Date Change to Sunday 9/9 due to stormy weather forecast Saturday 9/8 all other details, meeting time and place, etc are the same.

We will meet in Brattleboro at the parking lot of the Grafton Village Cheese Store on the west side of Route 30 just north of the intersection of Cedar Street and Linden Street (Route 30) immed north of downtown Brattleboro. The cheese store has bathrooms and coffee.

From Interstate 91 (north or south), take Exit 2 and make a left turn on Western Ave (Route 9), proceed appx .3 mile to Cedar Street and make a left turn. Continue to 3rd stop sign which is Linden Street/Route 30. Make a left (north) on Route 30. Grafton Village Cheese is on the left. We will be driving a yellow SAAB convertible so it will be easy to spot us!

Please plan to arrive by 11.30 so we can depart promptly at noon!

Tri-State Road Bike Ride Recap, submittted by IronmanTodd

 

Let’s see what movies or TV shows best describe this GO trip: Let’s go with Mission Impossible, Tom Cruise’s Days of Thunder and Gilligan’s Island!

 

I can now say that I truly appreciate what goes on behind coordinating the GO Adventures. I arrived at IMF HQ (Frog Meadow) Friday night. The usual professional niceties were exchanged. (C’mon we all know it was all big hugs and glad to see you Todd, but stay with the IMF movie theme guys). I had the entire house to myself which was awesome! 750-gallon wood-fired hot tub all for me!

 

Saturday morning rolled around and IMF HQ operatives Dave and Scott were in full GO mission mode. From the time I awoke @ 7am Dave had already been tracking approaching storms and potential tornadoes heading in from the west. After a quick team conference the decision is made to scrub the bike tour today. After Dave made the phone calls to the other IMF GO members the day was full of stored up energy for Scott. For me I was happy to tag along on his adventure. 

 

Cue Days of Thunder! Literally! Into the passenger seat of the Frog Meadow Suzuki SX4 AWD with stick shift. And we are off down all the dirt roads that snake around Frog Meadow! So let me hit the hi-lights of this non GO Adventure:  In four hours we hit the local market, had Lunch in Newfane, quick stop at an Adirondack chair store and a Farmers roadside store. Adventure complete we raced back up to Frog Meadow for a swim at Scott’s favorite pond, not the one on property but the pond at the end of the road somewhere,150 yards from one side to the other (exact location unable to report). Scott did 4 laps and I did 2 laps.

 

Back at Frog Meadow and over the mountains we see the skies are turning gray and black and the wind is just crazy! Great call on mission scrubbed (tour postponed) because what I thought was going to be an awesome day missed turned into high winds, rain and tornado warnings. Other members on Sunday agreed that a Saturday bike ride would have been a disaster. 

 

Channel change to Gilligan’s Island. Let me say there are no MaryAnn’s or Gingers in this story. There is Captain Dave, Professor Scott and a crew of Gilligan’s! LOL!

 

Sunday turned out to be PRIMO bike weather, sunny with temps in the low 70’s, little to no wind and zero humidity. At our rendezvous point we quickly gather our gear and head south out of Brattleboro. (Ok we had a late arrival and two Gilligan’s trying to fix a flat, Captain Dave stepped in to save the day with talc and a spare tube. Not once did he hit us over the head with his skippers cap.)

 

Okay NOW we moved quickly out of Brattleboro! Through town, heading south onto Route 142 where we encountered a minimum of 50 other bikers who also passed on riding Saturday and chose to ride Sunday instead. Heading toward Pond Rd into Massachusetts, toward Gill, MA heading north to Northfield for a quick pit stop. The course was of moderate grade, several downhill’s for some all-out speed…topping out at 35 mph according to my cycle computer on one descent. Toward the end of the tour heading back into Brattleboro some tough inclines, granny gears for sure.

 

Ending back at our launch spot we headed to Frog Meadow for wood-fired hot tub relaxation and to share snacks, beverages and trip stories of a day well spent.

 

An awesome time was had by all!

 

 

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