2015 Fall Foliage Gravel Grinder (F2G2)

Registration at Cantebury Farm in Becket, MA

Mountain Bikers

Getting Ready

Will and I 

Heading up Fox Rd

Elk Road

Not sure it's really a road

More like an old Right of Way

Sage Road, more like a right of way

Then there is the gravel part

First Rest Stop

That Ricola moment

Second Rest stop

Pickles!

Rolling through Bear Town State Forest

The signature hill climb

Last rest stop and more pickles!

Back at the farm

Getting some food, beer & music

2015 F2G2 Preview

 https://www.bikereg.com/27970

This is a great Gravel Grinder and should not be missed.

Here is my write up of last years ride on Cyclesnack.com:  2014 Fall Foliage Gravel Grinder
Here is additional information and photos here, too:
Fall Foliage Gravel Grinder
Check out this video that Brad Herder posted talking about the event and route details.

Sign up and lets get dirty!

D2G2: The Dirty Dover Gravel Grinder, Wassaic Edition

The Wassaic Edition of the Dirty Dover Gravel Grinder (D2G2) route is a 100+ mile that traverses some of the best dirt roads Dutchess County, NY has to offer, and rides most of the original Dirty Dover Gravel Grinder roads in reverse.  To make this route an American Century it first goes to Skiff Mountain and climbs up Lambert Road, which is seasonally maintained and doesn't appear as a through road on most maps.  The signature climb on Skiff Mountain is North Kent Road No. 1.

Once you are back in NY, after 30 miles of riding I strongly suggest you stop at the Amenia Cumberland Farms to fuel back up before hitting Cascade Road, which is 3 mile climb with a 700 elevation change.  The Hammond Hill climb is another notable climb which starts in Millbrook and you ascend 1000 feet over 10 miles.  The back side is a super fast descent with a sharp curve in it and it's highly recommended to take it slow.

After you return to Dover Plains, stop in at Renny's to fuel back up before hitting Butts Hollow.  There you will find an initial wall of a 13% grade and then mostly 5% and 8% grades till you get to the top.  The backside of Tower Road is yet another ascent that has to be reckoned with.  The Dark Hollow climb is not as tough as the other two but it's certainly challenging since you have already ridden almost 100 miles.

Please ride safely, wear a helmet, and ride at your own risk!

Gravle Indipendenza

The Gravle Randonneurs will be riding the following route in celebration of America's Independence on July 3rd.  We'll be meeting at the trail head of the Harlem Valley Rail Trail at 8 AM. 

This is a new route in a familiar location that we have ridden a few times last year.  The challenging part of this route is hitting Mt Riga Road after nearly 60 miles of riding on the return leg.  We'll be sure to stuff ourselves at the pastry shop in Salisbury before the final climb.

This route will take us deeper east into Western Mass and explore some dirt roads that I have identified on the the Tri State Gravle Roads Map but haven't ridden before.

There are three signature climbs on this route:

1. Sunset Rock - 1,726 ft
2. E Hill Road - 1,522 ft
3. Mt Riga Road - 2,007 ft

And over 40 miles of Gravle!

Tracing the Shepaug Railroad

On my latest Gravle adventure, I decided to follow the Shepaug Railroad Right of Way, north from from Tunnel Road to the Rumsey Hall School in Romford, CT.   The roadbed is accessible primarily in three places:  (1) Roxbury Land Trust property off of Minor Bridge; (2) Steep Rock Reservation; (3) Hidden Valley section of Steep Rock Reservation. On this ride I didn't ride the section from Minor Bridge to Rt 67.

I usually ride the section through the lower part of the Steep Rock Reservation north to south but since my goal was to ride the section through Hidden Valley I tried something new and went the opposite way.  

The treat to this ride is riding through the tunnel and to be honest, riding in this direction seemed like it was a whole new route. Originally, I intended to link up from Steep Rock to the road behind the Gunnery, called Ferry Bridge Road but I got confused and headed back up another route that put me on Rt 199.

I did find an unmarked road off of Ferry Bridge that ran behind the school that was a great dirt descent.  I will have to try this route again to see if I can make the connection.

Above the Shepaug River the trail get's really narrow and it's not part of the original road bed.  The Shepaug line actually cuts more inland before this section but I missed that turn on this ride.

I had heard that the Rumsey Hall Cross Country Team used the old Railroad bed to run on so I figured it would be OK to ride.  I had ridden this part before but stopped at the gate because it was too muddy to press on.  On this ride, however, it pretty dry with an occasional mud patch here and there.  What I wasn't ready for was all the traffic.  I came across a dog walker and a couple of runners.

Walker Brook Gravel Grinder

The attraction of this route is the 7 mile Gravle road combination of Judds Bridge and Walker Brook Road.  On the Pave/Gravle index, this route is a 60/40, consisting of around 15 miles of Gravle roads.  With a few routing tweeks you could get the Gravle number up but it would take away from the continuity of the ride, which is riding the entire length of  Ridge/Old Ridge Road through New Milford.

While the road is Pave, the views from Ridge Road, looking east and west and memorable and there is a plethora of farms along this route that give you the feeling that you are really in the sticks, especially the sharp odors of manure.  Interspersed along the way are subdivisions which break up the serenity of the route to remind you that you really are still in Sub-ruralurbia and these farms are really just clinging to the past. 

Some notes about the route:
Flag Swamp Road - it says it's a dead end but it does go all the way through.  Also the dirt starts further up the road then previously through.  Additionally, about 100 yards before the intersection with West Flag Swamp, on the climb it's paved.

Rolling 700x50c Vee Rubber tires

Walker Brook Road - Definitely showing signs of a hard winter.  Looks like it was washed out right before Shinar Mountain Road.  Also, you will find quite a few sections that have been shored up with larger gravel which could reek havoc on a thinner tire.

F2G2: Fall Foliage Gravel Grinder

This a repost from my official write up of the event on my Cycling Blog, Cyclesnack.com, because I made a big push over the weekend to lay down more dirt tracks on the Gravle Guide and I think I found all the good dirt west of Becket, MA.  One of things that I discovered doing is that if a picture is online it can be imbedded into the route descriptions, hence the reason for this post.

Getting ready

My Randommuter:  Surly Cross Check

Plenty of Gravle

 Can't ride without a Cue Sheet because a GPS is not always reliable

More Gravle

 And more Gravle

Fancy Bikes, too

Lots of rest stops on the Gravle

And other stops, too!

Cronk!

What a view

We are in Bavaria

It does go through!

Coming down George Cannon is a lot more fun

I see Schemmerhorn Hill!

Anderson Vista

Widow White's Peak was off in the distant

Mount Greylock off to the right

Mount Greylock

October Mountain Reservoir