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Our son Will visited this summer for a few weeks. At one point I suggested that we go off and do something very different for a few days. Will told me that they had been intrigued by my bike trip two years ago, and they had been doing a fair amount of cycling in California.

Thus was born the plan for a two day bike tour.

We borrowed a bike from a colleague of mine, and after fussing over peddles, toe-clips, gear-racks and the seat, re-tuned it to Will's statue. The plan is relatively simple; start in Burlington, Vermont, pedal north about forty miles, spend the night and return the next day.

Friday, July 23, 2021
Burlington, VT - Isle Le Motte, VT.
56.3 miles

We arrived in Burlington about noon and stashed the car in the College St. garage, then walked to the Church St. pedestrian mall, Burlington's downtown, to find a bagel for lunch. But it is time to get this venture rolling, so we were soon back at the garage to retrieve our bikes and assemble our gear. Each of us have one pannier on a back rack, a handle bar bag, and a water bottle. It is only an overnight at a B&B, so we really don't need to carry much stuff.

It is two blocks to the waterfront and the Burlington Greenway / bike path. The park and path are very busy, as they should be on such a sunny summer afternoon. Weather-wise, the day is nearly perfect. Blue skies overhead, a change from the rain of the last few weeks, and we seem to be beyond the unbearable heat of earlier this month.

The bike path is on an old rail bed, straight and level through the neighborhoods north of downtown. It is at the center of a long, linear, green park which often seeps down to the lake shore. And did I mention that is was busy? Fast and slow cyclist, walkers, joggers, runners and skaters. Dogs, elderly couples, picnickers, children. Babies in backpacks and jogging strollers. And along the side, kickball, kites, picnics and napping in the sun.

After five miles the trail dumps you into a neighborhood for half a dozen blocks, then it turns in to dirt and gravel through the Colchester Bog and out onto the causeway.

End of trail? (Gap in Causeway)

The Bike Ferry & Ice Cream Boat

Will waiting for the Bike Ferry

Evening Reading in the Hammock

The day's afterglow on Lake Champlain

Moonrise on Isle LeMotte

At some point, unclear to me, the bike path becomes the "Island Line" bike path. This causeway seems to be as good a transit point as any.

The causeway itself is worthy of a few comments. It is just over 5 kilometers long, arching its way between Colchester, on the south (Burlington) end, and South Hero Island at the north end. The causeway itself is spectacular, constructed of marble from the Rutland quarries! I expect that these were the low-quality blocks, but still, to see marble used as incidental fill is curious.

Near the end of the causeway is a 60 meter gap where a bicycle ferry operates. This is a very large pontoon boat which can carry about 20 bikes and their riders at a time. It was such a busy bike day that we had to wait a while for the ferry to catch up with the cyclists. But since it was such a nice day this only caused me to wonder if I had enough sun screen on. The Ice Cream boat also arrived while we waited.

A few minutes beyond the ferry and we were on South Hero Island, also called Grand Isle. Most of the traffic, which is primarily of the two wheeled variety, heads north, to the town of South Hero. We veered to the west, on West Shore Road. A positively delightful rolling and winding road among neat cottages, picturesque farms and even a winery.

After ten miles of this easy wheeling we decided that we needed food, but also realized that we had missed any potential eateries on South Hero by a few miles, and so crossed the island and back tracked a little south.

This south bound leg hosted the only mishap of the trip, as my tire encounters something with a point which led to a failure of the inner tube. Will went on to scope out the nutrient distributors of South Hero while I replaced the tube. Ten minutes later, following the directions in a text from Will, I was headed to Seb's Snack Bar.

With a few hundred calories from a hamburger in the tank, we again headed north. By now the afternoon was well advanced and we still had 25 miles to tick off, so we made a serious sprint up US-2. By switching the lead every half dozen miles or so we were able to make steady progress through Grand Isle, North Hero and eventually to Isle LeMotte, covering those 25 miles in about 2 hours.

Our B&B, "The Old Schoolhouse", is (of course) on School Street, and we soon found our landlady. When we cycled up she was bent over in her garden, weeding, and it took a bit of shouting to get her attention. But no rest for the weary, because the only restaurant on the island, or within ten miles, closes early. So we had a quick shower and rode another three miles to the Ruthcliff. The road got smaller and smaller, and we were almost convinced that we had missed the restaurant, but there it was, dangling at the end of that country lane.

I usually try to avoid using terms like "it was lovely", or simply "gorgeous" when describing a scene, because that tells you more about how I felt then what I saw. However, it really was a lovely evening with a gorgeous view.

We ate on the veranda which looked east-southeast, over the "LeMotte Passage" and "Carry Bay", parts of Lake Champlain, and on up into the Green Mountains. Mansfield and Camel's Humps are mountain tops which are easy to pick out. The evening was well advanced and as we supped the colors changed from yellows and golds to the cool greens and purples.

Will had lobster ravioli and I had haddock. Then we finished the feast with pie. If we had been inside, without a view, we would have called the food amazing. But in my opinion it played second fiddle to the view.

After dinner we cycled home, but it was too fine an evening to go indoors. Will opted to read in a hammock for a while, and I decided to wander to the far end of School Street. The far side of this narrow island is only half a mile away. En route I was pleased to discover that the new school house is only a few hundred meters beyond the old one, and so still carries the address of School Street.

On the west shore of Isle LeMotte, looking across a strip of Champlain, the sun has sunk behind the Adirondacks leaving just a glow, a golden trim outlining the mountains and the western horizon. Venus provided an ornament, a tiny pearl hanging above the peaks.

While walking home the moon rose in the gap of trees made by the street; a big old yellow moon. And fireflies danced in the grass which bordered the lane, lighting my way to bed.

Saturday, July 24, 2021
Isle LeMotte - Burlington, Vermont.
46.6 miles

I'm awake at about 7:30, and since we asked for breakfast at 8:30 I'm not surprised to find the whole place very much asleep. I tip-toe downstairs and started the coffee pot, then armed with a mug I stepped out.

The sky is blue and clear, and I think to myself that whereas right now the weather is perfect, by the end of the day it could be a scorcher.

Being careful to not slosh my coffee I walk down to LeMotte's Main Street, a quarter mile away. It is a picturesque cross-roads with a dozen well kept Victorian homes. When School Street cross Main, it becomes Church street, and host the Methodist Episcopal Church, a solid limestone edifice.

Back at the cross-roads, the southeast corner is open to a pasture and also host a tiny lending library ("Little Free Library") on a post. The library box also advertises, "including art supplies", but I didn't see any this morning. Titles tended towards summer cottage comfort fiction. The corner also had a bench facing the pasture where I sat and finished my coffee.

The Old Schoolhouse B&B (photo from web)

Taking a break in North Hero

Again - Waiting for the Bike Ferry

I walked back past a 1970's VW Bug to the Schoolhouse, where our landlady was up, and I poured her a cup of coffee.

Granola with blueberries, peaches and yogurt. Toast and scrambled eggs. Our landlady, Carol, having a captive audience at the breakfast table, told us about "tapping therapy". It sounds like it might be related to acupuncture and she recommends it to help deal with anxiety.

Carol also mentioned that the islands were a lot less busy than past years because the Canadians weren't there. This is because the border is closed due to Covid. At one point Will told her they lived in California and she said something to the effect of, "of course you do."

We are on our bikes by 9:30, retracing our way towards Burlington.

By 10:30 we have covered a dozen miles and stoppe in North Hero at the general store, the "North Hero's Welcome", as it bills itself. These islands are know for fishing, and the town's harbor is filled with all sizes of boats to convey the angler. We get coffee and take it across the road to the public ramp, and watch people loading boats, and unloading kayaks.

As we head south we opt for side roads when we can. Rout 2 is straight, dull and far too busy. East Shore and West Shore Road are winding, pretty and with almost no traffic.

Is grass made into silage instead of hay? We've seen a number of trucks full of chopped grass - a most sweet smelling of loads. We also pass endless fields of corn that I am sure is also bound for silage. And a few dairy farms - with silos.

We crossed to South Hero Island and wind our way south on West Shore Road, the closer we get to the causeway and bike ferry, the more cyclist we meet.

We were looking for a cafe, but have only encountered cottages and farms. So we finally stopped at "Snow Farm Vineyard and Winery", for sodas and granola bars.

The trip south is simple. The day is brilliant; perhaps we have had the two best days for cycling in the whole summer.

We get the last two slots on the bicycle ferry, and beyond that - it is Saturday - the causeway and bike path are truly busy.

As we approach Burlington and the end of this trip we discuss mileage. I have been measuring our miles on my GPS/running watch and know we are approaching a century ride. But I didn't measure last nights ride to dinner. Was it two or three miles each way? (Afterwards I measured it as 2.85 miles from the map) So we decided to add, as a safety, a loop into South Burlington.

The bike trail continues, in parkland, along the lake shore south of downtown. We only rode a mile before turning back, leaving who knows how many miles for future exploration.

And then, as we neared the car, we dismounted from our bikes - and it was over.