Daffy has a longer Duck!

Headed over to Waldo Sunday morning after hearing that the continuation of
Daffy Duck was now open for business.

One thing I noticed right off the bat is someone took a leaf blower to all the trails.

The Mickey Mouse skinny is finally complete and it's basically Mickey Mouse!

Because I could do it!

The view down at the beach was spectacular!

 

The Spot is rocking!

The feature is called Captain's Log and it's where the Daffy extension comes out.  Unfortunately, I only had enough time to ride the extension in one direction.  Going to try and come back this week and give it, along with the Hunter's Trail and Waldo a thorough rip.

Ran into the these riders from the City all on steel, rigid bikes riding here for the first time!

While Waldo in general is not overly technical the times I have ridden rigid here I always feel like I was beat to crap.  These guys are pretty hardcore to be out for the first time on rigid bikes!

Riding down memory lane, Pt II

When I got to the town I grew up in I was amazed at how much it has changed.  Granted I am in New Canaan probably once a month and for most of the holidays visiting my father I never get up to town.  After having lunch with my best friend from High School, who was in for the reunion from Seattle, I decided to ride around town and hit some of the hills that I used to ride when I was in High School before I had a car.

BR occupies the old record store, the Gramophone Shop!
The streetscape on Elm Street is greatly changed, too.  Lots of outside side dining and only a few shops remaining from when I used to work here after school or hang out.

The Next Station to Heaven!

This Bridgestone X05 was parked at Cherry Street East.  Given the fact that it doesn't have grips would lead me to believe that it's owned by someone that doesn't appreciate the classic nature of this bike.
I would love to have this bike as my commuter!

Rode by Philip Johnson's place on Ponus Ridge

Swung by the Homecoming game at the high school after
opening up the Fredmobile on the trails at Waveny Park.

New Canaan was stomping on Danbury

Then I rode over to Waveny Care Center to visit an old friend who works as a receptionist.  From there I headed over to my father's house on Jelliff Mill and check out what's going on with the Mill.

The current owners of the Mill have tried to put in an office building, a restaurant, and now they are finally putting in condos.  The local residents, including my father, fought them tooth and nail, but eventually lost when the developer pulled out the low income housing card.  So the condo project has started, where 30% of the condos have to be affordable.  In New Canaan, affordable would mean instead of an $800,000 condo it will be $300,000.  People are going to be lining up to snap those up!  That rule is such a sham!

 

This could be the last time I ever see the Mill because it's slated for demolition.  I liked it better when it was red.  Condos hear are gonna suck.

1500 miles on the Fredmobile!

Back brakes were squeaking like a strangled goose

so I think it's time for an overhaul!

Riding down memory lane, Pt I

Could not of have asked for a better, fall day than Saturday to ride to my 30th High School Reunion



OMG ... the pavement on Newtown Turnpike is sweet!

Fall Colors along the Saugatuck Reservoir were simply fabulous!

 

Fredmobile was running great, with the exception of my rear brakes sounding like a strangled goose - guess it's time to replace them!

Prior to living in New Canaan, I lived in Wilton for four years
and lived on Newtown Turnpike.

I have never ridden up Wolfpit Road in Wilton and what an ass kicker!
At the top of the hill was Miller School, where I attended the 4th Grade back in 1974.

Riding down memory lane, Part II

37th Bike Commute

I find myself in uncharted territory at this time of the year with all the commuting that I have been doing.  37 doesn't seem like a lot but when you think about it, it's almost 20% of my yearly commute to work by driving the car.  

Looks like someone was naughty on the Boulevard

From a mileage perspective, my favorite route is 20 miles round trip and to hit this year's goal of 1000 miles I figured I would need to ride 50 times.  However, unlike years in the past, this one I have gotten more and more into road cycling and on many occasions throughout this year I have added additional miles so at this point I am pretty close to my 1000 mile goal but not by the number of rides.  Seeing that I still have almost three months to go till the end of the year we'll how close I can get to that real goal of 50 commutes.  If I hit that number, I will be well over the 1000 mile goal, but more importantly is I will have ridden my bike to work a quarter of the year.

The Qball has a new fork!  It's a carbon fiber fork from Carver that came with my Kona Unit.  I traded it away for some handle bars last year, only to find out the person I traded it to sold it to a friend of mine, who didn't need it anymore, and sold it back to me.  It's great and makes the bike a few pounds lighter.  It also really makes some of the bumps a lot softer.  I also took off the Topeak Handlebar bag.  It was gnawing at me too much to keep it there and the mount really eff'ed my cockpit so I am going to put it back on the Burley. 

The steering tube is much longer and I think I have to lower the stem an inch.  Riding it to work felt like I was on a comfort bike.  The other thing I discovered was my front tire has a bulge in it, I suspect it's from hitting something and I think it's time to replace it.  I think I got 1500 miles all together out of it so it's served me well.  In it's stead, I am going to try something thinner and with a little more aggressive tread pattern.  Next year's goal is to ride D2R2 on the Singlespeed and I will need a more aggressive tread pattern if I want to get up any of those dirt roads.  

Singlespeeding the Blow Hole

While I am not mountain biking as much as I would like to, I did happen to get over to Cromwell last week at hit the Blow Hole, aka River Highlands State Park.  It used to be called Blow Hole State Park because there is a stream that leads out the Connecticut River and forms a unique canyon that when the wind is right, it funnels the air up through the canyon and can get rather strong.

The Blow Hole, in by no means is a difficult place to ride.  There are a few hike-a-bikes only because of lousy trail design or no trail design, large due to the fact that in the past it was ravaged by ATVs.  New singletrack is starting spring up here and there and even though it has a rake and ride feel to it, the trails are starting to settle in.

One of the rare treats of the Blow Hole is the vista over the Connecticut River

 

And of course you ride right down to the river

 

Climbing/Hiking the bike out of the Blow Hole we came across a guy on a motorcycle

 

Never went up this section before but as you can see it's the mother of all hike-a-bikes!

It was a really tough climb and we all had problems climbing up due to the soft, loamy soil