2024 D2R2 Pre-Game ride

 August 16, 2024

Will and I continued our D2R2 Pre-Game ride tradition by riding to Turner’s Falls and stopping at Element Brewing, which is just off the greenway. 

KFB and the Three Bears Roubaix

Mike and I met at Roxbury Town Hall to do a quick gravel ride up to Kent Falls Brewing on a nice Friday afternoon around 3 PM. The last time we tried to ride to KFB we started from his house but one guy in the group ended up crashing in his driveway and needed Nurse Nancy to fix him up so he could ride but the delay meant we missed the brewery.

Maibock Roubaix

At least once a year I try to do a ride from Norbrook Farm in Norfolk, CT and Sunday, May 1st was the perfect day.  Also, with the Farmer's Daughter Gravel Grinder just two weeks away I wanted to test my mettle to see how I would do for that ride and this was the perfect route for that.

Roubaix to Brew: OEC again

I got kicked loose from work early on Friday, October 15th, so I texted Scott to see if he wanted to ride out to OEC for a beer and then ride back to Newtown. He game so we met at the Flag Pole and started towards the brewery.

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.

Kent Falls Roubaix

The weather boffins predicted that Sunday would be the best day of the weekend and that meant it would be a great day to ride some gravel roads in the Litchfield Hills.

Riding up Old Mount Tom Road

Today's script was to ride the old Shepaug railroad bed, through the famous Shepaug tunnel, and up to Romford; ride all the available dirt roads to Goshen; come down through Mohawk State Forest to Waren; try a closed road that I have been wanting to ride near Wyantenock State Forest; skim the top of Lake Waramaug; stop at Kent Falls Brewery for a pint; ride another dirt road that I just discovered the other day, Sawyer Hill; then fly back to Roxbury.

Scott, Mike and I met at the Roxbury Town Hall around 9:30 AM. It was nice not having to wake up early for a ride and having a later start meant it would be warmer, too.  I think everyone else we passed on bikes, with the exception of an unfriendly Tri-Dork at Lake Waramaug, were wearing tights.  Of course Scott was wearing tights but at least he had the option of taking them off at any point during the ride.

Roubaix to Brew: OEC & Newsylum

Originally, I was thinking about doing a ride up Mt Riga Road for a first day of spring Gravel Grinder but from all the posts that I had seen on the Socials it looked like all the dirt roads further north of me were going to be a sloppy mess. So, I figured something down my way, hit a few dirt roads, make a brewery stop would be the best way to celebrate the coming of spring.

The idea for today's ride was to enjoy the bout of warm weather we are having, ride a few local dirt roads and drink some beers half way through. The ride ended of being a little longer than what I had imagined but it was still a blast.  

Pandemic Roubaix to Brew: OEC revisited

One of the things that I like about where I live is that my gravel/mixed terrain rides can start on a dirt road as close as a quarter of mile away. Today's ride hit First Dirt on Tamarac Road.

The goal of today's ride was to explore Stiles Road that used to connect Southbury to Woodbury.  Ride up the Trolley Bed to Tuttle Road and then check out Old East West road that runs through the middle of the Whittemore Sanctuary. Ride the Middlebury Trolley Trail, to Hop Brook Park, get on the portion of the old Railroad bed through there and then take the Larkin Bridle Trail down to OEC Brewing. Lastly ride the top part of Nelson Road.

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.

Pandemic Roubaix to Brew: Big Elm Brewing

Will and I usually ride Mt Riga much sooner as a warm up to the Farmer's Daughter. Between the Pandemic and the crazy weather we have been having this weekend turned out to be ideal to do our annual pilgrimage to Mt Riga. He rode down from his summer home in Spencertown and we met at the Depot Deli in Copake Falls. I was worried that the lot would be filled with everyone trying to be outside right but when I arrived at 9 AM there was only one car in the lot.

In planning the route I decided we would make a beer stop at Big Elm Brewery and split a 4 pack of pints. We each drink one and carry the other back. I made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. The day prior I did a 75 mile ride and I was wondering how I would do on this ride since Sunset Rock Road to start off is a killer climb.

As usual, Will took off and I never saw him again until I got to the end.

The Garmin Climbpro was showing grades well over 20% but RWGPS said the max grade was 19.5%. Maybe that's the difference between map and actuality.

Still, I made it up the hill without stopping!

When we got to Mt Washington Road the state was paving the road. So, we got a little extra gravel while heading down hill. I love this view because it looks directly at East Mountain State Forest and Butternut off in the distant.

I made a slight change to the route so that we would bypass Jug End Road and rather take a road called the Avenue. The nice thing about this is that you don't have to hit the brakes so early and take advantage of all that speed till you get to the Avenue.  The closed section of Giberson Road was exceptionally wet due to last night's raid. One of the advantages of fenders is that I road straight through this and my shoes got a little wet.

Once you get past the puddles its nice and dry.

After Gibberson it was on to Foley Road where the view of the Taconics was splendid.

After lunch Will and I would be riding up those mountains.

According to Wandrer this was virgin road for me.

These yearlings were an inquisitive lot

Grade crossing on the Berkshire Division of the Housatonic Railroad.  Which means, Big Elm Brewery is right up the road!

We split a four pack of Lion's Ale, which is an English amber ale which tastes like a cross between a New Castle Brown and a Bass. Due to COVID-19 restrictions we couldn't drink and eat at the brewery. We headed back to a parking lot back on Silver Street for some land trust open space. The four pack fit rather nicely in my Cannondale Casey Handlebar bag.

I broke out the PBJs and Will brought some smoothies.

The beer was perfect!

And the second pint fit nicely in my back pouch, too.

Looking at Mt Everrett from our lunch spot

We made one little exploration today that turned out somewhat successful. According to the Topography map Mt Tom Road used to go through so on today's ride I decided to check it out.

Yes, it did go through but there were quite a few trees down that needed to be hopped or climbed over.

Hanging a right on North Shore Road we road down to Twin Lakes. Not sure why its called North Shore since its on the south shore of the lake.

From Twin Lakes we bombed down Wildcat Hollow and then rode along the Housatonic River

Stopped off at a scenic spot across from Falls Village.

Then we climbed up to Salisbury where the water at the fountain was running continuously. I planned ahead and brought wipes but thankful for the modification. Will wasn't sure about the water but I have been refilling my bottles here for years. It's Mt. Raggie water!

The Climbpro graph on the Garmin was looking a Rainbow Roll at the local Sushi Restaurant.
6.28 miles to the top!

Mt Riga Road was nice and hard but there were a lot of cars and motorcycles coming up and down the road.

I made one stop to take a picture of Riga Falls.

Nearing the highest point on Mt Riga Road



Max grade according to RWGPS was 12.4% but if I remember correctly the Garmin said it was 19 to 20%.

The Garmin also said it was 2025 feet in elevation

The Sex Machine at the Mt Washington Road sign.
This is the boarder with CT and MA.

The Mass section of Mt Washington Road had a lot of unfriendly to bicycle tire trap rock



Then it was bomb down Bash Bish Road. The State Park was closed and yet there were still people parked there when they weren't supposed to be.

Roubaix to Brew: Norbrook Farm Brewery

Do you what the best part of starting a ride from a brewery is? 

The end of the ride!

I have been waiting all summer for the Norbrook Farm Brewery to open. Last spring, I was updating my Roubaix to Brew map and adding more Connecticut Breweries to it when I saw Norbrook Farms come up in the results. Finally a brewery in the Northwestern part of Connecticut that is just south of some of the best dirt road riding around. Now that the brewery is open, it was time to plan a ride. While it was a little chilly in the morning you could not have asked for a more beautiful day to ride.

Hippy Roubaix to Brew: Kent Falls Ride #2

My company has summer hours, which means, I can pop smoke at 1 PM. When Steve Taylor, a cyclist whom I connected with through Instagram said that he would be spending another week this year in Newtown, I suggested that we get together for a gravel ride in Litchfield County. I gave him a couple of routes to explore on his own but if you are going to ride gravel up here, you really should have a guide. The one thing that had me a little nervous, however, was the weather. According to the weather channel, it looked like we could get a shower or two around 5 PM.

I picked up Steve from his Air BnB and we headed up to the Roxbury Market.  There we met Andy Engel and Ben Maxwell. We got on the road and headed north via Judds Bridge and then up the Shepaug Railroad bed, through the tunnel and on to Washington Depot. It was a spectacular day.

Riding through Washington Depot, you'd think that there was no chance or rain today but it seems to be Monsoon Season in Southern New England this week and one minute it can be like this and the next we could get a thunderstorm and then it's raining cats and dogs. 

Riding through the tunnel is fun but riding through Hidden Valley always seems to be a little more exciting. Not sure if that's because of the railroad bed and proximity to the river or the remoteness of the location. The rocks on the trail were really greasy and everyone was taking it easy.

There is one little bridge that I have ridden before but given today's conditions my pucker factor was up and at the last minute I decided to walk it but my dismount, on the bridge, was bad and I ended up going over somewhat. The only thing that stopped me from going over completely was the three teeth of my big ring digging into my leg.

When we came out onto Romford Road we got a brief shower and then as we were climbing up Whittlesey it became a light shower.  At the top, we stopped for a snack under a big Oak tree that provided some cover.

Photo Credit:  Steve Taylor

I was literally stuffing my face with this awesome homemade energy bar that Steve makes when he took that picture. He brought one for all of us and it was insanely good.  Lots of different nuts on the outside and dried fruit on the inside made for the perfect all natural energy bar.

The rain had tapered off a bit while we were riding down Rt 202.  Then we took to Flirtation Avenue and it started raining lightly again.  Passing by the town beach on Lake Waramaug the light shower started to get heavier and then rounding the bend on West Shore Road it became a full on downpour. I thought about trying to find a tree to hang out under but I was so soaked it wouldn't really have mattered so we pushed on to the brewery.

At the brewery there were some other cyclists who had ridden from Litchfield but they were much more dryer than we were which means they probably only got a light shower before getting to the brewery. It was the perfect temperature in the brewery. The rain never let up and after a few lightning flashes and a power flicker, the rain just got steadier and heavier. 

I had the Danny Boy, a German styled lager, which tasted great. I decided that is what I will be taking home in my Hydro Flask only to find out that the flask was leaking. So I treated Ben and Andy to another round! We put on our rain jackets because it was still raining when we left and started climbing up Camps Road and then climbing even more up Gunn Hill.

The hill on Camps combined with the climb up Gunn Hill is a 4% average grade for almost a mile. The pouring rain made it all the more difficult. Then we bombed down Finlay Road, cut across 202 and then made our way over to Chestnut Hill.  The climb up Walker Brook was nice and the rain actually started to taper off somewhat.  The descent down Walker Brook was a blast but the grime from the dirt road was nasty. Steve had fenders on his bike so he was pretty clean by the end of the ride, but not for the rest of us. My trunk bag acts like a fender but does nothing for the rest of the bike.

Photo Credit:  Steve Taylor

Andy suggested that we go for a post ride dip near the Shepaug and I thought I heard him say at Roxbury Pond, so we drove down River Road to the parking area. One look at the pond and I said no way am I going into that quagmire but then he said, we are going to a swimming hole past the pond on the Shepaug River.  While the water silty from all the rain it felt great! Need to remember this place for future post ride cool downs.