Vermont Rare Recap

 

How Vermont Rare Came to Be

When Jack and Marybeth Bailey’s son Shane was born in 2010 things just weren’t right from the very beginning and didn’t improve. In 2014 after many doctors appointments and tests, Shane still wasn’t improving and was diagnosed with a rare genetic disorder, Cardio-Facio-Cutaneous Syndrome. His rare disease and the lack of information surrounding many rare childhood diseases put his parents in motions and in 2014 Vermont Rare debuted.

Vermont Rare is a bike event on Vermont’s epic gravel roads and class 4 rock, root, and mud covered single tracks. Building on a sport Shane’s father Jack loves, this gravel event brings avid gravel cycling registrants together while raising money and bringing awareness to rare childhood diseases. Per their website, “Vermont Rare is dedicated to raising funds and awareness in support of patients and families who live with rare disease. ”

 

VeloPigs and Gravel Rats Make a Showing

The VeloPigs (and subspecies Gravel Rats) had an fantastic showing at Vermont Rare with a total of 15 piggies hitting the gravel and class 4 roads of Vermont. Several had made the trek before, but even though my husband and I have spent the past three Octobers in Vermont, this was our first time participating in the event.

 

Vermont Rare: About the Event

From registration up to and through the morning of the ride, the communication of event details was excellent. We were repeatedly reminded that this would be self-navigated and that cell reception would be sketchy both at the start/finish venue and many places out on the course.

Just a few days before peak fall foliage color, Vermont was alive with shades of yellow, orange, and red. With hills aplenty we were treated to over 100 feet of climbing for every mile. There were more class 4 roads than I expected and those rock and root covered single tracks were quite challenging.

I may have been a little out of my comfort zone on parts of the course but I stayed upright with the exception of one fall. Luckily, I was not clipped in and flew off my bike rather than my legs hitting the rocks that tripped me up. Unfortunately, my husband was not running his Insta360 when I crashed. LOL

 

Packet Pick-up

Packet pick-up was located just across the way from the grassy field transformed into a parking lot making for a short walk to and from. The process was easy peasy and in no time I had our bike bibs in hand with instructions on how/where to attach them to our bikes.

Ride Overview

• • Ride Name: VRG 2024
• • Ride with GPS: Link to turn-by-turn navigation cue sheet
• • Location: Peru, Vermont
• • Start/Finish: Wild Wings XC Ski Center
• • Course Type: loops and a figure 8
• • Course Surface: gravel and class 4 single track
• • Distance: 47.31 miles
• • Time: 4:51:00
• • Average Speed: 9.8 MPH
• • Maximum Speed: 31.1 MPH
• • Elevation Gain: 4,892 feet
• • Elevation Range: 1,190 to 2,142 feet
• • Weather: 50° and sunny, climbing to 63° and partly cloudy
• • Date of ride: October 5, 2024
• • Course Map:

 

Starting at Wild Wings XC Ski Center

The ride started and finished in Peru, Vermont at a local cross country ski center. We arrived right at the same time as our VeloPigs and Gravel Rats friends and chatted as we got our bikes ready.

 

After self-seeding ourselves toward the back of the pack, we listened to Jack’s announcements which included course conditions and his thanks to us for helping spread the word about rare diseases.

 

With wishes for a great ride, a count down from 10, and the blast of an air horn, we were off!

A Challenging Course

The first mile took us out of the ski center along the gravel drive before turning onto a delightful downhill paved segment which lasted for a little over three miles.

Within a half hour of the start, we turned onto our first class 4 road, a very manageable single track.

 

Single tracks led to double tracks, definitely my favorite roadway of the day.

 

Eventually, we turned back onto another class 4 road, this one longer and a little more difficult than the previous one with a few more rocks and a touch of mud.

 

Road surfaces and views changed throughout the course so there was no chance of boredom.

 

Lowell Lake State Park was a great place to stop for a restroom break and to enjoy the scenery…

 

Three miles and almost 500 feet of climbing after stopping at Lowell Lake, we summited the hill to find our first (and only for us – more on that later) aid station. Three sisters and the cutest helper welcomed riders with water, GU Stroopwafels, GU gels, pickles, chips, and maple syrup.

 

After a refueling break I took off my jacket soaking in the beautiful sunny fall day. Soon we were back on our bikes enjoying the scenery on the ever changing road surfaces.

 

My husband and I stopped for another fuel break and chatted with this couple cheering riders on. They warned us of the upcoming hill on Jenny Coolidge Road.

 

Yep, there’s the hill…

 

A little later we got temporarily lost with a small group of riders when we followed our Garmins’ instructions and turned right at the bottom of the hill where the pavement ends and the gravel begins. We ended up riding onto private property where a gentleman was mowing his large lawn. He didn’t seem the least bit annoyed – really didn’t acknowledge us – as we looked around for the class 4 road (and unmanned aid station) we thought should be nearby.

Our little group of about six or so eventually turned around, rode back out of the private drive, and turned right to climb the daunting looking hill. We never found the alternative route or the aid station and later discovered that several other riders had also been led astray by Garmin. Once back on the road, Garmin didn’t try rerouting us so we were soon confident that we were on the right track.

 

We turned onto our final class four road, the most technical and challenging of all as it was part of an official climb and had many large rocks without a lot of room between them. It was here where I got my front wheel caught up in a rock and my bike stopped abruptly throwing me off the side. Unfortunately, neither my husband nor I took any pictures of the vicious rocks or me stretched out face down past my bike. Other than having a very sore hamstring for several weeks, I lucked out and wasn’t hurt.

 

Putting this Pig to Bed

After my fall, I was less than confident riding the remainder of that final class 4 road and pushed my bike through the rockiest sections. We soon could hear cheering in a distance and knew were were quickly approaching the finish line. We turned off the single track and onto the gravel driveway leading back into the ski center and across the finish line giving high fives to fellow piggies who had finished before us.

Burritos from The Taqueria and an assortment of beverages were waiting for us just beyond the finish line. Not a beer drinker, I gave away my drink ticket and enjoyed an ice cold soda I’d stowed away in a cooler in our car.

 

The post-race festivities were fun and we enjoyed relaxing with our friends before packing up to head back to the inn for a well earned shower and nap.

 

Garmin Stats

Post-ride Garmin…

 

Garmin map and elevation graph…

 

Final Thoughts on the Ride

Traveling to Vermont for Vermont Rare was no big deal considering vacationing in New England with our gravel bikes has become an annual fall leaf peeping trip for my husband and me. Riding for a great cause and seeing VeloPigs friends made it all the more fun.

The event was well organized and communication leading up to the ride was very good. Event morning packet pickup was very convenient. Even though the course was a little tougher than I anticipated, I’d been warned that there would be plenty of class 4 roads. Always up for a challenge, I’m glad I gave it a try!

If you’re interested in riding in this event or making a donation, click here to register or donate.

 

Questions:

• • Have you been to Vermont? ~ Many times, starting with when our sons were in elementary school and we’d take a winter ski trip to either New Hampshire or Vermont each February.
• • What’s your favorite season? ~ If winter didn’t follow fall, I’d say fall is my favorite season. 😉
• • Do you stop and relax occasionally to fuel or take pictures, or barrel on through when on a long run or ride? ~ Pictures, always pictures, unless I’m racing!

 

Disclaimer:  This post contains affiliate links which means if you click on the blue product link and then make a purchase, I will receive a small commission for referring you. You will pay no more or less for the product; however, Amazon will show their gratitude for my referral by paying me.

 

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I’m linking up with Zenaida of The Running Teacher and Jenn from Runs with Pugs for Tuesday topics Link-Up. Be sure to check out not only the hosts’ posts, but those of the other great bloggers joining in on the fun!