Good Rides around Litchfield, CT ?

[toon-time]

I'm going to visit the In-Laws in a few weeks and am bringing the CdA this time. Anyone know of some good rides starting from the town center in Litchfield, CT. My wife's parents live only a few miles from there.

I'm looking for 3-4 different routes with some hills that are between 60 - 100 miles round trip.

Thanks.

-Greg

[tch]

This is very near my riding area. I don't do much right in/from Litchfield, but I know the roads generally. Many good options. Litchfield is on a ridge, so ride east (especially) or west (less so), and you will drop altitude. North/south tends to be more forgiving.

Mapquest Litchfield. Stay off of Rte 202 east of town to avoid unpleasant traffic, though "unpleasant" is relative. If you head towards Cornwall, you're in for big hills coming back. Think about riding to Goshen and then back roads to Norfolk. Or, take 63 North to North Canaan, and then 44 to Norfolk and then back to Litchfield. Or ride to Morris, then Washington Depot, then work your way to Lake Waramaug, then find your way to Rte 7 and ride north to Canaan and back to Litchfield again (long). Avoid riding Rte 4 Cornwall to West Goshen unless you are a true sadist; you have to climb off the Housatonic river just to get to the base of Mohawk Mountain which then leads to Goshen.
Torrington area is not so nice; west and north are the better directions.

I think Connecticut might be road bike heaven -- lots of great, fairly quiet rural roads. It's hard to go wrong. Just check with relatives for really big hills.

pm me when you get closer to arriving; it sounds like you're looking for more ambitious rides than I often do -- and I don't know if I will have time to accompany you -- but I could give you advice for sure.

[athekap]

Check out the route for Stage 3 of the Tour of Connecticut. The route passes right through Litchfield. http://www.tourofct.com/

Description from the website: A final epic stage takes place on Sunday, May 22nd , a grueling 135-mile race that commences with a 116 mile loop through the magnificent beauty of Litchfield County. The course is dotted with New England church steeples and long, very steep climbs.

[toon-time]

Thanks for the info.

I think I'm going to plan to do both the Tour of Connecticut (Stage 3 route - http://www.tourofct.com/) and the Tour of Litchfield Hills route (http://www.tourofthelitchfieldhills.com/). :banana:

Does anyone know about car traffic on these routes during the middle of the day during the week? That's really my only concern. Thanks.

[tch]

I just tried to open both links to check specific roads again and got nothing.... However, as I said, I do know the roads generally. Almost everything on the two rides is pretty good two-lane asphalt. Cars will not be a problem in terms of numbers -- only Rte. 44, 4, and 202 will have regular traffic. Surprisingly, Rte 7 does not get much traffic mid-week, although the shoulder is not very big. Biggest problem in NW Ct. is that empty-ish roads encourage higher speeds. So you will not have lots (I'd expect 4/5 cars a minute on the heavier travelled roads to 2/3 cars every 10 minutes on the less travelled)...but you may have sudden whooshes as someone blasts past.

If you ride mid-morning, mid-week, I wouldn't be surprised if your total car count over 75 miles is less than 120 cars. I have done 35 miles (albeit on more backroads than these two routes) and seen 0 (as in zero) cars on a midsummer's day. I don't consider car traffic a significant element of my rides in this area.

Help?

[toon-time]

tch,

Very helpful. Thanks again.

[athekap]

The roads are good, although I think we will find a lot of sand and broken pavement in the shoulder after the harsh spring storms in the area.