Fixed and Burley

Took the boys out today for a ride on the Monroe Rail Trail. Decided to try something new and ride it fixed and it was pretty easy. Only had two times when I forgot you can't coast but nothing major and no injuries. Learned something new about riding gravel rail trails - if you don't want your kids to be covered in sand and dirt, you have to ride with the window down.

GPSVisualizer seemed to be down today so today's map is brought to you by USAPhotomaps. Looks like there are some updates to the code I need to download. One thing that I don't like about USAPhotomaps is that I can never get an image with one track using the options. Instead, I have to use a screen print utility to capture the image and save it to disk.

To get an idea of what this rail trail is like, check out this video I found on Google where a mother video taped riding from Cutler's Farm Road to Great Hollow Lake: Riding the Trail. Here is a good description of the trail and how to get there: Housatonic Valley Rail-Trail.

It was a great day to be out riding, temps in the mid 60s, slight breeze, and partly cloudy. Other people through so, too. There was even one family where the father was pulling one child on a trail-bike and the mother had another child in a trailer with a little puppy riding with him. Saw some folding bikes and even a recumbent, three wheeler. For the most part, everyone had helmets on, but there were a few Darwin Award Candidates.

Elliot didn't want to be photographed so the true ham of the family stepped up to the plate and covered for him. Of course, every ride on this part of the rail trail requires a stop at the playground at Wolfe Park. Apparently, the lake is stocked with trout and there are quite a few fishermen and women there every day.

By the end of the ride, the boys were pretty hungry so we took a run over to Duchess for burgers and fries and then headed home.

Back Therapy

Decided to ride the Echo Valley Loop: Start at the entrance to the forest at the end of Echo Valley Road, ride up the Brody Road to the Gussy Trail head, down the Gussy to Sanford Road. The loop is 3.7 miles.

Road the Fixation and it rocked. I still can't get over how well this bikes rides and with no suspension. I went back to the 29x2.1 WTB Moto Raptor tire upfront.

Took a few shots along the Gussy. Below is the third stream crossing which needs some more work on the ramps leading into and out of the actual crossing. I think I might try tiling the treadway with small, flat rocks to act as tiles instead of bigger, flatter rocks that might be wobbly. I want to keep this crossing concentrated for both horses and bikes and not have to have a secondary crossing like what might have to happen at Via Roma due to a recent trail braiding incident, already.

The Gussy Trail is really starting to come along. There are a few places that still need some tweaks but it has a nice flow to it. The trail still needs one more visit with Tom's back pack blower in a few places and now that the trail is pretty much defined, we need a group of people to walk the entire length and cutback any and all low hanging branches and brush that is still choking the path is most places.

I am still amazed at the fantastic job that was done for the crossing that I am calling Hadrian's Wall. By the looks of the recent horse traffic the stream armoring is perfect.

The horse back rider opted to take the shorter way around the tree than taking the path that Tom and Cindy cleared out. I am not sure that is a good idea because the ground there is pretty soft and it will be easily churned up. Might need to consider some sort of barrier to force the horse back riders onto the cleared path and keep them out of the mud.

Still, pick any line and go for broke. You can't go wrong.

After this and Via Roma, further down the trail, I cleaned the Wet Spot with no trouble at all. The key is stay left or in the middle initially. If you hit the beginning of the rock garden on the right side, you'll probably get stuck.

Rolled the roller at the Blue Trail intersection. Rolling it on the 69er and the 29er is really weird. By the end of the ride, all my muscles, including my back were very, very happy!

A 29er on the New Haven Craigslist

This is the second 29er that I have seen so far for sale on Craigslist in CT. Definitely love those cranks and the pedals are great, too. At first I thought this was overpriced but when you look at all the parts it is pretty good bargain.

What I find particularly interesting is that Cycle Snack gets many visits from people looking to buy 29ers from Craigslist. I guess if you want to try the koolaid, you want to go bargain basement.

Bonty Qball Fahrt

No, I did not spell the short form for flatulence incorrectly. "Fahrt" means ride in German. I wasn't liking the Bonty on the Fixation because it was slightly rubbling the underside of the fork. Decided a little extra volume on the Qball wouldn't hurt.

If I remember correctly, the Qball can handle up to a 29x2.3 rear tire and as you can see below, there's plenty of clearance with the 29x2.2 and I did notice a nice change to the ride. The bike seems to have a little more float in the technical areas. I think I might take some air pressure out to see if that helps with the traction because the Gussy Trail is still pretty soft in most places.

It was the Fixation's turn to ride today but had to try the Qball with the Bonty on the back. I don't know why I never considered riding this way but as you can see by the track below, I rode up the Gussy and back. I have never tried probably because I have been ingrained to always ride loops, or try to at least, but what was interesting about riding it this way is the experiences of riding one way were still fresh in my memory when I returned going the other way.

For example, at the Double Cross, Via Roma and Hadrian's Wall, on the way up, I stopped to think about the best line to take but on the way back, I didn't think about it and just hit both. Both crossings ride really nicely, of course having the big wheels also helps immensely as I repeatedly find when riding through the Wet Spot.

The third stream crossing was a no brainer, but, some more work needs to be done on it. With all the rain we just had, the ramps/banks of the crossing are really soft and muddy. I am sure they will dry out but I think it may be prudent to add some more armo

The next shot is interesting and the question is, who dunnit? While it's possible that it's just Dog Poo, it could also be from a Coyote, Bear, or Mountain Lion. Yes, Mountain Lion, apparently one was spotted last week near Castle Hill Rd, which is south west of the Flag pole. There is an article in this week's Newtown Bee called Mountain Lion Mystery.

It's definitely not a horse, which by the way I am still waiting to hear back form the Horse community on what their idea of a good Poop Management Plan will be. After speaking with various horseback riders, the consensus seems to be Curb your Horse. If you are going to stop and take a break, then do so off the trail. However, as some riders have pointed out their horses often just do it on the move. Therefore, I think it's best that if you are riding along, on a horse of course, and it's in your ability to dismount, then please do so, and kick them apples off the trail.

Rode with the new NEMBA Trail Ambassador shorts today. The padding is nice but I am not sure about the colors. I thought the gold was supposed to be more of orange color but I guess that is what you get with spandex.

And of course, here is a nice shot the Qball with flox in the background. Riding this bike is such a pleasure and it keeps getting better and better every time. Not sure there is anything else that can be done for it at this point. I suppose the only think I could do is get a better fork but I am happy with what I have at this point.

At the end this great ride another great brew from BBC finished it off, Lost Sailor Pale Ale.

The Happening at Huntington, June 22nd

Sunday, June 22nd
Happening at Huntington
Collis P Huntington State Park, Redding
Sunset Hill Road Parking Lot (Statues)
Registration: 8:00 AM to 9:00 AM
Ride: 9:00 AM to 11:00 AM
Paula Burton at peburton@aol.comThis email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it or 203-426-5369