Local loop to Great Barrington MA
Thursday Aug 15, 2019
(~ 280 miles)

My buddies Ken and Roy decided to meet up for another mid-week lunch in Western MA and invited me along. The plan was to meet up with Sean, another long-distance rider from MA who’d recently documented a long trip out west on ADVrider. When I heard the venue would be Barrington Brewery, I decided to join them – visions of chocolate-Guinness layer cake in my head.

The first half of the year, my infrequent riding had consisted mainly of longer trips to various LD rallies or local interstate blasts to meet friends due to limited timing and other responsibilities. Today I’d be able to take the scenic route out across northern Connecticut and make a day out of it. I was looking forward to re-connecting with the local back roads once again. I dug up and modified an older route that I hadn’t had time to ride the last time an RTE was held out there.

We’d been having a string of beautiful weather days and today was no different, with temps forecast to the high 70s and clear sunny skies. Perfect riding weather as I set myself a brisk pace through the curvy back roads of North Smithfield RI and Thompson CT to pick up CT 197/CT 190 (NER BONE road). Not being in a particular hurry, I took a moment to get off the bike and stretch my legs in Stafford Springs, which was fairly quiet mid-week. I always enjoy riding through this little town, with it’s clean streets and quirky architecture, including a graceful stone arch bridge crossing the small canal parallel to the main drag. The benches and trees by the waterway provide a pleasant shady spot to cool off on hot days. There’s a nice looking coffee shop on the corner that I haven’t yet tried. Perhaps on a cooler day.

I looped southwest on CT 140 to avoid the more commercialized and busier portions of 190 going through Hazardville. I rejoined 190 just past I-91 in Enfield to cross the Connecticut River. I rode through some lush tobacco fields in Suffield and stopped for a couple snaps of the long drying sheds along Halladay Road before crossing back into Massachusetts.

In Southwick, I picked up MA 57, a new-to-me BONE road. As expected, the road provided many miles of great riding in the most rural region of my home state. The pavement got a bit sketchy toward the western portion of the route, near the towns of Sandisfield and New Marlborough. Longitudinal frost heaves had created large ruts in the middle of the lane, with actual grass/weeds sprouting up through. Odd as this seemed on such a “main” road, the ruts were fairly easy to avoid. Traffic remained sparse until I joined MA 23 on the approach into Great Barrington.

We all arrived at Barrington Brewery within a few minutes of each other at the agreed time. We introduced ourselves to Sean, the newcomer, who was riding a sharp new-to-him cream-colored BMW K1600 GT. The brewery uses renewable energy to produce their beer, and the large solar panels are all lined up in the field along the parking area. I also love the huge brewing vat with the brewery logo under a tall beautiful sycamore tree overhanging the entrance.

Now Roy wanted some assistance from the rest of us out in the parking lot to test a new contraption he’d built to help him lift his bike if (when) it tips over. He modeled if off a tool he saw on in an advertisement somewhere and the basic idea is a collapsible pole with a wide base and a ratcheting strap with hook attached to the top. It’s documented elsewhere on the Inter-webs that Roy had some trouble up on Beartooth Pass in June, due to some icy road conditions. He had this tool with him on its maiden voyage, but it hadn’t worked due to slippage on the ice. The basic idea is you stand the pole up next to your fallen bike, hook the strap on a solid piece of bike frame or crash bar, then ratchet it up until the bike is high enough to give you better leverage to right it.

So we lowered his K1600 GTL as gently as possible to the gravel parking lot surface and stood back to watch. I think the heavy bike lifted an inch or two before the pole, which consisted of a few sections of threaded black plumbing pipe, snapped at one of the threaded joints (cue sad trumpet). Oh well, better to find out now under controlled circumstances. I’m sure Roy will put his considerable mind back to the task and come up with a stronger design for the next iteration.

Speaking of his considerable mind, Roy also entertained us with another recent farkle – a water pump for his hydration system! WTF! For whatever reason, he was having trouble just sucking the water up from his side-mounted thermos, so he installed a small pump….the thing can squirt water 20 feet away from his hydration tube! Watch out if you are parked next to Roy at your next rally. 🙂 We all chuckled at the overkill, but agreed it would be handy for spraying your face in severe heat or even clearing your faceshield of bug goo while on the move. Too funny.

When the antics died down, we said our farewells and headed off on our respective routes. Sean and I had both planned to head west on MA 23 (BONE road) in to Westfield before hopping on the Mass Pike, so he said he tag along behind me. 23 is another nice ride with lots of curves. There was a bit more traffic than 57, but we moved along at a good clip and were able to pass cars as needed. We waved goodbye at his exit in Palmer and I finished out my route on the slab to get home. I laid out my spoils on the kitchen counter and thought back on a really great day.