Day 2 departure

To Avon (from Northampton or New Haven) July 12 & 13

After driving out to our starting park&bike locations, 8 of us departed southbound from Northampton, and 7 northbound from New Haven.  The trail changes name with each town but for the most part is a shaded, FLAT, nicely paved trail heading pretty much straight north-south along the old tow-path/railway.  There were several vestiges of the canal, most notably the old lock about 15 miles north of New Haven and old rail tracks periodically.  There are two ~5 mile gaps in the path - in Westfield, MA ("whip city" - apparently, the buggy whip industry is now obsolete) and in Plainville, CT - maybe they'll get finished someday?  The Southbound crew stopped for a swim at Congamond lake where the beach is in CT, but the lake is in MA, while the northbound crew used a side trail along the Farmington River and found some ice cream.  We all met up in Collinsville for a great swim in the river.   Water was cool & refreshing after our long day (why can we never arrive at our destination early???) and we hung out there for a while.  Cycled 6 miles back to a Marriott in Avon, which was a nicer town than expected and had a socially distant dinner at Decapo Italian restaurant.  The next day, after dividing up between a Brueggers and Dom's for breakfast (and swapping keys!), we set off on the other group's route and their cars, before any thunderstorms arrived.

Pre-Ride to Northampton July 11

2020 was going to be a tough year.  Corona canceled the planned trip to the pacific northwest, and everyone was feeling skittish about being away from home/large groups/hotels/restaurants/etc...but we have to get on the bike!  So we planned a 2 day mini-tour along the Farmington Canal Heritage Trail (https://fchtrail.org/) from Northampton to New Haven.  This trail provided 2 key historical transportation links - a  tow-path/canal from 1828  to 1848 and then a railroad for the next hundred or so years.  But now, it's a perfect bike path - about 85 miles of paved, dedicated trail!  So we had to go!  To maximize social distancing, we split into two groups - northbound and southbound, and met in the middle at Avon, CT to swap car keys and connect.


The pre-ride was a century to Northampton by the intrepid J's - Jason, Jon, John.   As Tropical Storm Fay veered west, leaving us a dry (HOT!) day, we set out using Jason's Google-approved cue sheet from Waltham along the mass central rail trail.  We had 1 short portage, and some nice diversions (Assabet river rail trail in hudson) and made it to northborough where we hit out trio of trouble - Jon's earlier flat turned out to be a gash in the tire (fixed with a dollar), John's soft tire turned into a flat, and John's headache turned into mild dehydration (?).  We plugged on to a Dunkin in Worcester and called Paula for a rescue.   After a tearful farewell, we cruised through Worcester, tracking climbs into the "bank of altitude".  Every time another hill revealed,  the clouds parted and the sun blazed.  Leicester and Ware in particular! Got a quick dip in weir river, then onto some roads familiar to Jason around Quabbin reservoir.   A gallon of water and Dunkin iced cappuccino gave us a boost as we finished along the Manhan rail trail from Amherst into Northampton.  Met up with Jen for outdoor beers before crashing at hotel Northampton.  Good day.  99 miles.