Hey Beaches!

In preparation for tomorrow's Bloomin Metric, my brother-in-law and I, rode from the In-Laws to Compo Beach and back.

Dark Skies on the homeward bound bike commute

There was rain in the forecast but wasn't sure if it would be a repeat of last Friday

Fortunately, this was the opposite direction of where I was heading

Brookfield Bicycle Center Shop Ride

My first shop roadie ride with the Bicycle Center.  I almost didn't make it because my manager called me into his office at 4 PM for a short conversation on a few ideas that I had and that snowballed into an hour and forty minutes meeting.  Since I rode to work on Thursday, I got changed and hopped on the Cannondale and pedaled my ass off to get to the shop.

Two Cold Bike Commutes

Where did the warmer spring temperatures go?

Wednesday was chilly

Singlespeed Ride

I took the day off from work to chaperon my son's field trip.  My wife couldn't do it and children in our school district that have life threatening allergies have to be accompanied by a parent.  It was fun but tiring, so when I got home I hopped on the Bianchi and went riding for an hour.

Post Memorial BBQ MTB

After a great Memorial Day BBQ at my father's I got home later than I wanted but figured I still had enough light to ride in the forest.  The initial run in, up the Poly Brody was to be expected.  The corduroy over the wet section is riding nicely but after that it's still sloppy seconds up through the first incline past the beach cut off. 

I took a picture with Bigfoot

I set out Sunday to do a really big ride, I was thinking 80+ miles.  My route took me through Webutuck, NY where I caught up with Bigfoot at a tackle shop on the 10 mile river.

Elliot rides the Old Put

Elliot and I headed over to Carmel, NY to ride the Old Putnam Division of the New York Central Railroad, what was called the Old Put back, way back, in the day.  It's now a 50+ mile rail trail that runs from Southeast, NY to past Whiteplains.

A Wet Friday Bike Commute

Friday's commute started out foggy with wet roads.  On the climb up Castle Hill I passed someone I follow on Instagram, which I thought was funny.

Commute in Silence

Wednesday was the Ride of Silence, a day to commemorate those cyclists who were killed doing what they loved.  We have had a few local tragedies, Thomas Steinert-Threlkeld was killed last year in Bethel and Danbury Police Officer Donald Hassiak was killed in 2010 while riding to work from New Milford.  The City of Danbury was holding an event after work that I had planned on riding to and then riding home from there.

A Beautiful Day for a Bike Commute

Tuesday was a beautiful day to ride to work

Mountain Biking Monday

Since I can't ride to work Mondays because I have to pick up my daughter on the way home from work it's now my thing to hit the Gussy when I get home.  There were some more surprises on the trail this week ....

Bicycle Commuting Article in the NewsTimes

Bike Commuter Model

I was contacted by a local newspaper who needed a bike commuter model for a story they were doing for National Bike to Work Week.  Of course, I said yes and met with the Photographer outside my office.  He took a few pictures of me that if you hit the Read More link you will see some amazing shots by Tyler Sizemore

Showing some leg on the Bike Commute

It's National Bike to Work Week and temperatures in Southern New England are now warm enough to ride in shorts.  Mornings are still cool enough to warrant a jacket, though.

Monday RAW

Ride after Work on Monday at Upper Paugussett State Forest

Wet Commuting and a late departure

Late meetings on Fridays should be outlawed

Sunday at the Hills

Before the Mother's Day, family invasion Elliot and I headed over to Fairfield Hills to ride some laps.

The Perfect 2 Hour Route

With weekend activities sometimes all I have very little time to ride and for such situations I have found the perfect 2 hour route.  30 miles, 2,800 feet of climbing.  I have been riding south so often that if I have more time, I can easily alter this route to go 40 or 50 miles.

Sunday Riding, Hills

One ride that I used to do on my Cannondale XS800 was around Lake Lillilohna and being such a nice morning I decided to give it a try on the Cannondale Synapse.  It was sunny but there was cold wind coming from the north so I went with a short sleeve, arm warmers, riding jersey, bib tights and gloves.  The gloves were over kill and most of the ride I rode without them.  Something I haven't felt quite comfortable with but it didn't bother me that much.  

Riding the New Milford River Trail with Elliot

Elliot and headed over to Sega Meadows in New Milford to ride the New Milford River Trail.

The Housatonic Railroad runs through it and parallels the trail and 

Elliot wanted to see a train but they don't run on Saturdays

National Bike Challenge

Field of Flags in the rainy mist

I was on the fence as to whether or not I would ride to work this morning.  The forecast called for more rain like on Wednesday to continue till around noon.  That was definitely going to be a deal breaker.  At 6 this morning, though, the rain had stopped but then started up again but looking at the radar map I decided it was going to stop around 7 AM and I should be fine.

I was perhaps two tenths of mile from home when I ran into the mist and it stayed misty the whole way to work.  It was a thick mist, too, so by the time I did get to the office, I was soaked.  Looks like Doppler Radar doesn't pick up the mist.

Toward the end of the commute it also got a lot warmer and so I really began to sweat with what I was wearing.

There was a lot of wet gunk on the Cross Check so I made sure if anything were to drip off it wouldn't ruin the carpet by using a few lunch trays and bags.

Today is the start of the National Bike Challenge so I had to ride to work this morning no matter what.  I also new that it was going to be in the 70s on the way home and it would be beautiful riding weather, too.

I tried a new route home today.  Rather than riding Rt 202 back towards Danbury like a I usually do for extra miles I went up Old Hawleyville Rd and then road over to Whisconnier and climbed that fun hill.  Then descend halfway down Rt 25 and cut back Old Hawleyville Rd via Farrel Rd.  That goes over the Housatonic Rail Road tracks and the last time I went through here I got some cool train pictures.

I thought it wasn't going to happen today because I could see nothing down the tracks when I first stopped.

But then I heard the train

Unfortunately, it never got out of the yard

I rewarded myself for a great ride!