Connecticut – Biking 100

Connecticut – #45 Air Line State Park Trail

October 8, 2020

We returned to a more northern section of the Air Line Trail to finish our Connecticut 100. Pomfret Depot was our starting point and we headed south.

After the storms the previous night we were concerned about trail conditions. The wind was still blowing and it was only about 55 degrees. Honestly. if we were just going for a ride at home I would have passed but we wanted to finish our 100 TODAY.

Immediately north of Pomfret Depot they are building a beautiful new bridge to connect with the northern portion of the trail.

Thankfully the trail was dry but there were many branches strewn all along the trail.

This was the only tree we could not get around.

There were lots of police on 4-wheelers. So surprised to see them as motorized vehicles are not permitted on railtrail.

Police on 4-wheelers. They did an awesome job of clearing leaves and branches from the trail.

We passed these 4-wheelers entering the trail and then saw them exiting on our return. The passing of the 4-wheel ATVs swept the trail clean – not a leaf or branch left on the trail where they had ridden.

The railbed is high above the forest floor.

We did have sunshine which made the fall colors pop.

We’ve ridden some beautiful trails in Connecticut. Today we were really “in the country”. We could see a few homes from the trail and they had generators running due to power outages. When making a road crossing we could see several utility company trucks doing repairs.

We are off to begin our Rhode Island 100 tomorrow. There is a frost warning here tonight and our heat is running. I cooked a pork tenderloin in the oven this evening. The oven helps to heat up our little home.

A carpet of pine needles on the trail. Time to say goodbye to Connecticut- it’s been a good ride.

Connecticut – Farmington River Trail

October 7, 2020

This was really an enjoyable ride. It was so different from the trails we have ridden so far in Connecticut. First of all, it was asphalt, very wide and smooth. We began our ride at the trailhead in Farmington. The views of the river were beautiful. There were many bikers, joggers and dog walkers using the trail. I imagine the weekends can probably get terribly crowded.

The trail took us through Unionville, Collinsville, and Canton. We rode on a sidewalk in Canton for a short distance. As we passed by people eating at outside tables I had to restrain myself from grabbing a handful of onions rings….. and a beer to wash it down.

View of river from boardwalk in Canton. Winds were beginning to blow – dark threatening skies.

North of Canton the trail begins a shared bicycle-vehicle lane which is where we headed back to Farmington. Winds were forecast to be 20 – 30 mph with 50mph gusts so we felt rushed to finish our ride.

We rode a short distance on Farmington Heritage Trail which meets the River Trail in Farminton. We had hoped to finish our 100 miles on the Canal Trail however the weather had other plans. We were an hour from the campground and the weather was changing as forecast.

We arrived back at the motorhome just as it began raining, covered the bikes and ran for cover ourselves. Sitting here now, we have had high winds, thunder and lightning, and the power has gone off a few times.

Looking forward to finishing our Connecticut 100 tomorrow. It’s going down to 39 degrees tonight and tomorrow temps in the 50s. Better dress warm!!

Connecticut – Air Line State Park Trail

October 6, 2020

This rail-trail was used by the Air Line Railroad as part of a direct route between Boston and New York. It was so named because the tracks ran flat and straight, like a line in the sky.

We started our ride in Willimantic near the Connecticut Eastern Railroad Museum, which was closed for renovations. We would have enjoyed a closer look at some of the old vintage railcars.

We road an uphill grade for more then 7 miles to begin. I just kept thinking how nice it will be on the way back and it was nice. We then had several miles of down hill which was a refreshing change.

Taken at our ***47th mile*** into our Connecticut 100 on our ***47th Anniversary.***

Most of the trail was shaded. Large parts of the trail were high above the forest floor on the raised railbed. We love to ride a trail like this because the views of the forest are awesome.

Wetland area with beautiful fall colors.

Many of the road crossings had steep hills with loose gravel which I found to be really brutal.

Mural along trail near Raymond Brook Wildlife Management Area.

Brings back memories of our wonderful fall rides in Michigan.

Some parts of the trail had leaves at least a foot deep.

We wanted to add a few more miles on our way back to the campground so stopped at a trail we had passed yesterday. It was near the airport and looked really intriguing. As it turned out the bike path only traveled over a dam but was over a mile long.

The bike path was on a dam high above an airport on one side and a reservoir on the other.

The water in the reservoir was quite low but still beautiful.

Great views from top of dam. Yes, more fall colors!!

We only rode about 3 miles here but the views were well worth the stop. There were people out with tripods and cameras taking pictures.

We are well into our 100 miles and are really enjoying the beautiful forests and trails of Connecticut.

Connecticut – Hop River State Park Trail

October 5. 2020

We arrived at Charlie Brown campground in Eastford, Connecticut yesterday afternoon. We will be here for 5 nights. Not many people in the campground but they are sold out for the weekend.

Great campsite on the river amongst the fall colors.

We were up early and had a relaxing morning while waiting for the temperature to improve. We are prepared for cool weather and this morning we used some of our warm weather gear.

We parked at the eastern end of the Hop River State Trail.

The Hop River State Park Trail is a rail-trail that follows the former Hartford, Providence and Fishkill Railroad.

It really was a beautiful start to the trail. However the trail surface changed dramatically after we crossed the bridge above. The trail looked like it was rarely used and to make things worse we took a wrong turn and ended up on a single track with railroad ties exposed.

Walked across this dilapidated bridge. Lenny said better get a picture because we are not crossing again.

Our wanderings took us to the wrong side of a “private property do not enter” sign. The property was owned by Care Camp. I looked at their website and learned that it is a camp for individuals with special needs. They have a therapeutic horseback riding program. The facilities were beautiful.

We eventually found the correct trail and it was well worth the effort. The smooth hard packed trail surface and the variety of scenery in the colorful forest puts Hop River Trail on my list of favorites.

The many rock cutouts were amazing – cool on a summer ride and chilling today.

There were bridges, three tunnels and of course the fall forest. The trail was on a trailbed at times high above the river or going through the rock cutouts.

First time we’ve ridden in a tunnel with lights.

We hardly noticed the slight uphill grade as we road the trail east to just beyond the Bolton Notch parking area. The weather was cool and when riding through the rock cutouts I was chilled, especially on our return when we really picked up some speed.

Sign at Bolton Notch parking area. Willimantic, where we began our ride is not listed but we were about 14 miles out. If you add our wanderings it’s a bit more.🤪

Beautiful leaf covered trail. There were a few miles where the leaves were being blown off the trail. Lenny is looking at a tree seemingly growing out of the rocks.

I would definitely ride this beautiful trail again. After such a wonderful start to our 100 miles here, we are looking forward to riding more Connecticut trails.