lot more. www.vmba.org

West River Trail Run, Londonderry, Vt.

6/13

Smugglers’ Notch Trail Race Series, Jeffersonville, Vt. Smugglers’ Notch hosts 4K, 8K and kids races on dirt tracks around the Smugglers’ Notch area. www.raceplanner.com

6/14

Worcester Four-Mile Challenge and Two-Mile Fun Run, Worcester, Vt. Two races start in Worcester, Vt. at the intersection of West Hill and Minister Brook Roads. The races are out-and-back on Minister Brook Road. Contact Roy Belcher, roybelcher@ hotmail.com, 802 735-5110.

6/20

Run For Empowerment, Burlington, Vt. Fundraising teams compete for the cup of empowerment in a 10K, 5K and 1K kids' fun run at the Burlington Waterfront.

This year's goal is to raise $50,000 for Women Helping Battered Women. www.runforempowerment.com

6/20

TNT Blast Away Cancer 5K/10K, Shelburne, Vt. Beginning and ending at Shelburne Health & Fitness on Athletic Drive, the 5K is an out-and-back on the historic Ti-Haul trail while the 10K continues on the Shelburne Bay Path. www. racevermont.com

6/21

Paul Mailman Montpelier Ten-Miler, Vt. The longest continuously held road race in central Vermont starts/finishes near Montpelier High School, as part of the Central Vermont Runners and Onion River Sports Race Series.

Flat to rolling out-and-back course; 27 percent paved, 73 percent gravel roads. www.onionriver.com

6/21

12th Annual Skip Matthews Memorial Run, Lebanon, N.H. A 4-mile course beginning and finishing at Colburn Park followed by a post-race barbeque. Race benefits brain tumor research. www.skipsrun.org

6/27

Catamount Ultra Marathon, Stowe, Vt. Starting and finishing at the Trapp Family Lodge Outdoor Center, runners will complete a 25K loop entirely within Trapp Family Lodge property located in the foothills below Mount Mansfield. 50K racers will complete this same loop twice. www.catamountultra.com

6/6

6/28

Onion River Sports hosts Vermont’s fastest certified 10K course as part of the Central Vermont Runners and Onion River Sports Race Series. www.onionriver.com

Wildcat Mountain hosts a 5K and 5-mile race up and over Wildcat Mountain with views of Mount Washington and Tuckerman Ravine. There will be music, beer, and a BBQ at the finish. www.wildcatmountaintrailrace.com

Capital City Stampede 10K, Montpelier, Vt.

6/6

Colchester Causeway 5K/15K, Colchester, Vt. Runners follow a gravel trail out onto the historic causeway, before returning to the finish at Airport Park. www.colchestervt.gov/Recreation/

6/7

Race to the Top of Bradford, Bradford, Vt. The Bradford Conservation Commission holds a 3.5-mile run to the top of Wrights Mountain on trails of Bradford’s town forest. www.bradfordconservation.org/race/

6/7

Walk on the Wildside, Lebanon, N.H. The Upper Valley Humane Society hosts its fourth annual 5K fun run around Colburn Park in Lebanon, N.H. Well-behaved dogs on leashes (no flexi-leads) are invited to participate. www. uvhs.org

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Wildcat Mountain Trail Race, Goreham, N.H.

JULY 7/4

Harry Corrow Freedom Run, Newport, Vt. Kingdom Games hosts a 10-mile, 10K, 5K and 1-mile run on the Newport-Derby bike path and the Memphremagog Ski Touring Foundation Trails. www.dandelionrun.org/register

7/5

Echo Lake Color Challenge, East Charleston Runners/walkers are invited to travel a 5K loop on beautiful Echo Lake while being showered with colored powder. Challenge begins at 10:00 a.m. on West Echo Lake Rd. All proceeds to benefit the Echo Lake Protective Association. www.echolakeassoication.net

7/10

Smugglers’ Notch Trail Race Series, Jeffersonville, Vt. JUNE 2015

CALENDAR OF EVENTS Smugglers’ Notch hosts 4K, 8K and kids races on dirt tracks around the Smugglers’ Notch area. www.raceplanner.com

7/11

802 249-8996 or lori.lacroix21@gmail.com.

7/26

Biggest Loser Run/Walk, Killington, Vt.

Bear Swamp Run, Middlesex, Vt. Onion River Sports and Central Vermont Runners host a 5.7 mile-race on hilly dirt roads. Race day registration only (8:008:45 am) at the Rumney School in Middlesex, Vt. Contact: Tim Noonan 802 223-6216.

7/12

Killington Resort’s K-1 Lodge hosts a half marathon and 5K. Post race party and gondola rides to follow. www.biggestloserrunwalk.com

Full and half marathons in the Mad River Valley on a course certified and sanctioned by the US Track & Field. Relays and walkers are welcome. www.madmarathon.com

7/12

The Stowe 8 Miler is a classic summer race now in its 34th year. For the full 8-mile run the course is an accurate 8 mile with 2 miles on a maintained dirt road This year, a 5K option replaces the relay. www.locorunning.com/stowe8miler

7/17

Chris Ludington Memorial Trail Run, Stowe, Vt. The Trapp Family Lodge hosts a 5K or 10K walk or run on cross country trails to benefit the Chris Ludington Scholarship Fund. ron@houseoftroy.com

7/18

Goshen Gallop, Goshen, Vt. The Blueberry Hill Inn in Goshen hosts a 5K and 10K trail race in the Moosalamoo National Recreation Area, 12 miles south of Middlebury. It’s billed as the “toughest 10K in the East.” www.blueberryhillinn.com

7/18

Vermont 100 Endurance Race, West Windsor, Vt. The Vermont 100 Mile Endurance Run is a 100-mile ultramarathon held at Silver Hill Meadow in West Windsor. It is one of the four 100 mile races that comprise the Grand Slam of Ultra-running. http://vermont100endurancerun.blogspot.com/

7/19

Stowe Trail Race Series: Ranch Camp Ramble, Stowe, Vt. The Stowe Mt. Resort Nordic Center host a 5K and 10K on local trails. This is the first race in the Stowe 2015 Trail Race Series. www.stoweadaptive.org

7/26

Race to the Top of Vermont, Stowe, Vt.

AUGUST 8/1

8/30

The Fairfax Recreation Department hosts 5K and 10K races with eggs made to order at the finish. fairfaxrparksandrec@yahoo.com, www.fairfaxrecreation.com, 802-849-6111, x8

Certified point-to-point course on a bike path. A free 1/4-mile kids race will be held at the Archie Post fields at the end of the main race. www.gmaa.net

8/1

Stowe 8-Miler, Stowe, Vt.

8/23

A run/bike up the Mount Mansfield Toll road. The course is 4.3 miles long and climbs 2,564 vertical feet. Racers will experience a steady incline averaging about 11 degrees over the length of the course. www.rtttovt.com

Fairfax Egg Run, Fairfax, Vt.

Mad Marathon, Waitsfield, Vt.

der, are encouraged to participate in an untimed 1k Fun Run. www.vermontadaptive.org/bolton5k

Moosalamoo Ultra, Goshen, Vt. The Moosalamoo National Recreation Area hosts a heavy half marathon (closer to 14 miles) and an ultra marathon of 36 miles. All races are on trails and some single track.www.moosalamooultra.com

Archie Post 5-Miler, Burlington, Vt.

SWIMMING JUNE 6/26 and 27

Son of a Swim, Newport, Vt.

8/9

Kingdom Games hosts 6-, 4- and 2-mile swims on Lake Memphremagog. Courses are in an out-and-back format and can be used as a qualifier for longer races. www.kingdomswim.org

The Golden Eagle Resort is the start and finish for the second race in the Stowe 2015 Trail Race Series. www.stoweadaptive.org

JULY

8/15

Seventh Annual Kingdom Swim, Newport, Vt.

Stowe Trail Race Series: Cady Hills 5K, Stowe, Vt.

100 on 100, Stowe to Ludlow, Vt. A 100-mile team relay through Vermont. Teams of six runners complete three legs each, starting at the Trapp Family Lodge in Stowe and finishing at Okemo’s Jackson Gore resort in Ludlow. www.100on100.org

8/20

Berlin Pond 5-miler, Berlin, Vt. A 5-mile loop counterclockwise around Berlin Pond, mix of flat and hilly dirt roads, part of the CVR ORS Race Series.

Race day registration only at the Berlin Town Clerk's office.

Contact: Jeff Prescott, jeffp_cvr@myfairpoint.net and Sue Emmons, sue.emmons@comcast.net.

8/22

Bolton Valley 5K to benefit Vermont Adaptive, Bolton, Vt. An annual trail run at Bolton Valley Ski Area Nordic trails to raise money for adaptive sports. Children, ages 8 and un-

7/25

Kingdom Games hosts 15-, 10-, 6-, 3- and 1-mile swims plus ¼ mile and 100-yard swims for youth on Lake Memphremagog. Lake Memphremagog is now the venue for the World 10 Mile Open Water Championship sanctioned by the World Open Water Swimming Association. Races are capped at 100 swimmers per course. www.kingdomswim.org

AUGUST 8/8-16

Swim the Kingdom, Northeast Kingdom, Vt. Kingdom Games hosts a series of distance swims as follows: August 8: Crystal Swim, 5 miles; August 9: Island Pond Swim, 4 miles; August 10: Echo Lake Swim, 6K or 12K options; August 11: Lake Seymour, 6.2 miles; August 12: Lake Massawippi, 9 miles; August 13: Lake Memphremagogo, 6.2 miles; August 15: Lake Willoughby Swim, 5 miles; August 16: Caspian Swim, 3 miles. www. swimthekingdom.org

Barre Heritage Festival 5K Trail Race, Barre, Vt. Spaulding High School hosts a 5K trail race on the trails of the Barre Town Forest. Registration in the field on Little John Road across from Millstone Lodge. Contact: Lori LaCroix,

Come in for great gifts for Grads & Dads!

Bikes, accessories, racks, service & expertise

Ethan Allen Biathlon Club

39TH ANNUAL

R U N A G R O U N D T R I AT H L O N

2015 Summer Race Series

DATES July 9, 16, 24, August 6,13, 20 TIMES 5:00 pm - Registration 5:30 to 6:00 pm - Zeroing 6:15 pm - Race Start WHERE Ethan Allen Biathlon Club Ethan Allen Rd., Jericho, VT

Sunday, September 20

NEW: See our website for NEW mandatory

Safety Clinic information

THROUGH 5 TOWNS IN THE BEAUTIFUL BERKSHIRES Bike • Canoe/Kayak/SUP • Run Triathlon Team & Iron Categories

Info: www.eabiathlon.org

active.com and trireg.com joshbillings.com

JUNE 2015

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ike Shops 3

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POWER PLAY SPORTS

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SKIRACK

85 Main St. Burlington, VT 802-658-3313

At Skirack, our goal is to help you find the right bike to match your goals, level of fitness and style of riding. We understand that every rider is different and there is no “one-size-fits-all” solution. We offer comprehensive bike fitting services as well as a wide range of new bicycles, accessories and apparel that our team of experts can recommend for your unique needs.

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Manchester Center

Earl's has been selected as one of the "Top 100" Bicycle Dealers in America, and for the last seven years, has been a Top 100 Bike Dealer chosen by the national Bike Dealers Association. Our service department, nicknamed "Home of the Bike Doctors," is schooled and certified in the most difficult of bicycle and fitness equipment repairs.

www.skirack.com Hours: Mon-Fri 10-7, Sat 10-7, Sun 11-5

Rutland

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www.earlsbikes.com Hours: Mon-Fri 10-7, Sat 10-6, Sun 11-5

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2500 Williston Rd, South Burlington, VT 802-864-9197

35 Portland St. Morrisville, VT 802-888-6557

www.powerplaysports.com Hours: Mon-Fri 9-6, Sat 8:30-5 Sun 10-4

North Central Vermont's Trek and Giant Dealer. With over 200 new and used bikes, PPS has a bike for everyone. Service and rentals too!

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ONION RIVER

20 Langdon St. Montpelier, VT 802-229-9409

www.onionriver.com Hours: Mon-Thurs 9-6, Fri 9-8, Sat 9-5, Sun 11-4

We love bikes and we really love to make them work well! Our in-house bike repair shop offers a full range of services, including everything from simple flat fixes to Professional Tune-Ups for racers. In our bike shop we have the perfect bicycle for all of your two-wheeled adventures — and the friendly, knowledgeable staff to help you find what you need.

OUTDOOR GEAR EXCHANGE

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37 Church St. Burlington, VT 802-860-0190

www.gearx.com Hours: Mon-Thurs: 10 - 8, FriSat: 10 - 9, Sun: 10 - 6

New this year at Outdoor Gear Exchange is a fully equipped bike repair shop.

Having brought in specialists in bike tech work, this service is quickly gaining momentum. OGE also carries an extensive collection of bikes, apparel and accessories.

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BIKE CENTER

74 Main St Middlebury, VT 802-388-6666

www.bikecentermid.com Hours: Mon-Thurs 9:30-5:30, Fri 9:30-8, Sat 9:30-5:30, Sun 1-4

Take advantage of the most advanced and courteous service in our region, including a quick turn-around in our service shop downstairs. Upstairs in the sales room, we offer the best in new and used road, mountain, lifestyle, and children's bikes and new gear. We carry brands that offer superior products that balance innovation and performance with reliability and value.

GREEN MOUNTAIN BIKES

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105 N. Main St. Rochester, VT 800-767-7882

www.greenmountainbikes.com Hours: Open 7 Days a week 10 am to 6 pm

Located in the center of Vermont, the heart of the Green Mountains, we are surrounded by terrain that calls to mountain and road bikers alike.

Whether you ride twisting trails or back-to-back gaps, we service, sell, and rent all styles of bicycles, featuring Kona, Lapierre, Xprezo, Jamis, Juliana, Raleigh, Santa Cruz, Transition, and Hinderyckx bikes - hand crafted by our own Rochester boy Zak Hinderyckx. So STOP READING and RIDE YOUR BIKE!

BATTENKILL SPORTS

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1240 Depot St. Manchester, VT 802-362-2734

www.battenkillsports.com Hours: 9:30-5:30 everyday

Full selection of men's and women's clothing.

Rentals available. Great back roads. Road rides Thursdays at 6:00 pm, Beginner Rides Fridays at 6:00 pm.

JUNE2015 2015 MAY/JUNE

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CALENDAR OF EVENTS

WEST HILL SHOP

49 Brickyard Ln Putney, VT 802-387-5718

www.westhillshop.com Hours: 10am - 6pm, Mon-Sat

Since 1971, the West Hill Shop has been a low-key, friendly source for bikes ‘n gear, service, and rare wisdoms. We are known regionally as the go-to place for problem-solving technicians. Our bike fitters specialize in comfort without sacrificing efficiency. More recently, we’ve been focusing on stocking gravel road bikes, with awesome dirt road riding right out our door. Our annual (and infamous) cyclocross race has been described as “the Providence race in Carhartts.” Come join us for us for one of our adventurous rides!

OMER & BOB'S

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20 Hanover St, Lebanon, NH 603-448-3522

www.omerandbobs.com Hours: Mon-Fri 9-6, Sat 9-5, closed Sunday

The Upper Valley's bike shop since 1964. We carry road bikes, mountain bikes and kids bikes from specialty brands, including Trek, Specialized and Colnago.

Featuring a full service department offering bike fitting, bike rentals and a kids' trade-in, trade-up program.

CLAREMONT CYCLE DEPOT

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12 Plains Rd Claremont, NH 603-542-2453

www.claremontcycle.com Hours: Mon - Thu 10 - 5:30, Fri: 10 - 7, Sat: 9 - 5, Sun: Closed

Claremont Cycle Depot is a bike shop committed to making everyone who walks through our doors feel welcome and takes pride in our staff, products and services. Our service staff is professionally trained and certified to work on all bicycle makes and models, not just the ones we sell.

JUNE 2015

MAY/JUNE 2015

TRIATHLON/DUATHLON

ADVENTURE + OBSTACLE

JUNE

JUNE

6/20

6/6-7

Middlebury’s Vermont Sun holds a .9-mile swim, 28-mile bike and 6.2-mile run in Branbury State Park and along the shores of Lake Dunmore in Salisbury. www.vermontsuntriathlonseries.com

Mount Snow Resort hosts the popular Tough Mudder obstacle race over 10.2 mountainous miles. Popular obstacles include “Kiss of Mud,” “Cry Baby” and “Electroshock Therapy.” www.toughmudder.com

Lake Dunmore Triathlon, Salisbury, Vt.

6/27

Missisquoi Paddle & Pedal Race, Vt.

Tough Mudder, Mount Snow, Vt.

6/21

Shale Hill Obstacle Relay Challenge 2015, Benson, Vt.

The Missisquoi Paddle & Pedal Race combines 6.5 miles of flatwater paddling along the Missisquoi River and 4.5 miles of cycling back on an adjacent rail trail. Kayak and canoe racers are welcome. www.northernforestcanoetrail.org

Shale Hill Adventure Farm hosts a co-ed team event. Each team member completes 20-25 obstacles/challenges in 2.2 miles. www.shalehilladventure.com

6/28

6/26

Greater Burlington Sprint/Olympic Tri and Aquabike, Burlington, Vt. Race Vermont hosts a series of four races in Shelburne. Those races include two duathlons and two triathlons comprised of: a 500-yard swim and a 15.8-mile bike; a 500-yard swim, 15.8mile bike and 3.1-mile run; a .9-mile swim and 27-mile bike; and a .9-mile swim, 27-mile bike, 6.2-mile run. www.racevermont.com

JULY

Death Race, Pittsfield, Vt. Peak races holds the annual Death Race, a race lasting the entire weekend that tests participants’ bodies and minds. The race has no specified course and the obstacles are kept secret. www.peak.com

JULY 7/11

Dirty Girl Mud Run, Killington, Vt.

7/5

Killington Resort hosts a 5K mud run to support breast cancer awareness and research. The event is untimed and covers 11 obstacles. www.killington.com

The Franklin County Regional Chamber of Commerce hosts a 3-mile run, 12-mile bike and 3-mile paddle in the St. Albans Bay. Athletes can compete as a triathlon or duathlon, in teams or as individuals. For more info, visit www.fcrccvt.com or call 802-524-2444

7/18

Great Race XXXVI, St. Albans, Vt.

7/12

Vermont Sun Triathlon, Salisbury, Vt. Vermont Sun Fitness Center holds a 600-yard swim, 14-mile bike and 3.1-mile run in Branbury State park on the shores of Lake Dunmore in Salisbury. www.vermontsuntriathlonseries.com

7/18

Willoughby Triathlon, Sutton, Vt. Kingdom Games hosts a 7-mile bike on the logging roads of Bartlett Mountain followed by a 1.2 mile swim in Lake Willoughby and then a 2.6 mile run to the finish at the top of Mount Pisgah. Event also includes a youth division. Race is held near the town of Sutton, Vt. www.kingdomtriathlon.org

7/26

30.1 Colchester Triathlon, Colchester, Vt. After last year’s 30th Colchester Triathlon was rained out, organizers reattempt with race 30.1. The Colchester Triathlon includes a 500-meter swim or one-mile kayak, 12-mile bike and a three-mile run. www.colchestertri.com

AUGUST 8/9

Lake Dunmore Triathlon, Salisbury, Vt. Vermont Sun holds a .9-mile swim, 28-mile bike and 6.2mile run in Branbury State Park and along the shores of Lake Dunmore in Salisbury. A shorter option is a 600-yard swim, 14-mile bike and 3.1-mile run in Branbury State park on the shores of Lake Dunmore in Salisbury. www.vermontsuntriathlonseries.com

Tri-Obstaclon, Benson, Vt. Shale Hill Adventure Farm hosts an obstacle racing-themed triathlon with three categories. www.shalehilladventure.com

AUGUST 8/1

24 Hours of Shale Hell, Benson, Vt. Obstacle course racers attempt as many laps as they can in a 24-hour race on the Shale Hill Adventure Farm. Racers can compete solo, in a pair or teams of four. www.shalehilladventure.com

8/16

Moss Aniversary/Benson Bear Race, Vt. Shale Hill Adventure Farm hosts a 5K and 10K race on their Benson course. 5K features over 30 obstacles, 10K has over 50. www.shalehilladventure.com

PADDLING JUNE 6/10

Brattleboro Outing Club paddle to Nubanusit Lake and Spoonwood Pond, Brattleboro, Vt. The Brattleboro Outing Club has paddles on Nubanusit Lake to a short 'lift-over' to enjoy a day of quiet water paddling, swimming and sunning on Spoonwood Pond. Group meets at 9 a.m. at the Hannaford’s parking lot in Brattleboro. www. brattleborooutingclub.org

6/14

Brattleboro Outing Club on Somerset Reservoir, Wilmington, Vt. The Brattleboro Outing Club leads a daytrip on Somerset Reservoir, one of Vermont's three "great" reservoirs; a very special out-of-the-way place to paddle, picnic, swim and sun. Expect to see eagles, loons and moose. www.brattleborooutingclub.org

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ENDGAME

GOING ELLIPTICAL

By Bill McKibben

I

t’s rare, by the time you reach your fifties, to feel an entirely new physical sensation—it’s been many decades since we took our first swim and felt the way water pulled against our limbs.

We’ve flown on jets so often that we no longer feel the push of acceleration down the runway (and we pull down the window-shade so we can watch the movie— how jaded is that?)

So, I wasn’t really expecting anything that remarkable the first time I climbed on an Elliptigo bike. It was at the crowded start of May’s New York Five Boro Bike Tour, which my wife had wanted to ride for years.

We’d been planning the ride for nearly 12 months but last fall I was diagnosed with a pair of herniated discs in my neck.

They made the bicycling crouch painful and it’s unclear when, if ever, I’ll be back to drop handlebars. Searching for a solution online, I came across the Ellliptigo—which at $2,500 seemed an expensive solution.

But I could rent it in New York for 100 bucks a day.

So I decided to try the vaguely insectoid-looking machine for the 40-mile ride—an easy, cheek-by-jowl pedal with 38,000 bicycles on the crowded streets of New York. The Elliptigo was, I’d been assured, easy to ride: just like an elliptical machine from the gym, but with wheels.

But it wasn’t anything like that.

Instead it was like…flying. There’s a swoop to it; you seem to be running, but you’re quickly moving twice as fast as a runner can go. The world goes by gigglingly fast, as if you’d taken some benign drug that screwed up your perception of time. And of space, as well.

I’ve spent my whole adult life being 6 feet 2 inches, which is fairly high off the ground—but at the top of the pedal stroke on the Elliptigo I was more than 7 feet tall, which meant I was looking out on the world like Wilt or Kareem. In New York I could see miles ahead, over

top of all the hunched bicyclists.

The 40 miles passed easily and pain-free, but I never had enough open road to really push hard, and the stiffest climb was up the Verrazano Narrows Bridge.

I wanted to try more. Since it was hard to tell if it would translate to the Addison County landscape, with its long windswept valley rides and its classic mountain gap rides, I borrowed one from the California-based company for a week, and put it through its paces in the Greens.

N i c o l e Blood, the rep from Saratoga, N.Y, packed the 40-pound limegreen loaner in her Honda CRV car (the handlebars and stem remove easily from the rest of the frame) and brought it to Vermont. Blood is a former worldclass 5K runner who exemplifies one of the machine’s key user groups: top-notch athletes who need to train through injury, or simply want more miles without the pounding impact of running. “You don’t need to be hurt to use it, though” she said, as we pedaled (there’s no good verb—were we ‘ellipticizing’?) through the covered bridge at Salisbury swamp. Running pros like Meb Keflezighi use them to avoid injury as they ramp up training—Meb was on his almost every training day before he won the 2014 Boston Marathon, the first American to do so in a generation.

I got a good Zone 1 workout riding the back roads of Weybridge and Vergennes, moving about the same pace as my wife does on a good road bike.

You do catch the headwind because you’re so high—but you also see over the fences and hedgerows; its far more involving than biking, where I find myself staring at the road ahead. (I also felt more visible, which after the spring’s fatalities on Champlain Valley roads didn’t bother me).

Once I mastered the flats I decided to head for the hills. Even though the standard model has just 8 gears, it’s

“The world goes by gigglingly fast, as if you’d taken some benign drug that screwed up your perception of time.”

more than a match for the mountains—I climbed over Middlebury gap two days in a row and my legs didn’t feel shot afterwards.

The Elliptigo didn’t feel like a

substitute for biking or running. It felt like its own slightly magical motion, efficient and—more important—engaging. I felt like I was walking on air.

Environmental activist and author, Bill McKibben is the founder of the climate action group 350.org and the Schumann Distinguished Scholar in Environmental Studies at Middlebury College. His many books include The End of Nature, Eaarth, Deep Economy and Long Distance, the story of how he trained with Olympic athletes to improve his cross-country skiing. McKibben lives in Ripton, Vt. and frequently rides around Addison County with his wife, Sue Halpern.

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JUNE 2015

June 19 –21, 2015 The Biggest Mountain Biking Festival of the Year on Kingdom Trails!

in me o ile h m ur ! st yo nd es. tie e ke iti et b ee il pr an w l ab e tc e l Th on r th r a rm fo s fo l Ve ai Tr

Burke Vermont

New England Mountain Bike Association, Kingdom Trails, the Wildflower Inn, Pedros and the Burke Area Chamber of Commerce are joining forces to host the biggest and best celebration of mountain biking in the Northeast!

This year ’s Festival will be held on Darling Hill – the home of the Kingdom Trails’ celebrated flowy singletrack. The expo center, located next to the Wildflower Inn, will feature national and local bike industry leaders. Complimentary camping adjacent to expo or at a quiet family camping area. Alternate lodging in the Burke and Lyndonville area.

To register for NEMBAfest 2015 go to nembafest.com

It’s that simple.

It’s a 3 day celebration of all things mountain biking including group rides, camping, a huge vendor expo, bike demos, live music, food, beer, kids games and much more!

Get a good nights sleep–you’ll need it.

Because there’s more to do tomorrow.

Get information on upcoming events and lodging & vacation packages at

www.BurkeVermont.com

Recreate. Relax. Repeat.

Burke Vermont

Hank Pfeifle Brunswick, ME, Surgery for Complex Elbow Fracture 2012 US Cycling National Masters Road Champion

If this is you, we’re your sports medicine team. We’re Dartmouth-Hitchcock.

Call 1(800) 639-2864 for an appointment. Or visit lebanon.dhortho.org/sports.

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