Notes From the Field: On Location in Vermont
October 3, 2008 by Lucian Harke
Filed under Destinations
I remember the days long ago whence I resided in the little town of Atlanta. Anxiously waiting for the next trip up to Ellijay to rip Bear Creek and a stay at M.O.E.S. Even now, 10 years later, I still make trips down from Vermont in the spring to remember those early years of mountain bike bliss sessions. And that was before the advent of what we now call “advancements in technology”.
So I was sitting in Austin, TX about two years ago and realized that I had my fill of dirt jumping and 4x racing. I wanted easy-access DH and trails to write home about. So I headed north to the green mountains of Vermont…a paradise for those with a penchant for clean living and the great outdoors. Oh, and beer too.
What can I say? Sure the winters are snowy and cold but the riding here is great. The Fellowship of Wheel is the local trail org. and those boys can build some trails. My favorite…The Flo Trails in Essex. Imagine a pump track flow on several miles of smooth wooded trail…just the perfect thing after work or before a day on the slopes. So good, in fact, that when selecting a new place of residence, I had juxtaposition to the Flo trails in mind (5 minutes away by car isn’t too bad).
And for the DH’ers in the audience, there is so much up here-Bromont, White face, Mt. Snow, Sugarbush, Highlands, Sunday River…the list goes on and on. It’s a proverbial potpourri I say! And the dirt jumps in Stowe are well worth the fight through all the leaf-peepers (that’s what they call the tourists that get bussed in to see the fall foliage here).
My thoughts are this, people who love riding, really love riding. I love the love personally. Most everyone started riding bikes as a kid. I think the excitement derived from those early fires of youthful stoke was so pure and simple. And now, it is really something to be able warm my soul by those fires every time I climb aboard and take a ride. There is nothing wrong with getting older, just as long as you learn how to stay young. Well, I’ve need to wipe my eyes folks (sniff).
Stay tuned for next time, when I tell you about a little something called “The Drifter”…a full-on DH ski-machine converted from my old Santa Cruz Super 8…check it out!
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This post was written by:
Lucian Harke - who has written 2 posts on Mountain bike product reviews, bike builds, trail reviews, forum, and tips - MTOBikes.com.
Lucian Harke is a fiction writer living in Vermont. His debut novel is due out in the Spring of 2009. In addition to owning a custom 1989 Bronco with a winch, he enjoys creating the heavier sounds on his Les Paul when not on his bike. Having had the unique opportunity to be a test pilot for a new DH Skibike design last winter, Lucian has a new love and it’s a bike on skis. “It’s the funnest thing I’ve ever done”, he says. “And I’ve been riding bikes and catching air since I was a kid. It feels like a fictional chariot, just unreal.” Having lived in Atlanta while earning his Master’s degree, he fell in love with North Georgia and makes yearly trips at the break of spring every year to commence another season of wheels on dirt.
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