I'd like to tell you a tale of two Spring Classics. A little over a year ago, back in mid-Jan 2015, I found myself in the off season getting excited about a new kind of riding with my newly purchased cx bike. Early registrations save money, so there I was signing up for things. I registered for Rasputitsa and the Vermont Overland Maple Adventure Ride (aka VOMAR). Why did I sign up for these things? Well, honestly, because both promised awesome food. A chance to visit a working sugar shack and partake in maple goodies almost right off the tap, and then the promise of a poutine bar after Rasputitsa. I was sold. The other key component was getting riding buddies to sign up. A lot of friends signed up, we worked out accommodations and meals. It was sounding too good to be true!
See, back in winter of 2015, we were getting absolutely pummeled by nor'easters. But in the middle of the two-to-three feet of snow days, it seemed like the last weekend of March and the first week of April were SOOOOO far away. Sunshine and tulips by then, right?
WRONG.
Part I: VOMAR (I pronounce this as "VOH-mahr", maybe I'm the only one who says it out loud)
March 29th comes along - a bunch of gals wearing winter gear huddled together for a photo op. Patti, Joan, Erin, Bet and myself (there may have been more I've forgotten, sorry!) started the day in Woodstock and headed out for 25 miles of maple adventure. No big deal, anyone can knock out 25 miles, right? Right off the bat, the road kicks UPHILL. Whew ok, no time for warm ups huh? My heart cries a little. As the ride goes on, Erin, Bet and Patti peel off and I never see them til the end. Joan and I chug along together laughing at the ridiculousness that is VT gravel. I pass her on the uphills (slowly) and she more than makes up for it on the downhills, bombing past me down the steep grade like a madwoman, screaming back advice to me such as proper foot position for descents. Like it's that easy. I'll just put my feet parallel to the ground and half-close my eyes and try not to brake...
Such a modest description of this ride existed in BikeReg. This part of VT is just full of uphill peanut butter mud. It gets to a point on subsequent climbs where everyone is off and pushing their bike uphill. Some can ride a tad further than others, but it seems everyone is walking at some point, regardless of their bike or gearing. On one particularly steep hill, Joan and I found ourselves pushing the bikes once again. She took two still-warm sweet potato halves out of her camelbak, and offered me one. This thing, I swear, was the best tasting sweet potato I've had in my life. Warm and packed full of nutrients, it put a genuine smile back on my face...until I realize I had dropped one of my gloves.
UNGGGHHHH!
Yes, I actually made an agonized noise almost like that, and make sure you add a tinge of whining when you read it to yourself. We spot my glove a ways down the hill. I look at Joan, and she says "I'll hold your bike" and smiles. So off I go, walking back down the hill to retrieve my glove, which will be 100% necessary for the next icy descent. Trudging back up the hill, both gloves in tow, we continue on.
This ride is hard, but it is also full of gorgeous scenery. Miles of stone walls and tapped maple trees - with buckets/taps/spiles and networks of tubing running down slopes to collection tanks. Old and new methods of sap collecting juxtaposed.
Eventually we get to a deep rutted snow covered class IV (or VI, I never remember) road. We try to ride through the snow, but it just isn't happening. Quick stop to take some hilarious WTF?! pictures of us & our bikes w/ the road ahead as the backdrop. We trudge forward, and we are rewarded at the end - there is our stop - the maple sugar shack!!
We partake in all sorts of maple goodies - parfait, shortbread and straight up maple syrup shots. There are hot drinks and locals to chat with. Lucky for us, the owners even let us into their house to use the restrooms. At this point it had been hours, and we were only at the 17 mile mark, I believe.
It was at this point that we contemplated bailing out of the ride, as we were cold and just wanted to be done. But, that wouldn't have made for a good story, so we hopped back on our bikes and headed into town. Lucky for us, it started with somewhat of a descent. Joan got us around the last climb of the day as she was familiar with the area. We headed back into town and I was rewarded with a maple bourbon shot at the finish! Covered in crusty mud, we headed over to The Worthy Kitchen for some amazing bites and drinks!
Part II: Rasputitsa
After suffering at VOMAR, I had just enough time to have slight modifications made to my bike in an attempt to better prepare for Rasputitsa. I understood now what I would be in for, and hoped an 11th hour change to a slightly smaller chain ring would combat my lack of fitness for Vermont's climby-ness. I met Bridgette at Gus' and we threw the orange bikes up on the roof rack. A three or so hour drive landed us up in the area of Burke, VT. We drove up and down the roads, looking for subtle signage that we kept missing, through thick dense fog. GPS wasn't really an option here with bad cell reception, so we went off landmarks like "turn at the lake". Eventually we found the cabin we reserved through Airbnb.
This cabin was glorious!! It had striking views of a (snow covered) lake, a large impressive fireplace, and an amazing kitchen. It takes a special kind of person to leave these comforts and go ride their bike through the snowy ice-mud. But alas, that's what we were all there for! We hit up registration and picked up our numbers the night before, then cooked a nice meal and set out our gear for the morning. I remember realizing at this point that perhaps I did not have the right gear for the weather forecast in Burke the next day. We spent some time trying on Diane's extra layers and learning about Sport Legs. In the end, I went out with just the gear I brought. Didn't even take the shower cap (cheap head protection when you don't own one of those fancy snap-on shells).
And then, the toilet wouldn't flush!
Heheh. Yes, this is the reason you should always go on these trips. These are the things you just can't make up. We all had a go at plunging the toilet. There didn't appear to be anything stuck in it. We were all baffled, and eventually Joan had to make the call to the owner to get someone to come out and take a look at it. Of course, they couldn't come out til the next day, and of course I had to pee in the middle of the night. Not wanting to wake the others, I grabbed my headlamp and ventured out into the driveway. It was pitch black and freezing outside, and there were lots of scary noises coming from the woods. I didn't go far. When all was said and done the next day, it turns out the leach field had frozen! The owner was apologetic and offered us back 1/2 our money.
But anyways, on to the race! Yes, Rasputitsa is technically a race. However, I was there just to finish. As it turns out (spoiler alert), that didn't happen. First off, we almost couldn't drive out of the long, winding icy dirt driveway that our cabin was on. We had to call and get a plow in the morning! Once we started, Joan and I made it about 15 miles in and turned around to head to town and save ourselves. My fingers had gotten sweaty and then nearly frozen inside the thin neoprene gloves I had on. I didn't have warm enough layering. It was snowing at the start of the ride. I have never been so cold on a ride as when Joan and I were on open stretches of pavement heading back into town into the wind. I was chilled to the bone for about an hour afterwards. Lessons learned the hard way that day. We got a hot coffee, and one for Patti as well, then drove the course trying to save her as we assumed she would be freezing to death as well. We got to a point on the course where cars could no longer traverse. Patti had entered Cyberia, never to return??
So we headed back and hit up the post race grub and beer, which was quite amazing. We waited and eventually Patti rolled in, looking like she was mentally so very done with this race. We went back in for more grub, then headed back to our cabin sanctuary.
When we got back to the cabin, I busted out my Vitamix and offered up whole fruit margaritas (one orange, one lemon & one lime, peeled) sweetened with maple syrup. I divvied out the margs into glasses, and passed them around. I took a sip and wrinkled my nose. Something didn't seem right. I added more maple & took another sip.....bleh! So I said "sorry, I don't know why these taste bitter - it almost tastes like grapefruit." Everyone kind of looked at me and said "well, yeah, you put a grapefruit in it". Apparently I grabbed a grapefruit instead of an orange out of the citrus stockpiles we had going in the fridge, and everyone just assumed this was what I meant to do. Grapefruit margaritas, blech!
So that's about it. When I find myself sitting around contemplating WHY I signed up for Rasputitsa again this year, I remind myself that even though it would be nice to finish and check this one off the list (as it was my only DNF to date), it will inevitably provide me with more ridiculous stories that I just couldn't make up if I tried.
See you next weekend?
