recommend 3-4 days of gravel in New England

[PaMtbRider]

Our schedule finally allows us to ride D2R2 this year. We have the previous week off and plan to arrive a few days early to get some riding in. Any suggestions for where to ride for a few days at the beginning of the week? We are coming from south central Pa. We have a travel trailer we will be using. Considering Middlebury, Vermont but open to any and all suggestions.

[echelon_john]

If you can bring mountain bikes, I'd highly recommend Kingdom Trails, especially during the week when it's quiet. You could camp at Maidstone/Island Pond State Park which is about 1/2 hr away.

I live in southern VT, and there are miles and miles of Forest Service roads around here. You could also do the six gap ride (or some abbreviation thereof) and get as much climbing as you could possibly want. There are good camping options, as well as B&Bs and nice hotels (The Dorset Inn in particular)

[MattTuck]

What lengths of rides are you looking for?

There's a lot of options by me, in the Hanover, NH/Norwich, VT area.

[PaMtbRider]

40-60 miles. Shorter options might be ok as well as we don't want to burn out for D2R2.

[MattTuck]

40-60 mile rides, yeah, there's enough to keep you interested for a few days around here.

Probably not if you're looking for 100% dirt. But there are options if you're willing to ride on pavement to get to the dirt roads.

If you're interested, I can put together a couple of route options for you.

[sandyrs]

You could try doing the Irreverent Road Ride, broken out into multiple days of riding instead of one insane gigantic day of pain (that's what D2R2 is for, after all):

http://ridewithgps.com/routes/7596117

You could stay in Warren one night, Richmond another, that sort of thing.

[Peter P.]

Stop in Connecticut and try one of these rides:

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/1181823

Here's an alternative: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/1181809

Lastly, there's the Litchfield Rapha Ride (http://pages.rapha.cc/rides/litchfield).

I've ridden all of them; any will fuel your craving to D2R2-like rides.

[Louis]

There's a lot of options by me, in the Hanover, NH/Norwich, VT area.

You know, in retrospect I was a real idiot back in my college days. When I was in Hangover nearly all my cycling miles were from New Hamp (dorm) to Thayer School and back. As best I can remember, I did one recreational ride out Lyme Rd & Rte 10 (don't remember how far I got) and that was it. But hanging out with my friends was more important to me then.

As they say, youth is wasted on the young. At least I wasn't in a fraternity...

https://collegecandy.files.wordpress.com/2013/09/animal-house-1978.jpg?quality=88&w=615

[Likes2ridefar]

Litchfield county, ct is very similar to terrain youll ride at d2r2. Lots of gravel.

[numbskull]

If you are nearby, then climbing Greylock on one of your rides is worth considering.
Here https://ridewithgps.com/routes/9634015 is a loop I like that starts in Williamstown (pretty place). It includes Greylock and Petersburg pass. Most of it is paved with light traffic and good scenery, but the section running north in NY through the wildlife management area is gravel.

[nooneline]

Our schedule finally allows us to ride D2R2 this year. We have the previous week off and plan to arrive a few days early to get some riding in. Any suggestions for where to ride for a few days at the beginning of the week? We are coming from south central Pa. We have a travel trailer we will be using. Considering Middlebury, Vermont but open to any and all suggestions.

if you're heading for the D2R2 area, there is SO MUCH to do and ride in the Pioneer Valley and related areas. Stay in or around Northampton. The riding is terrific - river valleys, hills, or mountains. Lots of dirt roads on both the east side and west side of the river. And, in the towns, you've got great restaurants, coffeeshops, and stuff to do. Don't want to burn out on the D2R2 roads? Okay. Spend a day walking around, being a visitor, enjoying the area - one of my favorite things to do is to stop at the Eric Caarle Museum of Picture Book Art. Or head to Montague and spend an afternoon at the Book Mill ("books you don't need in a place you can't find"). It's really an excellent area.