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the last post was pretty road bike centric — albeit “adv. road” which constitutes a ride with at least 80 percent pavement. there, I just made up a category. a pillar of this category is the concept of underbiking, although you can see my cousin Sean in the photo above was overbiking for this sort of day — appreciated as I was actually able to keep up with him for once. another pillar of adv. road is connectors. the adventure (adv) parts aren’t frivolous, they are necessary for connecting roads that you want to ride while avoiding major thoroughfares. this keeps it interesting for me, and also works other muscle groups — something important for long day mental and physical endurance IMO.

I mapped out this first ride by going into strava and looking for all the cat 3 climbs (over 350ft) in our area and connecting them all. the crux was a single track 700 footer in a half mile at the top of our route, that led into some chunky 2 track and some rolling grav dad territory with sharp rocks. all of this together made for a 100 mile 10,000 ft of elevation gain kinda ride. all nickels and dimes, just up and down our low hills the whole way.

Joe was on 700×23 at the bottom end, Sean and Arya were on 650b x 48 at the top end. JW was on 700×28, Alex was on 650b x 42, Jermey was on 700×33, and I was on 700×30 on my Beach Club.

we hit dirt in the Nehantic state forest near right away, and the group splintered leaving only Sean, Jeremy and I at the front. Joe knocked some demons loose on his 23mm tires, but with great strength and determination was able to real himself back in along with Alex who was only joining us for half the ride. ambitious rides like this end up being drop rides, as too much stopping leads to stiff legs and getting home after dark. sorry the rest of the group! Adventure road is a drop game. roadies wait for no-one! lol.

I was joined once again by the ugliest sandals on the market — but the clip in and they are sooooo comfy on these long summer rides. they are also good for the inevitable bike hikes that make adventure road adventurous. I guess they are pretty important to the whole mindset of these rides.

really great riding to be had on this one — love these long rides on long days — so many good conversations and musings to be shared on what is essentially a 10 hour hangout session.

here we are at the top o’ the crux. Jeremy actually cleaned the last section to the top. must have been the dynamic choice!

quaintness, we got it by the wheelbarrow full! with all the dirt we ride, it is easy to overlook the world class roady roads that snake though the olden farmsteads of the lower CT river valley. for what we lack in high (even low) mountain passes, we make up for in these meandering ribbons of pavement and some of the nicest historical homes i’ve seen anywhere in the states.

the day was disappearing and our legs were getting heavier. Jeremy pealed off, leaving just Sean, Joe, and I to crawl back together — Arya was taking her time out there as she does.

Sean and I were on a mission that last 20 miles — counting down the climbs knowing that the last one is the 20 percent gradient seething Ray Hill. we have to go up this one a lot living where we do above eat haddam, but this time it felt brand new with 9,600 ft of climbing in the legs. our legs however, did not feel brand new at all. we made it back to the house and Joe showed up just a little bit after us with Arya rolling in right as it got dark.

and thats that! looking forward to many more of these all day rides this summer — road bike summer! its just fun to go really far and see new places in a place you’ve lived your whole life. thats connecticut for ya! splendor for those who take the time to notice.

XO Ronnie