May rolls around, bringing with it warmer weather more snow.
But eventually it does warm up a bit, and the rides resume. The ironies of the social distancing era have included crowded stores, crowded greenways, and non-solo bike rides (with the quaranteam).
Trips up north brought us to the banks of the mighty placid Farmington River, cutting through Tariffville Gorge…
Chicken coops in the backwoods…
But possibly most interesting/unexpected was this “rock garden” of encouragement in North Bloomfield.
Following our new bike lane to Tariffville and Mountain Roads, into the more bike-friendly portion of 189 and across the gorge, we eventually run into the northern leg of the (*breath*) “Farmington Canal Heritage Trail”, just south of Granby.
The Lake Congamond area is usually as far north as I go, but today we’re riding to the end of the line…
Suddenly, we’re riding the “Columbia Greenway”, named for the legendary local bicycle manufactory (founded by Pope Park’s namesake, Albert Pope).
Columbia’s heyday was a bit before my time, but here’s a far more familiar piece of nostalgia out on the landscape:
Long ago (but more recent than Albert Pope), Veryfine was synonymous with single-serving bottles of fruit juice. Like Univega, they had a minimalist graphic design heyday back in the 80s, but were later bought/sold and the brand hollowed out.
A bit of late foliage, and we finally reach ENDS PATH in Westfield, Massachusetts. On the map, it’s interesting to see how much closer this is to Northampton than Hartford, but I’ll try not to get any ideas.
The weather gets chillier, the days get shorter, and the rides back get darker. Enjoy your autumn!
The season winds down pleasantly, if uneventfully…
A new bike path in the north, where does it lead?
To Old St. Andrews, a very Old-New-England-Church-looking old New England church.
From there, old Tariffville Road heads off the the left, the new bike route to the right. Following the bike path, the asphalt turns to gravel, then leads to…
The very bike-unfriendly route 189, please try harder next time. If we take the more difficult climb up Tariffville Road…
Beyond lies the decaying remains of pavement linking Tariffville Road south of the ridge to Mountain Road and points north.
