Our adventure ride this month is a fun sunset/night ride in Danville, VT.
It will be a wonderfully flat ride from Danville down to Greenbanks Hollow where we’ll see the remnants of the abandoned mill town from the 1800s. Then ride the back roads up to Joe’s Pond. We may get lucky and be able to ride up the trail and catch the sunset before riding the rail trail back to Danville for dinner at 3 Ponds Cafe.
About 3 Ponds Cafe
3 Ponds is a stellar restaurant right in downtown Danville. They serve more than the normal cafe fair and they have excellent vegetarian, vegan, and gluten free options as well as a classic burger and even pizza!
They are a Vermont Bicycle Club favorite stop whenever we’re in the Danville area.
Some Advice About Riding in the Dark
Make sure you have something that is highly visible. Reflective is better. I sell reflective vests and such at the bike shop, so does your local hardware store. Dusk is the most dangerous time to ride a bicycle on roadways and that’s exactly what we’re doing. Along with lots of lights, bright colored, or highly visible, or reflective clothing of some type is required.
You may be adding layers as you ride, so make sure that when you do so, that your highly visible/reflective clothing is still visible from both the front and back of you.
Some Advice About Riding in the Cold
The temperature is expected to drop from 58 degrees (not too cold standing still, a little cold when in motion riding bikes) to 43 degrees (can feel quite cold when riding). You will want to pack some extra layers; stuff that blocks wind worn over a couple of insulating layers works best for this type of ride. More and lighter layers work great as layers are easy to pack in your bags or a backpack as you take them off or put them on. Pay attention to your hands, feet, and head/ear coverage. Having something that is at least water proof will help, having something insulated and windproof is ideal. It’s better to be a little too warm for your hands and head and be able to take clothes off than it is to be stuck with something not warm enough.
The Route
https://ridewithgps.com/routes/57647056?via=lQpjmuaLhe_s-R-hUa8bbg
The Schedule
- Sunday, October 25
- 3:45 Gather at Vermont Bicycle Shop
- 4:00 Depart Vermont Bicycle Shop
- 4:45 Gather at Park St. downtown Danville (park on public street parking)
- 5:00 Wheels Roll
- 5:45 Arrive at Joe’s Pond Lamoille Valley Rail Trail Parking
- 6:15 Arrive at 3 Ponds Cafe
- 7:15ish depart for Barre
Required Items
- An emergency contact card or paper with you on your bike.
- 2 rear blinky lights.
- A front light that is at least 400 lumens (less bright means you won’t be able to see where you are going after sunset).
- Helmet.
- Some kind of hi-viz or reflective clothing or very bright clothing, or reflective accessories on the front and back of your clothing. We have lots of reflective stuff at the shop, your local hardware store should also have good options.
Last, but not least, please RSVP for this ride so we can phone ahead to the restaurant and let them know how many of us are coming. You can do that here:
https://vermontbicycleclub.com/october-adventure/
