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.

30 Days of Biking - Day 4

La Tour de la Dirty Pandemica

I replaced the brake pads on the Sex Machine Friday night and decided to do a Dirty Thirty around Newtown. I couldn't have asked for a better day with temperatures near 70 degrees. Only a half mile to First Dirt was on Pond Brook Road, too.

It's been over two years since the micro bursts tore through our neighborhood and I decide to ride down the old Shepaug Railroad bed to see if the Equestrians did any work to re-open the trail.

Initially it looked good. A few loan trees down here and there, some I could ride over and a few I had to get off the bike but then at one little gully there was a big tree crown that was blocking the path and then after that more and more trees were down which led me to turn around. It's too bad because this would be a great addition to the area if you could ride through here.

Then I headed over to Sturges Road off of Old Bethel Road. On paper it's still a town right of way but its definitely not rideable going up unless you are on a mountain bike and even that would be sketchy. Maybe it would be better coming down, still on a mountain bike. No thanks.  So, on this ride I am 0 for 2 and I am only 5 miles into the ride!

I rode over to Plum Trees Road when I passed the entrance to this little bit of open space called the Franc Preserve. Riding down the dirt road to the parking lot and found a sign with a map on it. It looked like there was a trail that connected to Newtown Forestry Association's Brunot Preserve and another to Shelly Road. I rode Brunot once 14 years ago and it was just a bunch of old ATV trails.

Shelly Road appears to be considered a ROW owned by Bethel that comes out on Old Hawley Road.  Looking at the map, I should have taken a picture of it because I haven't found anything online as of yet, I didn't see any no biking signs so I headed down the trail that I hoped would take me to Shelly Road. When I came to a stream there were two options, to the north a sketchy rock and lumber bridge and a nice bridge to the south but not wide enough for handlebars.  The trail seemed to have gotten a little maintenance recently and eventually came out at Shelly Road like I had hoped

So now, I am 1 for 3 on my explorations of new dirty connections. I rode up to Holcombe Hill where there was a spectacular view looking north to the foothills of the Berkshires. 

I took the opportunity, while enjoying this wonderful view, to have another one my Layla Bars. My supply is dwindling fast and thanks to the COVID-19 Pandemic Steve has suspended operations. From here I took the grass trails over to Birch Hill and the seeing a bridge in the woods headed in to cross it and then turning south I rode the Holcombe Preserve Memorial Trail.

When the trail turned west again it went through a a muddy section and I found a trail not listed on the map above that went out to Partridge Lane. It was a tough trail to ride and the first part was OK but then it went through a couple of stone walls, or over them, and with a few trees down along the way made it really tough to ride.

I headed over to Robin Hill and took the town trail up to the housing development that is being built. There was a new No Trespassing sing at the end of the trail signifying that the fun is over, not that the Robin Hill trail is all that fun to begin with. There are so many wet sections and trees down that riding through there is really tough. With the new sign it looks like we might need to blaze a new trail down to Sugar Street. After crossing Sugar Street, I climbed Sugar Hill Road and took the continuation of the road on the town right of way along the Shepard Property. It appears that someone with an ATV is using this ROW, I hope it's a tractor.

Climbing up the trail I wasn't in the right gear and I stalled and fell over. I landed on my hip and elbow and while it was smart it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.  However, it wasn't good for the bike. I landed on the derailleur hanger side of the bike and I think I bent the hanger because shifting got really squirelly. Shaking it off I rode down to Shepard Hill and then through Fosdick and then over to Cherry Grove. Quite a few people were on the trails.

From Cherry Grove I worked my way back to town hitting as many dirt roads as possible and then road over to Upper Paugussett State Forest. Riding up the entrance just past Sydney's house there were a bunch of cars parked at the start of the Blue Trail and another car blocking road with a guy talking to the driver. I couldn't maintain proper Social Distancing space so I waited for the car to move.  Finally it did and I was off. The parking lot was jammed and people were hanging out there as well. Not cool - that kind of behavior is going to get this place shut down.  CT DEEP has already started to close parking lots for parks and forests because of this.

I rode up the Poly Brody and blazed through the wet section because I have fenders! Came across a few groups of walkers on the forest road, too.  At the intersection with the White Trail I met up with Sean Sheradain who rides Upper Gussy a lot on his mountain bike. Today he was taking his daughters for a hike. 

After chatting with Sean for a bit I climbed up to the Mulikin Trail Head and then descended down the forest road for a bit and then turned in on the trail that connects to the Mulikin and road the buff singletrack down and then out to Hanover Road and home.