Did some of the VT portion last year. Careful getting to the start of the Rochester Gap climb. Rush hour traffic around Bethel can be bad. The climb itself is brutal in places. Two people with GPS devices said the grade maxed out at 30%. Traffic was not bad. Middlebury Gap is easier. Only the last mile or two is really steep. The good news is that they paved the west slope last summer. We rode it while paving was going on. It should be great now. I would check with the VT highway department to see if the are doing the east side this summer.