Ansel Dickey takes over Vermont Overland – Final Message from Peter Vollers

Hello Vermont Overlanders,

It’s been a while since we touched base, so I thought it would be a good time to check in on our events and also deliver some rather big news relating to Vermont Overland in general. Yes, we know it’s not easy to make plans at the moment, but we also know how important it is to have something to look forward to, so here we go.

At this time, we’ve rescheduled VOMAR for Saturday, August 21, 2021 and the Overland for the next day, Sunday, August 22, 2021. All info is on the website:  www.vermontoverland.com. There’s a chance, although it’s not looking particularly likely at the moment, that VOMAR may be rescheduled for its usual late March weekend with a small group/soft start/covid-compliant format. Stay tuned!

Also, both VOMAR and Overland will now take place at Ascutney Outdoors in West Windsor, not in Reading. The courses will be very similar though, mainly just starting and ending in the new location, but with some nice new improvements and features. AO has been awesome in supporting VO and the Brownsville Butcher and Pantry is right there for all of our catering needs.

Now for the big news. As many of you already know, I moved from Vermont to New Mexico in late spring. My much better half, Kim Vollers, who used to be Operations Director at the Woodstock Inn & Resort, took her dream job running an amazing boutique hotel in Alburquerque we’ve been coming to since I first brought my KMS junior team to the Tour of the Gila in 2013. When covid hit and many businesses, including my real estate law firm, went entirely remote, I realized that it was the first time in 30 years of marriage that Kim had ever asked me to do anything just for her, so we took a very deep breath and made the move. Now, several months later, we’re loving the southwest, Kim would do her new job for free (don’t tell the hotel owners!) and I’ve been full-time Vermont cyber-lawyer Mon to Fri week in and week out. Crazy world.

But the one thing I can’t manage from 2,000 miles away is running very local, grassroots bicycle events. They require far too much connection with the local communities to not be right there front and center. As such, I’ve made what is both a difficult and, at the same time, no-brainer decision to hand the Vermont Overland reins entirely to a young man whom I’ve mentored for a solid decade now: Ansel Dickey. As most of you know, Ansel was a star, along with 2019 Overland winner, Brendan Rhim, of my KMS junior team and has been the driving force behind Vermont Overland’s branding from the beginning. He’s served as VO’s Marketing Director for years and now will run the whole shooting match. He also lives right in West Windsor with his partner, Gertrude Suokko, both proud members of the local Vermont Overland community. I have to say I couldn’t be more happy with the new steward of the VO brand and all the soul that goes along with it.

So, for 2021, we still have 200 more spots for the Overland and 175 for VOMAR available. Both will likely go on sale Jan 1 as per usual, but Ansel will provide confirmation and updates on same as the date approaches. He’s fully committed to run the events even better than before even if changes and accommodations have to be made for covid or whatever reason.

To all you incredibly lovely people who have made the event promotion chapter of my life a tremendously gratifying and utterly fulfilling experience, I can’t thank you enough. I got into gravel because I realized that I could positively touch the lives of so many more people with the gift of cycling than I was capable of by volunteering as a junior racing team coach, and I have to say that I achieved same with flying colors. I will cherish the memories of all of your smiling faces to the core of my being and delight in knowing that Ansel will be carrying that torch into the future.  

Be safe and happy all of you.