The wet and slightly cold weather that’s persisted through April really has me staring pretty hard at June at this point. I know there is this whole other month between now and then. At the same time, it’s nice to think about the warmer days. For May, we’ll have a big Pride Rides kick off party and Pizza Ride take over, and I’ll be posting about that soon. There will also be some other group rides popping up here and there. Mark has been posting some impromptu fun rides over on the message board. And I’m hoping to put together a fun Burlington outing so we can all visit Raymond!
All that said, it is that time of year again to start getting ready for the 2026 Vermont Bicycle Shop GravelCat! There will be hills, there will be pavement, there will be hills, there will be rocks and roots, and there will be hills!!
Each year, with the help of Espresso Bueno and Carrier Roasting, we put on the Vermont Bicycle Shop Gravel Cat. It’s a fun alleycat style event that takes place on the third weekend in June. It’s typically our first challenging ride of the year as well, and there is a group ride component to the event you can read about below.
What is the GRAVELCAT?
It’s a fun, alleycat style bike event on Vermont’s back roads.
Over the weekend of June 16 and 17, you’ll ride from one coffee shop to another, completing optional and required tasks along the way. You can do this by yourself anytime between 8:00am June 16 and 3:00pm June 17 or when your destination coffee shop closes, which ever happens first.
Start at either location, your choice, and finish at the other:
• Espresso Bueno, 248 N Main St, Barre, VT
• Carrier Roasting, 17 East St, Northfield, VT
Ride any bike-friendly route. Dirt, pavement, whatever goes. Private trails can be ridden, but only with written permission, which must be submitted with your entry.
Document your ride and submit your required photos.
Win:
1st Place: A Gift Card from Vermont Bicycle Shop and Espresso Bueno
2nd Place: 2 bags of fresh roast beans from Carrier Roasting
3rd Place: A cup full of mud scrapped off the winner’s tires.
Here’s a couple of links to the details and all the rules:
https://vermontbicycleclub.com/2026gravelcat
Trek Ride Club GravelCat Challenge Details
If you’d rather just have a fun day going for a bike ride between coffee shops, you can slow roll it with us on the group ride!
The GravelCat group ride:
• Sunday, June 17
• Meet at the shop at 9:00am
• Head over to Espresso Bueno by 9:05am.
• Our Goal is to be rolling by 9:30am, though we should be prepared to give the coffee shop lots of time to handle their customer flow, and our orders, and for general tom-foolery.
• Then we’ll head off to Northfield as a group at a casual pace (though there will be LOTS of climbing). We’ll end up at Carrier Roasting in Northfield, and have lunch at good measure. Then we’ll ride a bit of gravel, class 4, and some whackadoo back out of Northfield (even MORE climbing) to Berlin Pond and back to Barre.
• The ride is a total of 34 miles with a LOT of climbing and some challenging terrain. While it is a slow, casual pace, it is still a challenging terrain, elevation and distance. It is a moderate ride for experienced cyclists. Bicycles should have at least 38mm wide tires. There is also a section of somewhat challenging terrain on the return route. There is a bypass for one of those sections, there is not a bypass for both of them though. This will be our first whackadoo featuring ride of the year, so be aware that means some unique or challenging terrain!
• All the normal rules of a group ride apply to this ride, including filling out a Rider Waiver.
Here’s a link to ride rules:
Notes on joining us for a ride.
Here’s a link to fill out the 2026 waiver if you have not done so this year:
2026 Rider Waiver
🐱 2026 GravelCat Group Ride Route
RidewithGPS.com route here:
https://ridewithgps.com/routes/54667226