Review of Talcott Mountain loop

Ok, some progress today. Reconnaisance mission.

The Talcott loop apparently is a local Hartford County classic that you are exposed to if you hang around local bike shops a lot or are hopelessly addicted to mapping sites. I have ridden segments of this over the years, just not the whole thing as an actual route.

It turns out my additional cut-through into "The Exchange" is a very good move, you avoid a major traffic light on Farmington Ave, and you skip through some condo-backroads and get on Talcott Notch Road, heading West toward route 10.

There is one caution area on the stretch between the condos and Mountain Spring road, it's an uphill with narrow shoulder, followed by a curving fast downhill with some pavement issues and
Hammering Hummers and such going both ways.

I strongly recommend spreading out if you are in a group here, and use those gentle hand signals to alert traffic that it's not safe to pass you at 85 mph on a blind left curve on a double yellow. I'm sorry, but Hartford drivers just don't get it.

I was descending the Notch road down to route 10 when an 18 year old kid in daddy's gigantic pickup gunned the V-8 behind me as I took the lane. I shook my head and waved a "no way, don't pass!!", as I peeked around the bend and saw a line of 8 cars approaching. I had to take the lane here, or he might have run me off the road. He would have "squeezed" past me. The shoulder was in bad shape. He had one of those gigantic right side mirrors. I had one of those whizz past my head once...

So the oncoming cars passed (two seconds later) ....I waved him on, and found a 3 foot stretch of shoulder to cozy into. As he passed, he slowed to try to yell something, so I just hit the brakes hard.

His 8 tons of momentum was no match for this Peter Pan move at 40 mph, and he knew he could have been rear ended by the next vehicle, who of course simply had to move right into the fray. Hot blonde in BMW on cell phone...

So he got frustrated and I heard muffled F----. Out the back window , with the Bad Boyz sticker.

I heartily recommend this technique if you can pull it off safely. Obviously it doesn't work well in a group, but it will if you spread out enough. It also works at traffic lights, as you approach the light and they think they've got you.

Basically you can feel the harassment building over your shoulder. Guys like this love to gun the engine...

I may have saved the kid's life today, (and the lives of six other people oncoming) who knows? These days you never know who is driving that huge pickup, it could be some rich college kid with a Bud Light between his legs, or a soldier just back from Afghanistan, having an RPG flashback.

(Sidenote; More Bud Light cans every 1/3 mile on this route. See previous blog)

My biggest fear is he goes to pass you just as cars in the oncoming are passing another cyclist coming uphill. No escape routes for anyone going both ways.


I try my best to keep an attitude of "Ahimsa", non violence, and say a prayer to the soldier and the college kid.

The rest of the ride continued without incident.

Nod Road is pretty nice, and the passage through Tarrifville on a sunday was pleasant enough. This road (Elm street, route 315, can be pretty tricky during rush hour, but I did notice that drivers here were relatively cool to me on a couple earlier excursions to the West.

After passing through the abandoned road on Mountain Road, (to avoid riding down the "highway" stretch of 187, Tarrifville to Bloomfield/Windsor), I continued on home, and made excellent time overall.

I have come to the conclusion that this is a good route, but there are a couple places where you do have to be able to hold a straight line on a narrow shoulder , with passing traffic. Obviously leaving at 6 AM would help somewhat.

The best part of the day was selling a restored kid's bike to the cutest 8 year old named Vanessa. I spent probably 12 hours on this bike and it was only 40.00. It looks great and I upgraded the wheels to some bulletproof ones. Runs like a champ.

"oh cool, so I can take it camping too? Can I ride it, like, on a trail?"

But that smile was priceless. Her dad was a cool guy, from Tolland. A happy guy with a happy kid.

I love watching kids ride, they crash, they bounce right back.

So with some of the profits, I went right to Moe's and ordered a recovery-burrito.

The latest buzz is they now have whole grain tortillas. However, the kids who roll these warned me that they are prone to breaking apart dangerously. You may have to use a fork. A what?

I said I would let them slide for now until they worked out their technique.. I appreciated the honesty, and the customer service is always paramount, even after they each have rolled approximately 800 burritos in an 8 hour shift. I cannot fathom the zen-like discipline involved in this.

peace out,
and oh yes, Prayers to those in combat