2026 1200k input

[Jacob Layer]

Hello Everyone,

The 600k volunteers and I were chatting about the planned 2026 1200k and wanted to get some opinions.  Her's a rough draft of the route with some alternate's thrown in:  https://ridewithgps.com/events/287862-ner1200k#routes/44873933/preview  

If you live in or near any of these area's we'd love to get your feedback on the route in terms of traffic, road quality, best times to ride etc.  

Also, we discussed a potential August/September ride date.  Would anyone in the club be interested in the ride if we hosted it over Labor Day weekend?  Labor Day 2026 is Sept. 7th. in 2026 so it's a bit late. We're not committed to a date yet but we'd need to set one at the end of the month.

Best,

Jacob

[Dave Cramer]

Quick note… Route 9 in VT from Brattleboro to Wilmington is very high-traffic, and often has narrow or non-existent shoulders. It’s miserable riding. 

A better alternative is Hinesburg Road to Green River Road to Hatch School Road (some dirt but usually in very good condition). Or go up through Williamsville, South Newfane, and Dover Road. 

—Dave Cramer

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "New England Randonneurs" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to ne-randonneur...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/ne-randonneurs/7db35b94-f195-433a-9b9b-5c3903915420n%40googlegroups.com.

[Bill Murray]

A holiday weekend would not be my choice, many plans with friends and family, and would keep me from joining a ride.

Bill

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/ne-randonneurs/B21D8BAC-4A16-4780-946B-28371C5B0C3E%40gmail.com.

[Jake Kassen]

I don't have a strong opinion about dates but a holiday weekend is
going to be considerably more expensive for travel and lodging. Might
also be a bit more traffic on the roads but that's always a crapshoot.

It would be cheaper after Labor Day but also less daylight and people
start having more school/work conflicts.

Jake

> To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/ne-randonneurs/CADx%2BrCjJROPoE-pG6MTyAf0VG7tx2QiJohC3E70e3n5T1aMPHQ%40mail.gmail.com.

[Mike Daubenspeck]

I would make a note that Labor Day Weekend on the Kanc through Conway might be less than enjoyable with all the traffic we get.

> On Jul 1, 2025, at 11:53 AM, Jake Kassen <jakek...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> I don't have a strong opinion about dates but a holiday weekend is

> To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/ne-randonneurs/CALsSqvxxrkEYJ2hnin27E8_ZK2Z35vpOiy0_N8t90CovGAhTRw%40mail.gmail.com.

[Tsun Au Yeung]

After studying the calendar a little bit, it may not be bad idea to do the actual ride W to Sa the week of Labor Day (Sep 9 to 12) where the could be opportunity for final prep during the long weekend prior to it.  Either be pre-ride, whatever additional prep that may be needed.  To clarify, I think Jacob was originally thinking the ride date would be Th to Su before Labor day (Sep 3 to 6) with the Kang being on the first day, but yes the lodging cost would be lower after labor day.  

Tsun

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/ne-randonneurs/057560D3-DD62-4A88-9E67-01ACBE202FD1%40gmail.com.

[Jacob Layer]

Tsun is right. We'd envisioned Wed to Sat or Thu to Sun of Labor day weekend. 

Our initial thought was to do the Kanc on the first day to avoid holiday weekend traffic. 

I agree that holiday plans could complicate ridership and volunteer support. That's why we wanted to bring this to the group.

You received this message because you are subscribed to a topic in the Google Groups "New England Randonneurs" group.
To unsubscribe from this topic, visit https://groups.google.com/d/topic/ne-randonneurs/3hS1lTcnL9k/unsubscribe.
To unsubscribe from this group and all its topics, send an email to ne-randonneur...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/ne-randonneurs/CAArWDQGDie1N96Yhq25NV8DNNLt0KXQEmEMSFHYmfcRC8WcaOQ%40mail.gmail.com.

[Jas Dembinski]

You have some very stout days of climbing, the 370 k of day 1 should give the fittest among us pause before committing to signing on and the route (in descending order) after the dirt version is also a huge effort.  The dirt version is out of my league.  All in all, I would rather ride North, with loops to the west, northwest, and east, northeast than ride south towards the Boston vicinity.  

That said, I recollect a priceless point a rider from India made to me at PBP when I caught up to him and we found ourselves riding side by side, jockeying ahead and behind each other, up a long climb until eventually I had to ask where in India he was from.  He said the name of a town and then I asked if that was in the east or the western part of India or south or north.  He paused and said he never really understood the concept of compass directions.  

That said, Jacob, I hope to either ride it or help out.  

Very best,

Jan Peter

[Jacob Layer]

Thanks all for your input and please keep the comments coming. We still have a lot of time to redesign the route. At the moment we are targeting late August and early September for the date. 

If you have alternative roads/routes please feel free to copy those routes, edit and send back to me. You could also do as others have done and message me directly about alternative roads.

Best,

Jacob

--

You received this message because you are subscribed to a topic in the Google Groups "New England Randonneurs" group.
To unsubscribe from this topic, visit https://groups.google.com/d/topic/ne-randonneurs/3hS1lTcnL9k/unsubscribe.
To unsubscribe from this group and all its topics, send an email to ne-randonneur...@googlegroups.com.

To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/ne-randonneurs/46dfcd4c-2ac7-46c7-aed3-cd0d9432b7ddn%40googlegroups.com.

[John D'Elia]

I like the roots a lot, there are several 1200s out there with 35 or 40,000 feet of climbing, if you want to advertise this as a super hilly route, you will definitely get people to come. I agree with the comments about avoiding holiday weekends and avoiding Kancamangus highway on the weekend. I’m not as astute with local roads to know which ones are best in which ones are to be avoided, but you have plenty of local riders providing info about that. John. 

Sent from my iPhone-John D'Elia, D'Elia  Gillooly DePalma, 700 State St., New Haven Connecticut 06511, 203-891-5310, 203-494-5521, fax 203-891-6948, Jo...@dgdlawct.com

On Jul 2, 2025, at 8:25 PM, Jacob Layer <jvl...@gmail.com> wrote:



You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "New England Randonneurs" group.

To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to ne-randonneur...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/ne-randonneurs/CA%2BwxGYH%3D8%3DpHV%2BfNoiO4A2ms-NNFYC3HOSC7HU524TYTxfqeeg%40mail.gmail.com.