Epic Weekend in Vermont, Part 2: Kingdom Trails

After waking up every time anyone moved, I finally decided to give up and face the day. Here's my surprisingly comfortable bed, with dead Jake way too close:

We ate some sweet peanut butter sandwiches, packed up, and headed out. The lunatics from next door brought over a frying pan full of bacon, sausage and some pancakes. I think if we ever come here again, we will time it with when they go. 

Kevin and Shaun are miserable, Dustin is trying to eat an entire sandwich in 1 bite.

I ate half a powerbar, got TONS of water, stretched, and prepared for agony. We started off with a big climb INSTANTLY to make my heart pound and not be able to breathe. Then we hit the trails and I was surprised at just how nice they were. There were barely any roots and even less rocks. Coming from Massachusetts, this is not only mind-boggling to find, but even more crazy when you consider how many people ride here. Somehow, none of the trails were worn to death yet. The trails were basically very flowy and loopy, with some nice downhills, and unfortunately, some insane uphills. This year seems to be the year that my legs won't allow me to ride up too far, and I was happy to take it slow and walk up the bad ones (most of them). Jake and I rocked Jake-pace hard in the back, taking our time and just trying to survive the planned 8 to 10 mile ride. The crazies had ridden 25 miles the day before and were hungry for more. Jake had ridden like 10 and that was his first time riding this year (and on a new bike with no suspension), and this was my 4th time riding and I was pretty out of shape. So, we took our time and just tried to not die. Every downhill and flowy part was pretty worth it. 

This place is massive, with trails going through multiple peoples' property and trails on either side of the town. They go through farmlands, ravines, super thick woods, Star Wars woods, everything. Kevin had the trail map and is actually good at following them, so he took us on a tour of a few places they were told to go mixed with a few they had ridden the day before. It was a pretty good time, and thankfully, because of me, we got to rest a lot. 

From left to right- pissed, shocked and confused, a bee just flew in a special place and it kind of feels good, and WAAY too happy

Here's some pics:

grrrrr

Jake supercharged a hill while we were all resting. His body gave out on him when he reached the top. 

It was pretty hilarious.

Amanda, after she exploded in this absurdly rooty section, having the distinction of being the only true wipeout that day. If she hadn't, Jake and I probably would have too. This section SUCKED.

There were amazing bridges everywhere. They twisted and turned, changed width, and, unlike every bridge in Massachusetts, they were actually easy to get on to (thanks NEMBA.) I was pretty proud of myself when I rode onto a very thin one, but this uphill one with a 3 foot fall into muck scared me. Jake totally went for it, until he did exactly what I did, and panicked the second he saw how much of a drop it was. Good effort though. 

Shaun riding one of the many giant farm fields. Beautiful scenery, but it's like riding with tiny hands pulling your bike in to the earth.

This is one of my favorite pictures that I stole from Shaun. This is Jake and I riding one of the best trails there, called Old Webb. It's just beautiful Star Wars trees, smoother than anything, all twisty and awesome, all downhill. I could ride this all day. If you enlarge the picture, you can see Amanda and Dustin further up the trail too. 

We then rode an awesome trail that Kevin actually made me scared to go down after warning me about it. It's called Sidewinder, and it's basically an enormous halfpipe going through a ravine- just like the one I love riding at Franklin Falls Dam in NH, just waaaaay bigger and much more terrifying. Here's a helmet cam video of it:

(The awesome part is at about 1:50)

After hiking the mountain I had to hike to get back to where we started, I was pretty exhausted, and it was getting hotter and hotter. I may be telling this in the wrong order, but whatever. We next went up a hill to hit up a church. Seriously. Well, we didn't go to church, rather we looked out at one of the best views I've seen while on a mountain bike, looking over endless Vermont grass and mountains. We ate some food, drank some water, and just relaxed in the grass. And then Dustin did this:

and this:

I figured we had to get a photo with Jesus, so, boom. I love this picture:

Jesus always wears a helmet

They then got back to biking, and I got back to hurting. HARD. After awhile, we were out of the woods and the only way to get to everyone's favorite trail from the day before (and then our cars) was to ride an insanely long trail through farmlands and dirt roads. It was 80% uphill, but just that annoying kind of uphill where it doesn't seem bad until you realize you aren't going anywhere. And it being in grass didn't help. 

BEAUTIFUL scenery though. Amazing. 

Kevin, patiently waiting

I hit a new level of tired I hadn't experienced before, or at least that I can remember. My body was about as tired and just completely out of strength as it had been in years. My legs were tired from hiking the day before from the get go, and we were on mile 9 or so of some very hilly terrain. I was out of every once of energy, and even walking uphill, I was only not falling over because I was balancing on my bike. I like riding in heat, but the endless exposure to the sun made heatsroke set in on top of the exhaustion I was already experiencing. I was jokingly talking like I was drunk/stoned until I realized that I was actually having trouble talking/forming thoughts. The slightest breeze would set me into scary shivers- I've never gotten the shivers while pouring sweat and burning alive under 85 degree sun. Everyone waited at intersections, but I was at the point where I was wondering if I was just going to collapse in a pile of grass and people wouldn't be able to find me. I'm exaggerating of course, but it was BAD. I was in a whole new level of the paincave. Jerry played sooo many encores. 

(stolen from Shaun)

Eventually, I crawled my way out of Hell, Shaun gave me MORE water and some Gu Blocks (thanks again), and we began a beyond-earned downhill to one of the most fun trails I've ever ridden: Kitchel. This trail is all downhill and super twisty, with berms at nearly every big turn. In between, there were huge rollers, which are my favorite things to ride on a bike. If you aren't a rider, basically a roller is kind of like a bunch of half pipes connected with humps in between, and a berm is a wall built up on a very sharp turn, so you can ride somewhat sideways (like in Nascar MERICUHHH). Here's a video to illustrate. Much like the video to Sidewinder, this video only hints at what it's like to actually ride it. This trail was a BLAST, and I came off it like a giddy little kid who had somehow forgot how near death he just was.

This place was very fun. If you are a mountain biker who somehow stumbled onto this blog, it's definitely worth going- the trails are very well maintained, the only real technical stuff comes from the amount of climbing you're stuck with (although apparently true mountain bikers like this- weirdos), and there are enough trails to keep you busy for days. Stay at Burke Mountain Campground, it's super easy and convenient (other than the fact that it's on top of an enormous hill), and most importantly, cheap. Other than gas and food, this trip cost me 10 bucks (would have been 25 but Joe bought a 2 day pass and decided he was too dead to ride the second day, so I got a free day- Thanks Joe!)

We rode back into town, put our bikes away, and wandered like crazed starved animals to the Northeast Kingdom Country store (the front side of the Pub Outback) for some sandwiches and pizza. Once again, if you are someone I don't know who is looking into coming to the Kingdom Trails, GO HERE. Get the Club House. It was far and away, the best turkey club sandwich I've ever eaten. I was blown away- so much that I made a scene and even told the people who made it that although I was delirious, they had blown my mind. 

Turkey, ham, mayo, super crisp and fresh lettuce, tomato, super crunchy and delicious bacon, swiss cheese, vermont cheddar cheese, and the kicker- homemade honey oat nut bread. Super soft, super delicious. I've never eaten something so good while being so disgusting and tired. Joe departed to NH, Jake departed to freaking New Jersey, and the rest of us wandered back to our cars. 

When we got there, Shaun laughed, pointing to the front of Kevin's car, where his front wheel had been sitting the entire time, out in plain view for anyone who wanted to take it. This whole town exists in the summer because of mountain biking, so I imagine something like this isn't a problem- everyone there already has a bike, and in many cases, their bikes were way more expensive than Shaun's. But I still laughed, thinking, wow, how tired and dazed/retardexhuasted do you have to be to leave a wheel just sitting out like that?

Then I saw my car. 

My car, with the driver's side door open. Not unlocked, no- open. Like a foot. For 25 minutes or longer while we ate, completely unattended in the parking lot with my phone and other belongings just sitting on the front seat, the door was just wide open. WOW. I was clearly braindead. 

With such an epic day under our belts, it only made sense to do 1 thing- go 11 miles in the wrong direction to Lake Willoughby. For them- it was to see it and get a swim, for me, it was to complete my full Lake Willoughby experience. I had read the water was crystal clear, freezing, and in the middle of the lake, it was 300 feet deep, making it the deepest lake in Vermont. 

So, without further ado, one of my favorite pictures from the trip:

God, he's ugly.

The water was cold, but the perfect temperature on such a hot day. It was crystal clear, and the best part was- we went out probably 200 feet before the water was even close to over our heads. There were a few sticks under water, but generally it was all smooth sand. The south beach is small, but cozy and has the best view. Oh, and if you want to get crazy, on the other side of a the beach and a small inlet of land is a nude beach. I creeped out, and although it was tough to see, I'm pretty sure I saw some naked people. Crazy.

Way out, from left to right, Dustin, Kevin, Natalie (who made a surprise appearance and was great to see), Amanda, my head, some random broad

I couldn't imagine a better way to end an awesome weekend doing awesome things with awesome people. The swimming was sooo nice, we threw the B, took in some sights, talked on the beach while some old ladies LOVED us, Dustin and I had a dead fish fight, we washed our feet off in a stream going into the lake which had the coldest water I've ever touched, and we all went our separate ways. 

I drove home exhausted, blasting This Will Destroy You and marveling at the White Mountains. Shaun and Natalie had a Plymouth experience by hitting up The Common Man, and I had my own, by getting my favorite BBQ chicken calzone at Ashland House of Pizza. 

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Then, since I was still in tourist mode and had taken like 240 pictures, I turned down Crystal Lake Road I had seen a few times near Alton- I was curious if there was a place to swim down there. It doesn't look like there was, but I did nab another sweet sunset shot, this time dark and mossy. 

I got home, we watched Predators, and I slept until 3:30 the next day. What an awesome weekend. We need to do more stuff like this. Thank you Shaun, for putting it together.