April 2008 Ride Log
Spring is in the air...
Friday April 25
Twin Brooks Park / Beaches Park - Trumbull, Connecticut
With all the nice weather we have been having this past week, I was determined to get a ride in before it went away. So I left work a little early, got home and loaded up the bike.
In the early 70's as a young teenager, I used to live in a house next to Twin Brooks Park and hung out in the woods. Later, even though our family had moved to another part of Trumbull, I would return to the woods to ride a Honda dirt bike. It has been at least 25 years since I was back in those woods. I had heard there were mountain bike trails while talking to another rider a month ago and have been looking for an excuse to get in there.
I parked in the main lot next to the beach area. Unfortunately for out of town er's, these are town resident parking only. I looped around the lake and entered the trails near the peninsula. The trails are marked blue, white, yellow, and red. The red trail will bring you to the dirt parking lot near Beaches pool. I'm not sure what trail it was, but continuing north will eventually come out along side Stern Village and the Army howitzer war memorial.
Overall it was a good time with about 1 1/2 hours of riding. There was plenty of climbing and down hill sections to keep me occupied. There is a smooth rock ledge over looking the peninsula that I have always wanted to ride down. I rode that down as my exit and rode back to the car.
Sunday April 20
Pequonnock River Valley - Trumbull, Connecticut
Temperatures were in the 60's with mostly sunny skies. I headed over to the Daniel's Farm Road commuter lot and made it to the trail by 2:00 pm. This was the first ride with the 2003 Jekyll swing arm. It is more robust and only 50 grams heavier than the CAAD4 swing arm that it replaced.
After a ride up the hill on the white trail, I turned the Uber to the right and made tracks on the red trail. I stayed on this trail staying close to the highway. There are many steep hills and fast downhill sections. Some of the hills I had to walk but made a good effort until I got too tired. I'm always looking for a challenge so this will be a good one to see if I can make these uphill climbs without stopping. I stopped at a high stop that overlooked both the highway and the valley. Good spot to take a very pictures of the bike. Eventually I came out at the top of the fire trail. I crossed over the upper stream and headed over to the "picnic tables" and on toward Indian Ledge Park.
I rode over to the Coyote Crossing to remove some logs that someone tossed in the water. A couple of kids walked by, one of which took an interest in my bike. He asked a few questions about the disc brakes. Nice to know a ten year old bike looks cool.
I wanted to cover some ground so I made the white trail to the old dam. Cut some limbs that were hanging into the trail and picked up a bent piece of old automotive stainless steel trim. I try to always pickup some trash since it doesn't belong on the trail. Rode out the wavy rock south of the old dam without stopping and continued on to a fast downhill. The descent was a lot of fun as the bike and I jumped the series of steps to the bottom. Each landing was blush and smooth. I rode out to the car to end my two hour ride.
Sunday April 13
Indian Ledge Park / Pequonnock River Valley - Trumbull, Connecticut
Holy Roller! Parked at the lower lot in Indian Ledge Park. It was a little cool with temperatures in the 50's. Not as nice as yesterday (70F) but still ok to ride for sure. First time out with my new helmet, a Uvex XT 100. At 9 ounces, it is very light and comfortable. Started out with light rain as I entered the northern section of the yellow trail and then rode along the river bank. Stopped to check out the boardwalk and I was glad to see that were no broken planks. Up to the white trail and took the yellow (?) trail past the "picnic tables". I continued on toward the town compost area and rode around in the upper hills for a while doing a few small loops. When I was done, I headed back where I came from. Downhill from the picnic tables is a roller with a ladder which I had not done since the crash in October. I felt pretty good at my healing progress and decided to do it. It never seems natural to do these types of things as the mind kicks in and says "this is not good". Once I was committed and heading down, it just rolls right out in the open area east of the white trail. Great fun and the bike handled it fine.
Headed out onto the white trail toward the old lake bed. After going down the rocky and root covered trail at the north end of the lake bed, I bombed up the other hill side. I heard some movement in the leaves and a wild turkey was quite confused as I made my way up to the top of the small hill. On toward the dam where I rode around the spillway and over the top edge of the spillway wall. Made it without stopping to the two pipes where I got bogged down. Rested for a little while and headed up the the big hill south of the dam. There is a trail that leads to the left that I rarely take. It leads to an area below "lovers leap". As I was riding past, I could see a guy checking out the drop. I rode up and stopped to talk. He was thinking of doing it but thought the better since his bike didn't have the fork travel for something like that. Off to the side the drop wasn't as high but less of a transition made the prospects difficult for a smooth landing. When he said he was going to give it a go, I got my camera and positioned myself down hill. These pictures tell the rest.
He got scraped up a bit but overall was ok. Too many trees prevented a clear take off and gravity took care of the rest.
Will and I rode together to the high trail that is close to the highway. I've never gone that way before and he knew the way. Despite the fact I've been riding all winter, he pedaled away from me quite easily. It was all I could do to keep up. He knew what rollers to take and I figured if he could do it, so could I. Once he made a line down the roller, I soon followed. We must have done at least three decent rollers, all of which were much steeper than anything I had done before. Great ride down and soon we were out about halfway into the fire road.
Crossed over the fire road and pedaled up to the area west of the town composting site. We soon stopped at a roller that I had seen before, but never attempted. It wasn't anything that I would have considered, but Will had done it in the past. There are two sections to go down. The left is very steep and doesn't offer much in the way of a transition. That was totally out of the question. The right however was not as steep and had a better transition at the bottom. So with some advice from Will, I made my first attempt. The rocks were wet from a light rain that had passed through. As I descended, I didn't line up properly and tried to correct near the bottom. I was already slipping under braking and when I turned, the front wheel began to slip out. Fortunately I was able to stop and not fall over.
The next run was fine and I shot down the roller to the bottom. The "landing" was the hardest I had put the I9 wheels through.
Will soon followed and we parted ways since he had to start heading back. I went over to the "picnic tables" and down the ladder roller out onto the white trail. Headed north to the parking lot.
Tuesday April 8
Pequonnock River Valley - Trumbull, Connecticut
Spring must be coming soon, people are leaving clothes behind. I got word someone left a windbreaker and other articles in the Valley. They were found on Sunday March 30th. Contact Henry and provide a brief description. hyperhank@AT@yahoo.com
No riding for me today. A muscle in my right knee is sore from yesterday so I'm taking a break for a few days. The Industry Nine wheels are overdue for a spoke tension check anyway. No problems, just want to make sure I'm following proper maintenance. Alex at Smart Cycles said some of the spoke tension readings were a "21" and should be a "23". Well within specification and I could have kept using them as is. Hopefully they'll be ready on Thursday in time for some weekend riding.
Monday April 7
Indian Ledge / Pequonnock River Valley - Trumbull, Connecticut
Took a quick ride from the Daniel's Farm Road commuter lot to Indian Ledge Park. Nothing too technical but wanted to cover some distance in a short time. Very happy with the progress of my climbing ability. I'm able to carry momentum up some climbs that I otherwise would not have made in the past. It would have been 30 minutes each way but I stopped to take pictures and replace the boardwalk plank near the Coyote Crossing.
The stream crossing shown below is lined with logs that are under water. Not only is this crossing unfriendly to hikers, but the stream bottom and banks are eroding as bikers pass through. I'm going to work on a proposal to the Land Manager and CT-NEMBA to redesign this with armoring and/or a bridge.
Sunday April 6
Indian Ledge / Pequonnock River Valley - Trumbull, Connecticut
My son and I hiked the chainsaw from the Indian Ledge parking lot to the Hemlock tree blow down. The tree had been cut up a couple of weeks ago to allow trail users to get by but there was more of the thicker trunk protruding into the trail. We limbed the rest of the tree and cut another ten feet off the trunk. This takes care of the work and anything remaining serves as a place for hikers and bikers to sit and rest.
On the way back, we went down to the Coyote Crossing. Some time ago, a large tree next to the stream fell over after being undermined by the current. As the tree fell, it knocked over another tree that then took the top off another smaller tree. Two sections fell across the entrance to the blue trail and came to a rest about six to seven feet off the ground. It was still passable, but one would have to duck to get under. We cleared most of the smaller tree section including any limbs around the bridge entrance. Now the bridge entrance is opened back up. I didn't take any pictures because I had enough to carry in. Perhaps I'll take some pictures on my next ride.
It was getting late and I didn't want to start on the big tree. It isn't going anywhere for some time. I'd like to get it removed but feel I should get some additional help.
I was surprised to find one of my new boardwalk planks had been broken. In order to stop maintaining this walkway, I'll have to replace all the planks with some pressure treated decking.
On the way out, my son Jimmy spotted the plaque by the side of the road marking the location where a USAAF (Army Air Force) Beechcraft AT-11 aircraft (SN 42--37184) crashed and killed two US airmen on January 23, 1944. The airmen were on an air raid training mission when the plane crashed during an emergency landing during a snow storm. The plaque contains the names of the two airmen, Lieutenant Rodney L. Stokes (age 23, born Mar. 4, 1920) of Liberty, Mississippi and Sergeant Julius George Skyberg (age 26, born Feb. 14, 1917) of De Smet, South Dakota. Lt. Stokes is buried at the Zion Hill Baptist Church Cemetery, Amite, Mississippi. Sgt. Skyberg is buried in De Smet, South Dakota.
My son and I stopped and looked at the memorial to these airmen and all who served. The words on the stone memorial reads, "LET THE PASSING SOUNDS OF AIRCRAFT BE AN ETERNAL TRIBUTE TO THOSE WHO HAVE SERVED OUR COUNTRY". The memorial is located almost across the street from the lower Indian Ledge Parking lot.
Thursday April 3
Pequonnock River Valley - Trumbull, Connecticut
Left work to go riding before the rain set in for the next two days. The temperatures are warming up into the 50's and with the sun, makes for a nice ride opportunity. Tom and I left work and met at the commuter lot by Daniel's Farm Road at 3:45pm.
We took the white trail up to the south side of the old dam. I tried to do the rock up and over that is along the wavy rock section. It is a little hard to get up as there are two small steps; the first slowed me down enough to make the second step difficult. I carried the bike up and took the roller down the other side. Since I had some momentum, I continued around the dam and over the spillway wall. Got stuck in a dip between two rocks and stalled.
We headed toward the open area that was once the lake bed but decided to turn back after thinking the water might be too deep. Instead, we took the yellow trail and came out at the bottom of the fire road. Out into the lake bed and stopped at the October crash site. There I pulled out the Pocket Chainsaw and finished cutting down the battered tree that I hit almost six months before.
It was getting colder and clouds were moving in. We rode back to the old dam and stopped to rest. It was a good chance for Tom to get pictures of me riding down the rock slope on the south side.
We also talked to a few riders that I've seen before on the this trail. One of the guys had a single speed 29'er last time, was riding the same bike but with a Shimano Nexas eight speed hub. He allowed me to ride the bike around. This was the first 29'er that I had ever rode and was impressed with the way the transmission shifted so smooth and quiet.
