Sunday, May 09, 2010

Fixed Trail-a-biking on the Trumbull Rail Trail

Since I started riding the tandem with my daughter my youngest has been bugging me about going for a trail-a-bike ride and since we were having dinner Saturday evening in Trumbull why not get a little riding in. We started out a Tait's Mill, which has a huge parking area. The first three miles of the trail is crushed stone and you have to watch out for the dog walkers with their unleashed dogs. Last fall, I almost ran over a pooch that jumped out in front of me, not on a leash. I would have cut the dog in half at the rate I was going.

Every time I do a profile for the trail it never comes out smooth but Topofusion does a really good job with, better so than all the other programs I have used in the past. From Tait's Mill to Parlor Rock, it's a real smooth climb but from there the variation starts because the original road bed has been compromised by Route 8 and then the bypass by the town dump.

It was so windy on Saturday that I had to ensure that I had good eye protection for Brodie so I made him wear my old riding glasses. They were a little big on him so later I switched to some knockoff Rayban styled glasses.

At the turn around point, 5 miles, it was snack time. He is not a snacker like my other two kids so it was really a chance to get some liquids and get back on the trail.

While I see plenty of tire marks through this section I rarely see anyone on this section. That might be because this section between the Trumbull line and Wolfe Park goes atop road, has a small single track section and most be largely unknown to majority of the trail users.

The Stinson is working beautifully now. Had some crank issues but with a little telflon tape on the crankarm bolts and really tightening them down, everything is so smooth, now.

Of course, there is always plenty of time to ham it up a little bit.


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