Food eaten trailside is some of the most delicious around. For all I know, this sorbet normally tastes like citric acid-infused cardboard. But after a few hours of riding on a day like this, it may as well be ambrosia.
In contrast to last July, the Coppertone Farmington River is as low as I’ve ever seen it.
Not even the normally timid wildlife can be bothered to stir at my presence.
Stay cool.
In July, the Big River was like this:
The Farmington was like this:
And the trails were like this:
… Rewind to the end of June, the days were drier and Elizabeth Park reached peak rose:
Sunny days, return… some day?
YAGR (yet another greenway ride), but with a detour to the aforementioned upper dam. Unbeknownst to me, this hydro was already in the process of getting powered.
I don’t think you can mill corn with these turbines, but I’m sure they’ll help power a plug-in miller if that’s what you really need.
And the remains of the Collins Company:
Collins was a world-famous manufacturer of axes, but following damage from the Flood of 1955, the company itself got the ax (-_-);;
The greenway’s nice, but with vaccinations afoot, the unblinking eye turns its gaze south…
A bog normal ride, with straight greenway runs, conifer-assisted rest stops, and suburban backyards patrolled by suits of armor.
Pano 1 (of 2-Pano set)
The Collinsville “lower” dam. Unlike that uppity dam upstream, this one knows how to lay low and gracefully accept its fate as a graffiti canvas. I’ve heard rumbles of plans to create a new hydroelectric plant, for those who can’t be content with just throwing up a water wheel and milling some corn.
Pano 2 (of 2-Pano set)
Stratton Brook. I remember swimming here as a child, but I haven’t in decades and I can’t remember seeing an adult in the water here. There’s no actual posted age limit, it’s like we all just understand that when you reach a certain age, you swim at Bar-CAM-in-stead (-_-);;
After one too many rides along the Farmington, it’s time to take a ride along the truly mighty Connecticut River.
The ride starts taking in the respective town greens of Bloomfield and Windsor, with a quick detour by Windsor Station to see the train roll by.
On the way up to Windsor Locks, we actually do pass over the Farmington River. This is a bit upstream from where it drains into the Connecticut River.
A quick sail through the historic district, and it’s off to the Canal Trail…
In ages past, the canal let ships navigating the Connecticut bypass a particularly treacherous portion of the river. Today the area is presided over by bald eagles, who magnanimously allow humans passage through their territory.
From the Suffield end, we turn west and battle headwinds on exposed roads, passing Bradley Field.
And back through Poquonock, for one more encounter with that other river.
