Spring 7000 - a weekend with Henry and friends

We first met Henry in 2011, when he was the only person daft enough to join us on a bitterly cold Christmas eve ride to Mt. Wachusett and back, part of that year's Rapha Festive 500 challenge. That was his longest ride ever at that time, by quite a margin, if I recall correctly. However, he took everything in his stride and brought a spirit of festive cheer with him that made for a fun spin.

It was obvious that we had an affinity for exploring by bike and taking pictures of what we saw - not to mention that he and I had worked in the same building in The Netherlands many years before, albeit not at the same time - and we became fast friends (I'm speaking of Henry there). We have shared many miles on the road and trail since then, although that first ride hasn't been the only one with bad weather. However, those are stories for another time...

DROVES 2014

It has become a yearly tradition now to meet up with friends and spend Memorial Day weekend climbing and descending some of the finest dirt roads in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont.

Folks are welcome to join us, with the following disclaimer: This is not an organized event. You are on your own adventure. You have found links to our planned routes on Ridewithgps and we all just happen to be riding on the same routes at the same time!

Further disclaimer: Vermont dirt roads are often steep. While not like gnarly technical trails, the surface can sometimes be loose, especially if the road grading monster has been on them recently. More usual though is they are sublime hard-pack. We'll be on road bikes with fat tires and low gears.

What I meant by don't drop me

A followup to last week's post. But first a bit of background... A few years ago, a group of friends started an email list (referred to in the text below as FAIB) for folks who have time off midweek to ride. While my Tuesday rides are based out of a local coffee/bike shop and are open to all, most of the regulars are members of that email list. What follows is from the note I sent to that list after last week's disappointing ride (with a couple of edits for clarity to those not on the list).

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For the past couple of weeks, I have posted a link in reference to my Tuesday rides. The page contains the GPS links to the routes, but also includes a little of my philosophy about the rides.