Dirty DOGS VT Kingdom Trails Weekend Blast 2011 Ride Report

Date	June 30 - July 4, 2011
Hosts	Brenda and Larry Isherwood
Where	Kingdom Trails, East Burke, VT
Who (else)	Joe Scheneck & Dawn Casey (Thu-Mon) (Our Trails Guides & New DOGS Members!) Amy Isherwood & Jay Boesner (Thu-Sun), Tom Fritz & Beryl Brodsky (Thu-Mon), Ed & Pat Gifford (Thu-Mon), Jim & Kelley Odorisio (Sun), Jeff Winick & Wendy Samuelson (Sun-Mon), Rob Geisler (Fri) (a founding member of the DOGS).

The Kingdom Trails is a 100-mile multi-use trail system. The trail association is a non-profit conservation organization in conjunction with permission of more than 50 private landowners who donate the use of their private property. The goal is to encourage recreational use of the land that promotes the natural beauty of the Northeast Kingdom Area.

Thursday

Five teams arrived in VT, with four setting up camp around noon. After some nourishment, we all headed out for 13 miles of dirt trails fun. As soon as we arrived back at the parking lot at the end of the ride, the skies let loose with quite a bit of rain. We packed up the bikes & cleaned up and walked to the end of the parking lot to have dinner at The Outback Pub. The food & friends were both quite enjoyable. A fire at camp was then in order before heading off to bed.

Friday

We had 5 1/2 teams enjoying 16 miles of trails today, with Rob being our special guest host trail guide for the day. Rob & Bonnie moved to upper VT from Northern NJ about 5 years ago. Until then they were (one of the founding) DOGS members since 1997. The trails were a bit damp, with the biggest issue being the wet roots.... They are just like ice when they are wet! We rode past a Sugar House and through & under the maple syrup lines running from tree to tree. After the ride we walked the very small & quaint center of town, had some ice cream, and then headed off for dinner on our own, with the campers having dinner at their sites. Of course, back at camp... what else... a campfire at night!

Saturday

Today was another epic day, with five teams dusting up 16 miles of trails. (Most trails dry out quite quickly there.) Today Larry had his helmet cam on & filled the SD Card with 2 hours of video. We will be sending in clips from our YouTube account as soon as we can get to them! Today was the day that we all tried & accomplished Sidewinder (sorta like a half pipe for bikes), the trail in the ravine that is like a rollercoaster in the woods & the trail that everyone was saying tandems should not even attempt! Later while some were enjoying the food & drinks from the Outdoor Market Cafe, a couple of us rode to the Church on Darling Hill on the other side of the treeline and had the mountain biking priest bless our bikes. On a short but very steep climb, a younger strong-looking rider stated "Holy S#*T!" as we all rode up the hill. We laughed, as it was said that now our bikes had been Blessed twice in one day! LOL. Dinner afterwards was at Goodfella's Pub & Rest. which was 1 mile from camp. The food there was delicious! Back at camp we had, of course, another campfire to enjoy smores & stories at.

Sunday

Today's weather was iffy and some teams decided to take a rest day, but we still had four teams ride today. Jim & Kelley drove north ~2 hours from their VT home to ride & visit with us, and Jeff & Wendy finally arrived for the weekend! After our shorter ride, most carpooled up to the Louis Garneau Outlet to see what deals we could find. We were about 10 miles south of Canada! All gathered at camp for the group bring-a-dish dinner this evening. There was a delicious cake (thanks Dawn) and birthday decorations (thanks Amy) for Brenda's birthday. The cards & all the sentiments were very special to Brenda as we were all gathered around another warming campfire.

Monday

We still had five teams riding today, with only Amy & Jay having to depart a day early for home in NJ this morning. Our ride today was the longest of the long weekend at 17 miles for a total of 72 off-road miles being ridden in the five days of the event. Towards the end of the ride, a few of us visited some new trails... one being Rim Trail and well, yes, it was sometimes like riding on the rim of a glass, and the other being East Branch. This one had about four bridges in a row, each one becoming progressively longer & more technical, with peaks & turns. We all managed them without even a toe dab!

We returned to camp & had a share-and-finish-up-the-leftovers dinner & our last campfire for the weekend in VT.

We departed for home early Tuesday morning talking about all the fun, exhilaration and camaraderie that we had at our Kingdom Trails Event. Thanks to everyone that attended our event. It's all of you that make it what it is & worthwhile to us!

You are invited to view tmbreeze's photo album: 2011 Kingdom Trails, VT Dirty DOGS Event June 30 - July 4.

Videos

Sidewinder Trail on a tandem at Kingdom Trails, VT July 2011

Kitchell Trail at Kingdom Trails, VT (like a dirt bobsled run)

River Run with a long windy bridge on tandems at Kingdom Trails,VT

West Branch Trail (hand dab) on tandem at Kindgom Trails, VT

Tap & Die Trail on tandems at Kindgom Trails, VT

Tandems ride over roots & rocks on downhill at Kindgom Trails, VT

Tandems, single bikes & trail maintenance on Kingdom Trails

DOGS Home Page

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