NEW TRAILSIDE INNS

DESIGNED BY CYCLISTS FOR RIDERS, THESE THREE NEW TRAILSIDE ACCOMMODATIONS MAY REDEFINE INN TO INN BIKE TOURS. BY LISA LYNN

Over the last few decades Doon Hinderyckx has watched Rochester grow as a bike town. What has been a popular stop for road bike tours, has quickly become a destination unto itself, thanks to the work done by the Ridgeline Outdoor Collective.

Now, with new sections of the proposed Velomont being built (Swan Dive was recently completed near Tunnel Ridge Road), the charming town of Rochester is becoming a mountain bike hub.

Hinderyckx owns and runs Green Mountain Bicycles in Rochester – with an increased focus on e-bikes – and his partner Anni Mackay has the Big Town Gallery next door. In May, the couple opened The Stable Inn in an 1840s timber-frame building that had once been, yes, a stable, right next to the bike shop.

With Mackay’s design sense and works from some of the artists she represents, this is a fresh take on what an inn can be. The 14 rooms have shared kitchens (and many share a bathroom) and reasonable rates. “The idea is we want this to be a meeting place where people mingle,” Mackay says. The inn is also sustainable and powered by solar and heated with wood pellets. Rooms start at $100.

Just up Route 100 in Warren, Jonny Adler (one of the founders of The Skinny Pancake) is bringing a new bike motel to life, with lodging, a restaurant and a 2,000 sq. ft. gear and bike shop run by the Burlington retail powerhouse, Outdoor Gear Exchange. Adler and his partners bought the former Egan’s Big

World/Madbush Lodge and its 20 acres off Route 100 for $1.5 million in 2022 and have been revamping it as Riders Outpost.

“What sold me was there’s this gorgeous waterfall right behind the lodge – Madbush Falls – and there’s easy connectivity to the Mad River Valley trails,” says Adler.

The plans call for 21 motel-style rooms with places to clean and store bikes and gear, as well as bunk rooms and proposed cabins and glamping tent sites.

"We also plan to have a gear lending library with all the things you need for a bike adventure, such as Yeti coolers, folding chairs, bike pumps, you name it,” says Adler. Opening dates are still to be determined but Adler hopes to open the shop and restaurant this July, with rooms available by the end of the summer.

Travis Daniel, the former chef de cuisine at Juniper in Burlington’s Hotel Vermont, has signed on as executive chef. “The menu looks really good,” says Adler. “Almost too good for what we had imagined, but hey!”

During the pandemic, former Tour de France racer Tyler Wren had to pivot. His mainstay business running Farm to Fork Fondos and guided bike tours was put on hold during Covid.

Wren saw the surge in Airbnbs and bought property on the Lamoille River in Johnson, just across from the Lamoille Valley Rail Trail.

There, he has set up Uncommon Accommodations. The name fits: Accommodations range from basic tent sites with fire pits and river access to beautifully appointed tiny homes with hot tubs.

There’s even an Airstream trailer and a yurt. Each rents out on sites such as Airbnb and rates are reasonably priced. “We’ve been practically full ever since we opened,” says Wren, who can provide bike pumps for those riding the LVRT or nearby trails.

HOW SAFE ARE OUR CAMPSITES?

A RECENT INCIDENT AT A STATE PARK AND AN ONGOING PROBLEM AT A LONG TRAIL SHELTER ARE NEW REASONS TO BE VIGILANT IF YOU ARE OUT IN THE WILD THIS SUMMER.

BY LISA LYNN

Su Mittra is an ultrarunner from Massachusetts who has competed in multiple events –most recently running 44 trail miles at Ripton's Infinitus -- but she wasn’t prepared for what she encountered on the Long Trail last July. “It was just really creepy,” she recalls.

Mittra, her wife and two friends had planned to spend a weekend hiking and camping in the Killington area and to spend a night at the Pico shelter on the Long Trail.

“The first sign someone was there was we found these bottles of juice that were half-empty near a water source. It looked like someone had just left them there but we didn’t see anyone around,” she says. They continued on and settled in at the shelter. The sun had set and it was getting dark when they heard a man singing outside.

“He didn’t try to come in or acknowledge we were there,” she recalls. Instead, he began breaking large branches right behind the shelter and spread a tarp out. They peered out the window. “We were pretty sure from what my wife had read online that he was “Salt,” Mittra says. “He had long gray hair and squinty eyes.” Then the man started singing “Burn, Pico Burn.” “That’s when we decided to get out of there,” Mittra says.

The four packed up their gear and while Mittra kept an eye behind them on the trail, they left the shelter in the dark, hoping to eventually make their way back to Route 4 and then hitch a ride to Gifford Woods State Park and their car.

What they knew at the time was that “Salt” had been living in or around the Pico shelter for several years. On Sept. 4, 2021 he had allegedly stopped a woman on the Long Trail and began touching her and talking about crimes he had committed. That same day, he came into the Pico shelter, straddled a female hiker from behind and began giving her an unwanted massage. Both incidents were reported to the police. Vermont Sports published a first-hand account online at the time by one of the women, who asked to remain anonymous.

What Mittra and her friends didn’t know was that in July of 2020 Scott Saltis of Poultney (who goes by the trail name “Salt” ) was accused of arson after a camp where he had been squatting on private property burned to the ground. Saltis is due in court in Rutland in June 2023.

“As far as we know, Salt has been living at the Pico shelter or near it for the last couple of years, but it’s been hard to do anything about it,” acknowledged Mike Debonis, the executive director of the Green Mountain Club. While the club manages The Long Trail, the shelter and the cabin are owned by POWDR Corp., which owns Killington and Pico ski areas.

“Our shelters are open to the public and hard to close off. We only very occasionally get squatters and they usually leave after we speak with them,” Debonis says. “In this instance, our only recourse has been to close the Pico shelter and post it with ‘No Trespassing’ signs,” he says. The shelter will be closed as of Memorial Day.

On May 21, 2023 another man was arrested at Gifford State Park after hitting a vehicle with an axe and threatening to chop off heads. Three young campers from Pennsylvania were in their car when Ralph Schneider, 61, approached them with an axe and accused them of shining lights into his campsite. According to police reports, a fourth man, David Chandler, 42, was leaning against the car when Schneider pinned him there, then smashed the car with his axe and threatened to kill them.

Police took Schneider, who said he was homeless, into custody.

Since the pandemic, Vermont has had the second highest rate of homelessness in the country with 43 out of every 10,000 without a home. However, Vermont has also been able to find temporary shelters for most: only 2% of those who are unhoused live outdoors.

“Generally, we think of the Long Trail as just as safe, if not safer, than any other town or community you might come across. But you should trust your instincts when you are on it. If something or somebody doesn’t feel right, listen to your gut,” Debonis advises.

TREE DANCING, ANYONE?

In 2021, after touring with such companies as Cirque du Soleil and Ringling Bros. & Barnum & Bailey, and winning awards for their inventive duo trapeze act, Serenity Smith Forchion and her twin sister Elsie Smith settled in to southern Vermont. Their father runs a sawmill and raises beef on Sunrise Farm in Guilford and the vaulted roof of the barn gave space to set up an indoor trapeze space for the sisters to rehearse. They co-founded Nimble Arts performing company as well as the non-profit education center the New England Center for Circus Arts, which has expanded to become the leading circus school in the U.S..

This summer, the sisters are offering a new course: Tree dancing. “The rope and harness make the experience of dancing and doing acrobatics with the trees lower impact on the body, so it’s something that most people can do once they learn how to use the rope assist to climb,” says Forchion

Workshops are open to any curious movers - aerialist, climber, researcher, dancer, arborist, acrobat, explorer – no prior experience necessary. The harnesses and ropes allow participants to leap and fly without the impact of landing back on the earth making it achievable by non-dancers, while also expanding what dancers can do with trees as a performance element. Tree dancing workshops are being held in Brattleboro June 30 – July 2 and Weare, N.H. August 11 – 13.

SHOULD YOU REPLACE MEAT?

BEFORE YOU CUT BACK, REPLACE OR ELIMINATE MEAT FROM YOUR DIET, CONSIDER WHAT THE LATEST SCIENCE SAYS ABOUT THE HEALTH OF MEAT AND THE NEW ALTERNATIVE MEAT PRODUCTS.

BY JAMIE SHEAHAN, M.S., M.D

It’s barbecue season. As an athlete with a focus on health should you opt for: a) a burger or steak, b) a Beyond Burger or tofu burger or c) go for chicken, fish or vegetables?

For many, the answer is: we should all eat less meat. Meat production takes a high toll on the environment. But even more so, numerous studies have shown that high intake of red meat can increase the risk of developing heart disease and cancer.

In fact, one observational study on more than 120,000 people found that just one additional serving of red meat per day increased risk of death by 13%, cardiovascular disease by 18% and of cancer mortality by 10%.

Another large study found that replacing just one serving of red meat per day with a plant-based protein cut the risk of developing heart disease by 47%.

Keep in mind these are observational studies; thus, we cannot conclude a cause-effect relationship, only correlation. Still, those numbers are hard to ignore even for those who love a juicy burger.

MISSING PROTEIN AND WHAT ELSE?

Athletes who focus on their nutrition are often aware of these concerns. A survey of competitive American female runners showed that over 40% avoid red meat for health reasons.

However, eliminating red meat from one’s diet can feel a bit at odds with what athletes are told our bodies need. In many ways red meat is an ideal food for those who put their bodies through the rigors of daily training.

Packed with protein, as well as iron, B vitamins and zinc, the case against red meat isn’t necessarily as clear-cut for athletes. To understand why these nutrients are so critical for athletes and therefore why meat is often seen as a dietary necessity, it’s helpful to examine the role each plays in performance.

Protein regularly gets top billing for athletes because of its role in muscle growth and recovery. During strenuous exercise, muscle experiences microtears which stimulate the body’s recovery response to build larger and stronger muscles. In order to do so, adequate protein is a must.

The amount of protein necessary to support muscle protein synthesis is dependent on age and the type of exercise stimulus, with most recommendations falling in the range of 1.4 – 2.0 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day. In addition to quantity of protein, quality is paramount.

Essential amino acids, in particular leucine, must be in high enough concentrations to maximize muscle protein synthesis. Considering that an average serving of red meat provides 20-24 grams of protein and one of the highest amounts of essential amino acids of any food source, it’s easy to see why athletes look to red meat to meet their needs.

There’s more to the merits of meat than just protein. Iron is an essential component of hemoglobin and myoglobin, oxygen-carrying proteins that are crucial for energy metabolism. Failure to consume enough iron can result in an iron deficiency, or in severe cases, anemia, which limits the body’s ability to deliver oxygen to muscles, thereby inhibiting athletic performance.

It may come as surprise that most beans and legumes provide just as much iron as red meat. However, only 2% to 20% of iron obtained from plant-based sources can be absorbed by the body. When compared to the 15% to 35% absorption of iron from animal sources, it is understandable why athletes are skeptical of meeting their iron needs from plant sources alone.

B vitamins are also cited as a key component of an athlete’s diet because of their role in energy metabolism, red blood cell formation, and muscle protein synthesis.

Whole grains, legumes, nuts, seeds, vegetables, fruits, and dairy products are on par with or even superior to red meat in their B vitamin content with one notable exception; vitamin B12. Vitamin B12 is naturally found in animal sources like red meat, but is completely absent in plant foods other than those that have been enriched or in nutritional yeast.

Last, but not least, zinc is another micronutrient key for athletes to perform at their best. Required for energy metabolism, immune health, and injury recovery, zinc is lost in small amounts in sweat, which makes obtaining adequate amounts from diet all the more important for athletes. Unlike iron, the zinc content of plant-based foods pales in comparison to that of red meat. Compounded with the lower bioavailability of zinc in plant foods it’s clear why many athletes feel they won’t be able to meet their needs without meat in their diet.

MEAT’S BAD RAP

So how and why did eating red meat earn such a bad rap? Up until the mid20th century, meat comprised a very small portion of the human diet. Only the wealthy could slice into a steak with any regularity and, even then, it was reserved mostly for special occasions. That all changed with the dawn of commercialized farming and fast food. Suddenly meat was cheap and readily available.

As Americans’ meat consumption skyrocketed so too did the incidence of heart disease. In the 1970’s the American Heart Association attributed this concerning trend to the intake of cholesterol and saturated fat; two things red meat happens to be particularly high in.

In 1977, the Senate Select Committee on Nutrition and Human Needs created Dietary Goals, recommending Americans decrease their consumption of red meat. This was the first shot in what would turn out to be a long war.

One would think that more than a half-century later the debate over whether red meat is good or bad for us would be over. Far from it. Just ten months after the initial publication all but condemning red meat, a new edition provided a more watereddown version. The revised publication encouraged Americans to simply decrease consumption of animal fat and choose meats that would reduce their intake of saturated fat.

As the Dietary Goals evolved into what is now the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, published every five years, subsequent recommendations have continued to avoid fully advising altogether eliminating red meat.

When it comes to human health, there is still a certain equivocation among scientists as to the merits and risks of red meat. As recently as 2019, the Annals of Internal Medicine published a study that found “low” evidence red meat poses a health risk. The researchers concluded that there is no medical basis for reducing intake of red meat.

Medical journals aren’t typically a hotbed for drama, but this declaration was as divisive as Will Smith slapping Chris Rock at the Oscars. The response from the medical community was indignant, with most medical professionals disputing the findings of the study and doubling down on the link between red meat and disease.

ARE FAUX BURGERS BETTER?

However, what’s also true is that it’s never been trendier or easier to go meat-less. Thanks to the plethora of meat alternative products like Beyond Burger and the Impossible Burger, Meatless Monday no longer means resigning oneself to a dinner bereft of protein and flavor.

Cutting out, or simply cutting down, on red meat can be appealing even to the most diehard carnivore when the alternative is designed to taste and even “bleed” like the real deal. However, the benefits of making the switch aren’t quite that straightforward

Meat alternatives seem to have answered the prayers of those who want their proverbial cake and to eat it too. Of course, meat alternatives are nothing new. Veggie burgers, tofu dogs and the like have been a staple of many shunning meat for quite some time. However, new products have been designed to more closely resemble meat in taste, texture and — perhaps most importantly to athletes — nutritional value.

Two companies that have risen to the top of the ranks in the alternative meat market are Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods. Both provide an array of products from the classic burger to sausage and meatballs.

Are these meat substitutes better alternatives though, or more hype than help for athletes that want the benefits of red meat without the potential health consequences?

Take a look at the most popular product from each company; the Beyond Burger and Impossible Burger.

As shown in the table, at first glance, it would seem that both measure up when compared to a traditional beef burger. Both provide similar amounts of calories, protein, zinc, and vitamin B12. Where they do differ from a regular burger is the level of processing. Both the Beyond Burger and Impossible are highly processed foods.

The ingredient list for the Beyond Burger includes water, pea protein, canola oil, refined coconut oil, rice protein, natural flavors, dried yeast, cocoa butter, methylcellulose, potato starch, salt, potassium chloride, beet juice color, apple extract, pomegranate concentrate, sunflower lecithin, vinegar, lemon juice concentrate, zinc sulfate, niacinamide [vitamin B3], pyridoxine hydrochloride [vitamin B6], cyanocobalamin [vitamin B12], calcium pantothenate).

The Impossible Burger includes a similarly lengthy list of ingredients with the primary difference being the use of soy protein concentrate instead of pea and rice as the protein sources. The ingredient list for a beef burger is simple; ground beef.

All of those ingredients also set the Beyond Burger and Impossible Burger apart in another notable way; higher saturated fat content. Yes, you read that right. The very reason red meat was blacklisted in the first place.

Now, we get to the real meat of the issue (pun intended). Switching from red meat to a meat alternative can be, but isn’t always, healthier. It comes down to what that red meat is being substituted with. Studies show that replacing saturated fat with unsaturated fats cuts heart disease risk by 19%. Hence the oft-touted health benefits of switching to a more plantbased diet because, by and large, whole food sources of plant-based proteins contain heart healthy unsaturated fats and negligible amounts of saturated fat.

However, Beyond Meat and the Impossible Burger may technically be plant-based, but perhaps they are too similar to the foods they are meant to replace. Couple that with the fact that the Beyond Burger and Impossible Burger contain over four times the sodium of a traditional burger and suddenly the case for the merits for these meat alternatives is hard to argue.

This can leave athletes with a bit of a conundrum. Per calorie, whole food plant-based protein sources tend to be lower in protein than animal products leading many to believe that their performance will suffer if they forgo

The Lean Facts

consuming animal products.

However, studies have found that vegans and vegetarians have equivalent or even higher levels of muscle strength, endurance, and cardiorespiratory fitness than those who consume meat. Athletes who are plant-based just have to be a bit more deliberate with their food choices to ensure they are meeting their needs. Tofu, tempeh, edamame, seitan, beans, lentils, quinoa, and peas are all good sources of protein and provide an array of other important nutrients for athletes.

A GREENER SOLUTION?

A concern for the animal welfare and the environment, not health, may be the biggest motivating factor for some athletes opting for a meat alternative.

Livestock comprises 15% of the global greenhouse emissions and the growing worldwide demand for meat is directly at odds with goals to slow down the effects of climate change.

In fact, a report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warned that simply cutting carbon emissions from automobiles and factories won’t be enough to avert catastrophic effects from climate change and that shifting to a more plant-based diet is critical to do so. For those who enjoy consuming meat it can be hard to reconcile the desire to dig into a burger with the aspiration of reducing one’s carbon footprint.

Industrial chicken and fish farming have also been shown to have significant impacts on the environment. That’s where meat alternatives may come in. Impossible Foods claims that the Impossible Burger uses 87% less water, requires 96% less land, and has 89% lower greenhouse gas emissions than a beef burger. With those impressive stats it seems Impossible Foods may just might live up to its tagline of “Eat

Meat. Save the Planet.” Beyond Meat boasts similar eco-friendly numbers that offer promise for a world where a simple swap from meat to meat-like can save the planet.

As with the health benefits of meat alternatives, the claims of environmental superiority are not without controversy. Critics have been quick to point out that producing the ingredients for meat alternatives still relies on industrial farming practices.

Neither Beyond Meat or Impossible Foods disclose their total amount of greenhouse gas emissions, however experts overwhelmingly estimate it to be far less than that of meat production.

It is also widely recognized that switching from meat to whole food sources of plant-based protein has a much more significant positive impact on the environment than to more processed plant proteins.

But let’s be real, at least for right now a large portion of the population would turn up their noses at the very idea of dining on baked tofu over a burger. Thus, perhaps Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods offer a compromise of sorts or even a stepping stone away from reliance on red meat.

When it comes down to it, athletes considering a less meat-centric diet must evaluate what their motives for doing so are. Beyond Meat and Impossible Food products may not be the healthier meat alternative they purport to be, but it doesn’t have to be so black and white.

Ultimately, moderation is one of the cornerstones of a healthy diet. Whether it is a highly processed meat alternative or actual red meat, both can be a part of a healthy diet when consumed in moderation.

While alternative meat products such as Beyond Burger or Impossible Burger may seem like healthier choices, a side-by-side comparison with ground beef shows the facts.