After Patagonia in the March, I didn’t have a huge amount of time off to take motocamping trips this summer. I had two other attempts but ended up bailing or canceling because of really nasty weather forecasts in May and bad wildfire smoke from Canada in July. After deciding to leave The Hartford in July, I took some time off before starting my new job at Liberty Mutual which gave me a chance to get another couple of trips in. Since Tori and I are likely moving out of CT next year, this will probably be the last of what has become an annual trip up the Massachusetts and Vermont sections of the Northeast BDR.
Because I’d bailed on the other trips, this was also my first chance to take the newly built 501 out for more than an overnight trip. It’d seen the MA sections a couple times on day trips so far, but this would be my first time doing something as technical as the Class 4 roads in Vermont.
Section 3: MA
I ended up leaving home a bit late so I could take Monte for his noon walk and say goodbye to Tori when she came home from lunch. To make up for time, I headed straight for the fun bits of the route and hit my favorite tracks in Beartown, October Mountain, and Peru State Forests before splitting from the route and heading straight for my campsite at Mohawk Trail State Forest.
This was also the first overnight section I ever did on my DRZ, so where I could I tried to stop to recreate some of my favorite shots from that trip. This is section is my go-to shakedown and day ride route, so there was no drama and I had a great, chill night at one of my favorite campsites that evening.
Section 4: VT Day 1
I started the day by finishing the remaining bits of Section 3 and hitting the first Class 4 Road in VT before settling into the first half of the day. The beginning of the day was the usual chill, fast gravel as the route winds north from the border through the Green Mountains before hitting the cluster of optional hard sections in the afternoon.
The 501 ate up the Class 4 Roads, but I still have a mental block about just riding up the big rock ledges on the first alt harder (Icebed Road). The picture never does that feature justice, but the exposed rocks climb more than 6 feet in about 20 feet of trail in a series of 3 large shelves — I can usually make it up at least the first two ledges, but I always have mental block to get over the last and end up losing momentum and paddling.
The other sections felt great on the 501 and I made good time to get to camp in Barnard. Silver Lake is another staple campground for me, and while I didn’t get my usual site it was still a nice, nostalgic evening.
Section 5: VT Day 2
The last time I’d gotten to ride Section 5 was in 2023 right after the storms and flooding devastated VT and the BDR asked riders to avoid the optional sections, so I was looking forward to getting to ride some trails that I hadn’t seen before. The day starts with two alt harder trails right out of Barnard, and while the first one was great the second was unfortunately closed due to logging.
The middle of the day was scenic backgrounds and fast gravel as the trail turns east towards NH around Warren. I’d run out of stove fuel making my coffee at camp, so I also spent the morning hunting down iso-butane fuel so I could cook dinner. None of the general stores carried any, but I ended up finding an ACE hardware store in Warren that saved the day.
I caught some rain after stopping for a late lunch but lucked out in seeing the weather roll in while I was eating, so I was able to get my rain gear on before heading out again. The penultimate Class 4 road was slightly trickier (and muddier) in the wet, but even with 50/50 TKC 80 tires I didn’t have any issues. The end of Section 5 is much more interesting riding than most of the morning, including the last alt harder (Tucker Mountain) which included steep hill climb which ended with more rocky step-ups. Unlike on Section 5, I was able to keep momentum and cleaned the hill, which was a great end to the last Class 4 road in VT.
I’ll admit that I would have struggled on Tucker Mountain and Icebed on a full size ADV bike. I definitely remember Icebed being easier the first time I ran it before the ’23 flooding and I imagine Tucker is the same; I wouldn’t be surprised if they get pulled from the BDR if they continue to erode.
I made it to camp around 6pm but didn’t manage to get a firewood delivery from the ranger, so I had to improvise with Rok Straps. It was a bit drizzly for a bit but mostly dried out to enjoy my last evening of the trip before heading to bed. Rain in the early morning meant things where pretty soggy to get packed, but since I was just packing up to head home it wasn’t a huge deal.
This was probably the only time I’ve ridden these sections without coming across any other adventure riders out on the trail, which was a bit surprising given the time of year. Overall the 501 felt amazing and it was a great last annual trip up the NEBDR; I’m sure I’ll be back, but since it won’t be in my backyard anymore it definitely won’t be as often.