Ajenkins

You should try being in the NW corner. It's lonely and hilly.

fprintf

Except in the NW corner you get that completely awesome TOLH! And you'd be surprised how lonely it is in central CT (cheshire)... I rarely run into other riders and haven't seen the Tuesday/Sunday peloton ride by in months.

alexmorgan

Yeah, I go to boarding school up in Wallingford(near Cheshire) and I can tell you that I NEVER see other cyclists, it's really quite surprising.

*edit* spelling...

carpediemracing 

I'm currently in SW CT (Norwalk, near a few other riders/racers), lived in the area forever. I'll be moving in two days to Simsbury where the hills are, well, higher. I see a LOT of riders up there while driving around looking for a place to live.

In SW CT there's a few teams -- CT Coast Cycling (currently no shop affiliation, also a disclaimer - I'm helping promote their race, for free, in Bethel on Sunday Aug 26), Target Training (Westport), Breaking Away Bicycles (Fairfield), Cycle Center (Stamford), Cafeteros (no real base but sort of they're in the area), Bethel Cycle (Bethel). I don't think I'm forgetting anyone but if I am it's inadvertent. You can look at www.ne-bra.org for a list of clubs too. If you're looking for a team check on races in the area (like the race at Bethel hint hint lol).

I have my intro post here.

cdr

pmaz77

I ride in the Columbia/Hebron/Lebanon (sp?) area-hard to find flats up here. The hills aren't bad, but that's all there is....rolling hills. When I do get a chance to hit the flats (SE CT), it feels nice to see the speedometer consistently above 14-15 MPH!


07 Redline Conquest

GuitarWizard

Climbing is kinda fun. I have ridden all around, but typically stick to Mansfield, Ashford, Windham, Lebanon, etc....then if I'm going further, head as far north as the MA border, will head east to Brooklyn, or as far south as Norwich.

Did a hilly 23 miler the other day...hit the hills at a pretty steady effort, and took it easier on the flats....here's mah numbers (keep in mind I wasn't feeling good, as I've a bit sick):

Average Power: 165 watts
Max Power: 654 watts
Normalized Power: 208 watts
Distance: 23.7 miles
Time: 1:18:36
Average speed: 18.1 mph
Vertical gain: 1,400 feet
Average gradient: 6%
Max gradient: 14%

Not too bad. If you're familiar with the area, part of that included heading up Machine Shop Hill from S. Windham into Lebanon, then up Rte. 207 over to Rte 87/289 back into Willimantic. Machine Shop Hill Rd. to Rte. 207 is a pretty good little workout.

I need to do that loop more....I have another variation that adds 3 or so miles and another 300 vertical feet. If I go all-out on all the hills on that loop, I'm pretty fried by the end of it.

rugerben

Hey all, I'm in the Hamden/Cheshire area. I'm kinda looking for a biking buddy/just someone to ride with. Ferhaps the Canal Trail, and of course, a trip up the hill to Quinnipiac's new stadium. Tough on the way up, and awesome fast on the way down.
Any takers?

john bono

At 290 lbs and riding up in Bridgewater, New Milford, Kent, and New Preston, I weep for you. Honestly, I do.

Homebrew01

I love those roads. I ride up there from Newtown all the time. Glad I only have to carry 170 lbs or so up those hills !!

alexdrozd

Rugerben, I live in Wallingford. Maybe we can hook up.

Ajenkins

alexdrozd,

How's that Bachetta? My ride is a RANS V-Rex, replaced my old Stratus. Any suggestions for a good shoreline ride, I want to get away from the hills sometimes...

AaronDavidson

I live in Groton, about to move to North Stonington. I ride typically in Mystic, it can get heavy with traffic especially during the summer, about now the traffic is really dying down (less people on holiday). Back roads out this way can get dicey as well, very narrow roads that wind, with cars flying around them.

spaceman

Just thought I'd check in--I just moved from Boston to Middletown, CT. Man, there are some hills here! Now that it has (hopefully) cooled down a bit, I'm going to try to get into commuting to my new office at Wesleyan, but it's entirely uphill from my house to the campus. I'll have to search the forums for good routes in this area.

GuitarWizard

Yeah, there's a few hills around. Head to the northeast or northwest part of the state for more hills

fprintf

Spaceman, lots of hills because Middletown is on one side of the CT river valley. If you go North/South from where you are you will find the hills are not so bad. When you go East/West is when they get pretty steep in places.

A good route for a decent ride is to go South down Rte. 17 toward Durham. From there you can continue to the CT shoreline with a fairly flat route. For some challenging hills and a fairly long route I highly recommend Rte. 148 that goes from Durham CT over to Killingworth/Chester. Some real heart-pumping climbs there.

I highly recommend visiting Pedal Power on Main Street. They have weekly group rides and are bound to have easy/medium/hard routes already mapped out. Great bunch of people, really into cycling.

Ya Tu Sabes

Two questions for you Central Conn. heads:
1) What's the nicest way to ride from Hartford to Middletown? I have to do that this afternoon, and would love some suggestions.
2) Anyone up for some leisurely rides in the Hartford area? I just moved to West Hartford from Somerville, Mass., and I would like to meet people and get the lay of the land a little bit. Anyone up for some 20-30-mile jaunts on the weekends? Nothing too fast, though, 'cause I'm lazy like that and my bike isn't exactly, you know, made within the last twenty years.

fprintf

Dredging up an old thread, hoping that all of you are getting some time on the trainer or outside in the cold this winter.

Myself, I cannot wait for warmer weather so I can rejoin the Sunday Sleeping Giant rides. I think I will be able to barely hang on come springtime, but by the end of summer am hoping I will last just a bit longer.

I am also planning on doing a CT coast to stateline and back to coast (126 miles) sometime this summer that I need to get in shape for.

Is anyone on the forums in the Laurel Cycle Club or any of the sponsored teams around here (I often see Benidorm and Anthem BCBS shirts, not sure of the others)?

JoeOxfordCT

What ride is this ?

Post a link if you have one.....

fprintf

The ride I referenced is one that I am planning to do either solo or whoever plans to join up w/ me. I am planning to use a route similar to the one held by the state record holder, riding up the CT/Farmington river valleys to Amherst and then back again.

Once I am done planning the route I will share in this forum and via MapMyRide as well as other details for anyone who might like to join.

JoeOxfordCT

Keep me posted....

Staylor36

I live right on the woodstock/eastford line but on the mass side, I ride down 198 a lot. I like to do the 198 to Rt. 6 ride. I've only seen someone on that route once.

Thom_Bikes

PAnic; Sounds like your just gettin started ridin & your extra 50 lbs is holding u back some. I saw a recent Bicycling Mag article of some who lost ovr 100 lbs within a year or so just doing cycleing - so keep at it - by end of summer those "hills" of the FVG (Farmington Valley Greenway-I live down the road) will be what they really are - just mild ups & downs. Of course having & using the right gears will help some too.

Panic

Wow. Its been a while. Since moved to Alabama, Huntsville. Just got back on my bike after 18 months. It was a rough 18 months, move, job change, health issues, health issues for my teenage son, working too hard, working too long, no exercise for 9 months, gained 17 lbs, diagnosed with High blood pressure, then pneumonia, then mutually terminated from my job - the reason we moved to Bama. But the good news is back on my bike, lost 22 lbs, got hit by a dog, lost 16 days of riding and only gained 2 lbs and that includes 4 days in New Orleans.

Quite a bit of rolling hills, yard dogs, and very few shoulders - but its nice and I'm hoping I can ride at least 10 months a year. Still need to lose that 50 - but that's the goal.

JoeOxfordCT

4 days in the Big Easy and you only gained 2lbs ???
That's not right right there.....
j/k

Panic

I did some walking around - so that helped a lot.

We arrived on Saturday - pizza with family then Snoballs
sunday - beignets, then mexican dinner for mother's day, sno-balls, left over pizza
Monday- was in for a funeral, didn't eat lunch till post services - so that cut down on the food intake. Sandwiches, then watched hockey game with a pizza.

Really didn't have time to eat so much, lots of family time.

Going back home in a couple of weeks, I'll see what damage I can do.

Actually trip before this we had crawfish, shrimp po-boys, more snoballs and beignets at least 2x - gained 1 lb.