BikeRide

May 16, 2010 - After not doing many group rides last year, today I had the chance to meet up with some old riding friends and some new faces thanks to a group ride invite from my friend Scott.  We started off in New Hartford, Connecticut at the country house of one of the riders.  I rode to the start to get in some extra training miles.  The group did a familiar loop to Norfolk, Connecticut but took a few roads that were new to me.

We started out with a climb up Steele Road to New Hartford center that made for a fast warm up.  The pace picked up along the Farmington River and I found myself in the wind towing a group for a while on the way to Riverton.  That was probably a mistake since I should have been conserving my energy.

After a regroup in Riverton, we made our way up Sandy Brook Road, which is a gradual climb.  I rode most of the way to the top with frame builder Dwight Bowen.  A few of the riders in the group were on his custom made steel frames.

Church Hill Road

After Sandy Brook we  made a right on route 183, then turned left on Church Hill Road. As the name of the road would suggest, it was anything but flat. Once we made it to Norfork, a stop at the patio of the Infinity Bistro for coffee was in order.

Norfolk, Connecticut

After Norfolk, we headed back by Winchester Lake, Winchester Center, and then by Highland Lake which was a new route for me.

Riding Past Highland Lake

After the ride we shared food and good company at Patti’s country house.  This group has good taste in food, and I really need to ride with them more often!

The spread of food after the ride.

After some good food I had to get back on the bike for the final six miles or so home.  I did about 62 miles total for the day for a metric century and my longest ride of the year so far.

Route on Garmin

Photoset on Flickr

This summer I am looking forward to riding the 2010 LIVESTRONG Challenge in Seattle.  I’ve signed up for the event and will be flying out from Connecticut to meet up with some of my old college buddies. We are doing a 20 year reunion of our collegiate cycling team from Whitworth College.

I’m pictured center in this 1988 photo of my collegiate cycling team. There is no way I’ll fit into my old jersey!

This event will have a special meaning for me.  It was two weeks before heading back to school for my junior year at Whitworth in 1988 that my dad lost his fight with Multiple myeloma (blood plasma cancer).  In 1988 the treatment for this type of cancer was not very successful, and he didn’t have much of a chance.  This is why I think it is so important to support organizations like LIVESTRONG.

I may never have gotten bit as hard by the cycling bug had it not been for my dad, who I was somehow able to talk into helping lead our church youth group on a week long bicycle tour in the Canadian Rockies when I was 12 years old.  Just about every summer during my teenage years we would do a week long bicycle tour somewhere in the pacific northwest, and he was a big supporter when I wanted to get into bike racing as well.

So friends, if you can help by making a donation to LIVESTRONG through my ride fund-raising page, any support would be greatly appreciated!  If you are a fan of the Fat Cyclist Blog, I’ve joined up with Team Fatty so your donations through my page will go toward the overall LIVESTRONG Challenge fund-raising count of Team Fatty as well.

Thanks,

Brent

I continue to be amazed at how many great roads there are for cycling in western Massachusetts, especially if you are not afraid to get off the pavement and venture onto some dirt roads. The Berkshires have countless scenic backroads, and this past weekend I was able to do another great ride that passed though the Beartown State Forest. After meeting for breakfast, we all piled into Scott’s Eurovan and drove up to New Marlborough and parked on the green. We passed many other cyclists on the way there. We started out descending to Mill River, then wound our way to Sheffield. Scott’s crank arm was creaking, so we stopped off at the garage of dirt track racer Andy Bachetti which was located along our route. Andy had a 9 mm hex wrench and was nice enough to help us out. Thank Andy!

After arriving in Sheffield we headed northwest, eventually connecting to Jug End Road which is a nice dirt road that skirts the base of Mount Washington. After that we continued north toward Stockbridge.

Williamsville Road near Stockbridge

After arriving in Stockbridge we stopped on main street to refill water bottles. Beware of the $2 per bottle of water prices at the Stockbridge General Store. You are better off going to the gas station around the block.

After Stockbridge we climbed through the Beartown State Forest. Most of the climb from the north is a narrow paved road. Once we got up the hard part of the climb we took a left on Beartown Mountain Road which turned to dirt. For the most part, is was smooth packed dirt, but there were a few puddles and muddy spots. Beartown Mountain Road

There is a long downhill smooth dirt section that we took into Monterey where there is another country store. From Monterey we took another dirt road back to New Marlborough.

New Marlborough - Monterey Road

We were greatly helped navigating this route by using a Western Massachusetts Bicycle Map available from eMapStore, but we did notice the map had some roads listed as dirt that were paved. View the complete photo set from this ride, and the photos on a map. Route Map from MapMyRide.com

I recently mapped out a cycling route that linked many dirt roads near where I live in northwest Connecticut and the southern Berkshires of Massachusetts. I called this loop the BDF2R (Berkshire Foothills Dirt Road Ride). I recently attempted the route with some of my cycling club friends. On May 24th we met in Pleasant Valley, Connecticut at the elementary school parking lot. On the way to the ride, Stuart and Laura witnessed the aftermath of a hit and run cycling accident which is not what you want to hear about before heading out on a holiday weekend ride. The 18-year-old driver was drunk when he hit two cyclists at about 7:20 in the morning. I hope the cyclists will be o.k. It certainly makes you think twice when an accident like this happens of roads you frequently ride on.

As we were getting ready to start the ride, Scott noticed he had a cut in his tire. he patched it up with some duct tape, and we were soon on our way. We started out on East River Road along the Farmington River, then took a right on Greenwoods Road into the People’s State Forest. This one lane road isn’t dirt, but it is broken pavement in a few places with some gravel, and is a challenging climb to start the ride with. I noticed a lot of people camping in the State Forest for Memorial Day.

Greenwoods Road through the Peoples State Forest

After Greenwoods Road we connected to Route 20, then turned left on Mill Street, left on Hogback, and downhill to cross the Hogback Dam until we got back to Route 8. On Route 8 and Sandy Brook Road we saw a steady stream of cyclists heading the opposite direction that were participating in the Angel Ride, a two day charity ride that crosses Connecticut.

Off of Sandy Brook Road we turned onto Campbell Road which was our first dirt road section. This connected to Beech Hill, then we turned left on Simmons Pond Road. This is where it got interesting.

Simmons Pond Road had a Dead End sign that we should have taken seriously, but we continued on. At first the road was just gravel as it passed through the Algonquin State Forest, but it soon turned to big rock with a lot of water. Basically it was like riding in a stream. I found some old topo maps that showed these roads, but they are not on current maps, and even on a mountain bike they would be challenging.

It was too late to turn around so we forged ahead. Jim was riding his road bike with 23c tires pumped up to 135 psi and it was pretty amazing that he made it through this section. He took his road shoes off and hiked barefoot with his bike for a while! Before long the road got a little better, but there were a lot of steep hike-a-bike sections. We eventually connected to Roberts Road, which had a more rideable dirt surface, and that came out on New Hartford Road, which took us north. There are some other dirt roads off of New Hartford Road that I will have to explore some other time.

New Hartford Road

From New Hartford Road we turned left on Dodd Road, which was another dirt section. That road passed a couple of farms, then turned to a double track as it entered the Sandisfield State Forest. The Road is a little wet and rocky in places, but rideable.

Dodd Road

At the end of Dodd Road we took a left on Forest Road, past York Lake, and crossed Route 183 to East Hill Road.

York Lake

East Hill Road is another scenic dirt road that descends to Southfield, Mass. Rock walls line the road and there is a Lama Farm that made for a good photo opp.

After East Hill Road we arrived at the Southfield Store for a food stop. The store was renovated a few years ago and is a little more upscale to cater to the many owners of weekend and summer homes in the area. Being that this was Memorial Day weekend, it seemed like there were a few new employees in the store to gear up for the summer. They seemed a little frazzled when our group came in. The service was a little slow, but they had a some good food. Gourmet pizzas, sandwiches, baked goods, and pastries were available. There were a few tables out on the patio where we sat. I had a small Mahgarita Pizza, a scone, and a Coke.

After the food stop we turned off of Route 272 to Canaan Southfield Road and then veered off onto Keyes Hill, another dirt road that passed a farm with a great red barn. At the bottom of a steep dirt descent on Keyes Hill we crossed Canaan Southfield Road to climb Rhoades and Baily Road. If we do this route in the future I would continue straight on Rhoades and Baily, but we turned right onto Cagney Hill and dropped down another twisting descent to connect back with Canaan Southfield road. We eventually turned right onto Cross Road to Canaan Valley which is another dirt road that starts with a climb.

Cross Road to Canaan Valley Next we turned left onto Campbell Falls Road which is a dirt road that climbed up to Route 272 past the scenic falls that run under a stone bridge.

Once we were back on Route 272 heading toward Norfolk, we turned left onto Elmore Road (dirt) and that turned onto Wheeler Road and connected to a number of other country lanes until we got to the store at Colebrook.

Wheeler Road

The Colebrook store is currently closed with a for sale sign in the window. From the store we headed down Schoolhouse Road which becomes Pisgah Mountain Road. That is a fun dirt descent that connect back to Sandy Brook Road. I have seen that road many times while coming up Sandy Brook but had never ridden down it. We headed back to Pleasant Valley on our normal route Down Sandy Brook, Route 8, then past Riverton.

It was a great day of adventure discovering some new backroads. I’d like to plan this ride again with a few alterations to avoid the unrideable sections, and maybe connect a few other dirt roads that I have yet to ride.

Photo Gallery from the ride

2008 is the 4th year I have done a version of this great loop bike ride in the Berkshire Hills of Northwest Connecticut, Taconic State Park of New York, and Western Massachusetts. The ride includes many roads with the word “Mountain” of “Hill” in the name, a few dirt sections, one portage through a “pond”, and two covered bridges. This year we started the ride in Norfolk, Connecticut and 21 riders showed up for the start. Some were regulars of the Eastern Bloc Cycling Club, and there were a few new faces.

The ride started out on Mountain Road from Norfolk past the Canaan Reservoir which turns into dirt. The road was smooth dirt for the most part, and the view of the water was worth a few bumps.

After Mountain Road there was a fun descent, then the real fun began as we took Cobble Road. With the rain the day before the water on cobble road was a little higher than normal. A few of the new faces were a little surprised by the bottom bracket deep water, but this is the signature part of this ride.

After getting my shoes wet on previous year’s rides, I followed Coleman’s lead in took my shoes and socks off and carried my bike through the water.

After the water crossing the we soon arrived at Music Mountain Road. As you can imagine, Music Mountain Road is a good climb and very scenic. Music Mountain is the home of the oldest continuing summer chamber music festival in this country.

View from the top of Music Mountain

From Music Mountain we turned left on Cream Hill Road, which is another steep climb. I don’t know if it was the cooler temeratures, or if I am in better shape this season, but the climb wasn’t has hard as I remembered in the past.

Near the top Cream Hill

After Cream Hill we descended to West Cornwall and crossed the covered bridge. Our first of two covered bridges on the ride.

Past the covered bridge we crossed Route 7 and headed up a steep climb on the road to Sharon, Connecticut.

On the downhill into Sharon I avoided a few dogs that chased me down the street, and made it to our first stop at a convenience store where we filled water bottles and a few people got a slice of pizza.

Scott fueling up on a slice of pepperoni

The stop was a little long and someone complained that we should wait at least 40 miles for the next stop, but hey, stopping for food is half the fun. Just after we got going again we took Lovers Lane, which is a little shortcut to route 361 on a downhill dirt road. There may have been one too many potholes because soon after we got back onto the paved road I noticed I had a flat back tire. So again the group stopped as I changed the flat. On my first attempt, my spare tube had a hole in it, so it was about the slowest tire change possible, but with a little help getting the tire pumped up to 115 psi, we got back on the road and headed north into New York.

A few people were hammering on the front of the group and split things up a bit. Some riders decided to cut the ride short and turned off on Route 44 in Millerton, New York. We continued North to Taconic State Park. We took a rail trail to the store just across from the park entrance. We got some water there, and I went to the bike shop near the trail to get a spare tube just in case I flatted again.

The next part of the ride headed up the climb to Bash Bish State Park into Massachusetts over Mount Washington. This climb is a 15-16% grade in places and the most challenging climb of the ride.

Proof that I was on the ride! Here I’m climbing Bash Bish. Nice Hair!

We regrouped at the top of the climb and headed down a fast descent on the Massachusetts side on Mount Washington on East Street. I started off going pretty fast down the climb but backed off a bit because there were a lot of potholes and bad pavement and I wanted to see what was coming up. Just as we got to be bottom of the hill, there were 5 or 6 riders just ahead of me, and all of the sudden Paul lost control and hit the ground at about 35 miles per hour. It was a terrible sound of metal and skin hitting the pavement. He must have slid 30 to 40 yards on his ass and shoulder down the road, across the sand and into the grass. As I rode past still trying to slow down it smelled like burning rubber.

That’s gotta hurt!

I quickly slowed down and turned around to see if he was o.k. Paul was laying in the grass and looked really bad. He was shaking like he was in shock, but after a little while he recovered a little and took inventory. Thank God he didn’t break any bones or have a head injury. He was laying on his back so at first the amount of road rash wasn’t so noticeable, but then he turned over and put his hand on his butt and said “is that my ass?” It was soon apparent that the smell of burning rubber had been Paul’s Lycra shorts disintegrating. He had the worst case of road rash I have ever seen.

Someone called 911 and a volunteer fireman showed up soon with an ambulance not far behind. The fireman had been a volunteer for many local MS rides, and said he had dealt with road rash many times before. Paul went in the ambulance to the local hospital to get his road rash cleaned up. The firemen took his bike to the firehouse. With that excitement over, we continue on minus one rider to South Egremont, Massachusetts, then south to Sheffield.

View of Mount Washington from Sheffield Egremont Road

In Sheffield we rode south briefly of Route 7 then turned to cross the Sheffield Covered Bridge. After the bridge there was a short dirt/gravel section that actually had some big rocks that were a little hard to navigate on skinny tires, but we all made it with no flat tires.

From Sheffield we took County Road that climbed gradually north, then we turned south to Mill River where we made our last water stop. The store had some home made cookies that helped fuel me for the final miles.

On the way back to Norfolk we climbed Tobey Hill Road, which is very steep, and then there was a difficult hill on Route 272 on the final miles of the ride.

Tobey Hill Road

We made it back to Norfolk and some of us had a beer and some food at the Speckled Hen Pub. I made it through the ride in better shape than previous years. I made sure to down a Hammer Gel before each of the major climbs and I think that helped keep me from bonking. I’m looking forward to some other good rides in 2008.

Full set of photos from the ride | View Slideshow