Who's doing the Tour of the Litchfield Hills ?

[JoeOxfordCT]

I've been meaning to do this ride for years but circumstances have always conspired against me..:mad:

http://www.tourofthelitchfieldhills.com/

Just have to keep my fingers crossed for good weather.....:rolleyes:
Litchfield county is my favorite part of the state.....I actually used to live in Woodbury some years ago. Now I'm a little further down in Oxford (which is still pretty nice & rural).

I remember listening to the radio as a child and I would always hear about either severe thunderstorms passing through Litchfield county or heavy snow....Living in Orange, fairly close to the shore I always seemed to miss these exciting events....I thought to myself, "I have to check out this Litchfield county.".

Anyway, enough reminiscing, it would be nice to meet up with some fellow BF'rs if possible...:)

[spindog]

I will be there.

I do believe that KevinF is planning on making the drive and Guitar Wizard also recently registered.

[JoeOxfordCT]

I forget if I asked you already....have you done the event before ?
Some folks are getting creeped out by the "Litchfield Hills" aspect of it but I don't think there's a crazy amount of climbing in it do you ?


I will be there.

I do believe that KevinF is planning on making the drive and Guitar Wizard also recently registered.

[spindog]

I forget if I asked you already....have you done the event before ?
Some folks are getting creeped out by the "Litchfield Hills" aspect of it but I don't think there's a crazy amount of climbing in it do you ?

Yes, I have done it before. I have only done the 77.4 mile route and not the fifty, so I can not comment on the 50 miler.

The ride has been around for a while - used to be called The Tour de Torrington and then got taken over by someone who renamed it The Tour of The Litchfield Hills.

The ride has a mass start, but thins out quickly as everyone starts climbing Rt 202 within about 1/2 mile which continues up to about 5.5 miles which is where the 50 mile route already splits off. I personally love this ride. It is the perfect length and the climbing, IMO is very manageable. I can really get in a rythym and climb quite comfortably.

I did a Century last weekend with KevinF and GuitarWizard and we had some climbs that there was NO getting comfortable with ...people zig-zagging to get up and what-not. There will be none of that super steep stuff at TOLH.

I really don't know how much the elevation gain is. If it helps any > I have done the 77 mile route before on my Mountain Bike with front shocks and knobby tires and did just fine. A roadbike is so much nicer!

If you go to the website, a map of the route is online. Maybe you can routeslip it to get the climbing estimate.

Tell your friends not to get creeped out. Instead, look forward to the workout, free food and a nice Tee Shirt ( we do these rides for the shirts, right?;) ). We are all conquering the same hills and there will always be someone stronger and always someone weaker doing the same route. See you there!

[KevinF]

I do believe that KevinF is planning on making the drive

That's my plan... Nice weather = Kevin will be there.

[spindog]

That's my plan... Nice weather = Kevin will be there.

Excellent! Then we can turn the 77 mile route into 110 :D

[JoeOxfordCT]

You folks did Summer Breeze last week didn't you ?

I did it last year and I don't remember any big climbs...certainly none requiring zig-zagging....I know they changed the route this year but did it really have bad climbs ??

I did a Century last weekend with KevinF and GuitarWizard and we had some climbs that there was NO getting comfortable with ...people zig-zagging to get up and what-not.

[spindog]

I did it last year and I don't remember any big climbs...certainly none requiring zig-zagging....I know they changed the route this year but did it really have bad climbs ??
Bad climbs? No. The difficulty is what makes them Good Climbs :)

I wasn't zig-zagging up any of the climbs, but Yes, there were people using that method, walking, or just stopping and I remember one guy saying that he stopped because he chose not to have his heart attack right there on that hill. Right ... plenty of more opportunities to go.

The ride definitely had some nice surprises in elevation and some of it was rather steep> I am thinking of one climb in particular that I don't know what the grade was, but it was somethin'. GW might know - he had an altimeter.

They had some just as steep downhills which always seemed to end up at a stop sign or a turn across a busy road. I much prefered the climbing over the descending. I liked the challenge of this year's route, but preferred last year's route better overall.

[JoeOxfordCT]

Spin,

Have you done the Great River Ride before ? I did it last year....I thought that ride had alot of hills especially in the 60-80 section....and I got lost for 20 miles and missed some of the hills too....
Here's my ride report from last year (my post is about 1/2 way down the first page):

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=222419

It's late in the year....October 7th this year....I think I'm going to do it again.
I'm not really riding as many organized centuries this year. The Litchfield ride will be my first this year. Instead I am doing more group rides which are faster & shorter and don't kill an entire day for me...

[spindog]

Spin,

Have you done the Great River Ride before ?
I'm not really riding as many organized centuries this year. The Litchfield ride will be my first this year. Instead I am doing more group rides which are faster & shorter and don't kill an entire day for me...
I haven't done GRR for I think two years now. It seems that they change the route slightly every year. I tend to have issues with cycling with temps in the 30's and remember climbing up those hills to the rest stop in Peru during GRR a few years back and thought I would die from hypothermia. It just sucked the life out of me - thank goodness for hot baked potatoes at the rest stop!

Nice ride report. If we get some Indian Summer, I may return to GRR this Fall.... it's on my calendar - therefore, on my mind :)

[GuitarWizard]

You folks did Summer Breeze last week didn't you ?

I did it last year and I don't remember any big climbs...certainly none requiring zig-zagging....I know they changed the route this year but did it really have bad climbs ??

Ummm....I was registering plenty of climbs in the first half of the SBC reading in th 10+% range....I remember grinding up a 14 percenter and passing out a few people who looked like they wanted to die.

The second half of the ride was pretty "flat" I thought...but the first half was pretty hilly.

I shall be at the Litchfield ride - look for the guy on the blue Trek with his mouth swelled up like a chipmunk storing nuts :D

[WesMorrison]

I would love to do a group ride one of these days. But I hate paying money for it. :( I know events cost money, but still I'd usually rather ride alone than pay to ride.

Somebody talk me into this one. I'm riding a hybrid, is that taboo? ;)

[GuitarWizard]

I saw a couple guys doing the Summer Breeze century on mountain bikes....granted, one looked like he wanted to keel over, but that's beside the point. I'm kinda hoping he was only gunning for the metric.

If you like hills and could ride 50-80 miles fairly comfortably, go for it!

[JoeOxfordCT]

look for the guy on the blue Trek with his mouth swelled up like a chipmunk storing nuts :D

??? :eek:

Care to elaborate ? :D

[GuitarWizard]

Getting my wisdom teeth yanked a few days prior....

[JoeOxfordCT]

Getting my wisdom teeth yanked a few days prior....

Days ? :rolleyes:

You'll be fine....had four of mine pulled the same time when I was 14.....

[GuitarWizard]

They're impacted and infected :)

[JoeOxfordCT]

They're impacted and infected :)

oh...:(

Well, it'll be a good ride anyways right ? ;)

I'm supposed to do a group ride tomorrow...keeping my fingers crossed with the weather....

Ride Desc:

Roxbury Rendezvous, B-, H, 62 miles, EAP 17
mph, 9:00/9:15 a.m. Meet at St. Joseph’s
High School, Rt 108 in Trumbull. From Merritt Pkwy
northbound, take Exit 51. Left at light onto Rt. 108
North. School is 1.7 miles on right. From the Merritt
southbound, get off at Exit 52 and follow signs to Rt
108. Right at light onto Rt 108 North. School is 2.1 miles
on right. School is set back from the road and hard to
see; look for red sign denoting driveway entrance. A
scenic route that travels north from Trumbull through
Monroe, Newtown and Roxbury. Return via Southbury,
Oxford, Seymour and Shelton. Several tough hills with
grades exceeding 7%, but also lots of descents and
flat stretches. 5,500 feet of climbing. As a percentage
of the linear ride distance that’s 1.68% which is
above-average for “B” rides and makes this course
appropriate only for stronger riders. Food stop. SR

[GuitarWizard]

Nice....sounds pretty brutal. I have the Tour of the Hilltowns race coming up on Aug. 18th, which has 5,500 feet of climbing in 55 miles. I am going to get shelled hardcore on that one. Unfortunately it's on the same day as the Steeplechase Century in my hometown, which I really wanted to do :(.

[JoeOxfordCT]

Nice....sounds pretty brutal. I have the Tour of the Hilltowns race coming up on Aug. 18th, which has 5,500 feet of climbing in 55 miles. I am going to get shelled hardcore on that one. Unfortunately it's on the same day as the Steeplechase Century in my hometown, which I really wanted to do :(.

Got a website for the Steeplechase Century ???

I'm looking for it...

[GuitarWizard]

Call up Scotts Cyclery in Willimantic, and ask for Scott:

http://www.scottscyclery.com/thestore.html

Here's a link to the ride:

http://www.perceptionprograms.org/steeple/