Start Location: Waterbury Park and Ride, 201 Lincoln St, Waterbury VT 05676;
Finish location is Fairfield Inn Waterbury VT, 1017 Waterbury-Stowe Rd, Waterbury, VT 05676
Start Time: 06:30
Ride Leader: Robert Liu/Tsun Au Yeung
Lights: Recommended
Distance: 202km
Time Limit: 14 Hours 33 Minutes (63 km of dirt allow 1hr 3 minutes of dirt time extension)
Sanctioning: RUSA (No ACP to allow dirt time bonus)
Online Map/GPS: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/50026796
Registration: BikeReg
Dirtier Bakery Brevet, Green Mountain 200k 2025:
The former route was known as “The Bakery Brevet” where you can eat breakfast all day long, this ride aims to mix stunning scenery and varied terrain with some enjoyable control stops along the way. Include ~30% good quality dirt roads. Most (if not all) are Vermont automotive roads, but wider tires are recommended. Mud season is also not officially over yet so typical springtime washboard and potholes on the dirt roads are to be expected. Choose your gear accordingly.
Ride Start and Parking Info:
The rides starts at 6:30AM at the Waterbury Park and Ride, 201 Lincoln St., Waterbury VT. This is where you should park for the duration of the ride if you are driving to the start. Unless you have hotel reservation at the end hotel, please don’t park there. We also strongly encourage for folks to carpool and/or hotel room share, unfortunately the hotel price is for some reason always sky-high the first weekend of May at the area…)
Route Description:
The route takes riders through the heart of the Green Mountains. Starting from Waterbury, riders traveling south and will pass through the Mad River Valley up to the broad views of East Warren. From there the ride passes through the gorgeous and wild Granville Gulf (don’t miss the waterfall!) before reaching the first control at Rochester, the recommend business to visit is Sandy’s Books & Café if you want a rest before climbing Brandon Gap but adjacent faster accommodation is accepted. Riders then head west past Mt. Horrid and over the Brandon Gap (one of the more forgiving gap climbs from E to W in the area) to enter into the eastern flank of the Champlain Valley. After a stop in downtown Brandon, the route begins its journey northward along Lake Dunmore (on the west side shore this year) and through East Middlebury and through Bristol. Open rolling farmland unfolds before reaching the control in Hinesburg. Look for Huntington Gorge as you make your way to join the Winooski River on the final stretch back to Middlesex under the shadow of Camel’s Hump.
Controls: Open Control at Downtown Rochester, VT; Open Control at Downtown Brandon; Open Control at Downtown Hinesburg, VT
Recommended Control Options at Rochester VT are Sandy’s Book and Cafe (30 N Main St.), The Rochester Cafe and Country Store (55 N Main St.), Green Mountain Bikes (105 N Main St.), and Rochester Public Library (22 S Main St.)
Recommended Control Options at Downtown Brandon VT are Brandon Free Public Library (4 Franklin St.), Morningside Bakery (37 Center St.), Cafe Provence (11 Center St.), and Brandon Inn (22 Park St.)
Recommend Control Options in Hinesburg is Lantman’s market (10681 VT-Rt 116) and Good Times Cafe (10805 VT-Rt 116).
Pre-drive notes from Robert Liu on 4/13/2025
- River Rd to Main St: CAUTION! Many big holes, intermittent washboards.
- Left turn on Stevens Brook: CAUTION! Uphill into the turn w/o sight of oncoming traffic.
- Stevens Brook: Steep dirt at the final downhill into the stop sign at Rt 100B. Some big holes, some washboard.
- Pony Farm Rd: Smaller holes and washboards.
- North Rd: Paved climb, bad road surface
- Common Rd: Mostly smooth.
- Plunkton Rd: Dirt begins after passing Blueberry Lake on left. Very big holes, very deep washboard. Caution! Gravel patches. Steep downhill into stop sign at Rt 100.
- Town Farm / Delorm / Shackett Rds: Very high quality hardpack dirt.
- Beaver Pond Rd: Good quality dirt, some holes and small washboards.
- School House Hill: Didn’t see a port-a-potty at the park.
- Cove Rd: High quality hardpack dirt.
- Carlstrom Rd: Same.
- Mountain Rd: Same. Dirt ends @ Preston Ln
- Gilman Rd: Good quality dirt. Bumps and holes on descent.
- Texas Hill Rd: Very variable – some smooth sections and other sections with big pits, chunky gravel, deep washboards, big holes.
- Dugway Rd: Mostly good dirt, couple washboarded sections.
- Duxbury Rd: One-lane closed section, wait for TFL. Then a section of poor pavement.
- River Rd: Mixed quality dirt. Some smooth sections, then many washboards and deep pits/holes.
Read ride leader David Cain’s ride report from the 2012 version. (Note: 2012 had a different route.)
