Ride Report: CycleFest
The Hat City Cyclists ran an excellent CycleFest yesterday, June 13th, on one
of the best days ever for cycling with temperatures ranging from the mid 60s at
7am to mid 70s late in the afternoon. June 13th was almost the longest day of
the year and it took most of the day to complete this invitational.
Marty, Trish and I started off with the idea (hope) we would complete the
century. We met a little after 6:15 am at a Commuter Parking Lot east of
Waterbury to caravan to CycleFest in Bethel, CT. As is often the case I arrived
late by five minutes. As soon as we started driving via cell phone calls we
agreed to stop at Starbucks in Southbury which is located just off I-84; it was
just an extra ten minutes. Marty took us across I-84, south to Bethel over what
seemed like a dozen turns, and then thru Bethel. He missed the signs to
CycleFest in downtown Bethel. We only went about ten blocks out of the way. At
last we were at the start.
Kathy, the chairlady of CycleFest greeted me and made sure I bought a t-shirt.
Her middle daughter, Colleen, designed it. My favorite t-shirt is the Melon
Metric Ancient Egyptian one modified by my daughter with an Isis on the back and
symbols for good luck and strength and the name of the scribe. The design is
excellent so it too will be my favorite. On the t-shirt Colleen put a map of CT
with the country borders and the city of Danbury. Overlaid on the map was a top
hat with the HCC yellow diamond including a sketch of a cyclist on a bike. “Hat
City Cyclists” surrounds the diamond. Around the map of CT is “HAT CITY
CYCLISTS” and below the date and “CYCLEFEST 2004” and the url –
www.hatcitycyclists.org. I wanted Colleen to sign my shirt, but she wasn’t
there.
CycleFest is a three loop ride with a 23-mile loop going south of Bethel. The
main 51-mile loop goes north of Bethel to Gaylordsville with a 28-mile extension
north and west into New York. The 23-mile loop is one of the prettiest rides
you can take. In just a couple of miles you are into the country. Then you hit
farm and stable country before riding on roads surrounded by woods, ponds,
brooks and a few homes. The winding, gently hilly roads were free of cars. We
saw more joggers than cars. We saw more non-CycleFest riders than cars.
Trish zoomed ahead of Marty and me. After riding a couple of miles Marty was
sure Trish had missed a turn. The route was well marked with a warning arrow a
hundred feet before the turn, an arrow at the turn, and a confirming arrow after
the turn. The turn in question, Hopewell Road, had three yellow arrows at the
turn; at least one was probably from last year plus warning and confirming
arrows.
Marty and I continued on to a delightful view of the Saugatuck Reservoir at the
south end of the loop. We asked the three riders there if they saw Trish. They
did not remember her. There was a rest stop at 15 miles that we would have
ridden by except we wanted to check for Trish. Rest stop workers there had not
seen Trish. They had this rest stop for slower riders who might a couple of
hours to ride the lower loop. After ten minutes Marty said he would wait for
Trish and I should go on.
I continued on enjoying solitude in the woods with an absence of cars. I saw a
few cyclists coming from the opposite direction. After several turns, a bunch of
little hills, and a few million trees I got back to residential areas in Bethel
and then to the start of the ride. There was Trish beside her car calling
Marty, who did not have his cell phone. I headed for the rest stop for my first
jelly donut. It was served by Bob, a cyclist in rehab who rides a century most
days. He said he consumes 6,000 calories a day.
Trish left a note on Marty’s car and we started the 51-mile loop. In about five
miles we reached the south end of Lake Candlewood passing by Candlewood Park.
Just as we were coming to open country and right before the Federal Correctional
Institute (Danbury Pen) Trish’s phone rang. We stopped by the entrance to the
Pen where Trish heard from Marty. He made it back to Bethel and was already on
his way home. Marty had been on the disabled list all winter and spring with a
bad rotator cuff. His doctor said riding would not worsen the injury if it
didn’t hurt. Marty had done just one ride prior to CycleFest.
Trish started on a downhill and turned on the speed. She flew past the double
arrows pointing to a turn on Bear Mtn Road. I shouted and she seemed to look
back, but apparently not because she kept on going. Going downhill she really
zooms, so it’s not easy to catch her. When I checked the map I saw SR37 and
SR39 merged about 14 mi up the road. I thought I would wait about 15 minutes
for Trish to come back and then ride to the 37-39 junction. A sag wagon came by
so I asked the driver to look for Trish. About a half a mile down the road he
found her on the way back.
On the roll again we went along the west side of Lake Candlewood up and down
many small hills offering good views of the lake and hills on the east side of
the lake. At one point the road goes between Squantz Pond and Lake Candlewood.
A pretty spot from where you can see a home high up on the hill on the west side
of Squantz Pond. Finally we reached Sherman at the north end of Lake
Candlewood.
Following SR39 where is splits from SR37 you pass the picturesque Sherman
Firehouse. Then we turned west for a loop in the woods. Besides good scenery
and some pretty farm ponds the loop is about four miles long so the century
route reaches 100 miles. The route crossed over SR39 and by the church for
which Church Road is named. This was another scenic road, but it lost some of
its beauty when we crossed the county line and were greeted by pea gravel.
There was a warning sign at the start of the pea gravel; which would have been
better placed a hundred feet before the pea gravel. The pea gravel was not
thick, so it wasn’t much of a problem.
Soon we reached US7 and the Gaylordsville rest stop. Lisa and Joe leaders of
the Mt. Greylock ride were there. Very kindly Lisa searched for a jelly donut.
There were lots of cream filled donuts, but Lisa found a jelly donut #2 for me.
I was lucky enough to be at the rest stop when a worker opened an aluminum foil
package that contained great brownies an HCC member baked e great brownies.
There were gatorade, water, bananas, oranges, wide varieties of cookies and
donuts.
It was just after noon, Trish and I calculated the time needed to finish the
century. We were averaging 15 mph. The 28-mile loop would take two hours and
the 23 miles back to Bethel would take an hour and a half. Trish could not
complete the century and get back for work at 4:45pm, so she got a ride back to
the start.
I continued on the century route alone. I did not want to miss crossing the
Appalachian Trail twice plus lots of good scenery in the back country of CT and
NY. The route paralleled the Housatonic RR line most of the way to Kent. Just
after crossing the Housatonic River, the Appalachian Trail crossed SR341. On
the other side of Macedonia I neglected to go far enough into the woods for a
brief break, so I heard the tune of motorcyclists tooting their horns in
recognition of my activity.
Almost as soon as I resumed riding, I crossed into NY and passed the
motorcyclists. I waved and they waved back. About 10 miles of the route in NY
is along the Ten Mile River which joins the Housatonic just north of the rest
stop. Kathy was there with Colleen who signed my t-shirt. I had a jelly donut
(#3), relaxed for a few minutes before starting back to Bethel. Just as I was
leaving another rider pulled in, so I wasn’t the last rider holding up the
closing of the rest stop. After a tenth of a mile I hit a bump breaking a spoke
which put my wheel out of true. I opened my rear brakes and continued, but
wasn’t too happy. The spoke hit the chain in the low gears, but I got by
without using them since the route was fairly level.
Most of the returning route went along the Housatonic RR and River. Scenery was
good along the river, but not as good on the part along the railroad. The
scenery was okay and it avoided lots of traffic. Last year the route went
along the east side of Lake Candlewood on roads with lots of traffic and a fair
number of potholes. I made fairly good time back to Bethel where I had another
jelly donut (#4) and grabbed a banana and raisin bran muffin for the drive home.
Delorme’s Topo 3 assessed the route at 103.7 mi and 8038 ft of climbing. The
highly scenic 23.3-mile loop had 1760 feet of climbing.
EVALUATION
Brochure – I never saw a brochure, but there was complete information on the Hat
City Cyclists website.
Routes – excellent. Scenic terrain if you like hills, trees, lakes, brooks, and
rivers. The return route was a good improvement over last year’s return.
Intersections - excellent. Well marked with a warning mark, a mark at the
intersection, and a confirming mark after the intersection. Often there were
many straight arrows confirming the route.
Cue sheet – excellent. Accurate with mileage and turns plus a map to give you
the option to pick a short cut if you are tired, it starts to rain, etc. (1)
Rest stops – excellent. Great jelly donuts. There was a good selection of
bagels, cookies, fruit, muffins, donuts, brownies, etc. etc., but an alternative
drink to water and Gatorade would be appreciated. Great jelly donuts!
Sags – excellent. Sag wagons were all over the route. At least nine passed me.
Value – excellent.
Conclusion – I’ll be on this ride next year looking for jelly donuts.
(1) It’s possible there’s a left at 52.66 on Long Mountain Rd before the turn on
Kent. The route was marked correctly. I didn’t notice the possible error until
putting the route into Topo 3. Delorme has errors.
Disclaimer:
I have been positively influenced by Kathy, Lisa, Joe, Jim, Jim, Bob, Teresa,
and many other HCCers. I am a recipient on the hcc-road email server. When I
saw Lisa’s message about a Mt. Greylock ride, I asked if I could be a guest
rider. I missed the Mt Greylock century organized by the Berkshire Cyclists
last year.
The Mt. Greylock ride was designed and led by the Bob and Teresa for about 15
years. Lisa and Joe led it this year accompanied by the Bob and Teresa. While
Kathy was supposed to be busy on 5/29, she became free at the last minute and
drove a support van.
The ride starting in Lee, MA was a joint ride of the Hat City Cyclists and the
Westchester Cycle Club plus a few guests. The Westchester Cycle Club approached
Mt. Greylock from the steeper north side while the Hat City Cyclists approached
from the south. Kathy SAGged the HCC route waiting at almost every turn. At
noon the two clubs met atop Mt Greylock. It was a cold day made worse by a
stiff breeze. We ate lunch in a large building including a restaurant and rooms
for overnight guests. Kathy gave us our jackets, arm warmers, leg warmers, etc
for the coast down the mountain and she collected them at the bottom. After the
ride several of us dined at the Athena restaurant.
NOTE: Putting on an invitational ride takes lots of hard work. I have worked
at a rest stops and in registration. The work and intentions of club members is
appreciated by me and other riders.