Peer pressure strikes again! I joined Brian and Constance and nearly 700 riders for an early season romp through central Vermont gravel. I was so not in shape for this ride, despite a couple of weeks of panic-training. I was tired, chilly, and cranky for the first few miles, 'til we got to Bear Swamp Road. It's a Class IV in Vermont parlance, or as the sign says "OAD LOSED TO TH U T AFFI." Suddenly several dozen of us were flying and sliding and picking out the perfect line, perhaps a bit too fast. The best part was a section where the only trace was at the bottom of a deep rut perhaps 5" wide. Everyone seemed to ride it in complete silence, ending with a whoop or a holler. Mud season is not quite over in those hills! The route was beautiful, or as beautiful as New England can be before green-out. The after-party took place on a blocked-off street and alley right in the middle of Montpelier, with the best after-ride food I've had at one of these things. We ate Indian-Nepali food and drank beer at a folding table on a bridge over the North Branch with a host of muddy riders, family members, and dogs, watching people chase their paper plates and beer cans downwind. [The nice photo of Constance was taken by Jeb Wallace-Brodeur. The horribly blurry photos are thanks to my failed phone case. I'm getting a warranty replacement.]