3 Generations of Riders

After making the annual pilgrimage up to Cabelas in East Hartford where picked up our fishing boat and got it parked back at home my father and I took the boys over to Monroe to ride the rail trail.  First time out for my father on his Special-Ed Comfort bike.  Really nice ride for this type of riding.  He offered to pull the Brodie in the Burley which left me pulling only Elliot for the first time.

We headed up from the first Pepper Street crossing to the Newtown Town line and then turned around and headed for Wolfe Park.  Along the way, Brodie had to water some bushes when I noticed Elliot had mud splattered on him and I couldn't understand why.  Afterall, I have these great fenders on the 'Goose.  I can think of two things, either I went through a wet area too quickly or my tires are just a wee bit wider than the fender.

We did the usual, ride to Wolfe Park.  Run around at the Jungle Gyms.  Have a snack, use the bathrooms, and then mount up for the ride home.  My father did a great job pulling Brodie and it was nice not having the extra weight from pulling both Elliot and Brodie.

And here is a little video of the ride

Riding the Monroe Rail Trail from Mark on Vimeo.

New Roller on the Gussy

I wanted to ride Bennetts Pond Friday after work but Nate, the guy riding with me yesterday felt Bennetts would be too wet so I suggested we hit the Gussy Trail for RAW because it drains pretty well. It was supposed to rain but fortunately it did not. Took Nate on the standard loop and showed him the sights.  Looks like the logging is finished and it's increadible how much they cut down but don't take with them.  I don't mind because they are just skinnys in the offing.

The Upper Gussy Trail is looking really good.  There are probably two spots on the main trail that need a little work and that's it!  Nate and rode the new roller.  There is a nice shot of it on the Upper Gussy Blog.  Met another Newtowner who lives nearby that rides to the trail head from his place does the loop and then rides home.

Got 11 minutes for a Waltz and Bike Porn?

The remainder of the pictures that I took at Winding Trails. Thought I would put into a slide show format and let you listen to a little Strauss. Enjoy!

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.

I am still not seeing the advantage in Stans

During the pro race at Winding Trails this Single Speeder rolled into the pits, hopped off the bike and started working on his front tire.

After quite some time he gave up and threw a tube into tire. You can tell he was using Stans No Tubes by all the white gunk oozing out of the bottom of the tire. What I don't see is that this guy is till carying two tubes for emergencies anyway, like this one.

Glad to see this guy got rolling again!

A couple of weeks ago I was on a Trail Ambassador Training Ride with CT NEMBA when one of the riders on a nice Voodoo Canzo FS 29er who was rolling with Stans lost his seal. I ended up giving him my spare tube so he could continue, otherwise it would have been the dreaded Walk of Shame back to the parking lot.