Sunday Gravle

I headed out to ride the dirt roads in Roxbury and Washington Sunday morning.  I wanted to see how the new tires handle singletrack and the gravle.  I went out at full PSI and that was a mistake.  The other mistake was to actually ride singletrack in the fall because there was absolutely no traction in the leaves.  Another mistake I made was a bit of an overreach on the distance, especially after a week of no riding.  Yet it was still a great ride as I tried different and new roads in Roxbury.

I have ridden the preserve off of Minors Bridge once before on my mountain bike and it was easy but on the Cross Check, it was a lot tougher and I ended up walking a few times.

Riding up the Shepaug Railroad bed was awesome despite the previous hike-a-bike sessions.  Some fall colors still lingered along the way.

I really don't like riding up Weller's Bridge so I tried something new by riding up East Challabyes but that also turned into a hike-a-bike session.  Between Minors Bridge and Challabyes I lost a lot of time when I could be enjoying more Gravle.  From there it was up Judds Bridge and over to Hartwell.

I found this pumpkin patch that didn't seem to make the Halloween cut at the top of Hartwell Road. 

I bombed down Hartwell and then rode back up Shinar Mountain and instead of my usual ride over to the middle of Church Hill I took it from the top because I realized that I had been missing a dirt road section and then it was down into Steep Rock.  I didn't realize it was so long but at the end of the dirt section you need to slow down because the road turns to washboard and it's bone jarring.

Steep Rock was resplendent in the last vestiges of fall folliage and even more surprising there was barely anyone there.

The Shepaug Railroad tunnel always has this look of foreboding

But I love riding through the Tunnel, it always makes it worth the trip

From Steep Rock, another first was to ride up Battle Swamp and then Moosehorn in the other direction, over to Dorthy Diebold/Upper County and Lower County for that matter, too.  By the time I got to Bacon Rd I decided to forgo the Grassy Hill and head back towards 67 and that is when I found Transilvania Road, which is dirt.  OMG, what a rip!