A front fenders for the Sex Machine

I have had this Planet Bike Mountain Bike fender laying around for years and finally decided to try it on the gravel bike. The hole at the bottom of the fork was too big and since it mounts using an expander I cut up an old tube and wrapped it a few times and then put into the whole and tightened it. The fender piece was a snug fit but I got it in the groves. 

It performed reasonably well, granted it's made for 26" wheels so while it protected me and the bike fairly well it wasn't 100%. I still need something for the rear wheel, which might prompt me to get full wheel fenders at some point.

Norbrook Farm Brewery Trails in the snow

On Friday I called Norbrook Farms and asked whether or not their trails would be open. Wasn't sure how cold it has been in the Icebox of Connecticut but they did get some snow this past week so I decided to check. The woman I spoke to said, of course they are open. Whether or not she really new the answer now points to she really didn't know since the consensus from Facebook says that there were closed due to the freeze/thaw taking place this winter.

I found frozen trails with a crunchy under layer and 1 to 2 inches of fresh powder. It was snowing on my drive up to Butternut this morning (I went Telemark skiing for 4 hours before) and snowing once again on the drive back down to Connecticut.

After a quick cursory lap on one of the green trails I came back to the car because I forgot something and the snow stopped.  I didn't have a lot of time because I got their late and I didn't bring lights.

Mr Robison's Neighborhood Gravel Grinder

One of my riding buddies from the Newtown Lunartics, Mike, was celebrating his 50th Birthday and wanted to do Gravel Ride from his new house in Gaylordsville, a hamlet of New Milford. He invited some of his high school friends from the Hartford area to join us so I planned a route that would hit the dirt roads near his house, go into NY and back into CT.

First Dirt was on Jericho Road but what was really surprising was when the road turned into a gravel trail. I had ridden through here a few years prior and back then it was a washed out right of way. This was awesome!

It's Back!

On a mountain bike ride at the end of last year at Rye Street Park I broke the Boa Rachet on my LakeMX303 riding boot. I sought out some recommendations on what to do and Al Tinti suggested some contact cement. I was all set to do it but I didn't feel comfortable with the way it would settle and not mess up the cable or stick to it. I called Lake Cycling and sent it to them to do the repair.

FrogToggs Storm Gauntlet: The best cycling over mitt!

Disclaimer: I haven't been paid to review these over mitts or received them in compensation for making this post. 

This all came about a few weeks ago when I was on a exploratory gravel ride in Southbury and then down through Monroe and Trumbull. The day started in the low 40s so I was wearing my gloves that are perfect that temperature but brought along another pair of warmer gloves in case it got colder. Since those were getting ratty I started thinking about a replacement. What I decided was that I really wanted an over mitt that would work for cycling.