Stay between the ditches

Parents weekend at my daughter's college didn't hold the same attraction as it did when she was a freshman but we went down anyway because we wanted to see where she was living and bring her a few things that she forgot to take with her.  We drove down to Carlisle on Saturday morning and I brought my bike, of course, figuring I could at last get one ride in on Sunday morning.

Do Pink Flamingos on your helmet make you faster?

I went to see my son compete in his first Para-Tri that he had been training for all summer at the Madison Surf Club and he came in first place in the team event. His guide did the swim and he rode a tandem and ran with the guide. 

Elliot finishing the ride

I had originally planned on riding after the event from another location but couldn't get out of the parking lot because it was blocked by the event that was till in progress. I hopped on my bike and worked my way out of the backside of the Surf Club to Rt 146 and the route I intended on riding.

I forgot that September 11th was also the day of the 2021 Closer to Free Cancer Charity ride but due to increase of COVID cases caused by the Delta Variant the organizers went virtual or DIY. That would explain why I was seeing all these cyclists on Rt 146 between Madison and New Haven and one rider, a cancer survivor, caught my interest as she had a pink flamingo attached to her helmet.

Labor Day Roubaix with the Newtown Lunartics

The Newtown Lunartics headed out from Bridgewater Connecticut for a 30 mile, mixed surface, ride to Lake Waramug and back. It had rained quite a bit the night before which made for a wet start.

One broken spoke, no problem, but two?

I noticed that someone I ride with on Tuesday nights was riding gravel in the Charlemont, MA area and the route he did looked pretty interesting so I put my own spin on it trying work a lot more dirt in hitting some new roads. The funny thing about RWGPS new dirt feature is that often what it thinks is dirt turns out to be paved.

I drove up to Spencertown and picked up Will and we proceeded to Florida, MA where I parked at the Abbott Memorial School. It was raining lightly the whole way up as well as when we started riding.

IlLUMENati Wacky Tracks Ride

Snack stop at Pete's Mom's house

This week's Ilumenati ride started and ended from the commuter lot at the intersection of Wolfpit Road and Route 7 in Wilton.  The planned route had quite a bit of different terrain including gravel roads, rail trails and a greenway. We headed south towards Norwalk and Silvermine and then turned north.