Three snacks and one nipple

For today’s training ride I planned to hit a bunch of gaps, just to rack up a bunch of climbing. I knew that the small bag of generic coop peach newtons wasn’t going to be sufficient fuel for that mission, so my first step was to get additional sustenance.

Snack #1
When its a farmer’s market day, there is only one true snack to be had…a Red Hen Baking Pain au Chocolate.  I got one from none other than Fleche teammate Randy George.  Yummy!  He joked that just one Pain au Chocolate wasn’t going to fuel me very far.  True, true.

The first major climb was on Moretown Mountain Road up Moretown Gap.  Its about half paved, half dirt, with mostly moderate grades.  After a zippy descent I rolled southwards on Rt 100 to Waitsfield.

Snack #2
Maple glazed little donuts from the Big Picture Theater and Cafe in Waitsfield.  It felt a tad sacriligeous to buy only a half dozen, but I really didn’t think that my stomach would be thrilled if I threw a full dozen down the hatch.  These little donuts are truly addictive.

I turned up Rt 17 to climb Appalachian (App) Gap.  My new 20 tooth chainring was positively itchin’ for some action, but just before the pitch kicked up to steep, I heard a boiiiing from the rear and found a busted spoke nipple.  Not the spoke, just the nipple.  That was inconvenient indeed.  If it had been a spoke, I could readily have fixed it with my FiberFix kevlar spoke.  However, I had no spare nipple, and it wouldn’t be field repairable anyway since I’m running my wheels tubeless.  I pondering my annoying situation briefly, and turned around to ride downhill and over Duxbury Gap to Waterbury and Five Hills Bikes.  The guys there put in a new red nipple, new Stans yellow tape, fresh Stans sealant, and had me going again in about half an hour.

From Waterbury, the Mad River Valley gap climbs were too distant to take advantage of effectively, so I turned my GPS northwards and took an effective stab at riding the Gravel Grinder route:  Perry Hill, Loomis Hill, Gregg Hill, Dewey Hill and Stowe Hollow for a total of over 3,000′ feet of climbing in under 30 miles.  Its a pretty loop, especially on a day with patchy dense clouds that looked dramatic but didn’t actually produce anything.

Stowe Pinnacle from Stowe Hollow Road

Snack #3
Just after coming off of Gregg Hill the loop follows Rt 100 briefly, and goes right by the Cold Hollow Cider Mill, well known by locals and busloads of tourists alike as having excellent cider and hot fresh cider donuts.  A half dozen cider donuts tasted great, and half gallon of cider refreshed my Camelbak.  I finished up with a pleasantly flat ride back home.

The finest local road snacks: Cold Hollow Cider and fresh cider donuts

Ride stats:
6:00 moving time
14.6 mph moving average
86.1 miles
7041′ elevation gain