Tandeming for Breakfast and Picking Sweet Corn

Katie and I headed out for breakfast again on the tandem.  Needed to hit the drive through ATM at the bank for heading over to the next breakfast diner we were going to try.  Our goal is to ride the tandem every weekend and have breakfast somewhere.

We ended up the at Village Diner, which used to be Steve's Diner.  Apparently, the same owners just changed the name.  Never been here but they have been around for 6 years and it was a great place!  I had egg and potatoes and Katie had the Chocolate Chip pancake off the kids menu.

Katie's Kid Menu Review:

This morning I ate breakfast at the Village Diner. I had the chocolate chip pancakes on the kids menu. They tasted good but they were kinda big. Some parts of the pancakes had no chocolate chips and other parts had too many. It was also a bit over priced. It was served with butter and syrup. Over all the meal was good.

After a hearty breakfast we headed out towards Dickenson Park only to discover that Point of Rocks was closed due to running race.  So we climbed up Brushy Hill and Granny's help was required.  From there we turned onto Beaver Dam, that turned to dirt.  Newtown has quite a few dirt roads still throughout the town but none of them connect so there is very little chance of ever getting a Newtown Gravel Grinder.  

We came across some pasture and stopped to take a few pictures.  

And then we found this really neat farm.  It's all natural, no pesticides used on the produce and everything they sell is really fresh.

Beautiful pastures

And some cows

They had this really cool barn

The owner took Katie to the corn field to pick some fresh corn.

Farmer Mayer showed Katie how to pick the corn.  It had to be squeezed first to tell if it was alright for picking.  Farmer Mayer also told Katie that most farmers in the area grow starchy corn for feeding cows.  He only grows sweet corn for feeding people.

We saw some riders as we headed off.  We bought 6 ears of corn and carried them home on my handlebars. Really need a rack for the back of the tandem and need start bringing the trunk bag.

15 mile ride and we did a little bit of climbing

The Friday Fixed: All Weather Commuter

I guess you could say that the Stinson is finally finished.  I have finally completed the bike to be an all weather commuter.  Required three trips to the Hardware store for these rubberized holders.  First I bought a size too small so I take them back to the Ace Hardware by the office only to find out that I have to go back to original store where I bought the clamps.  Go back there and get the one inch size and while they work I could probably use 3/4" size.  I originally purchased 1/2" and I measured the stanchions, too!

It's only taken me two years to get it to this point but the new fenders seal the deal. Now all I need is to add some water and ride in wet conditions to put it to the test.  Then, once and for all I can go from being a fair weather bike commuter to a bike commuter!

Nothing could be finer than riding my Two-Niner

Popped smoke from work right on time, got home, changed, and hit the trails at Upper Paugussett State Forest this afternoon for grueling one and half hour, 6.5 mile ride, my bread and butter ride at Upper Paugussett.  This consists riding up the Gussy Trail, up the Brody, down the Mulikin, down Al's trail, then up the Pond Brook Connector to the Brody again.  Hit the three climbs up the Brody to the Gussy Trail head and then down the Gussy.

Upper Paugussett is an actively hunted forest and my friend Rick came across a hunter on Wednesday shooting squirrels so I reached for the sleigh bells and adorned them to the Dillinger.  Riding the trails, I sounded like a Christmas Budweiser commercial without the snow, the sleigh, and the Clydesdale.  My presence was known in the forest.

Down on the Mulikin I hit the small up and over before the big one with a little too much speed and then lost control and went down into the wineberries.  My left wrist, still sore from my crash in Trumbull three weeks ago, exacerbated by another little mishap at a stream crossing yet again at Trumbull, didn't fare well in yet the latest occurrence of my body meeting the ground.  I think I am going to have to take it easy this weekend. 

I love riding when it's very hot, though.  I think it the standing temperature today was around 90 degrees.  The forest must have been 5 to 10 degrees cooler but it's a nice bone warming heat.  Bike behaved beautifully and I cleaned all the climbs.  Even had a great huck on the new log ride.

Anyone forget their BMX Bike?

I came across this GT BMX bike leaning up against a tree on Old Hawleyvile Road in Newtown on Monday's commute to work. It struck me as odd that someone would just leave their bike leaning against a tree so early in the morning. It didn't look like there was an accident, bike is in really good shape and there was no blood on the road. If the owner was apprehended by the law you would think the bike would have been taken as evidence.

By the looks of the rear pegs, I would say that the owner was doing a little trail riding but where? My guess would be along the nearby railroad tracks. The only think I could fathom was the owner was riding somewhere and had to use the facilities and remained hidden from my view as I inspected the bike. Only, if that were the case, he (or she) is going to need a lot of Cortizone cream because the poison ivy here is rampant.  That would be a great way to start the new school year.

On the ride home, I came back this way and the bike was gone.

レッドモンキー (Reddomonki)

If you have arrived at Cycle Snack looking jeans, that's not what this post is about.  This is about Bob's red Karate Monkey.  I met John this past winter while riding at Trumbull and marveled at the bike he was riding, a Fat Chance Ti Yo Eddy.  I suggested to him he should try turning the bike into a 69er.  A couple of months later I happened to spot him riding in the woods in Trumbull and he was riding what could be the first ever known Fat Chance Ti Yo Eddy 69er.

In talking with John Sunday afternoon he told me that after trying the 69er he wanted to see what it would be like to join the big boys and go all the way with a real 29er.  So he took the plunge by trading in another Fat Chance of his with Danny Carver and picking up this sweet, red Monkey.  He said the bike is perfect for Trumbull and couldn't believe what he's been missing.  He's got some good bits on it, too, including a Brooks saddle, Easton Carbon seatpost, and Syncros Cranks.