Stowe Recreation Path

Every year, my mom, my sister and myself do something together to celebrate our summer birthdays.  We try to do something different each year.  The last few years, the activities have become more physical.  We decided at some point that instead of celebrating our birthdays, we should be celebrating our health.  So swimming, biking, hiking, kayaking have found their way into our celebrations.

This year, we took it to an extreme.  My mom won a golf outing and the prize was a package getaway at a resort in Stowe, VT.  Anyone who has ever been to Stowe knows that this place is an active person's dream.  In the winter, it is a mecca for skiers, boarders and snowshoers.  In all other seasons, Stowe is open for business for hikers, bikers, golfers, swimmers, kayakers, etc.  The list of activities up there is endless.  It is glorious.

I won't detail our entire trip, but I do want to share our experience biking on the Stowe Recreation Path.  The path is just over 5 miles long and is completely flat.  Our front desk clerk told us that it was slightly uphill in one direction and slightly downhill in the other direction.  Honestly, I couldn't tell the difference either way.  It seemed completely flat to me.  Well, except for all the pedestrian bridges.  Those were the biggest inclines of the entire path.  I kid you not.  It's that flat.

The path itself is gorgeous.  You get majestic views of Mount Mansfield and the cliffs over Smugglers Notch.  You ride by pastures with horses playing.  My sister and I couldn't believe it when one of the horses laid down on it's back and started rolling around.  It seemed like it was putting on a show for us.  We rode by farmers working the fields, kids playing lacrosse, people fishing in the river and a woman doing yoga in the woods.  And speaking of the river, the path twists and turns and crosses the river many times.  There are a ton of bridges.  I would guess you go over wooden pedestrian bridges maybe 6-8 times. 

Since we were so close to the Trapp Family Lodge, we decided to get off the path and go up to check it out.  And when I say we went up, I mean we went up.  We came off the path onto Luce Hill Road.  It looked like a quick but steep uphill.  Wrong.  What we could see was steep, but what we did not know is that it had European style switchback turns that just kept going up.  And up.  And up.  It was relentless.  We made it to the edge of the property and then saw that it would be more uphill within the property and decided to turn around.  You'd think with all that uphill, you'd get a nice fast downhill as a reward.  Wrong again.  Those switchbacks combined with some breaks in the pavement and a random stop sign made it treacherous!  We were happy to get back on the path!

Would I recommend this path?  Absolutely.  It is the perfect path for a family to go on.  It's easy enough for kids and has some great scenery to keep everyone interested.  I wouldn't recommend it for any sort of road riding training, though...it's just not long enough.  And don't try to ride to the von Trapps. 

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Stats:
13.48 miles
9.8 MPH average (I'm sure it would've been higher without the Trapp Family Lodge!)
27.5 MPH max speed (I'm sure it would've been lower without the Trapp Family Lodge!)