Rides in CT

[ssnoobie]

Hello,

I occasionally visit my in-laws in CT, and I am looking for a place to do some trail riding. I have done some reading in various places around teh webb, and trout brook has come up as a possibility. The family lives in Weston, but I am open to little commuting time to find some good trails.

Can anyone reccomend a nice ride in that area? Next time I will be down there is Christmas, so the trails need to be open in the winter.

Thanks in advance.

ssnoobie

[Slider]

I recommend Westwoods highly. In fact, it's one of my favorite rides of all time.

It is a long drive for me, but from Weston your drive should be well under an hour. Post your date/time and I'll see if I can roust some companions.

BikeRag can fill you in: http://www.bikerag.com

Slider

[ssnoobie]

Thanks for the advice slider. I checked out some of th information on the trails. It looks great. From the photos on the bikerag site there appeared to be two takes on the trails. The buff woman who was riding what looked like an indy fab XC bike, and the freeriders on full squish bikes.

What set up are you guys running on the trails?

My equipment is definitely more XC oriented, and the trails I usually ride consist of the rooty/rocky single track of NH and VT. I have two bikes I could bring down: a full rigid SS and an old trek 930 that I overhauled with a 27 speed drivetrain and 100 mm travel RS judy fork.

How is the riding in that park when it is frozen?

Thanks again for the invite and advice, I will post again closer to the date I will be coming down.

SSnoobie

[Slider]

I'm more the XC type and usually ride my Dean, rigid in the rear. But you really can go FR, too. There are lots of wheelie drop rocks and other playthings around. Some of the XC trails get you going real fast, then throw in a surprise 3 foot drop. Very fun. All the big stuff has work-arounds.

My buds claim the place is well known to break bikes, though. Personally, I don't go out of the way to hit the bigger stuff, at least not on the Dean. Haven't tried it on my Giant yet.

I've only ridden there twice, so can't comment on the cold-weather conditions. I would predict that it only gets faster, and even better. Fast is good!

Lemme know when you settle on a date. Advance notice will help a lot, since the trip is kinda long for me, and I really need help finding my way around. I plan on bringing a local or two.

Slider

[Jisch]

Typically there is some standing water at Westwoods, so expect at least a little ice. Its near the shore so it will stay snow-free for longer than interior parts of CT. As one of Slider's advisors ;D I can definitely attest to the fact that many bikes have met their match at Westwoods. Of course its all in how you ride.

The place is a real maze though, miles of trails crunched into a fairly small area. During the summer you'd swear you were riding in a massive area. In the winter with leaves down, if there are other people riding nearby, you can see just how tightly packed the trails are. It is one of my favorite places to ride in CT, even with the 1 hour drive to get there.

John

[ssnoobie]

Thanks again for all the info.

I would love to replace teh frame on both of my bikes, so maybe a ride in westwoods is just what the framebuilder ordered. I will post again when we settle on a date. Right now it looks like we will be in the weston area from the 23rd to the 28th. It might be kind of hard to justify a ride on the 24th or the 25th, but I can sneek away on the 26th or the 28th (I am taking my boys to the botanical gardens on the 27th.).

Take care

SSnoob

[Slider]

Of those, only 12/26 would work for me. I could also make it on 12/24 and 12/25, but only if we go early in the morning.

Slider

[Slider]

Hey, ssnobie, I PM'd you, too. (But this ride is open to anyone who wants to join in. Date is a little unclear yet, but 12/26 in the AM looks good so far...)

Are your Christmas plans any clearer? I'm hoping to see if we can get a couple of friends, at least, to join us, so the more lead time we have, the better. It all depends on when, though. Lemme know what works for you, as soon as you can. Sunday AM is good for me, BTW.

So you know, Paul is in great shape and very fast on the climbs, Jish is almost there, and I am well behind them in conditioning, so I make time on the technical parts. The point is we wait; no one is left behind, and you prolly won't be in the back anyway.

Lemme know if you want to make this happen. (Anyone else, too!)

Slider

[Jisch]

If it makes any difference, I think I can only ride in the PM on the 26th.

John

[Slider]

Works for me...

Slider

[ssnoobie]

Hello,

Thanks again for the effort and information. Unfortunately something just came up at work that is going to cut my trip a bit short. That gives me less time to slip away for a ride. I am going to try to find something closer to my in-laws house in weston. If any of you are interested in riding up in the central VT, NH area or if you make a trip to kingdom trails sometime let me know (I live about an hour south of the kingdom trails). I will post again if I am planning another trip south with my bike.

THanks again and enjoy the ride.

[Slider]

Maybe next time, ssnoobie. The Kingdon Trails offer is tempting, but whaddya say we wait until Spring/Summer. ;D

The offer still applies to anyone else. Just lemme know if 12/26 in the afternoon works for a tour of the best trails in the Northeast.

Slider

[slowride]

I'm in WIlton, 1 town east of Weston. Try Wilton Woods, also known as Wilton Town Forest. Good for a 1 - 2 hour workout and pretty technical. Plenty rocky rooty with short steep climbs. Trailhead is on Branch Brook Rd and there is a map posted there. You can ride the perimeter in less than an hour and then mess around on teh interior trails.

Huntington Park in Redding, just north of Weston is great but it is closed until next spring.

In Weston is a place called Troutbrook that has some good riding, but I think that may be closed for the season.

Wilton is your best bet.

[ssnoobie]

SOunds good I was planning on trying out Troutbrook, but I am not interested in poaching closed trails. I will probably give the wiltonwoods a shot

THanks for the info slowride.

Take it easy ;D

[CTYankee]

Hello,

I occasionally visit my in-laws in CT, and I am looking for a place to do some trail riding. I have done some reading in various places around teh webb, and trout brook has come up as a possibility. The family lives in Weston, but I am open to little commuting time to find some good trails.

Can anyone reccomend a nice ride in that area? Next time I will be down there is Christmas, so the trails need to be open in the winter.

Thanks in advance.

ssnoobie


Your options are basically Trout Brook (closed?) and Trumbull (open). Trumbull is about 30 minutes away or closer. Westwoods is pretty far from you...an hour or more at least. Its up around Guilford. Great riding, but tricky to find your way around.

If you ride Trumbull check out the map I made:

http://www.sidvision.org/images/Content/GPS%20Maps/Trumbull-Map.jpg

Trails and stuff for everyones taste. Feel free to email/reply if you need more info. Actually...email since I don't check here often. I'm right down the road from the trails so know them well.

[gnurider1080]

speaking of trumbull, whats the riding there like? my grandma lives there. i think there are some trails off of tait road. gotta bring my bike down next time my family goes over the summer.

[CTYankee]

speaking of trumbull, whats the riding there like? my grandma lives there. i think there are some trails off of tait road. gotta bring my bike down next time my family goes over the summer.


Its small in acreage, but lots (too many) of trails. Lots of ride downs and drops too. If you bring your bike and ride you will enjoy it provided you like rocky rooty trails. Not the easiest, but lots of fun.

[ssnoobie]

Your options are basically Trout Brook (closed?) and Trumbull (open). Trumbull is about 30 minutes away or closer. Westwoods is pretty far from you...an hour or more at least. Its up around Guilford. Great riding, but tricky to find your way around.

If you ride Trumbull check out the map I made:

http://www.sidvision.org/images/Content/GPS%20Maps/Trumbull-Map.jpg

Trails and stuff for everyones taste. Feel free to email/reply if you need more info. Actually...email since I don't check here often. I'm right down the road from the trails so know them well.


Thanks for the pointers.

I rode the wilton woods on Monday evening (10 minutes from where I was staying). It was a nice little loop. It was my first time riding in the snow (20oC), and I really enjoyed it. I could probably use some studded tires; the hutchinson mosquitos did not bite very well on the climbs. The terrain was fine for rigid single speed riding, though with the fresh snow it was not that easy to follow the trails. There are blazes on trees to mark the trails, but trying to keep verticle on snow through some rooted and rocky sections left little time to follow the blazes. I ended up losing one trail, but easily picked up another that crossed back through the middle of the forest. I was using my light before the ride was over (not dark just dusk). There are one or two creek crossings that were not ridable. One of them I had to throw my bike across, then find some rocks to hop. All in all, it was great to get out, and there is a nice little network of trails in there. Then again, I am finding I will ride (and enjoy) just about any trail. Thanks again for the heads up about the trails. I am definitely bringing my bike down to CT the next time I go.

ssnoob

[Paula]

Troutbrook in Easton is closed to mt. biking from Jan.1 to April 30. Huntington is mostly open right now, and is supposed to be fully open any day now. Trumbull is open all year. Another place in Ridgefield is Bennet's Pond/Pine Mountain.

[slowride]

Good to hear Huntington is finally opening back up. I tried it earlier this fall and there were signs at both parking areas saying closed until spring 2005. It's my favorite winter ride because I bring my xc ski gear as well and decide at the trail head weather to bike or ski, depending on conditions.

[natemanzz]

try hurd park all sorts of rideing there one of the best places that I have been too.