Anyone headed up to Waterbury for this hilarious sufferfest (link, bikereg)? Me and my buddy Joe are, but with no expectations or illusions of finishing. Mostly for the adventure and Vermont-ness of it. Also many opportunities for MTB and 4x4 if we're not completely dickered on Sunday :-)
A ride report of a previous version put the dirt to pavement ratio at about 85% / 15%. Can anyone confirm? Thanks!
Welp, for anyone looking at this thread in the future, IRR is frickin' HARD and frickin' RAD. The 85/15 dirt/pave split seems accurate, and the longest stretch of pavement was <5 miles.
I think the most common point of clarification about this ride is whether it's a 'road ride', 'gravel ride', or 'something else'... I think it falls under 'something else'. There is some of everything: public road pavement, gravel/sand/dirt roads, forest maintenance doubletrack, actual mountain bike singletrack, ancient Vermont Class IV roads, the so-called "Class V roads" (i.e. ancient roads that were not cataloged and are not maintained as Class IV roads). Super steep climbs and descents with sections of MTB-worthy technical trail.
In other words, it's my perfect kind of ride.
Should you attempt IRR, your best weapons are a sense of humor, sunscreen, chili cheese fritos, a third watter bottle cage, and big-ass tires. Oh, and fitness.
