Tandeming Around the Neighborhood

It's time to get ready for this year's Bloomin Metric so I dusted off the tandem and got it ready to roll. A few adjustments were needed like raising Katie's seat a good 4 inches from last year, putting on new grips (cannibalized from when I took the Qball into the geared world) and the front brake needed some adjustment.

Then we were off.  Holy crap, what happened to the weather?  It was 50 degrees and windy and seem to get colder and colder as we rode.

 

Down at the boat ramp the wind was coming right down the river valley making it feel twice as  cold.

 

But not cold enough to ham it up for the camera!

 

Sprummer has given way back to Sprinter!

Looking north up towards Bridgewater

 

Time to get back on the bike and head home to where it is warm!

 

 It was a great ride!  Great to be riding with Katie, again, too!

Saturday Morning Single Speed

Now that the power is back, at least in my neighborhood and our personal hell has been taken away, it's time to get some more riding in since the trails are complete crap right now.  Other people throughout my town and the State of Connecticut for that matter, including both my in-laws and my father are still without power.  I wish them a speedy re-energize.  It was high time that I take the Ross Riviera out for a real test ride, something more that an a quick jaunt up and down my road, a ride with some hills to really test the 52:20 gearing.

My goal was to the Town Line and back but I fell short of time and turned around short of it by a half mile.  Along the way there were still many signs that the post Tropical Storm Irene Apocalypse was still on going.  Frankly, I think the power company and the local municipalities got caught with their pants down in the recovery effort and could have done a better job working together in order to remedy the situation.  Hopefully, they will learn from this so that their efforts can be better coordinated and the town can provide quicker services for those in need.

Hanover Rd:  Transformers on the side of the road

Businesses still without power

Staging area for the Tree and Lineman Teams

Give these guys your thanks!

All the fire houses have drinking water.
I filled my water cans at the Hawleyville Firehouse twice this week!

This house is till out of power because their service line was taken out.

Tandeming to Heaven

After selling two bikes this morning and then running around in the midday heat doing errands by 4:30 it had just cooled off enough that was perfect for riding. I think I am part lizard because I like riding in the heat.  Anyway, I asked Katie, my daughter, if she wanted to check out the new Ice Cream Shop down in Sandy Hook called Heaven.  Of course she said yes and off we went.

Been awhile since we have ridden the tandem together.

She got the Mint Chocolate Chip

On the way home, it was all climbing

Tandeming for Breakfast

Spent Friday night changing up the Burley for a ride with Katie.  I wanted to put on a new stem only to find out that none of mine fit.  I will have do some research but I think it means I have a 1 1/8 head tube.  From what I understand unless you have hydros, it is recommended to have in addition to the rim brakes a drum brake in the rear.  Or, as I have seen, disc brakes work as well.  What I think I will do is try to find a 60 or 80 mm squishy with a lockout and has both brake posts and disc tabs.  Or I can just get a Surly 1x1 fork and stay rigid.

Katie and I rode to the Sandy Hook diner for breakfast this morning.  Then we headed over to the Fairfield Hills Campus.  The climb up Mine Hill was fun and needed Granny's help on that hill.  Then we rode the town path that goes further up hill.  Then it was all down hill (overall) from there.  We rode to Currituck and then down through Pond Brook and home.  15+ miles and 1600 feet of climbing in the span of 1 hour and 45 minutes (not including breakfast).

Next week we are going to ride to another diner, have breakfast and then continue our ride and try and 20 miles.  Of course I have to get her to pedal a little more.  I think I did 75% of the pedaling.  Great training though.

More Tandem Training: 14 Miles!

Katie and I headed out on Mother's Day for a slightly longer ride this time, double what we have been riding. The fact that I can't down shift is going to be a major problem riding this bike but we were able to make the climb on Hanover Rd. I figured we could ride over to Dickenson Park and that might be 7 miles but it was more like 5. We did a loop on Barb's Trail.

A new gravel path/trail in town that starts at Dickenson Park and goes to around some ball fields to the intersection with Hawley Lane. Katie is sitting on the bench below.

From Dickenson we pedaled up Chestnut Hill and that was an incredible climb but instead of continuing the climb we cut down a side road that eventually took us to Route 25. We were on 25 for less than a quarter of a mile before heading back onto some back roads towards Dickenson Park again. I was pumping the shifter trying to get it to down shift but it didn't help. On Grove Street we stopped for water and I ever so gently pushed on the upshift lever and then tried to downshift again and found that I shifted into the highest gear. Fortunately, the route home was mostly downhill and on any little climbs I was able to use the front granny ring to get us up.

I am going to have to fix the shifting issue if we are going to ride this bike in two weeks.

New Trail at Fairfield Hills

With my two older kids performing in a Holiday Show called Tis the Season and my wife playing Backstage Mom left Brodie and I to kill some time on Saturday afternoon. I had read about a new trail that the Town of Newtown had finally finished over at Fairfield Hills and thought this might be a good time to try it out. Got loaded up and we headed out.

I brought the Fixation because I think it is going to be the last time I ride it as a fixed gear but I probably should have ad the 'Goose because little did I know the initial part of the trail climbs up a big hill with a fantastic view of town seen below.

I zoomed in for the next picture in which you can see one of the former buildings that still stands that used to be one of the treatment centers of Fairfield Hills, a now defunct mental health facility that the town took over at great cost with the idea of converting it some sort of income producing corporate/recreation park. Of course the whole project has been one boondoggle after another and still continues to be Fuster Cluck.

Zooming in even futher you can see the center of town. The town's icon, the Flag pole flanked by Trinity Church on the right and the old Congregational Church, now town meeting house/community center, on the left.

At the top of the hill are a couple of inground water tanks that look like bunkers. I rode around them and found a few trails coming off the access road that might be fun to come back with the mountain bike and explore them further.

Here is one of the trails. Really looks like a continuation of the road that turned into the town trail.

It's marked with green paint. I didn't see that same paint on the trail that comes in behind the reservoirs so there could be a little network of trails back there.

According to the 1953 topo that road/trail does indeed extend back to Nunnawauk Road.

But not on the most recent topo. Granted these topos are in serious need of updating. They don't even show the new Mine Hill Road.

I checked on Brodie at the trail juncture and gave him a few more gummy bears. He was pretty snug inside the Burley. Not only was he wearing his winter coat and hat but I had him wrapped in really warm blanket. In the side pocket he had a sippy cup with juice in case he got thirsty.

Last Day of Summer

I was supposed to be in Hebron, CT yesterday morning attending CT NEMBA's Fall Fiesta at Greyville Falls Park enjoying some really wild singletrack and awesome trails. However, a family birthday celebration was more important so my consolation prize was to finally take the 'Horse out to the Dingle Brook Trails in North Newtown and Brookfield. I used to call this place Burr Farm because the section in Brookfield is called just that but the trails run along Dingle Brook and I think that name is more fitting for the entire area.

Below is a map that I did for Bikerag.com back in 2005. Nice thing about this map is it does give you a better idea where this place is and where to park. The GPSVisualizer maps are great to show the tracks on the topography but not really good if you are looking to find the parking areas. At some point I might try integrating more interactive maps but haven't quite found the right online provider yet.


The trails in the Newtown portion of the area are a combination of old farming roads and newer but older ATV trails. Fortunately, no body rides quads in here anymore. Now these trails are ridden mainly by horses and an occaisional local mountain biker, such as myself or Frank. On yesterday morning's ride, though, the only tracks that I did notice were from horses. I think Frank is digging the Upper Gussy Trail so much now that he doesn't ride here at all.

In the Newtown section, most of the trails are pretty well defined and others are you just have to know where to go. However, on the Brookfield side, the trail is blazed with blue paint. Crossing from Newtown to Brookfield, the route breaks off into two options. Continue following the blue blazes on a washed out, fall line trail, or take the bypass which initially is a little sketchy to follow at first but then opens into an old farming road which eventually takes you to the old right of way that comes off of Lake George Road.

On the map above, I have called out a section to emphasize a new stream crossing that I found was already there but just needed a little organizing. If you should ever decide to ride this area alone, then I would recommend the following:

1. Park at the Pond Brook Boat Ramp off of Hanover Rd.
2. Follow Pond Brook Road till you cross over a little brown or beige bridge and hang a right onto what seems like an old gravel driveway/road. It's blocked with debris to keeps the jeeps out.
3. Follow that road in, it turns into a trail further in and is marked with engineer tape.
4. The best ride is to do the loop in Newtown counter clockwise and loop in Brookfield clockwise.
5. Both loops and the stretch down Pond Brook is about 6 miles.
   

The initial part of the trail is pretty soft and can get rather muddy in places but then it passes through a stone wall and opens into a field. I think this first open field is owned by Newtown Forestry Association but I am not entirely sure. Need to look at the property maps again. There is potential for another trail looping that property and my friend Tom who rides his horse on these trails has been looking at it. Who knows, once the Gussy Trail is completed I might set my sights over here.

You have to climb up the first field and it's pretty overgrown. You pass through another stone wall and the trail cuts right through middle of the next field. I believe this field is owned by the yellow house off to the east of this location. As you can see in the picture below, at 7 AM it was pretty foggy out and a cool 47 degrees.

Even though it's Sunday, I am still wearing orange because this is mostly private land and even though Sunday hunting is still forbidden, I don't take any chances.

I round this old fence post along the first section of trail that skirts Dingle Brook. I never noticed it before but it still has the old iron holders for the rails.

As I mentioned earlier, the second loop encompasses Brookfield's Burr Farm Open Space area. The trail pops out in an residential area and then cuts shaprly back into the woods. This part of the trail has some really steep descents and that is why I recommend riding this section clockwise. Clearly, mountain biking was not on the minds of the person who created this trail. In fact, the trail runs right into a stone wall at one point and on the other side is a stream crossing.

Twenty yards from the trail crossing I found an old farmer's ford through the stream and cleared some fallen branches to open it up.

Never noticed this before but there appears to be a white marker on the tree below. Of course, that could be flower from the Hash House Harriers. They have been known to run in here from time to time.

I added a few flat rocks as a precaution over some of the areas that could get muddy after a little more use. The stream bed is really solid so you can hammer right through it. Picking up the trail again is easy, just keep curving to your till you pick it up again.

Once you get down to Dingle Brook this is a little bench which makes for an excellent photo opportunity. That blaze orange really stands out in the woods!

From the bench you have to climb back up. It's mostly rideable with the exception of a few downed trees. I am surprised at how will I can climb these days.

When you get back into Newtown after the Brookfield loop, you could always follow the trail the way back you came but I am not a big fan of that. There is another trail that heads east from the junction of where you go to the Brookfield portion. There is a trail that is marked with a faded green/yellow piece of engineer tape. You basically have to look for the depression in the ground to realize there is a trail there. You can follow this trail if you miss the turn off for this little bypass section which will eventually bring you around to where you want to be.

The Newtown section is not clearly marked and many trails end up in people's back yards. So your best bet is to download this track from Crankfire.com if you ever want to try this alone or contact me for a tour.