Local loop
Sun May 31, 2020
(~ 224 miles)

With a Sunday forecast of stunning riding weather, Char and I made our arrangements and got chores done early in the weekend. Sure enough the heavy humidity dropped overnight on Saturday and the day dawned dry, clear and warm. After walking the dog and tinkering a bit with my GPS mount, we set off toward the Vanilla Bean in Pomfret CT to ride the New England Riders Southeast CT Ride.

We followed familiar back roads across northern Rhode Island, through North Smithfield and picked up US 44 in Chepachet for the run west to Pomfret. The highway was quite busy and there were plenty of bikes out, but we moved along alright. Neither of us was hungry so we skipped a stop at the Bean (which had plenty going on on such a beautiful day) and turned south on CT 169. It’s not that exciting a road, but provides a pleasant way to cruise south for 18 mostly uninterrupted miles with farms and rural scenery.

We turned west to Sprague and then south to the planned stop at a gas station off I-395 exit 14. I fueled up and we sipped some water while off the bike for a stretch. It was a bit breezier than we’d realized while riding, but still just perfect comfortable weather. Spotted a BBQ place next door called Uncle D’s and it appears to have good reviews online – may have to stop in there next time I’m in the area with fellow carnivores.

We zig-zagged southwest on several local roads, including half of Grassy Hill Road and Mt. Archer/ Brush Hill Road (BONE roads), before arriving at the Hadlyme Country Market. This is another great little community/general store, similar to MKT: Grafton that we visited last week, with good deli sandwiches and (I’m told) very good all-beef hot dogs.

We’d had such good luck with the picnicking last week that we’d decided to stop in here to pick up sandwiches for another al fresco lunch, rather than stopping in at the popular Harry’s Place in Colchester as the ride plan suggests.

The setup here was no customers allowed inside the store. You had to call ahead to order or could order standing at the front door (mask required). They had tables out on the porch with chips, snacks, and a drink cooler etc.

It wasn’t too busy and after ordering, the girl brought our stuff out for an arm’s-length hand-off after about 10 minutes. I opted for roast beef again, with their “Gillette” sandwich, while Char got a veggie/avocado melt.

There are only a couple outdoor tables, situated fairly close together and one of them was occupied, so we decided to take our stuff and find an eating spot in Devil’s Hopyard State Park, a bit later in the route.

I knew the Chester-Hadlyme ferry across the Connecticut River was currently closed due to COVID, but Charlotte had never seen the ferry nor Gillette Castle, so we cruised by both locations before starting our return leg. Gillette State Park was packed with people, and we saw a huge group of motorcycles leaving as we approached, so we just did a quick drive-by around the loop so Char could get an idea of what the castle looked like (no pic).

Now we picked up the short but extremely fun and curvy Joshuatown Road, back to CT 156. We picked up Hopyard Road (BONE segment) and ended up following behind a couple slower vehicles into Devil’s Hopyard State Park. We made it up to Foxtown Road near Chapman Falls and were dismayed to discover packed parking lots and people everywhere, with and without masks.

We banged a uey and headed back a mile to a small pullout lot with a grassy picnicking spot right along Eightmile River. There were a few other small family groups here, but it was far from crowded. We brought our food over and found a nice isolated spot right on the river bank, to sit on the ground and enjoy our lunch.

We were very happy with our choice and enjoyed looking at the woods and hearing the river water gurgling by as we ate our delicious Hadlyme sandwiches. Some crazy people were actually swimming in the small river and it looked like there were a few deep spots that might provide relief on a hotter day.

After a satisfying lunch stop, we packed and geared up while chatting with a trio of younger riders who’d pulled up near us in the lot, commenting on the great weather and exchanging tips on roads and riding destinations. I urged them to checkout the New England Riders site for some definitive info, and they hadn’t heard about it yet. We pressed on, enjoying the curves and scenery through the rest of the park and along Lake Hayward without any vehicles ahead of us this time.

Passing through Colchester, we skipped going by Harry’s Place, but thought I could see their “Open” flags waving down the street as we made our turn onto CT 16. After the crowded lunacy we saw back in Devil’s Hopyard, it was amazing to us that the town green, sizable and well-kept with lots of open space and shady spots, was completely devoid of people. You would think if any time was good to enjoy public spaces paid for by resident tax money, this would be it.

We followed CT 16/ CT 207 (BONE segment) back into Sprague, stopping once at a local ball field to make use of the available porta-potty (very clean this early in the season and even had hand sanitizer!). We turned north to enjoy a good brisk run northbound on CT 97 (another BONE road), with no traffic ahead of us to impede our progress. As we approached the Vanilla Bean once again, we discussed stopping in for coffee and dessert, but decided against it upon seeing the crowded parking lot and eating area. For the moment, although things are opening back up, we are maintaining a cautious approach to crowded places and will continue to keep our distance when possible to do so (or maybe unless there is really good pie).

We more or less retraced our route home, glad to leave US 44 after getting stuck behind another slow train. It had been another stellar day of riding and welcome break from the long and continuing isolation. We are taking a gradual approach to learning what the “new normal” is going to look like and so far so good.