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CT Overnighter – May 12th, 2023

Overnight bikepacking trip! How exciting! I found this route on Ride With GPS. Yes! You can definitely find an adventure in your own backyard! We parked our cars at a local community college. My packed bike waited for me all day inside my car, while I was at work. I was excited and a little bit nervous. We started rolling after 6pm. The route kicked off on the Greenway, but soon we traveled over paved road and entered a single track.

We were surprised that the route would go through trails. We thought it would be an easy rail trail gravel adventure. The route continued through Case Mountain and Gay City Park trails.

It was already dark by the time we left the woods. Subsequently, we hit rolling paved roads. The night weather was so perfect. The air felt so amazing. There were plenty of bugs hitting my face going down the hills. Beware of opening your mouth at any time! I swallowed few bugs anyways in the woods, when I was breathing hard on the climbs.

The rolling road took us to the rail trail in Andover. We tried to decide about space to camp. Nowhere seemed perfect. We stopped at a gas station in Willimantic to get more water and decided to scope the trail harder for any possible spots for camping.

Soon enough, we found a dirt road and found a perfect spot on the side of that road. It was after 10pm. I was looking forward to sleeping. We traveled 32 miles up to this point.

Chris slept in a tent, Brett in a hommock and I slept in my bivvy and mosquito net.

The night was uneventful, and we got some good sleep. At least, I wasn’t feeling cold this time.

Around 7am, we disassembled our camp and continued riding. There were a few mapping errors and we had to decide on the reroutes. We rode through Goodwin and Natchaug State Forests. The day became a hot one on the exposed gravel roads. It was a little bit cooler in the woods. This route had a few surprises awaiting us, including a bushwack on an old trail, and it also happened to traverse through a private road.

The owner gave us permission to pass only once. Chris tried to reason with her while showing her the distance we would have to backtrack if we couldn’t pass. Luckily, his personal charm worked, and we pedaled through.

We were already getting tired and hungry. There was no sight of any place to get food or water till we arrived at Stafford Springs. We stopped by a pizza place there.

After having a late lunch, we still had about forty miles left on unknown terrain. Of course, Shenipsit State Forest didn’t disappoint as we climbed Soapstone Mountain and then rode through on the most technical trails (because why not?). That’s where Brett’s pannier broke and we spent some time fixing it.

Luckily, both guys are handy and soon we were moving again. From there, we rode to Ellington and then to Vernon as the route became easier and it was almost all downhill back to the cars.

Original route:

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/38020399