1st Cycling Date

 

In November of 2023 I met this wonderful woman named Ann, on an App of all places! What attracted me to her initially was her love of skiing and we hit off on the first date. While getting to know one another she told me she was into cycling, too!

Quadbury Gravel Grinder

I set off Saturday, June 27th, to ride what I call the Tr-bury Gravel Grinder which consists of the Larkin Bridle Trail, Middlebury Trolley Trail and the Woodbury Trolley Trail (the last two are the same road bed, just different towns) only I went about it in reverse and I wanted to scope out the route for a ride that I would be leading next day for the LOF Adaptive Waterskiing group.

I headed up Purchase Brook to get in some gravel on Peach Orchard and then head down West Flag Swamp.  I really love riding these two roads and like to ride them in both directions now.

West Flag Swamp is just a gravel road with nothing on it.  There are no houses but there could be some trails coming off it but it's a great gravel road and the decent after Mallory is insane.

After riding the section of road that I would be leading the ride on I headed over to Middle Quarter Road in Woodbury to ride up the Woodbury Trolley Trail only to find the entrance really overgrown and lots of poison ivy everywhere.  I blasted through and then stopped further in and sprayed water on my legs just in case.  

It would appear that this trail isn't seeing much use and that's too bad because it's cool to ride a piece of history, in which passenger and freight trolleys moved up and down this line over a hundred years ago.

This right of way is truly a diamond in the rough. 

After the climb, the bed turns to the north at the old Woodbury Reservoir but there are quite a few trees down along the way.

I got on Rt 64 and passed by the sign.  

That had to have been a hard name to grow up with.

Riding through Middlebury, I basically stayed off the trolley trail except to get around the traffic light at Rt 188 because there were too many walkers on the trail and eventually I got on the Larkin Bridle Trail.  There, too, were a lot of walkers, runners and few bikers.  At one point there was a runner in the middle of the trail and gave warning that I was coming from behind but she had earbuds on and couldn't hear me.  It was hard getting past her and she was surprised when I passed but if you are going to tune out the world on a public trail don't be surprised if something like that happens again!

The wet part at Towantic Road is still pretty awful but what a lot of people down't realize is that if just ride down the center of the trail you will avoid the mud.  There's no way avoiding the water but the middle of the trail is the hardest and you won't sink.

Thinking that I was short on time because my daughter said she wanted to go hiking in the afternoon once I hit Rt 67 I by passed the rest of the trail and rode straight home.

Upon arrival, turns out she was still sleeping have not slept at her sleepover from the night before so I got to enjoy my 8 Barrel IPA from Chatham Brewing.  It was well worth the wait!

Hill Fix

First time out this year on the fixie and while I wanted to ride at least 20 miles but I had to settled for 7 instead. So I made up for the lack of distance by riding a greenway with some awesome hills. It's called the Middlebury Greenway and it encompasses an old Trolley bed from the 1900s that went from Waterbury to Woodbury. The Middlebury Greenway is all there is left to remember this line and as you can see from the profile, there were a few steep inclines.

Pulling a 25 lb trail-a-bike with a 30 lb kid made the workout all that much better and enlightening. Like heading down the first steep incline and applying reverse force on the pedals I was maintaining a controlled descent when my chain dropped! That has got to be one of the scariest feelings riding a fixed gear - all of a sudden your primary means of slowing or stopping just disappeared and now I am picking up speed because I am on an incline. Woo Hoo! Fortunately, my safety and for anyone that might be riding back there (son or daughter) I always have a hand break.

Another thing bothering me was when ever I was climbing the bars would move to the right. I know there is a lot of tension on the frame while crawling up the hill but this is the first that I have seen that. I actually had to stop, get off the bike, and straighten the bars about 3 times.

A little snack in the flats

It seems with my first two kids, riding was all about the snack. With this one, it's about the ride (and the playground at the end of the ride).

Get ready for the last climb

Mile marker rest stop

Another ride on the Middlebury Trolley Trail

Finally a beautiful day this past Saturday and we only got out on the tail end of it. I took the kids over to Meadowbrook Park in Middlebury where we saddled up the bikes and took off. To keep with the schedule, ride and then play at the park and still make it home for another planned activity we did a quick four miles on the trail. Rode down to the center of Middlebury, had a little snack, and then climbed back up the hill back towards the park. While Katie climbed these hills in the past, her head wasn't in the game and she ended up walking most of them.  

Of course it wouldn't be fun riding with the kids and not have an Elliot Cam.  I have to figure out how I can do a Brodie Cam now.  I wonder what he is doing back there.  One thing is for sure he isn't complaining, in fact instead of calling out to slow down all we wants now is to go faster, go faster!  I think what I have to find is a fender to mount on the Trail-a-bike and then figure out some way to mount the camera on that.

Riding with the kids on the Middlebury Trolley Trail

The weather this past week has been so wet that I never got any time on the trails. I did however get out with my three kids on the Middlebury Greenway (aka Trolley Trail) in Middlebury, CT. Of all the old rail road lines transformed to rail trails (Greenways) this has got to be the toughest for kids to ride because it's so hilly.

Katie is still getting used to gears. I put a gel seat on her bike and she likes it much better now. I think this is already starting to out grow this bike. I think she will need a bike with 24 inch wheels for this summer. Pretty soon she'll be on a 26" wheeled bike.

An interesting igneous rock sitting along the trail. The kids climbed up and down this for awhile before we tackled the big hill and climb back to the park where we left the car. The highlight of the ride was not the ride for the kids, rather the time spent after the ride frolicking on the jungle gyms at the park.

Middlebury Trolley Trail from Mark on Vimeo.