2008 Vermont Tour de Cure Route Descriptions
The 10K (6.2 mile) route follows the South Burlington Recreational Path and is perfect
for a family ride. The 10K loop brings riders down Swift Street and through the
Stonehedge condominiums to a rest stop at Overlook Park. The ride continues through
Vermont National Golf Course and along Dorset Street back to Dorset Park.
The 25K (15.5 mile) ride follows a popular bike route for Chittenden County residents,
which encompasses the suburban and rural portions of South Burlington and Shelburne.
Riders climb up the shorter, but steeper Spear Street side of Irish Hill. Climbing Irish
Hill is a badge of honor for beginning cyclists, but it can be easily walked if necessary.
The single rest stop for the route is at a sunflower farm in Shelburne at the bottom of Irish
Hill. This route is popular with many of the middle school students who ride the Vermont
Tour de Cure.
The 50K (31 mile) route extends south into more rural areas of Charlotte and winds out
to the Lake Champlain shoreline. It includes a short, easy unpaved section at the route’s
southernmost point. On the way back to Dorset Park, there are several rolling hills and
long gradual inclines finished off with an ascent up the Spear Street side of Irish Hill.
While constructing a railroad connecting Burlington and Rutland in Charlotte in 1849,
workers uncovered the bones of a beluga whale. This “Charlotte Whale” was discovered
where the 50K route crosses the railroad on Thompson’s Point Road. One of two rest
stops on the 50K route is at Charlotte Beach, right near one of Vermont’s few remaining
covered bridges, the Holmes Covered Bridge, which was built in 1840.
The more challenging 100K (62 mile) “Metric Century” brings riders further south into
Hinesburg, South Monkton, Vergennes and Ferrisburgh. After following Hollow Road
across Lewis Creek in North Ferrisburgh, riders ascend the first of several challenging
hills on the way to South Monkton. From there the route winds downhill past several
working farms in Monkton and Ferrisburgh to Lake Champlain. Riders then climb up
Church Hill in Charlotte and the Spear Street side of Irish Hill, returning to Dorset Park
via Barstow Road and Dorset Street. Like the 50K loop, the 100K route also passes the
discovery site of the “Charlotte Whale” and the Holmes Covered Bridge.