VTXL
Wow. What a ride, what an incredible group of guys to do it with. The route is unbelievably good, unrelentingly difficult, and the best way to spend 4 days on a bike.
The sheer quantity of dirt roads in Vermont is astounding. A lot of variety within that category: from powerline, to single track, to rolling farmland, to steep ass gravel climbs (I saw 25%+).
Logistics
So huge to have the combined brainpower of 5 adventure experts to plan the entire thing and book everything!
- Pre-ride: spent Wednesday night in Williamstown at Maple Terrace with MM (an an initial no bikes one room, happened to change their mind and bring a cleaning rag- cool) caught our ride to the start at 5:30AM on Thursday. Driver was awesome- retired outdoor director at Williams.
- Day 1: Canada (Canaan, VT) -> Danville, VT. Stayed in an RV in the Sugar Ridge RV Park. Hot water didn’t work, but camp showers and the guys cooked a feast. Sleeping was rough.
- Day 2: Danville, VT -> Tunbridge, VT. Stayed in a yurt in a goat pasture. Maybe the most Vermont thing I’ve ever done despite living in VT for 5+ years. A hot shower would have still been nice - but hey a bonfire is swell too. Cot was meh, and shared.
- Day 3: Tunbridge, VT -> Londonderry, VT. Stayed at the Upper Pass Lodge, workable, had to sneak bikes in. Solo bed (thanks guys!) best night of sleep.
- Day 4: Londonderry, VT -> MA Border (Williamstown, MA). Home for kids bedtime (as I write this while they fall asleep).
Food
More details than necessary but maybe a future VTXL planner would find the stop details helpful.
Brought ~12K calories, finished with ~1K. Definitely did not need to bring so much sugar, and could have resupplied each day (didn't buy any candy/soda during the trip at all). 12-13 LMNT throughout the trip, and roughly used the ~4L of capacity that I had completely twice per day (and thrice on Saturday, the longer day). Didn't use the 6 or so gels I brought - backup but not needed. Ate a handful of meat sticks but had ~ 5 left.
- Day 1: Dunkin on the way up for breakfast/coffee. The Yellow Deli in Island Pond for lunch, Salmon sandwhich. Have to eat the pickles now. We cooked rice and added heat-up food packets. Ate so so much - guac and chips, big salad, etc.
- Day 2. More heat-up food for breakfast. Instant coffee, heated up water with coffee pot. Gramps for pizza and a cheeseburger, choc milk, water fill. ~40. Tunbridge general store for cremee dinner - really great. 20oz sip of sunshine by the fire and a lot of pretzels.
- Day 3. Tunbridge general store breakfast - amazing breakfast burrito and good coffee. The upstairs there is worth checking out! Two stops: woodstock at 30 (just hit the cumby's - scoop was closed) and amazing fried chicken sandwhich (the green mountain boy) at Singleton's (and an apple + chips + kombucha). Burger, friers, two beers at the lodge.
- Day 4. Breakfast at the lodge, eggs toast pancakes sausage, a bit of everying and decent hot coffee. Made a coffee in the room but hadn't need to. Chocolate shop at 37, didn't even really need water (didn't go in - missed the 100lb chocolate teddy bear). Held for mile 50 an amazing cold maple filled donut and an iced oat milk latter. Nice water fill there. That was enough for the finish!
GEAR LIST - note food total at start 7.5lbs
CLOTHING WORN
- Helmet: POC, 5 years old
- Rapha shorts & top
- Sunglasses: Started w/ 6yr old Oakleys with no nose piece - real issue in rain. Bought $14 pair at Tunbridge General Store = major upgrade
- Bike shoes: Road shoes, worked fine
- Socks
EXTRA CLOTHES
- Rapha rain jacket: Didn’t really need even in downpour but wore a few mornings before sweating through
- Wool shirt (1), Pants (1) - lightweight hiking, permethrin treated
- Shoes (1) - Vivobarefoots, Underwear (1), Socks (2) - bring at least 2 extra
- Shorts (0) - dropped last minute, only needed one set pants, good call
- Clear sunglasses (0) - didn’t get safety glasses, big miss
ELECTRONICS
- Phone: iPhone 15 Pro Max, [redacted] FirstNet
- Garmin Edge 540 excellent for turn by turn directions. The climb gradients and start finish locations were always off by a bit. Garmin watch/whoop just to have.
- Rear flashy, Power bank (12000mah) - used by myself and others variously and charged up where I could.
- Cables: USB-C to USB-A, Wall to USB-A, USB-C to USB-C, USB-A to USB-Micro
- Headlamp, didn’t use except in red mode around the yurt.
BATTERIES
- Shifter/hub batteries charged
- CR2032 (2) for shifters, Coin (1) for shifter battery door
- CR1632 (1) - Classified shifter
- CR1/3N (0) - need 2 or 4 LR44 for pedals, didn’t do power pedals so also dropped the lr44s last minute’s
TOOLS
- Multitool: Silca, lots of tools (their biggest one).
- Mini pump: Lezyne, used more than expected + by Sam daily
- Dynaplug (2), Quick link (1) - 12 speed, Tire lever (1)
- Lube: T-9 3oz bottle empty by day 3(?), used Duffie’s Triflow day 4 = perfect
- Used Sam/Joshs silca secret drip wax first two nights after rainstorms killed my wax on day 1, but it didn’t hold up the full day, thought it got closer on day 3 after better prep before applying. Sam and Josh it worked for.
- Inner tube (0) - found in driveway at home!
- SRAM accessories: charger, pad spacers, battery blanks. Used the blanks for travel to start.
CAMPING
- Sleeping bag: Marmot 55F, 1lb 12oz
- Filtration kit, Knife/box cutter, Zip ties (10)
- Sunscreen: SPF70 small bottle, Bug spray: Off scentless
- No tarp/bivy or sleeping pad: not needed.
FOOD
- Oreos (1 box), PB cups (1 bin) - Trader Joe’s, melted but whatever
- Maurten gel (6) - didn’t use, backup
- Fidlock bottles: 3L across 4 bottles
- LMNT salt (11) - used every one
- Meat sticks (8) - ate ~4, Cash ($10) - bring $100 more?
- Instant coffee (6) - overnight cold brew
- Trail mix (1 huge bag), Sour Patch (1 family size)
- Scandinavian swimmers (2 bags)
BIKE/BAGS
- Bike: FF1169, Tires: Rene Herse 42C knobby
- Handlebar bag: Moose Packs Ted’s XLent Adventure - huge, kept stuff handy
- Frame bag: Relevate large, Saddle bag: Huge Relevate - super stable
- Top tube bag: Relevate wide - good!
- Phone mount: Peak Design - held up, handy
- Mounts: Pump + Dynaplugs on bottle cages
60+ photos over on Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/14886326195
There is an FKT page for this (but I'm not on it!): https://www.cyclingfkt.com/vtxl.html