Winter is back!

It seems that winter has finally arrived here in Southern New England.  While the snow is a welcome reminder the frigid temperatures really are not. There was snow from a storm over the weekend but on Sunday it warmed up above freezing and then Monday the temperature plummeted and all all the snow froze again.  

Heading out to Upper Paugussett today, I found a mixed bag of conditions. Where the fat bikers had ridden on Sunday the track was good but going on unbusted trail turned into Napoleon's death march.

The temperature started at 25 degrees but as the sun went down so did the temperatures with it and by the time I got home from my ride it was 19 degrees. I was still sweating with my windstopper fleece hunting jacket and the vents open.

Yesterday would have been perfect but as luck would have it I was out of town and missed all the fun. I made my own fun today by finding a potential new section of trail on the Gussy. 

Spring Gravel in January

Gavin and I left from Cover 2 at 7:30 am. Originally I was planning on an all day ride of about 70 miles but Gavin didn't have that much time so I had to knock off 30 miles from the route.

First things first, we had to stop at OOF (Ovens of France) for breakfast. We did, however hit a few dirt roads before riding through Soutbury, though.  After breakfast we headed to Scuppo Road for the first serious climb of the day.

Before hitting the dirt portion of Scuppo I noticed that the old trolley bed had been graveled and so I rode down through a gated access way to check it out. Turns out a contractor was hired to repaint the water tower and to bring in equipment and materials they had to improve this section of the bed.

Easter Eggs and Melon Heads

There have been a few roads on my to do list to see if they really go through or for that matter are truly dirt roads. With the early winter warm up taking place I was not going to ride the trainer again this Sunday so I headed out on the Sex Machine to hit a few of these roads.  Also, it would be a good test of some gear that I recently added to the bike as well as a pair of shoes that I brought out of retirement since my Lake303s are now out of action.

Nelson Road Right of Way

I rode down to the steel bridge from house and crossed over into Southbury. I rode up Fish Rock for the first time and I started shedding clothes. Good thing I had the handlebar bag! My first quest was to see of Sanford Road West actually went through. On the maps it showed a dead end, however, the property lines showed that there was still a right of way.  However, when I came out of North Georges Hill I noticed a dirt road off to the south and rode over to it and it started climbing.  The dirt road ended but the right of way continued.  I turned around and headed back to Sanford Road because that was my main objective. However, looking on the Southbury, CT GIS map they still show Nelson Road as a town road!

I never new handlebar bags were ever out of style!

Well, that is if you are a gravel rider, according to the Bike Snob in Outside Magazine.

I don't really go for any of the style that the Bike Snob professes to be in vogue, however, I do have a few different handlebar bags that have collected through the years and so I thought it would be appropriate to dress up the Sex Machine with some gear. Too bad Cannondale never made and orange bag because it would go so nice with my current gravel bike.  At some point I might try to have one made.

Rye Street Park, South Windsor

Since I am a mountain biker at heart I decided my last bike ride of decade would be on trails. I needed to go to East Hartford to pick up a car part and I reached out to the Central Connecticut NEMBA Chapter President to see if he wanted to ride. I was thinking Case Mountain but Glenn suggested we try Rye Street Park.