Northeast - Anyone in CT interested in regular late morning Sunday ride ?

Hi all,
Looking for a mid/late morning Sunday ride in CT while there's still dry roads and temps above freezing. I will come ride your loop in anywhere west of I-91 & north of the Merritt Parkway. Maybe I ride your loop one week, you ride mine the other....loop should be 25-40 miles....longer rides possible if planned in advance. Average speed roughly 16-18mph. Hills are a bonus !! I am based out of Oxford so Fairfield, Bridgeport, Seymour, Litchfield, New Haven, etc. are reasonable starting points. It may not happen every week but let's at least try.....
Guitar ? Are you available ?

Hey....can't do today, have too much stuff going on. Also, base season has started, and the speed has dropped off significantly.....did my 25 mile loop yesterday, and my average was a fairly casual 14 mph. I'll be doing longer rides on the weekends and such, but will be going at a fairly slow and easy pace for a bit. My loops are east of the river though.....but there's some good loops around here.

Hi Dana,

Well my conditioning has dropped precipitously too since the GRR at the beginning of last month. I was hoping to get out today but I got some sort of stomach bug which kicked my butt from about 2:00 today. I "wharfed" about a 35 minutes ago so I'm feeling a little better but this weekend was a total loss cycling-wise.....now I just hope I can make it to work tomorrow...
We'll see, winter's just starting

Yep....just ordered a Cateye Triple Shot LED lighting system to replace my two Cateye EL500's so I can ride after work and hopefully not kill myself trying to see. I will be keeping my HR between 135 and 150 BPM for the most part during rides to build up my base fitness for the next few months. So....if ya don't mind riding "slow" (particularly on the hills....was only doing like 7-9 mph), maybe we can get some rides organized at some point. I don't really like sand on the roads all that much though.

Lots of good rides around here....I'd also like to explore the Litchfield hills in the NW part of the state, but probably in spring when I can go a bit harder :)

Yep....just ordered a Cateye Triple Shot LED lighting system to replace my two Cateye EL500's so I can ride after work and hopefully not kill myself trying to see. I will be keeping my HR between 135 and 150 BPM for the most part during rides to build up my base fitness for the next few months. So....if ya don't mind riding "slow" (particularly on the hills....was only doing like 7-9 mph), maybe we can get some rides organized at some point. I don't really like sand on the roads all that much though.

Lots of good rides around here....I'd also like to explore the Litchfield hills in the NW part of the state, but probably in spring when I can go a bit harder :)


I don't know how crazy I'm going to get with lights just yet. The set you ordered is pretty impressive....but also expensive too. My work is pretty accomodating so I may actually bring my bike to work and ride at lunchtime on Mondays & Tuesdays. I'll work and extra half an hour so I can take a 90 minute lunch; 60 minutes to ride, 30 minutes to prep & leave before and shower & change afterwards. If I can do that and then ride on the weekends (assuming dry roads & reasonable temps) I'll take Wednesday-Fridays on the rollers before work.

Well, let's see what happens....

I can ride at lunchtime as well, but working in Cranston, RI....well, sucks. Did that once, and it wasn't a very enjoyable ride for the most part.

I got the light for like $210...it was marked down to $215 at Performance, and then I used the $20 off web coupon, so it was like $210 shipped. Not too bad. Hopefully it doesn't suck and actually throws some decent light.

Perhaps one of these days we can meet up maybe in Southington or something....it's about an hour drive for me to there. Unfortunately, it wouldn't be until like Dec. 10th at the earliest, and who knows what the weather will hold by then.

Also, I try to keep my HR in the 130 bpm range due to base season, which equals fairly slow average speeds. This means uphill will be reallllllly slow. And that "fun" ride with the two monster climbs will have to wait until next year :D.

I just got back on the trainer tonight for an hour after being off the bike for 6 days; still need to knock some lingering congestion out of me, but all in all it wasn't too bad. Hopefully I won't get sick now for awhile. Not likely, but I can always hope.

Well let me know......I'm interested.
It's Winter so I don't think anyone around here will be in mid-Summer form.....
I'm about to go ride rollers.....roads are wet this morning....I've ridden every day since last Friday except for Saturday.....I'm kinda getting worn down but I won't be able to ride at all tomorrow & Friday so I'll slog through 30-40 minutes on the rollers and then I'll be done til Saturday earliest. Looks like the weekend will be dry but much cooler. We were spoiled last week !!

BTW I ordered the FC-R700 from ProBikeKit. $199 plus another $30 for Ultegra BB cups. Should be here next week sometime. I've read nothing but good things about this crank.

Glad to hear you're feeling better !

I love my compact crank, other than dropping the chain once in awhile. I'm debating throwing on a 36T small ring to replace the 34T though (but the 34T is really nice in the Berkshires).

Anyone else up for a ride? Get a little Sunday morning ride action going....in slow motion LOL

What are you running for a compact ? Rear cassette ?


I love my compact crank, other than dropping the chain once in awhile. I'm debating throwing on a 36T small ring to replace the 34T though (but the 34T is really nice in the Berkshires).

Anyone else up for a ride? Get a little Sunday morning ride action going....in slow motion LOL


.....even if we make it a once a month or every other week thing....weather permitting :rolleyes:

C'mon CT riders.....Spindog ? SteveCT ? cdale56 ? cycle17 ? Panic ?

We can all be cold and miserable and get our winter miles in on the weekends together....
..and then complain about the weather on BF on week long ! :D :D

I run a 12-27 9 speed cassette.....

I use the 27T cog actually quite a bit now since I'm trying to go real easy on the steeper hills, but in the summer, I found that the 21T and 24T cogs were plenty (unless I was in the Berkshires...then the 27T got a bit of a workout). What I really like about the 12-27 is the 24T cog, which enables me to stay in the 50T 'ring quite a bit, even on some hills.

C'mon CT riders.....Spindog ? SteveCT ? cdale56 ? cycle17 ? Panic ?

We can all be cold and miserable and get our winter miles in on the weekends together....
..and then complain about the weather on BF on week long ! :D :D


I don't do well in the cold > the dry, cold, air really affects the asthma (not to mention I have no circulation in my fingers and toes). If we continued this 50-60's streak, I think a BF ride would be in order for sure. For now, I'll have to be your SAG support ;)

They are talking high temps between 36 and 41 degrees on Saturday (still early, forecast could change). Yikes! Not for me. I'll take a few spin classes at the gym instead. I have the option to take up to four in a row if they aren't full and as long as I don't go into cardiac arrest. The classes are tough!

OK, Im in!
Im not that far from Guitar wizard, PM me and maybe we can arrange something.......
I havent been that motivated lately so i need a spark of some sort.

Sfene

Just thought I would throw my hat into the ring on regular Sunday rides over the winter. I am up for a regular Saturday or Sunday ride a couple times a month in Northwest CT. I am in Thomaston at the base of Route 254, so there is a "nice" 7 mile climb to get to Litchfield. From the center of Litchfield, there are a number of different routes to take. I am willing to travel in the area to get together for some rides.

I am in the first week of training for at least the first couple of brevets run out of western MA (Berkshire brevets?) First ones start at end of March (200k) and beginning of April (300k). Would love some company on longer rides. Pace is somewhat flexible and relatively slow (about 15 mph average). Anticipated training volume on weekend rides starts at 40 miles and increases steadily (about 10% a week).

Most of my training during the week will be indoors on a trainer. Have a nice set of rollers, but tough to watch a movie and ride rollers in the basement.

Hope to get a schmidt dynohub and hedalights in December to facilitate early morning/late night riding.

Have a Ritchey compact crank, but don't have much time in the hills with it. Will be interesting to compare it to the triple i pulled off.

Anyway, let's get something going on Sundays. Planning a 40 miler this saturday, but can move it to sunday if that works for people. Thomaston to Litchfield to Lake Waramaug and back. (Route 254 to 202). Any takers?

If I wasn't going to NYC this weekend, I would :(

I am up for a ride but this Sunday is not good with me. Lets see what the weather is like next weekend.

Steve

OK, Im in!
Im not that far from Guitar wizard, PM me and maybe we can arrange something.......
I havent been that motivated lately so i need a spark of some sort.

Sfene


Whereabouts would you be coming from ?

I'm kind of liking the Thomaston area as a starting point and then riding into Litchfield like baltrush was offering. It'll take me about 35-40 minutes to drive there. However, I'm open to alternatives too.
Let's keep an eye on the weather as well. :)

How hilly is that area? I'm trying to take it easy on the 'ol legs :)

How hilly is that area? I'm trying to take it easy on the 'ol legs :)

I believe it's fairly hilly....no walls but long steady climbs.......but I can probably find some walls too !

However, I have Routesliped a proposed route that would go from Thomaston into Litchfield and then Goshen before looping back. 40 miles, just under 3000' of elevation gain.
Check it out and let me know what you think....

http://www.routeslip.com/map.php?map=15623

Yeah....looks like fun; I'll just take it fairly easy on the climbs. I just don't like immediately climbing with no warmup though....

Looks like route 109, right? Literally 1/2 mile away from my house. There is a school at the base of 109 in Thomaston to meet (Black Rock School). Should have mentioned this before, but I have to be in Watertown (next town over) for 2pm this Sunday.

As for starting off with hills, that is a huge problem around my area. You really can't go much more than 1 mile without hitting a steady hill. I am about 180 lbs, so hills aren't my friend, but a necessary evil.

Anyway, what time works for you guys? I am thinking closer to 10am the better for me, but I realize that makes Joe's trip early morning. If i break off from the trip once it crosses route 6 on the way back to Thomaston, that may be a way to start later.

Thoughts?

Sorry, should have clarified. I would break off onto route 6 and head to my in-laws in Watertown for the b-day dinner.

Looks like route 109, right? Literally 1/2 mile away from my house. There is a school at the base of 109 in Thomaston to meet (Black Rock School). Should have mentioned this before, but I have to be in Watertown (next town over) for 2pm this Sunday.

As for starting off with hills, that is a huge problem around my area. You really can't go much more than 1 mile without hitting a steady hill. I am about 180 lbs, so hills aren't my friend, but a necessary evil.

Anyway, what time works for you guys? I am thinking closer to 10am the better for me, but I realize that makes Joe's trip early morning. If i break off from the trip once it crosses route 6 on the way back to Thomaston, that may be a way to start later.

Thoughts?


No, that's Route 254 that we'd take going up and away from Thomaston towards Litchfield.

I'd like to start at 9:00 or 9:30.....I'd like to be back home by noonish to keep the wife happy. ;)

I'm 180lbs myself so you'll have company on the hills....;)

I know it's supposed to get colder this weekend...
I expect temps at ride time to be high 30's to low 40's but I have the clothing for it.

I could do this on Dec. 10th, if you guys are interested then....and if there's no snow on the ground.

9:00 works for me. Route 254 is actually closer to my house. If you know Thomaston, there is a Webster Bank in the middle of town which may make a nice area to meet.

Dec. 10th would work for me as well, but we may want to move the area around in the interests of fairness. Of course, if everyone wants to come my way time after time, who am I to complain :-)

9:00 works for me. Route 254 is actually closer to my house. If you know Thomaston, there is a Webster Bank in the middle of town which may make a nice area to meet.

Dec. 10th would work for me as well, but we may want to move the area around in the interests of fairness. Of course, if everyone wants to come my way time after time, who am I to complain :-)

Yes, I think 9:00 will work.....
Yes, I agree we should move it around as well.
I chose your area because I was somewhat familiar with the roads....more so Litchfield than Thomaston but we gotta start somewhere...:D

Here are directions if you need them. Presuming you are heading Route 8 north from the waterbury area, take Exit 38 (first exit in Thomaston) and take a left at the bottom of the exit. Go straight through 4 lights and at the corner of the 5th light on the right hand side will be the Webster Bank. It is approximately 1/3 mile past the start of Route 254.

Here are directions if you need them. Presuming you are heading Route 8 north from the waterbury area, take Exit 38 (first exit in Thomaston) and take a left at the bottom of the exit. Go straight through 4 lights and at the corner of the 5th light on the right hand side will be the Webster Bank. It is approximately 1/3 mile past the start of Route 254.

I'm going to PM you with my contact info.

I will get there about 8:50.

Ryan

PS: as an extra incentive to others that are interested, there are two dunkin donuts stores in town! along with an independent coffee shop and a deli. Thomaston likes its coffee (and beer, but that is another story).

9:00 works for me. Route 254 is actually closer to my house. If you know Thomaston, there is a Webster Bank in the middle of town which may make a nice area to meet.

Dec. 10th would work for me as well, but we may want to move the area around in the interests of fairness. Of course, if everyone wants to come my way time after time, who am I to complain :-)

I would agree, but I'm curious to see how this route is....or perhaps you guys can give us a recap and then let everyone else know how much pain and suffering is involved :D

I would agree, but I'm curious to see how this route is....or perhaps you guys can give us a recap and then let everyone else know how much pain and suffering is involved :D

Well isn't pain & suffering what marriage...uh, cycling is all about...:D :D

When you guys extend the mileage to the 75-80 mile range, here is a link to the cue sheet for the "Tour of the Litchfield Hills" 77 mile route that starts in Torrington, CT.

It is a very nice ride with some good climbing. It does start off pretty quickly with a 5 and 1/2 mile climb up Rt 202, but that might be a welcome warm-up if the weather decides to get more seasonal around here.

http://www.tourofthelitchfieldhills.com/images/TOTLH_cue_75.pdf

Dec 10th 0900 sounds ok right now, assuming something does'nt blow up in my face between now & then!!
Ill be coming from Bolton (prob coming in on Rt 6) where to from there?

Tony

Tony,

the location for the Dec. 10th ride is not yet set. It will likely not be starting in thomaston, though.

In any event, to get to thomaston, take route 6 through farmington and bristol and through terryville and plymouth. Once you get into thomaston, there will be a steep hill leading down to Route 8. Continue straight (don't follow Route 6 and get on Route 8 south) and bear left at the next light and you are in the middle of thomaston. Webster Bank parking lot will be on your left.

Hi All,

Just wanted to let you know that Ryan (baltrush) & I met & rode this morning.
Weather was cool but not really a factor.
The climb on Route 254 out of Thomaston was long & steady and not too steep. We made it into Litchfield center and then hung a right onto Route 63. We were taking it pretty easy just kind of getting to know each other. We had a couple of rollers in Route 63 until we reach the Goshen fairgrounds which are located on a high flat plain. After that it was windy and flat. We reached Goshen center and then took a left onto Route 4. I had Routeslipped our route and had printed copies of the map but we both had forgotten them back at my truck. I kind of knew where we were supposed to take another left to begin our loop back to Litchfield center but wasn't sure.....at this time I was kind of hoping we'd run into some sort of a deli/coffeehouse so we could warm up, get some coffee/food, and maybe directions. I thought we'd never leave Goshen before coming back into Litchfield so Ryan and I were both a little surprised to see a signs for Cornwall. We were starting to be concerned about our having overshot our left turn. I said, "lets just go over the next hill and if we don't see our turn or a deli we'll turn back...". Well we came flying down this big long hill where I hit my high speed of the day at 46mph. All I was thinking was how mad Ryan was going to be at me if we had to turn around and climb back up this hill....Luckily for me the hill ended at the intersection of Route's 4 & 128 and more importantly at a deli. We ducked inside, warmed up, and the girl at the counter was nice enough to let us look at a couple of old half torn maps of the area.
We hadn't overshot our left as we were worried about. It was just ahead. However, we were going to be leaving state roads for the first time. Once on the side roads there would be a fork in the road where we could either go left on Great Hill Road or right on College. For some reason College Road sounded better than Great Hill Road....:rolleyes: When we reached what we thought was the fork and beared right we were very happy as we saw Great Hill Road leading off and up into a high ridge. However, our happiness was short lived. We ran into a dead end and on our way back out we struck up a conversation with a guy and his wife and dog splitting firewood at the side of the road. He chuckled as he told us that that fork in the road we were looking for was at the top of that high ridge....:eek:
And you know what ? It was....long painful hill. By the time we get to the fork in the road it didn't matter which way we took as we were already at the top of the hill. :rolleyes: We came back into Litchfield via Milton Road which takes you through a very old part of Litchfield....actually every part of Litchfield is an old part...:D Very pretty, lots of old houses, farms & barns. Once back into Litchfield I looked forward to an all downhill run back into Thomaston as I remembered being all up hill on the way out...Dopey me, there were some good sized rollers I had to get over......I hate when I forget about hills. :D
Oh well, we left Thomaston at 9:00 and it was 1:30 when we got back. No speed record to be sure but we had spent a fair amount of time at the deli and also talking with that guy in Corwall too. It was nice to just get out especially since they're callling for some snow tonight !!!

Just thought I'd let you folks know about the ride. We'll have to see what the roads & weather look like for next Sunday. I think I'd like to leave earlier so I could be back earlier next time. :)

Ryan, it was very nice meeting you ! Hope to ride again with you soon.

J.

Sounds like fun....kinda curious to see what the weather holds this week....

Here's a quick Routeslip of Great Hill Road.
It rises nearly 500 feet in one mile....

http://www.routeslip.com/map.php?map=15819

Not a bad little climb, eh?

Not a bad little climb, eh?


Especially when it was somewhat unexpected.....:rolleyes:

Heh....I had a similiar issue with this ride:

http://www.routeslip.com/map.php?map=951

I didn't quite expect it to be as hilly in the first half as it was. Combine that with chipseal pavement between miles 13 and 20, and it gave the 'ol legs a pretty good workout.

Heh....I had a similiar issue with this ride:

http://www.routeslip.com/map.php?map=951

I didn't quite expect it to be as hilly in the first half as it was. Combine that with chipseal pavement between miles 13 and 20, and it gave the 'ol legs a pretty good workout.

I'm sure the "bump" in the road at mile 35 is an unpleasant surprise after all the climbing in miles 12-25....

Did you ride at all this weekend ???

I missed getting out on Saturday......
My wife will be in Tulsa for business tonight through Wednesday night so it'll be rollers for me tomorrow & Wednesday while the babies still sleeping...

Joe, also enjoyed meeting you this weekend. However, I am sure Joe enjoyed the ride much more than i did. The combination of hills and inadequate gearing made for a difficult ride on my end. It was one of those rides where you always seemed to be climbing, but never descending . . . and Great Hill Road is aptly named. For you skiers out there, it basically climbs the Mohawk Mountain ski area with slightly less of a pitch.

If there is any place that is a beautiful ride, it is NW Connecticut. You just have to be prepared for the hills.

Hope to ride with you again too Joe.

Ryan

Joe, also enjoyed meeting you this weekend. However, I am sure Joe enjoyed the ride much more than i did. The combination of hills and inadequate gearing made for a difficult ride on my end. It was one of those rides where you always seemed to be climbing, but never descending . . . and Great Hill Road is aptly named. For you skiers out there, it basically climbs the Mohawk Mountain ski area with slightly less of a pitch.

If there is any place that is a beautiful ride, it is NW Connecticut. You just have to be prepared for the hills.

Hope to ride with you again too Joe.

Ryan

Ryan,

Look into the IRD 9 speed 11-28 cassette.

11/12/14/16/18/20/22/25/28

http://www.interlocracing.com/cassettes_steel.html

With your Richey compact crank the 34-28 combo will give you a low gear of just under 32 inches.

Hey it was great just being out there. I like getting lost and just kind of exploring a little. I enjoyed stopping at the deli to grab something to eat and talking with that guy and his wife.

Chromium acid bath huh ???:eek:

http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n244/JoeOxfordCT/9speedIRD.jpg

I'm sure the "bump" in the road at mile 35 is an unpleasant surprise after all the climbing in miles 12-25....

Did you ride at all this weekend ???

I missed getting out on Saturday......
My wife will be in Tulsa for business tonight through Wednesday night so it'll be rollers for me tomorrow & Wednesday while the babies still sleeping...

Actually, for the most part, the first 25 miles are at a bit of an uphill gradient. Nothing major, but sort of constant in parts. There are a few steeper grades though, but nothing insane. On the day I rode that route, on the "flattish" part after the big downhill (which was fun, BTW), I had a nice annoying headwind, so that was slow going as well. The bump in the road at mile 35 isn't too bad, actually.

Didn't get any riding in this weekend....was in Long Island/NYC. Got to walk around a lot on Sunday, so I guess that was a good "fat burning" workout :rolleyes:

Thanks for posting, sounds like a nice ride. It sure is nice up there.

I might join you for a ride, but weekends are tight in December, plus Thomaston is about an 1 and 3/4 hour drive each way for me.

I have only been in NW CT for hiking and would like to check out some of those hills that I only have driven up, like on Rte 44?

John

Thanks, I thinking about trying the Sleeping Giant ride this weekend if the weather holds.......I just met someone at my work who does it regularly who tells me it's an out and out hammerfest....even this time of year. We'll see though.....

Joe,

Just curious what kind of climb Sleeping Giant is? I haven't been up there since hiking it as a youngster, and can't rememeber it at all.



How about rides up East and West Rock roads? I wasn't riding when I lived in New Haven and even then drove up a few times, but have been thinking of riding up them sometime.

John

Joe,

Just curious what kind of climb Sleeping Giant is? I haven't been up there since hiking it as a youngster, and can't rememeber it at all.



How about rides up East and West Rock roads? I wasn't riding when I lived in New Haven and even then drove up a few times, but have been thinking of riding up them sometime.

John


John,

It ain't about the climb with this ride. It's all about the pace......at least 20mph.....on the low end.

Here's an elevation & route I got from someone at Yale:

http://www.med.yale.edu/neurobio/mccormick/cycling/sunday_ride_final.gif

From what I've been told you need to be fast & a good spinner, rather than a climber to finish this ride.....

Hope this helps...

Joe

Wow...that goes through Southington, right near where I grew up (near Mt. Southington). It goes through a few somewhat busy areas, so no rotating pacelines :). The good thing is, there isn't anything amazingly hilly/steep on that route. Has some rollers, but nothing like what you're used to riding in the northwestern part of CT.

Wow...that goes through Southington, right near where I grew up (near Mt. Southington). It goes through a few somewhat busy areas, so no rotating pacelines :). The good thing is, there isn't anything amazingly hilly/steep on that route. Has some rollers, but nothing like what you're used to riding in the northwestern part of CT.


Yup....again what the guy I work with tells me is that's it's all about the pace......
He's got me so creeped out I fully expect to be shelled out the back the first half dozen times I try the ride.

Another part of me is saying to myself, just ride it, you never know what will happen, I may be no gazelle, but I'm no pig either.....:rolleyes: