I Rode This Route… So You Wouldn’t!
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 13 ธ.ค. 2022
- Welcome To My Video
This video is most appropriate for anyone riding the Farmington River Canal Trail that runs north / south through the heart of Connecticut… from New Haven to the northern border in or near East Granby. As this trail is a part of the East Coast Greenway, any cyclist going up or down the east coast will experience this trail.
Not everyone, however, is aware that this trail has a festering gap in the towns of Southington and Plainville, Connecticut. There is an approved East Coast Greenway loop around this gap but, as I drove it in my car, it seemed a bit convoluted with parts of it being very busy traffic-wise.
My concern is for the local New England cyclist who decides to ride the entire trail north or south without giving much thought to the route and then just happens upon the trail’s “Trail Ends Ahead” sign. Where do they go at this point?
The trail’s web site provides maps for northern and southern trail details but nowhere is the unfinished portion of the trail highlighted. A gap in an established trail is not a huge issue if that gap is communicated and circumnavigation is clearly marked. In this case cyclists need a detailed map for circumnavigating the gap. The cyclist who comes upon an unanticipated stopping point might then pull out a mobile phone, bring up Google Maps, and wing it trying to get back to the point of resumption on this break in the trail. And winging it might put them out in Route 10… bad!
For this ride I knowingly took the worst possible route… Route 10. This is the most direct route and this will likely be ridden by cyclists. The message? Anyone interested in doing the whole trail from northern border to the shoreline of Long Island Sound clearly needs to understand that the trail is incomplete with a six mile gap. Do not follow my lead in bridging that gap. Believe me, it is dangerous.
So, do your homework and lay in a course for the East Coast Greenway loop that links those two dangling ends of the trail together with a loop out to the east of the trail. I will ride and video that loop likely in the spring. I am also going to document a route that loops out to the west on some of the more quiet roads in the area as well.
Bottom line… if you watch this video as well as my previous video (the southern trail leg) and conclude that the Farmington River Canal Trail is well laid out and beautiful then I have succeeded. And if you are now aware that there is a gap that must be bridged and learn that the shortest and most direct way up Route 10 must be avoided then I have completely accomplished my goal. Telling someone about a hazard is fine but letting them experience it in 4K video speaks volumes.
Here is the latest data on trail completion as of 2019. Note how (as of 2019) Plainville seems to really be lagging but there are likely lots of factors in their lack of momentum.
fchtrail.org/wp-content/uploa... - กีฬา
Great stuff as usual Dave. Wishing you and your family a Happy, Healthy and Safe Holiday season.
Thank you for the holiday words. You have a nice Christmas as well.
Love your videos. Thank you for making them.
And thank you for watching them.
The gap between Lazy Lane in Southington can be bridged by the East Coast Greenway marked route as per your footnote. It is much safer than Route 10. The way you took is, by far, the most dangerous of routes. Route 10 in Southington is not safe in a car much less a bicycle. The Police Department in Southington does a great job at patrolling RT 10 but the design of the road is old. There has been a glut of commerical development in the area and the road has not been improved to handle the traffic. It does get better in Plainville but it is still not place to take a novice rider.
The Southington section of the trail from Lazy Lane to Aircraft Road will begin construction in the Summer of 2023 per information I was given.. This will bring you to the area where you re-entered RT 10 on your return route. There is still stoppage of the route from Aircraft Road to the Plainville line due to a short section that requires the acquisition of an easement. That has stopped the forward movement at that point until an agreement can be reached. In Plainville there has been work on trail design by the DOT from the Trailhead on the Plainville / Farmington line to the Southern border of Plainville. Since Plainville is the only town in which there is still active rail traffic the design is off the rail / canal line and the design is till in its design stages.
The DOT has been a instrumental partner on closing the GAP. They designed the area from where you parked, across RT68 and up to an area about a 1/4 mile short of the Milldale train station. That area of the trail, as you stated, is well designed and well maintained by Cheshire. The Town of Southington is very active maintaining the trail and hosting events on the trail as it is a linear park in the town. Southington actually plows snow on the trail as a number of people use it for jogging.
Hope that gave you some clarification of events going on .... enjoy your channel and I subscribed about a month ago. I too am an old man on a bike ... stay safe, stay healthy and stay on the bike.
glad you survived!
When I was much younger and dumber, and fearless (goes with the dumb factor), I wouldn’t have had a problem riding out in the busy roads and highways. But knowing how drivers behave and how they’re not all caring about your safety, I’ve got to say I’m lucky to be alive! Wow, I would have found every alternative to being pushed into a gutter by a car. That’s sad that most of the US roads don’t have enough bike lanes. And with the urban sprawl and being car-centric in our society, it makes it even harder to travel places around town without risking an arm and a leg to do it.
Agree 100% and this video was intended to highlight the joy of riding a rail trail. But the the video also points out the lunacy of injecting a poorly marked gap that could, if you don’t plan carefully, put a cyclist out on a dangerous road. For me the danger is distracted drivers (e.g. texters) and the newer phenomenon of young aggressive drivers in huge pickup trucks with flags flying who have no problem ruining the day of a cyclist, runner, or walker by throwing objects, making a close pass, or coal rolling. And it is all a power thing - we are on their roads and are a bit different. That is why I have taken to riding gravel trails, rail trails, or carefully chosen quiet country roads. Yes, I have been run off the road and “coal rolled.”
Thanks for your thoughts and appreciate you watching. The next video on this subject will show me riding north on this trail with better options to avoid the turmoil of the 6 mile trail gap.
The trail is being extended again ... the old rail bed is being cleared from Lazy Lane to Aircraft Road in Southington. Work began in the last few weeks and completion will be in 2024 per my understanding. (Just a shout out to Southington as the Town takes very good care of the trail. Trimming , blowing off leaves etc and general maintenance is very good.) This will bring the trail closer to being completed between New Haven and Northampton Ma. ... The only remaining trail to be completed in CT will be a short section in Southington and the section in Plainville. The north section of the Plainville trail has been submitted for approval at this time. That would bring the trail from Northwest Drive in Plainville to a tunnel under Rt72 in Plainville. The plans were released earlier this Summer with a proposed completion date of 2025. The Southern Plainville section is still in the planning stage but should be complete sometime in 2026. The Center section in Plainville is more difficult because the rails are still in use (only place on the 68 mile section) and those plans are still in development with DOT.
Thanks so much for the update! I keep wondering why a short active section of track can’t be a shared space. A long section of “The Gap” in PA is fenced and separated - works well. Looking forward to watching the updates… and then riding them.
I actually was spurred on to take a look at this when I met two bike touring cyclists on route 10 in Southington a number of weeks ago. They were not aware of the gap during their planning and were following a car GPS app to get them around it and it took them down Route 10. They were walking their bikes when I pulled over to see if I could help. I suspect this happens rather often. I guess my simple message in the video was… (1) There is a gap… (2) Route 10 is not the way to get around it. The ECG route is much safer but it is not publicized in the trail literature or on the trail web site. In my mind a separate “loop around map” should be developed using the ECG route as a basis for the loop around map. It is also really confusing when coming up from the south as the ECG route has you getting off before you get to the “trail end” sign on Lazy Lane and I am not sure it is clearly marked at the point where you need to leave the trail.
So thanks for your comments and I will do a video following the ECG loop to the Plainville Trail head and then I will continue to loop around to the west and then south to Lazy Lane to complete the circle. I will likely do that in the spring. If available you can certainly ride along with me.
Loop to the West from Lazy Lane is on West St (Southington)/ Middle St (Bristol) and is slightly more terrifying than Rt 10 for cyclist. The North bound is two lanes with a breakdown lane about the size of the thin white line used to mark it. The ECG option is the only one that is enjoyable on the connecting routes. Just remember the ECG route is an exit off the trail before Lazy Lane. That street is Curtis St. It brings you out on RT10 for a few hundred yards then turns right onto Flanders St. It is a nice ride on the South to North route with a down hill in one section. Unfortunately the Gods of cycling reverse that down hill to a steep uphill on the way South. It is not a "undoable" it is one that comes without the ability to gain speed before hitting the climb as it starts at a right hand turn.
If you do a video in the Spring I would certainly be interested and can bring along some more "seasoned veterans of cycling" .... ie: old men on bikes. I believe there should be a cycling group in CT especially for senior cyclists.
Keep safe, healthy and warm this winter and see you in the Spring.