Sharon, Hartford, Pomfret
This ride is my old haunts! My old house, my old other house, my old route to work, so it was a delight to ride this quick loop on a beautiful day.
This route starts at the iron bridge in Sharon, by River Road, and you head upriver briefly. It is just a short jog before you turn left onto Howe Hill Road, which is a rather steep 4 mile climb, followed by a long, and steep, downhill coast. When you hit the Pomfret Road at Hewitts Corner, you turn left to go down the Pomfret Road toward the White River. This is a lovely stretch of biking!
After crossing the West Hartford Bridge, you turn left to bike along a short section of VT Route 14. Turn a quick right onto Tigertown Road, a beautifully narrow gravel road with trees on each side crowding the road, and lots of ledge peaking up here and there. It’s flat ish at first, but then you need to get ready for a serious climb. It is not the toughest elevation gain in the world, but going up Tigertown Road on a gravel bike will probably make you breath hard, for sure!
At the top of Tigertown, you take a sharp left hairpin turn onto Mitchell Brook Road. You quickly get onto Quimby Mountain Road with its rolling hills, and stay on Quimby Mountain road, despite a ninety degree turn to the left when Carpenter Road hits it. Quimby Mountain Road keeps on going before eventually hitting Route 14. Then you head right and back into Sharon to your starting point at the iron bridge.
This is some of the prettiest VT country – ever. If you wanted to add more miles, you could easily go deeper into Pomfret and up Cloudland Road.