Tour de Heifer on Sunday

[Steve Park]

fyi The Tour de Heifer is this Sunday.  

The longer route (63m 6800ft) looks challenging and fun. It's been on my to do list for a while.

I'll be driving up to Brattleboro from Wellesley, MA that morning and can take 1 or 2 passengers and bikes.  Leaving very early make the 8am start. Contact me if interested in a ride.  

-S

[Steve Park]

 Tour de Heifer was great.  The ride was like a very low-key D2R2 complete with mowed-field parking, excellent food, friendly volunteers, more than its fair share of challenging riding and even some of the same roads.  The Lilac Ridge Farm provided a scenic and quiet place to get rolling.  The first mile or two of pavement was the among the rare paved roads on the 63 mile 7000+ft route.  The climbing began early and continued throughout the day with little interruption.  The consistent rain made the roads squishy but not too muddy.  Long climbs, long descents.  Fog in the valleys, and drizzle all over.  The riding was cool and pleasant under the large overhanging trees.  The handful of woodsy trails were just sketchy enough to be fun - some walking here and there.  I was pretty cooked by the end.  After cleaning up, I enjoyed many slices of wood-fired pizza and chocolate milk before the long drive home.
    In all, this was fantastic ride.  Mile for mile, it was as challenging as any other gravel event in the region, and it was nearly all unpaved.  I heard that that the 30 mile route had quite a bit more pavement though.  For equipment, I went with tubeless 36 Clement MSOs with disc brakes and fenders (it was a messy day).  This route was biased towards meaty tires, moreso than other dirt randonnees.  I spent much of the day pedaling the little gears of my 46/34 11-32.

I recommend that you check out Tour de Heifer.  It happened to happen on the right weekend in my schedule, and I'm glad I made the effort to ride it.

[Christian Bratina]

Steve,

Thanks for the report, I would have done it but for the rain.  I don't have wide enough fenders for my 35 mm Cyclocross Speed tires.  Great to hear there was so much dirt road.



Christian Bratina Litchfield, CT 06759 860/361-9163

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[Jon]

Thanks for sharing, Steve. I'll have to give it a try next year; I love the riding in that area.