VT RT 17

[Slyder]

So as a spur of the moment thing a friend and I decided to loop over 125, up 116 and back over to RT 100 on RT 17. Watch it on 17, very little crap in the road but that nice white film (salt residue?) is EVIL.
Not even hammering and we were sliding all over the friggin road. The left hander (as you head towards waitsfield) with the picnic table, had both tires slide...then when they hooked back up the rear power slid exiting the turn and I was barely on the throttle. It slid in a few other turns as well.

someone pray to the rain gods, 17 needs a good soaking.

[Vix]

I rode 17 through the gap yesterday, luckily I don't go fast enough to notice such things.

[Slyder]

I said we weren't hammering though
if we were hammering there woulda been two smashed gixxers twisted into the guardrails

[Uncle Snake]

We went thru saturday and I nearly had a knee down in ALL of the hairpins and traction seemed great for Rt. 17...... Apparently the conditions change pretty quickly on that road..........

[Slyder]

Got me...but after the trip up I had no intention of taking another spin down and up

stopped at the top and rub a finger across the tire, grayish dust on your finger and a nice clear finger mark on the tire.

I've never once had that kinda traction problem up there with stock tire pressures, 36/42...and now I've got my tires at 34/36

[Uncle Snake]

I very rarely push it on 17. It seemed pretty clean so I took a little run at it...... Usually just take it nice and easy thru there on my way to T*****Rd.....

[Slyder]

I don't push it too hard either, the turns are just too sharp to have much fun with.

Have you been over the E road south of the T road this year?

All the roads out in that area are cool. We stumbled across them by chance and were impressed

[Uncle Snake]

E road is nice but there are too many driveways and roads for me to have much fun on. It is a NICE ride though. Regards, Jake

[Slyder]

Cool, I'll make it over there sooner or later this season.

I thought the E road was out in the middle of no where, ah well.

Watch out for the locals in dump trucks doin 60+ on it

[markbvt]

E Rd is covered with sand -- or at least it was just a week or two ago. I expect it'll take a month or two for it to clear up.

--mark

[chiwawa444]

I gotta agree about RT17, was up there Sunday afternoon and earlier today with two different groups, and Sunday seemed more clear for some reason. And RT100 south of the gap continues the downward slide of road disrepair, much worse it seems than last year. Mark is dead on with the sand on E, it was as if it was turning into a dirt road I'll give it some more time before heading back thats for sure.

[butcher bergs]

The left hander (as you head towards waitsfield) with the picnic table, had both tires slide...

I hate that turn with a passion and am really starting to dislike that entire stretch of road...there's something about the asphalt...not sure what exactly but it's something that makes it feel less grippy than a "normal" road surface...

Two roads I generally don't excited about:

Rte 17 across the App Gap in VT and Chelsea Mtn Rd in Randolph, VT

[Uncle Snake]

I hate that turn with a passion and am really starting to dislike that entire stretch of road...there's something about the asphalt...not sure what exactly but it's something that makes it feel less grippy than a "normal" road surface...

Two roads I generally don't excited about:

Rte 17 across the App Gap in VT and Chelsea Mtn Rd in Randolph, VT

+1

My girlfriend hit Chealsea Mtn Rd last week and said it too was like a dirt road....

[Slyder]

The last time I was over chelsea mtn rd, years ago, it was absolutely terrible. I'm guessing it has since been repaved.

Bethel mtn road is most excellent (between Bethel and Rochester) I ride that road a lot. Nice shape, no sand and they did a good job fixing the mess left over after the flooding last year

[fredzx11rr]

went on the 17 last saturday afternoon, 4 bikes ,
one friend of us she has a CBR F-4 , it was her first time there ,
she fell going up toward the picnic table , the curves where there s a dirt driveway to a house right in the curve .
fortunately she hurt more her pride than herself ...
the bike was mostly cosmetic dammage and drivable for the rest of the wekk-end .
that mountain as a curse for my friends ...
its the second time i have riders fell with me there !

I miss the time i was going there and having fun up and down that mountain ...
ohhh well , at least the rest of the wek-end was good with perfect weather

fred

[ducster]

Sorry to hear about your friend. Hopefully this doesnt detter her from doing that route again. I have done that road atleast 10 times over the past week and has been getting progressivley better.

[NobodySpecific]

I almost went down on 17 yesterday. We did a nice loop down 116, to 125, down 100 over to 73 (brandon gap), turned around, went back up 100 to 17. We were right at Mad River Glen, and I hit a nasty tar snake mid turn (I should have seen it or picked a better line) and the bike slid about 6" out, which caused my lean angle to increase substantially. My foot fell off the peg (not sure if it was a dumbass reaction or if my heel clipped the road) and it then smacked into the road, caused my leg to either smack the peg or the road, but then once I got off the snake the bike stood itself back up and finished the turn like nothing had happened. Thank god for good gear, or else I might be missing a bit of skin even though I didn't go down.

[fredzx11rr]

Sorry to hear about your friend. Hopefully this doesnt detter her from doing that route again. I have done that road atleast 10 times over the past week and has been getting progressivley better.

well , i realise that it is a good challenge for a rider lets say that has just a 2 or 3 seasons experience
we tend to forget it after so many years riding ...

probably when we go back , i ll take her on her bike to show what that mountain is all about ,

she probably not realise how twisty those curves are , especially with the elevation factor ...

we have a similar road in the laurentian , it s our little road course !!
the curves are really twisty , and same thing here ; there someone hitting the ditch at least every week-end when the weather is nice ...

to me , the big difference factor is the elevation on the 17 , wich if you dont take into consideration can easily take a rider by supprise , eighter going up , or down , not to mention those damm tar-snake that thez put a coule years ago ...

remember the first years we rode there with no tar-snake ...
hmmmmm it was simply a delight to shave tires there

ohhh well , it s just cosmetic repair .

ride safe , and a good season to all

fred

[XVTer]

Sorry to hear about your friend.

I had my bike up there this past weekend. Saturday was a beautiful day for riding. I love the new pavement on the back side of brandon gap, but 100 is absolutely horrible in that area. I wanted to get up to 17, but stayed south for most of the day.

A couple of my friends just picked up new bikes, so I went for a nice ride with them.

I saw a ton of bikes out. If anyone saw a group of 4 R6's (2005, 2-2006's and a 2007), that could have been us.

[jcbell1007]

I was able to get a short video clip from the very bottom of 17 after the cyclewise open house. I need to figure out a different mounting position because heat off the radiator caused my cheap little vid. camera to shut off for a bit.

YouTube - VT Rt 17 5/10/08

[Slyder]

get a tank mount? I've even seen people stick them on top of their tank bags and secure them. tank mount would be the most stable though