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Top of CT. whats the best bike roads?

PostPosted: Tue May 29, 2012 2:47 pm
by bonnevillebilly
I'm ready and waiting to go.
I will be heading out Thursday morning.
I am thinking of taking a different route along the top side of Connecticut.
Coming from Ma. rt.6 thru RI. follow rt.6 to 44 after Hartford then up rt.7 thru Ma. up into Bennington.
I have all day , I plan on being there some time late afternoon.

Man! what a long day it has been.
I don't know how I'm going to get thru tomorrow.

See ya in a day or 2

Bill

Re: Top of CT. whats the best bike roads?

PostPosted: Tue May 29, 2012 7:06 pm
by GerryP
bonnevillebilly wrote:I'm ready and waiting to go.
I will be heading out Thursday morning.
I am thinking of taking a different route along the top side of Connecticut.
Coming from Ma. rt.6 thru RI. follow rt.6 to 44 after Hartford then up rt.7 thru Ma. up into Bennington.
I have all day , I plan on being there some time late afternoon.

Man! what a long day it has been.
I don't know how I'm going to get thru tomorrow.

See ya in a day or 2

Bill



Damn, Bill that a bit of a ride. What time were you planning on leaving Ma. ??

I'm leaving Guilford, Ct about 08:30/09:00. Probably take RT 8 up to 44 in Caanan, CT then 7 or rt 8 to llitchfield, to an 63 to 7 or 44 and at some point maybe cut over to 22 in Ny or just stay on 7 into Bennington.

Time wise probably 4+ hrs from guilford to Bennington (just over 3.5 from Litchfield Center if you cut over to 22 in Millerton, Ny)

No set route, just depends on Traffic and Zen.

Gerry

Re: Top of CT. whats the best bike roads?

PostPosted: Wed May 30, 2012 9:33 am
by bonnevillebilly
I really don't know how the hell I'm going to get there. :scratchhead:
All I know is I will have all day to get there.
It looks like I'm pretty much going to follow rt.44/6 all the way across the top of CT.
It looks like getting through Manchester and Hartford will be the biggest pain in the ass.
Then follow rt. 7 straight up through Ma.

When is this day going to end?

Bill

Re: Top of CT. whats the best bike roads?

PostPosted: Wed May 30, 2012 10:14 am
by ATriumphGoddess
Ride safe, Bill! We'll be at the campground by 2 or 3- stop by if you're in the neighborhood!
Peace,
Paula

Re: Top of CT. whats the best bike roads?

PostPosted: Wed May 30, 2012 11:01 am
by bonnevillebilly
I plan/hope to be checked in at my hotel around the same time.
I will be sure to swing by the camp ground after I check in.

See ya tomorrow


GOD!!!!! This day is taking for EVER!!!! :nuts:

Bill

Re: Top of CT. whats the best bike roads?

PostPosted: Wed May 30, 2012 12:08 pm
by mechanologist
Hi Bill,

Don’t know if you have ridden these before but I would hit Rt 94 north off of Rt 6 in RI. Then hang a left on Rt 44 to Pomfret CT. (Vanilla Bean) take that right onto Rt 169. After that it is a left onto Rt 197 then left again at Rt190 towards Stafford Springs. From there you are on your own. 169 and 197 are a couple of the best roads around here.

Re: Top of CT. whats the best bike roads?

PostPosted: Wed May 30, 2012 12:29 pm
by matts1050
Go past Canaan on 44 then go North on Rt 41 through most of Mass. You can hit Rt8 or NY Rt22 after that.

Re: Top of CT. whats the best bike roads?

PostPosted: Wed May 30, 2012 1:52 pm
by bonnevillebilly
Thanks Scott, I almost got lost just reading that route.
Actually I have rode 169 and a few of the roads around that area of the Vanilla bean.

Matt, is 41 a better road then 7? I have heard that 7 is a nice road.

I will be winging it most of the way, if the road looks good and it's heading west or north I'll take it :)

But, thanks for the suggestions.



Man, is this still the same fucking day?........Damn

Bill

Re: Top of CT. whats the best bike roads?

PostPosted: Wed May 30, 2012 2:12 pm
by GerryP
bonnevillebilly wrote:Thanks Scott, I almost got lost just reading that route.
Actually I have rode 169 and a few of the roads around that area of the Vanilla bean.

Matt, is 41 a better road then 7? I have heard that 7 is a nice road.

I will be winging it most of the way, if the road looks good and it's heading west or north I'll take it :)

But, thanks for the suggestions.



Man, is this still the same fucking day?........Damn

Bill


Yes, Bill it's still the same f'n day.

I myself have never been on 41 usually on 7 or 44 through to Millerton, Ny then up 22.

Gerry

Re: Top of CT. whats the best bike roads?

PostPosted: Wed May 30, 2012 4:36 pm
by stormrider
If you wind your way up Route 7 (or even Route 8 for that matter), try to get up Greylock Mountain. Spectacular views and the diner/lodge is open for refreshments/lunch at the top. Then you meander down the north face of Greylock towards Adams, MA and pick up Route 2 back on over to Route 7 North up to Bennington.

The Greylock road is very nice, but very tight. Lots of switchbacks, etc. Midday riding is best cuz the summer heat keeps most of the critters in hiding....MOST of 'em.

Re: Top of CT. whats the best bike roads?

PostPosted: Wed May 30, 2012 5:04 pm
by GerryP
stormrider wrote:If you wind your way up Route 7 (or even Route 8 for that matter), try to get up Greylock Mountain. Spectacular views and the diner/lodge is open for refreshments/lunch at the top. Then you meander down the north face of Greylock towards Adams, MA and pick up Route 2 back on over to Route 7 North up to Bennington.

The Greylock road is very nice, but very tight. Lots of switchbacks, etc. Midday riding is best cuz the summer heat keeps most of the critters in hiding....MOST of 'em.


Thanks for the f.y.i.

Gerry

Re: Top of CT. whats the best bike roads?

PostPosted: Wed May 30, 2012 10:02 pm
by Bucky
Billy - as you probably know - avoid 44 through Hartford like the plague. It's dozens of traffic lights through the highest crime areas of the city. On the other hand, that type of route could lend itself to some good campfire / motel parking lot stories... If you make your way to routes 57 & 20 in S. Western MA, they are awesome routes, as is route 2 up near Adams, MA. There's an uphill steep hairpin turn on 2 that is legendary. I got to see a guy stall his 913 lb. Harley there one day when he missed a gear, and almost tipped over. His pillion rider looked a might distressed as they started to roll backwards. (It's the little things in life...)

GerryP - Instead of 8 all the way to Winsted, consider 8 north to exit 38 (Thomaston). Left at the ramp end. Left onto 254. Left onto 118. Right onto 63 north in Litchfield. 63 dumps you onto 7 in Falls Village. If you go left onto 7 south, go to first blinking yellow light and make a right. Go 1/4 mile and on your left is Toymaker's Cafe. Toymaker's is owned by Greg & Annie Bidou, aka T100 Toymakers, Inc., a Triumph restorer and parts supplier. If it's quiet there, ask Greg for a barn tour. Tell him Martin, the guy with the green and cream Triumph bagger sent you. Good food, good folk.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Toymakers ... 4957654987
http://www.motorcycleclassics.com/class ... ticut.aspx

254 is actually 15 minutes quicker to 7 than 8 to 44, and MUCH more scenic. It's up and down foothills of farm land on a very smooth, wide, fast secondary road. I know this is a lot of twists and turns if you perhaps aren't familiar with the area, but it's well worth the effort. S'posed to be a perfect weather day tomorrow too.

Happy trials to both y'all. See you Thursday night hopefully. I have to do a train station to house escort tomorrow afternoon at ? pm, so not sure yet when I can leave.

Re: Top of CT. whats the best bike roads?

PostPosted: Thu May 31, 2012 6:18 am
by lzrdking61
Come up to Worcester I'll show you how to get there :twisted:. I'm thinking about leaving around 9 or 10 and maybe up through NH and then over and down. No offense but CT. roads are kinda boring.

Re: Top of CT. whats the best bike roads?

PostPosted: Thu May 31, 2012 6:36 am
by stormrider
I second Bucky on routes 57 and 20 in Northern CT. But a much better route is getting all the way up to Route 2 just west of the interstate. That road is amazing, all the way through to Adams, MA. And after last years storms, much of the surface is new pavement in the real mountain areas about 1hr east of Adams. From the east, however, that hairpin is a downhiller...but plenty of signs warning of it's approach.

Either way...you should be getting on the bike in about an hour. See you tomorrow!!!!

And yes, yesterday is now over :lmao:

Re: Top of CT. whats the best bike roads?

PostPosted: Thu May 31, 2012 7:53 am
by GerryP
stormrider wrote:I second Bucky on routes 57 and 20 in Northern CT. But a much better route is getting all the way up to Route 2 just west of the interstate. That road is amazing, all the way through to Adams, MA. And after last years storms, much of the surface is new pavement in the real mountain areas about 1hr east of Adams. From the east, however, that hairpin is a downhiller...but plenty of signs warning of it's approach.

Either way...you should be getting on the bike in about an hour. See you tomorrow!!!!

And yes, yesterday is now over :lmao:


Everyone,

Thanks for all the route tips. Looks like it will be slow (ok maybe 10 over) and scenic

I'll be leaving in approx 20 min.

See you up there.

Billy did ya leave yet??

Gerry