Bon Bon Alternative*

Riding into a 30 knot headwind on the shoulder of road with giant RVs speeding by at 55 mph I again, had to wonder – why? I could be siting in a safe, air conditioned little cocoon, in front of a TV, eating Bon Bons. I do know people who love that, who live for that. Who work all week just so they can do that very thing. It is the antithesis of my idea of life and thinking about it, I pedal faster, drafting a bit off the next passing RV.

We ended up riding a 36 mile circumnavigation of Grand Isle, VT, After braving the traffic of RT 2 we swung North on side roads stopping along the way to check out the volunteer-run bike-ferry between Grand Isle and Burlington, sampling homemade donuts, watching a para-sailer, touring the fish hatchery and enjoying the phenomenal scenery. From the west shore of Grand Isle you look into New York and Adirondack Mountains, on the east side, the ridge from Mt. Mansfield to Camel's Hump stretches North to South.

It was a great ride for the end of this first half of the vacation. Tomorrow we head to Cooperstown for Part II. The Bon Bons will have to wait.

*Not to be confused with the Bon Ton Roulet.

French Canadians and State Parks

The following day, the Saturday of Labor Day weekend we headed out for a 50 miler. Luckily we had done the 20 before or I don't think we'd have made it. Most of the route we'd ridden last year. North to Hero's Welcome where we stopped for coffee (and a chocolate croissant). Out at the picnic area we met a Quebec couple who were just finishing a 14 day bike circumnavigation of Lake Champlain. One of them rode a Rocky Mountain Sherpa, the bike I'd had for the Holland trip. Twelve miles North of there we stopped at North Hero State Park and talked to a cyclist from Montreal.

Heading west, with an eye on the building storm clouds, we crossed over a bridge were some kids were jumping off into the water. They'd even strung up a rope swing underneath, and were having a great time. Our next stop was Sand Dunes State Park. Ummm. Well, all I can say is coming from the Atlantic Coast, and having seen Pink Sand Dunes National Park in Utah, I guess I expect a bit more sand in my Sand Dunes. But Vermont seemed very proud of their sand. After all it had been deposited by the glacier thousands of years ago, and while the rest of the entire shore of Lake Champlain consists of tiny shale stones, here on the south tip of Alberg, there is indeed, Sand. Here again were two guys from Canada. The Ranger was American but he was the only other soul on the beach.

Heading home, and pretty hungry by now, we stopped again at Hero's Welcome (they have great sandwiches!), and watched a whole peloton of French Canadian touring cyclists gather. A few Americans stopped by too, but the crowd was predominately French speaking.

So many Canadians touring, so few Americans. Even if we were only 20 miles from Canada – it still seemed a bit out of balance. It also, perhaps goes a bit further to explain why, when Amy and I rode our bikes around Belgium 5 years ago, the Belgians insisted we were Canadian. “Canada?” “Non, Etats Unis”. “Noooo, Canada!”

End of the Hiatus – Return to Grand Isle

After 3 week out of the saddle being back “in” felt good. Especially going downhill and downwind along the East Shore of Grand Isle, Vermont. Turning West into the wind, nine miles later things began to slow down and when we headed uphill – I probably could have walked faster.

But is was good to be back on the bike, and back in Grand Isle where we spent 3 days biking last year, and planned to spend another 4 this time. The main roads have nice shoulders and while the back roads don't, the drivers pull over, and there are honor system fruit stands with “Welcome Cyclists” signs.

As with last year we relied upon the Charles Hansen book - which is great at directions and also at pointing out the sights. According to him the ride around North Hero/Grand Isle is the best one in all the Lake Champlain region, and after our ride on Monday, I have to believe him.

Lake Champlain Bikeways

Riding North on the Lake Champlain Bikeway with the inland sea and Green Mountains to the right and Lake Champlain and the Adirondacks to left I have to disagree somewhat with Pico Iyer. I don't travel to get outside my normal comfort zone. I travel to get in touch with it. Nothing feels quite as right as pedaling through the islands of Vermont.

Some places are better for pedaling than others and the Northern Lake Champlain region is certainly one of the best. While I scoffed (actually snorted) when the guidebook (which I highly recommend - 25 Bicycle Tours in the Lake Champlain Region: Scenic Tours in Vermont, New York, and Quebec
) said that “although few roads have shoulders, the traffic is low enough, and what drivers there are, are kind enough, the Lake Champlain region is perfect for bike riding." But it's true! Along with that the views are fantastic! Lakes and mountains, mountains and lakes. From our campsite alone we can see east to Mount Mansfield and south to Camels Hump.

Our first ride was a 60 miler to Isle de la Motte. The ride reminded me a lot of riding in Holland. The road goes along a flat coastline for while then up ahead you see a bridge and in a few miles you cross that bridge. There are 3 islands between Grand Isle and Isle de la Motte, Oh, and good coffee too. On North Hero Island there is Hero's Welcome. A general store, post office, restaurant, outdoor sporting goods shop and cafe all in one – with picnic tables on the lake. For a small island, Isle de la Motte boasts a number of firsts. The first place Champlain landed, the first Catholic shrine in the United States, the first black granite quarry, the first ferry from Vermont to New York, and the first inland coral reef. It is a pretty nice island, it was also the first place I tasted a Zesta apple. I hope there are many more of those to come.

The second day S. and I took the riding down a notch, circumnavigating Grand Isle. More beautiful riding along quiet roads with the addition of a side trip down to the causeway, an abandoned railroad bed that originally linked the south end of Grand Isle with Burlington, Vt. Once the railroad was abandoned the drawbridge was dismantled so the only way to presently ride the whole 15 miles to Burlington is on summer weekends when volunteers run a bike ferry. Still it was a good ride just going out to the cut and waving to the folks on the other side. We also got to see a salmon carving someone had done of one of the many amazing chunks of granite that made up the causeway.

Wednesday we looped North then west and into New York. Stopping at Lakes End Cheese for a sample then at the Welcome Center in Alberg. The guide there was a serious bike tourer riding every summer from Vermont to Wisconsin and putting on lots of miles on the roads we were just discovering.

Crossing into New York we stopped in Rousse's Point for lunch then road 28 miles due south along smoothly paved farm roads. Along the way we stopped to read all the historic markers. Not so much because they were all that informative but because it was amusing to see how far someone would stretch facts to justify a historical marker. My favorite had to be the one that recounted how General Burgoyne, in his march to Ticonderoga built a number of corduroy log bridges across “inland swamps like this.” Of course a close second was entitled “Benjamin Franklin” and related the story how two brothers who had met Franklin lived “somewhere close to this spot.” If this is what classifies as deserving an historical marker, the mind reals. We spent the next 15 miles cursing the headwind and inventing our own.

We left NY for Vermont via the ferry and finished the ride with a 3 mile spin across Grand Isle.