My wife Laury and I organized the inaugural CircumBurke MTB Challenge this past Sunday in Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom on a fifteen mile trail circuit around Burke Mountain. The partially unmaintained route climbed counterclockwise around the shoulder of Burke and into the town of Victory – then crossing northwards onto logging roads and singletrack through State and private land around Umpire mountain, along the western side of Umpire Brook to the Kingdom Trails system and Mid-Burke Lodge. We worked for more than a month, with chainsaw, ATV and several dirt bikers and expert singletrack builders to make the trails at least rideable. Nevertheless certain waterlogged sections where unrideable and required schlepping it on foot for a hundred feet or so.
We dedicated this event to the memory of Dave Blumenthal, a multi-talented endurance athlete, designer and dedicated Green Mountain Club volunteer who died in June 2010 during the Tour Divide endurance cycling race in the Rocky Mountains.
We were happy that twenty-four of the original twenty-five starters braved the daunting parcours to and made it to the Mid-Burke, where they were greeted with squash soup, hot chocolate, soft drinks, bagels, apples and donuts inside the warm ski lodge. Participants of both genders ranged in age from fourteen to sixty-three years.
Most finishers elected to ride fifteen mile lap – with the first finisher being Alex Gray of Canaan New Hampshire. David Tremblay of Moretown, Vermont had the fastest first lap split time at Camptown road and was the sole finisher in the thirty mile enduro category.
Some riders lauded the “old school” nature of the trails and the opportunity to be able to experience a variety of terrain and trails while riding a unique “grand circuit” around Burke and Umpire Mountains. While some riders preferred the initial climb on Kingdom Trails’ “Camptown” and “CCC Road” or the high speed descent into Victory, others mentioned their enjoyment of several newly created single track sections in Victory. Participants unanimously dreaded the swampy section of “Trillium” near the finish while fully accepting that this wet experience was an expected part of the “challenge”.
The CircumBurke Challenge was organized and sponsored by Conservation Collaboratives and Kingdom Trails with additional support from the State of Vermont, Burke Mountain, East Burke Sports, Littleton Bike, Louis Garneau and Onion River Racing. Many individuals within these organizations lent their expertise and enthusiasm before and during the event including Tim Tierney, Tom Leman, Dan and MJ Davis, John Worth, Tim McGuire, Jeremy, Matt Langlais, Leif Trott, Knight Ides, Heather Voisin and Lexi Shear.
