Northeast Vermont & Pinacle ride

We went for a ride in Northeast Vermont starting in Frelighsburg Quebec on the St-Jean holiday Monday. Sid begged for a bike so I lent him Rusty, and made him wear a safety vest. Hehehe.


Sid riding Rusty - at the top of the legendary Joy hill

The ride is west of Jay Peak, and offers many stunning views, vistas, and scenery of all sorts--all of it good!

Riding to Richford VT from Frelighsburg QC takes you up Joy Hill and past the imposing Mont Pinnacle. Joy hill is a biggie. Happily, it's scenic, and eventually it does have a top, and then it's doooooown!


Pinnacle in the distance

Crossing the border is another location where the scenery is completely stunning. This picture is between the border and Richford:


Sea of mountains in Vermont

Richford has some amazing buildings. The town has seem good times and bad. Here's one of the good times' buildings.


Victorian glory

We rode the South Richford Road between Richford and Montgomery. This road is nestled in the hills, and is one of my favorites in the region. It has steepness at either end, and and fine rolling hills in a mountain valley in the middle.


Mooo!

There is a Covered Bridge as you come into Montgomery, and two others as you leave the town. These look like they had swimming holes too.


The third covered bridge

Coming back through the Berkshires east and west was nice open farm land, with quaint villages.


A Berkshire village hideaway

Crossing the border back into Canada brought a surprise: the road quality in Canada was superior! In fact the good road went all the way to Frelighsburg and beyond to Stanbridge East.

We finished the ride in Frelighsburg and had a late lunch at the Deux Clocher restaurant, eating on the balcony almost directly over the Riviere aux Brochets. We saw a dozen different groups of cyclists go past on the road. It seems to be a cyclist's dream locale!



This ride goes clockwise from Frelighsburg, Quebec

Source information for this ride:

"Backroads Bicycling in Vermont" by John S. Freidlin. This is the Montgomery-Richford ride and is 33.7 miles long, or about 60 km if you start in Frelighsburg.

Mr Freidlin writes, "The best is saved for last. There is no ride I enjoy more than this one."

We tested this statement, and found it completely accurate. An excellent ride for a scenery-loving cyclists, offering some of the best cycling in Quebec and Vermont.

Frelighsburg was a great starting point. (we parked behind the Catholic church, and there was parking all along this street). We also visited the museum at Stanbridge East on our way back to Montreal. How old is that bike in the basement?