Stick Season Roubaix

 Oct 28, 2026

I finally got my rear tubeless tire back from the shop after having it retaped, topped with fresh sealant, and fitted with a new valve stem because it stubbornly refused to hold air. I hadn't had a chance to test it out yet, so today I loaded up and headed out to ride some gravel south of Rutland.

Hidden Dirt Roubaix

 Sep 18, 2026

I was looking at the maps the other day and I happened to notice a few roads/trails that appear to go through to other roads on the routes that usually ride so I decided to check them out today.

Gravel: The answer to life, the universe, and everything!

 

I reached out to my brother-in-law Will and a few others to see if they wanted to ride Westchester Dirt Roads on Sunday. David and Will (pictured above) accepted, as well as a few others but then they bailed at the last second. I picked this route mainly for the distance, not wanting to go too far, since the last time I rode real gravel was in October.

Gearing up for D2R2

I purchased a 11-42T cassette and a Wolftooth Road link before I went to Chicago and my plan was when I got back I would install at use that set up for the Farmer's Daughter and D2R2 Gravel Grinders. However, I didn't really look too closely at the Wolftooth instructions and when I got everything installed it didn't work correctly. It would shift into the lowest gear and then get stuck there!

 

That's when I discovered that the Wolftooth link only works for 11-40T cassettes, DOH!  For the Farmer's Daughter, I ended up going back to my old 11-32T cassette and putting my 32T front chain ring on and had no trouble climbing, albeit I was slow as molasses on the hills. When I got back to CT after the ride, I ordered the right cassette and the day before I was headed up to Massachusetts I installed the new cassette and it worked. 

Farmer's Daughter - Wandrer Edition

I signed up for the 2020 Farmer's Daughter but it was initially postponed due to the COVID Pandemic and then when things really went downhill during lockdown it was canceled altogether.  

For 2021, I initially opted not do the event but after returning from Chicago there was nothing going on that weekend and Will wanted to know if I wanted to ride with him. Seeing that it was a last minute entry to this year's Farmer's Daughter Gravel Grinder. Will was trying to see if he could get me in by some other means when I found someone on FaceBook selling their registration so I bought it off of them and was in. Had I registered with the normal people I would have had a personalized name bib.  Looking back, Will and I have ridden this together twice:

1. Farmer's Daughter Gravel Grinder - 2016
2. 2nd Farmer's Daughter - 2019 

In 2017, Will and I rode the Columbia County Gravel Grinder that was put on by his bike shop and the Chatham Rotary that hit many of the same roads. So when I got the route and looked at it through the eyes of my Wandrer application I decided some route changes were needed in order to get more points.

Leaving on a Jet Plane ...

My CAADX is in that box and this morning we are flying to Jackson, Wyoming for 6 days of gravel riding around the Grand Tetons

Continuing to improve the CAADX

After Saturday's ride to OOF using the 34T chainring and getting dropped I decided to see if I could get a bigger chainring. I found a green anodized 38T Amazon Prime deal for $4.95 it would be delivered the next day! That's insane, so I pulled the trigger on it and also got a 40T, in black. I found a green one but the delivery didn't match my timeline.

CAADx Rebuild

For the past year, I have been running 50c tire on the front of the CAADx and I have really loved the Monster Cross feel of the big tire upfront but I couldn't do the same in the rear, unfortunately, so I have been thinking about changing this bike up and making it my primary gravel bike. I don't plan on selling the Sex Machine but I think I am going to use it for commuting and bike packing, as well as the occasional gravel ride.

Brown baggin' a PBR

Summer hours started officially today and when I went to get ready to ride after work I discovered that the Bondeye had a flat tire. So I came up with an alternate plan which was to take the CAADx on a dirty thirty adventure into Roxbury to ride the lower section of the Shepaug Rail Road bed.  The only legal approach to it is from a single track trail off of Minor Bridge.

Pandemic Roubaix to Brew: Kent Falls Brewing

We had a half day on Friday for the start of the holiday weekend. I changed packs on the CAADx because I wanted to ride to Kent Falls Brewery, buy a four pack, drink one and carry the other three home. Much easier than a growler.

Scrabble Cross

I dusted off the CAADx this weekend and decided to take it out on a ride after work. This bike has primarily been my commuter bike but since I am no longer commuting I figured it needed some loving. Of course having fatter tires meant that I should try and hit all the dirt roads that I possibly could this evening.

On my last mixed terrain ride through this area I found Sturges Road impassible so I took it off my map (Roubaix to Brew) and I had once prior looked for the Wildcat Lane ROW but didn't find anything at the end of the Bobcat Lane cul-de-sac but I recalled looking at the town GIS map and seeing that is still listed as a ROW and now that I know where to look for it, I found it this time and gave it a shot. One note, the trail starts on the other side of the grass. 

There are few trees down that interrupts the flow. Some you can hop and others are too big or too high. Might have to ride through again with a hand saw and cut a few so that you can at least bunny hop them.  Once I was on Plumtrees I started looking for a trail to access Newtown Forest Association's Brunot Preserve but didn't see anything. I did find a somewhat obscured entrance to the neighboring Bethel Land Trust and it's buff trails were easy to ride. 

The separation between the BLT trail and the Brunot Preserve is the yellow chain stretched between two trees.  The Brunot Preserve was donated by the James Brunot's family in the 1970s and he was the guy responsible for introducing the world to Scrabble.

I rode here 15 years ago and it was absolute crap. The trails were savaged by ATVs however, what I found today was a much more improved trail system that I think another visit, this time with the mountain bike would be in order. Trails were pretty buff and no longer rutted out by ATVs. I remember losing the trail once out of the fields but now they are clearly visible and blazed, as well.

The main trail that dumps you out to Taunton Road goes through a hollow and at the center of it is big mud bog. There appears to be another trail that entirely bypasses this area but its fall line and hike-a-bike. Probably better on a Mountain Bike. The map on the NFA website is absolute crap. 

Next I rode to the top of Holcombe Hill which commands one of the best views looking north towards New Milford.

One thing I realized about the CAADx is that it is geared 11-28t, which is not the best gearing for riding trails, something I will have to rectify soon.  From Holcombe Hill I rode down Scudder Road, across Head of Meadow and then up Shepards Hill. Once on the Fosdick trails I noticed that appeared someone had put sticks and leaves on the trail to deter bikers? Didn't deter me at all but its good way for a walker to twist an ankle.

I looped around to the back side of Mt Nebo Road and then road a series of dirt roads that I ride regularly: Ox Hill, Beaver Dam, the Bentagrass connector, Point of Rocks, and Deep Brook. 

Closer to home, I cut over towards the State Forest on Echo Valley and if there is time will take the Brody Forest Road back to Hanover Road but othe temperature was dropping fast and I was starting to get cold. I took Sanford Road instead.

Eine kleine Dirt Musik

Waking up Saturday morning to a brisk wind and light drizzle I said to myself, no way am I going to ride before my son's 8 AM Soccer game.  The weather during the game was even worse but by early after there was a break in the weather so I jumped on the CAADx and went exploring.

Thinking that it was going to be raining the whole time I went out with my neoprene gloves and rain jacket but quickly shed both after I jumped off the old NY & NE Right of Way onto Al's trail.  It's funny, how in the past I would only ride my mountain bike on this trail and now all I do is ride it on my cross bike.

Heading down old Black Bridge Road I noticed that it appears to have been widen, perhaps by some 4x4 usage but anyone driving this way would simply have to back out once again due a pretty sizable widowmaker laying across the road.  the Black Bridge looked pretty sketchy being wet and with some leaves so I walked it instead of riding it.

Smarter than your average Bear Gravel Grinder

After working around the house one Sunday I headed out on the CAADx for a little Gravel Ride in the Lower Litchfield Hills. I needed to get some gravel miles because D2R2 was next month and there was that looming question of whether or not I would ride this bike then. I started this ride at the I-84 Exit 14 commuter lot, hit Flood Swamp road and then climb Flat Hill, which is anything but flat!

Look what the Cat dragged in!

The one thing that I haven't been quite comfortable with on the Surly Cross Check and with the recent acquisition of the Specialized Tri-Cross is the frame size.  All spring I had been looking for 61 cm project frame to build up into another gravel grinder/commuter bike.  I found a few candidates on Craigslist but the sellers either never got back to me (which seems to be the case more and more with Craigslist) or they were sketchy characters, perhaps selling something they didn't acquire legally. Then I found this brand new, 2015 Cannondale CAADx Disc for sale and the guy back to me!