Eastern Bloc Cycling Club
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3rd Annual Sugarhouse Scramble - April 6
One of the first signs of Spring for me is going to the sugar house for pancakes and fresh maple syrup. I wanted to do a gravel ride that combines my love for syrup with the enjoyment of riding on our local dirt roads so I came up with this ride that will do the trick! Now in the third year, we've definitely experienced early Spring weather with snow-covered roads plaguing the rides, but riders persevered and dare I say, even enjoyed the experience!
Last year's ride was plagued by poor weather and on the day that it did happen we encountered snow on some of the roads just to make things interesting! A good time was had by all and we plan to do it again this year, but with less hiking through snow!
The plan is to leave Berg Field (East Hartland) at 9am and ride to Maple Corner Farm where we will stop and have a pancake or any of their other delicious goodies. From there we will take a pretty direct route back to the starting point, all fueled up on maple-y goodness!
The route can be found here: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/19155756 Click Here
This route contains ~16 miles of dirt roads in five sections over the 29 miles total. Expect riding times to be between 2 and 2.5 hours as the pace should be "early season". This is a no-drop ride. (I figured I'd mention that even though the stopping for pancakes part might have made it obvious!)
Bikes with 32c or greater tires will be best suited for the terrain as some of the roads are fairly rough from the winter "maintenance". There is one long stretch of pavement, ~6 miles, that might make a MTB work harder, but I wouldn't be afraid to bring the big bike if that is all you have available. I've ridden this route with 30c slicks and on my full suspension MTB so it is totally passable with just about any equipment.
In the event of a rain/snow event the following day, Sunday the 7th is the rain date for the ride. Any cancellations will be posted here as far ahead of time as possible.
If you are planning to attend the ride please either let me know here or via email (snoskier16@gmail.com) so that I can let Maple Corner Farm about how many of us to expect. We don't have a cap on the number of riders, but I just want to give them a head's up to be able to plan for the group.
Great route Jon. Last time we rode Pell a few weeks back there was a fair amount of frozen puddles. You can get through with care though.
You may already know this but the loop off Old Westfield (right on Winchell at the gate) does go all the way through to the intersection where you would take a left onto Wildcat. Winchell is in great condition last time we were there and it replaces a little more pavement with some really nice gravel roads.
Hope you get a good sized group and have a great ride. It's a nice area. I'd love join you but will be out of town that weekend. Pat
> You may already know this but the loop off Old Westfield (right on Winchell at the gate) does go all the way through to the intersection where you would take a left onto Wildcat. Winchell is in great condition last time we were there and it replaces a little more pavement with some really nice gravel roads.
I've only been in that area once (it was in great shape) and wasn't sure what the legality of it was, but it sounds like it could get added to the "green light" list, correct?
In. I’ll bring some tires with tread this year.
I will plan on it!
I'm interested but new to gravel riding (i.e. just bought a bike, been out once on a easy ride). I've been doing hard workouts on the trainer but concerned about keeping up. Is this truly no drop?
Truly no drop! I haven’t ridden since January and since I make my own maple syrup I’ll be boiling every weekend between now and then with no time to ride. I may have to remind everyone else to not drop the ride leader!
Every year I do this, but looking at the end of Pell Rd. and seeing the next week's forecast, I think we should be riding on dirt instead of snow this year! We've been surprised in the past so obviously no guarantees, but I'm pumped about riding and pancakes!
Out. Any future EBCC gravel rides on the calendar?
Out. Any future EBCC gravel rides on the calendar?
Bummer!
I’m not sure of any other plans, but with my first little one expected to arrive next month I’ll probably only be able to sneak away for spur of the moment rides for a while. If I do have some heads up on a plan, I’ll let you know!
The ride will be going off as scheduled!
I hope to see a bunch of you out at Berg Field around 9am tomorrow!
I plan on joining.
