Riding the XVT (Cross Vermont Bikepacking Route): Part 2

[Wandering by Bicycle]

This is an absolutely awesome route that showcases some of the best mountain biking in the state. For any that are interested, Part 1 of the trip is posted in the Routes section, and here's Part 2.
Riding the XVT (Cross Vermont Bikepacking Route): Part 2

[Lentamentalisk]

I'm really looking forward to getting a chance to ride this.

It is too bad the creators of the route are so secretive about it. I get that they want people to be members to have access to it, but I've heard lots of accounts of people signing up and still never getting a hold of a route, despite months of attempting to contact the organizers.

[Wandering by Bicycle]

I hear where you're coming from Lentamentalisk, but I honestly don't feel anyone's being secretive. They, or actually he, Dave Tremblay, is still refining the route, along with working on other routes he's dreamed up. Also, as I mentioned in Part 1, many sections of this route cross private land and use the VASA, VAST and Catamount Trail systems. Vermonters can get a little ornery, so making sure everything goes smooth before the track appears all over the internet is best for the long term success of the route.

If anyone has trouble getting in touch with Dave, send me a message and I'll see what I can do.

Thanks and enjoy the ride.

[bmike-vt]

Contact Wil Blanchard, he's alot easier to work with and way more responsive, and he's trying to push the bikepacking chapter of VMBA forward. He's moosevt on here.

If that email / messaging doesn't work, PM me and I'll get you in touch with him.


I've done ALOT of GPS work on this for Wil who has attempted this several times... I got a slap down from some folks though about sharing my work and routes. So I'm trying to play nice...

[jhl99]

I just got back from a bike type vacation in VT.  I did a mixed surface tour in the Green Mnt NF.  I find it curious the chatter in this thread about riding across private land given the situation in the GMNF.... as near as I could tell, the rule there is mountain bikes are not allowed unless posted open to bikes... In other NFs I've been in, trails are generally open to mountain bikes unless posted closed.   The trail use policies in the GMNF seem archaic.  Why can't bikes use a typical snowmobile trail on public land?

I road parts of the Trail around Middlebury.  I was pretty shocked that there was decent single track on a town trail... until I got to the '1979'? section and a sign stated that bikes are not allowed because of erosion issues.... I believe the science of the matter puts hikers and bikers as being equally destructive. 

Seems like the Vermonters need to get a little more current with the treatment of mountain biking.  Funny though, I figured the West River Trail would be a typical crushed limestone 2% grade railroad bed... well it is for a while and then it goes to decent single track north of the dam.

And a final note to the original poster, if you are going to post about a big ride across a state, I think it would be good idea to be prepared to divulge the route.  If the route is not 100% legal, I would think that is best not broadcast its 'existence'.  Just not good for any of the connected parties.

[Wandering by Bicycle]

OK, lets wrap this thread up. First - jhl99, GMNF follows the same bicycle rules as all other national forest land in the country. There are signed bike routes, but those aren't the only routes you can ride and we can go a lot more places than motorized vehicles. Also, much of the VAST trail system in the national forest is open to bikes, but keep in mind most of the VAST system is on private land outside the GMNF. If you check out VMBA, you'll see Vermont is further along than much of the country when it comes to mountain biking.

As for posting about the ride, it's been posted about before and is somewhat well known, at least within Vermont. I'm not sure what more you would like divulged, but you're more than welcome to ride the route and spend all the hours you want processing photos and writing up a better report. Also, I never said the route wasn't legal, I said it was being fine tuned. This isn't my route and out of respect for the route developers, my time, and those who ride it after me and want a bit of unknown adventure, I didn't give point by point descriptions or a GPX file, but I did give hyperlinked information and my contact info on how you can get it, if you want it.

As for riding on private land, it's a privilege, not a right, and that privilege can be revoked. Yep, most  Vermonters, flatlanders or multi-generation, are really friendly and wave when you pass by, and some are a bit, well, as I said - ornery, just like the rest of the humans in the world. Talk to most any road cyclist and they would attest to that.  I'm glad some have never had a bad interaction, but saying every Vermonter is friendly is like saying every dog is friendly; I don't have to get bit to realize it's not true.

[jhl99]

One of my points was that loosening the restrictions on public land (GMNF) for mountain biking seems like an obvious thing to lobby for.  Compared to other national forests, the GMNF is more restrictive.

...GMNF follows the same bicycle rules as all other national forest land in the country...

Not so:

GMNF Bike Rules: http://www.fs.usda.gov/activity/gmfl/recreation/bicycling] [url]http://www.fs.usda.gov/activity/gmfl/recreation/bicycling[/url]



Allegheny NF Bike Rules:  http://www.fs.usda.gov/activity/allegheny/recreation/bicycling



GMNF rules are more restrictive....not even allowed to bike ride on a gated forest road (for that matter, it doesn't sound like exclusive snowmobile trails are legal) , trails must be marked for bikes in GMNF.

The small sample of VAST trailheads on public land I saw allowed only snowmobiles, XC Skiing and hiking... not one sign allowed bikes--maybe they are out there, but I didn't see one--my sample was very small.

I did learn that Vermont is a utopia where there are no billboards, no litter, everyone lives in quaint clapboard house with solar power in a charming small town, drinking craft beer and eating farm to table, all the kids are above average and that riding across private property is apparently a non-issue.  Well, maybe for a Vermonter, but where I come from, it is safe to assume a trail across private land is exactly that--private. 

I live in state that sells more hunting licenses  (about 900,000 http://www.pgc.pa.gov/HuntTrap/LicensesandPermits/Pages/HuntingLicenseSalesReport.aspx) than the entire population of Vermont (about 625,000).  With that much firepower out there, one tends be very careful about trespassing. 

My point is that I do not share the cavalier attitude about private land... especially when other posters refer to the 'route be refined'.  I've explored and published enough routes to know that can be code for 'this is how we planned it, but, after riding it, it turns out such and such is not fit for the general public because _____'  fill in any reason you would like, including trespassing, difficulty, boredom or whatever.

JHL99