Today I got out for a ride and took a few photos of the fall foliage in Connecticut. It is starting to get cold, and the colors are probably just past peak, yet some types of trees have not yet turned color, so there still could be one more wave of color.
This is the time of year where I have been taking it easy, and I start to think about the next year. In the next couple of weeks I’ll set up my indoor trainer, and starting doing some indoor riding.
This past Saturday I completed my second D2R2. I got up early and drove up to Deerfield, Masachusetts with Rob from my cycling club for the 9:00 am start of the 100K ride. I wasn’t quite ready to do the 112 mile route. Earlier in the season I may have attempted it, but the past month my time on the bike has suffered due to long hours at work, and family visiting from out of town.
The start of this year’s ride was near Historic Deerfield in some farm fields. We parked and walked over to the registration tent to sign in and get our brevet cards. The organizers had a nice spread of food for breakfast, which I’m sure the people that camped over night appreciated. I got a cup of coffee and a muffin.
A large group started out together at 9:00 at a moderate pace. Rob and I moved up a little in the group. I remember the previous year’s first hill was a little crazy, and this year was the same. A lot of riders were in the wrong gear or couldn’t keep moving on the first steep gravel climb. When one person lost momentum and got off to walk, it caused a big chain reaction. I was just caught in the mayhem, and had to get off my bike and run for a bit before I could remount on a less steep section.
Rob and I got separated for a bit, but he caught up to me before too long and we stayed together the rest of the ride. The weather was perfect this year, and I felt a lot better than last year, but this is still a very difficult ride.
We made and effort this year to make quick stops at the check points to keep the legs moving.
Making it to the midway stop. Photo by PyZahl.net. See his ride album
At the midway point next to a covered bridge in Vermont was the main lunch stop. It was a perfect location next to the Green River in the shade. I saw a lot of riders in Rapha cycling gear at the check point and figured out that this was the Rapha Continental team cataloging the D2R2 as one of their epic rides on the East Coast.
I look forward to seeing their ride report and photos. Their report from a ride in Litchfield included many of the roads I have the privilege on riding on frequently from where I live in Northwest Connecticut.
After the lunch stop the 100K route follows the Green River on a mostly flat section for about 10 miles before the climbing resumes. We were to take a tight left turn from the river road. I just missed the turn and had to turn around. While I was pulling a U-turn my front tire sunk into the soft sand at the side of the road and I immediatly went down hard on my left shoulder. That hurt, but I there was no serious damage, so I got up and brushed myself off and continued on. I also got some sand in my front shifter, so for awhile shifting to the big ring was a problem.
The last few hills were tough, especially the stair step climb to the last checkpoint at the orchard, but it was rewarded with some of the best ripe peaches I have ever had.
The last dirt section includes a very steep rocky descent that tested my bike handling skills. Chris from my bike club came flying past me on the downhill. He was riding the 112 mile ride on a suspended mountain bike.
We made in back to the finish in about 5:10 ride time and 5:39 total time. That is probably the hardest 100K you can do. For tires I was running 32c Specialized Tires at about 95 psi. Next time I would run lower pressure. Maybe 75 or 80. I felt like I was bouncing a lot on rocky sections.
The food at the finish was not quite up to the Burritos of the previous year, but I didn’t care too much. We didn’t stick around too long and before long we were on the road back to Connecticut.
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
This weekend I had been invited to head up to Vermont with my friends Scott, Dave, and Pete to ride on Saturday and Sunday including a 100 miler that climbed over Appalachian Gap and took in a few dirt roads as well.
Unfortunately the weather forecast called for rain and thunder storms, so we canceled the trip, but hopefully we can do it again another weekend later in the year.
If you are interested in finding out more about riding the gaps (mountain passes) through the Green Mountains of Vermont, NortheastCycling.com has a great page on the Six Gaps of Vermont with route maps, and elevation profiles of all the climbs.
In my last blog post I described a 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.
RSS - Subscribe to the BikeRide Blog
