Double Bogey at The Driving Range
Taking the VMBA Challenge- Part II
Welcome to part two of my quest to ride every VMBA chapter this summer. Just to catch you up: Darren Ohl, owner of the Vermont Bicycle Shop in Barre, came up with this idea to prompt riders to explore more of our state’s mountain bike offerings. In conjunction with the Trek Bicycles’ Ride Club app, Ohl started the VMBA Challenge and offered prize packages to the top finishers. I documented my first nine chapters here: https://vmba.org/vmba-ambassador-taking-the-vmba-challenge/
Here comes the next bunch:
Sugar House Up at St. Albans Town Forest
Chapter Ten:
Franklin County Trails Alliance – St. Albans Town Forest
The Franklin County Trails Alliance offers two main riding areas: Aldis Hill at the Hard’ack Recreation Area and the Town Forest. I had ridden Aldis a few years ago so decided to head to the forest for this effort. The network is on a ridge to the east of town and is well documented on the chapter’s Website. From the spacious parking area I headed west towards the bulk of the network. Soon after turning onto Saddle Trail I bumped into my old friend Gunnar Yandow who is now a paid trail crew member for the club. He gave me some intel on a few newer creations of his that weren’t yet on the map. The main lines all have maple themed names and are easy to follow. Some of Gunnar’s newer creations, like Loam Goose and Stone Goose tilt toward the free ride end of the spectrum with features and jumps incorporated. There is a nice amount of rock ledge sprinkled throughout the network and this would be a great place for someone beginning to explore more technical riding to come work on their skills. Of the two zones in this chapter I enjoyed the town forest the most.
River Run bridge at the Jay Rec Center trails
Chapter Eleven:
Grateful Treads Mountain Bike Club – Jay Rec Center
This northern-most chapter in the state offers a bunch of riding options at zones in towns in the Jay Peak area. The public spots are in Montgomery Center between downtown and the school and in Jay on the east side of the ski area. I’d heard of an expansive network that wasn’t on Trailforks and stopped into First Trax to inquire about it. The owner was happy to give me directions but we agreed that since the trails are on private land and I’m writing about them publicly here, I won’t mention any details. Suffice it to say, if you’re headed up north for the goods, stop into First Trax or The Jay Cloud Cyclery and they’ll provide the intel. To keep it legit, I headed to the Jay Rec Center to the east Montgomery. The rec area has lots of multi use trails and starts with a double track up to a grassy area. There are trails everywhere and this seems a bit confusing at first but I took the Skills Trail on the left to Winter Wonderland to Outerbounds. Your goal is to get to the southwest corner of the grassy area. River Run crosses a beautiful stream on a high-quality bridge before turning right and climbing the north side of this zone. It’s a pretty rooty affair and in doing a few laps up here I found the Minglewood climb (marked easier) to be more enjoyable. Big Boss Man is the main descent with a variety of rollers and jumps on low angle terrain. It took me a couple runs to figure the speed out and it got better each time. Back on the east side of the stream I rode most of the offerings. The trails romp through beautiful woods with modest climbs and descents. Heaven’s 11 to VYCCenic was my favorite run here.
Thomas DiPietro on Skid Marks at The Driving Range
Chapter Twelve:
Richmond Mountain Trails – The Driving Range
Richmond Mountain Trails has definitely been one of the busiest chapters in the VMBA family over the past few years with the development of The Driving Range. This unique network on 256 acres of private land was designed and built from the ground up to be adaptive bike accessible. That doesn’t mean its tame, this place is full of creative jump lines, rock features and fast flow. Green Fee to Sugar Road to Iteration Upper Climb will take you to the very top on a beautifully built climb. I’ve ridden all the trails here but for this effort I took Double Bogey which has some really cool slabs and steeps then climbed back up Green Fee to Skidmarks. This trail was designed and built by Phil Kmetz (of Skills with Phil YouTube fame) and his partner Hailey Sarausky and is breathtaking. The A-Line is well beyond my skill set but I’ve photographed Phil hitting it and it’s not for the faint of heart. The B-Line is still lots of fun and will give you a real appreciation for the skills of adaptive bikers. Hot Dogger is the main jump line with loads of creative lines and Brushfire to Heavy Duty off the top is long and fast. Richmond has other excellent zones as well, I particularly enjoy Chamberlain Hill.
Passing the Horizon at Hinesburg Town Forest
Chapter Thirteen:
Fellowship of the Wheel – Hinesburg Town Forest
This may be the best known chapter in the state, partly due to its proximity to Burlington but mostly due to its wealth of varied offerings. They offer more than 100 miles of trails and list eleven distinct riding zones and bike parks on their Web site. I’ve ridden all but two over the years and the breadth of riding experiences is astonishing. I could have happily picked any of them but went with Hinesburg Town Forest because I hadn’t been there in many years. The last time I was there I was on a 26” Trek Remedy and I can say with certainty that the riding experience has improved greatly with my newer 29” steed. This place is a festival of rocks and roots and technical riding. I parked in the town forest lot off Hayden Hill Road but there are a few options for accessing the network. I had limited time so I climbed Maiden to Eagle’s Trail and returned on Passing the Horizon. Passing the Horizon is pretty fantastic, lots of thought provoking, old school riding. The short Middle Loop, part way through the ride, is a tricky test piece that I felt lucky to clean it first go. It’s been a while but I recall Dragon’s Tail being similarly challenging. Another nearby option that I didn’t take, and now regret that decision, is Sheep Thrills. My friend Turner Barbour, who grew up nearby, posted on my IG page: “I’m convinced Sheep Thrills is the best trail in Vermont.” Guess I’ll be heading back to Hinesburg soon.
The Grassy Knoll at Ascutney
Chapter Fourteen:
Ascutney Trails Association
Ascutney is a big, well-known network, and I had never ridden there. It’s been on my to-do list for years, just never got it done. My impression from talking to fellow riders is that it’s a polarizing place, people love it or hate it, with the usual complaint being that it felt like they were climbing 90 percent of the time. Ascutney has several access points and I chose to start at the Town Forest trailhead at the top of Coaching Lane. There was no way to cover the whole network, which boasts more than 45 miles of trails, so I tried to get a good taste without taking up the whole day as I had other networks to get to. I ascended on Cloud Climber, which is a beautiful hand-built route with lots of clean rock and interesting moves. I traversed across the mountainside on Lynx, which continues the rocky theme, and was fun and thought-provoking. At the end of Lynx I took a chance on The Grassy Knoll, and I’m glad I did. This trail is less than half a mile in length but is fantastically beautiful and interesting as it follows a sinuous smooth slab line through moss and ferns. Highly recommended. I climbed back up Southern Belle to the start of Grassy Knoll and descended Nirvana and Paradise Hill Flow, what a hoot. I’ll be back for more and put me in the love camp.
Buttermilk Flow at Ludlow
Chapter Fifteen:
Ludlow Area Sport Trails – Back Forty
From Ascutney I drove to Ludlow to check out their Back Forty network. This compact zone, just east of downtown, is basically a two-mile climb and descent. It’s a steady climb, but not too taxing, with a mini skills area half way up to play in. For my tastes, the top of the route down (Buttermilk Flow) is the most interesting with fast sections and some jumps in a mature evergreen forest. The bottom of the run features some deep berms that I couldn’t make work without heavy braking. This is a quick hit zone if you’re in the area and super convenient to the downtown area.
Contagious at Aqueduct
Chapter Sixteen:
Woodstock Area Mountain Bike Association – Aqueduct
The Woodstock area mountain biking scene continues to grow thanks to their active membership, a huge youth cycling scene and of course, great riding. Woodstock has also been home to the VMBA Season S’Ender party the past couple years (and will again be on Sept. 21 this year) which has introduced a lot of folks to the area. Woodstock’s three zones (S6, Mount Peg and Aqueduct) are all worthy objectives but I had only ridden Aqueduct once so decided to return there. This is a fairly compact area northwest of town and all its offerings can be ridden in a couple hours. TNT is a nice warm up right out of the parking area. As I was heading up Rum Street I ran into chapter president Matt Stout and rode two of the zone’s classic trails, Contagious and Slash Ridge with him. Contagious swoops down a natural half pipe and Slash Ridge features some impressive bench cutting on a very steep hillside, both are must-rides.
Rock roll on Archie Baker at Killington
Chapter Seventeen:
Killington Mountain Bike Club
When you mention Killington, many riders think of the bike park at the ski area, but there are some great trails just down the road. I’ve ridden these in the past as well and they are fun and well maintained. The Pesky Cairn/Sherburner route on the west side of Route 100 in particular is one of the best moderate flow routes in the state. I parked at the Base Camp Outfitters trailhead near the junction of Routes 4 and 100. This is one of the few networks in the state that begins with a descent, which is a nice change of pace. I took TBR to the road past Kent Pond then climbed up the Betty Trail which takes you to Archie Baker, one of the coolest trails in the state. This advanced trail is packed with a wide variety of medium-sized rock features. Once you unlock all the puzzles this trail is a real treat.
Chapter Eighteen:
Mendon Mountain Club
This chapter isn’t ready for prime time. I noodled around their recreation area but there really isn’t much there. I understand some landowner issues have stalled progress and there are hopes for future development in this small town just east of Rutland. Stay tuned.
Valley View at Oak Hill
Chapter Nineteen:
Windham County Trails Alliance – Oak Hill Trails
This is a chapter I had no knowledge of before starting this challenge. From what I could uncover online they have a couple a couple zones in the Bellows Falls area, and maybe more. I headed to the Oak Hill Trails right above town at their recreation center. The trails start behind the baseball field and climb an old ski area trail to a water tower. I headed north on Connector Trail and the VYCC Trail then took the Valley View Trail to the top. The view is getting a bit overgrown but this is a well-built climbing route and pretty enjoyable. Things got a bit confusing on the descent and there are more trails than the Trailforks map indicates. I’m pretty sure I rode all the advanced offerings, including Grav Cav, B-Ware and Ware Loop, all fun and interesting. More Gooder is a nice rip back down to the water tower.
The final nine chapters of my VMBA Challenge experiences will be documented in the final installment of this series later this season.