Our state is in desperate shape following Irene… last weekend I rode most of the southern portion of the VT Fall Classic 200k… and all was well – with great conditions on the dirt roads – most were smooth and fast – more pleasant than riding pavement, which is typical this time of year.
Post Irene – who knows. Both routes feature about 65% dirt / gravel roads with quiet rural roads between. Much of the route(s) follow interesting terrain – a few mountain streams, a road high up on a ridge across from Mt. Mansfield, a drop down to the Winooski river valley, and then a climb back up near Camel’s Hump. Many of our river valley towns were underwater on Sunday and Monday. A few of the worst hit in northern VT are nearby and parallel to our route. And just about every major and minor road in our state has some sort of issue – washout, trees down, culvert out, bridges washed away…
I’ll be scouting the entire route by bike over the next 2-3 weeks.
Expect a cue sheet to be release just before the ride to minimize any potential changes. Apologies I can’t offer one up sooner.
The course will be beautiful regardless of any re-routes – plenty of leaves left on our trees despite the weekend of really crazy wind – so
fall color should be spectacular. Looking forward to this event – its the highlight of my year (even before this was an official brevet most
of the roads were my ‘birthday’ ride)…