TA Report: Wilton Woods

Date of Activity:11/7/09
Condition of Trails(s): Dry, leafy

Trail Ambassador Name: David Francefort
Trail Ambassador Email: dfrancefort@excite.com
Town: Wilton
Location: Wilton Woods
Trail(s) Ridden: Blue, Orange, Yellow, White
How did you use the trail?: Mountain Biking
What was the time of day?: 2:15PM
Duration (Hours): 1.75
Distance (Miles): 5

Observations: Very leafy, hard to find the trail in many places, rode newly relocated section on blue in both directions, really sweet flow.

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Trail Maintenance: Wilton Woods

Date of Activity:11/7/09
Condition of Trails(s): Dry, leafy

Trail Ambassador Name: David Francefort
Trail Ambassador Email: dfrancefort@excite.com
Town: Wilton
Location: Wilton Woods

What was the time of day?: 11:00AM
Duration (Hours): 2

Work Performed: Re-Routed 200 foot section of blue trail over about 30-40 feet due to an erosion issue. This was project was previously approved by Wilton Conservation Commission and included bench cutting, chain sawing out some fallen trees and re-blazing. New section keeps the fall line perpendicular to the trail the entire way and should hold up for years to come.

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The Fall Epic - Tour de Natchaug

We had 40+ people show up, many more than I expected, probably because of the fantastic weather. After a couple of miles of road and dirt road, we split into 2 groups, one of which (the one I was on) had about 25 riders. With a number of mechanicals, including one bike broken in half (see pics) it was a challange keeping things moving, but everyone in my group had a good attitude about it and seemed to enjoy the day. We had one incident toward the end of the ride when a rider's dog harassed a couple of horses we came across. The horse riders managed to control their horses, but were very upset and threatened to call the authorities about failing to leash or curb the dog, but nothing more came of it to my knowledge. Some more pictures can be found on the CT Forum for NEMBA.

Al Tinti, ride organizer and CT NEMBA Treasurer

His brother Joe Tinti

Glen Vernes, CT NEMBA Secretary

John Isch on his new 29er, a Kona Unit

Cyclocrosser

Trail Dog

Another Trail Dog

Out on the trail

Rest Stop

This sucks! Busted frame. Better shot of the damage can be seen on Crankfire.com

Post ride feed: Pizza!

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TA Report: Tyler Mill

Date of Activity: 11/8/09 Trail Ambassador Name: Ed Perten Trail Ambassador Email: edperten@sbcglobal.net Town: Wallingford Location: Tyler Mill Trail(s) Ridden: A lot of them How did you use the trail?: Mountain bike riding What was the time of day?: Late morning Duration (Hours): 3-4 hours Distance (Miles): A lot Condition of Trail(s): Surprisingly there were some mud puddles, a lot of slippery leaves, otherwise trails in good shape

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TA Report: George C Waldo State Park

Date of Activity: Nov. 2 ,2009

Condition of Trail(s): Dry, leafy, with a lot of sticks and twigs.

Trail Ambassador Name: Paula Burton

Trail Ambassador Email: peburton@aol.com

Location: George Waldo State Park

Trail(s) Ridden: Where's Waldo Trail

How did you use the trail? Mountain Bike

What was the time of day? Late Afternoon

Duration (Hours): 1

Distance (Miles): 5

Observations: Someone had tried to cover up part of the trail, but it is more established now. There were many leaves, so I need to get out there and do some raking. It was a perfect fall day.

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TA Report: Upper Paugussett State Forest

Date of Activity: 11/04/2009
Condition of Trail(s): Crunchy

Trail Ambassador Name: Mark Lurie

Trail Ambassador email: eatsleepfish[at]gmail[dot]com
Town: Newtown
Location: Upper Paugussett State Forest
Trail(s) Ridden: Upper Gussy, Poly Brody
How did you use the trail?: Single Speed 29er
What was the time of day?: Afternoon
Duration (Hours): 1.5
Distance (Miles): 6

Observations: Leaves are covering all the trails, they are dry and slippery, but very crunchy when you ride through them. Trails are nice.

Encounters: On my second trip up the Poly Brody I saw a headlight coming towards me, so I stopped and was trying to get my camera out when I heard the motor. Turns out it was a kid on an ATV. When he saw me, he turned around, did a wheelie that almost caused the vehicle to flip over onto him and peeled out. Never did get a picture but I did take some pictures from his tire marks on the trail.

Once I got out on Hanover Rd and started heading home from the Pond Brook boat ramp I noticed that the ATV is gaining access to the forest at the opening just past the gate. Need to have some rocks or logs put there to keep ATVs out.

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Cannondale wants your bikes!

Cannondale has been helping local charity “wheels for kids”, an activity of Danbury Youth Services, for several years. Last year, despite a late start, they overhauled and delivered some 80 donated bikes for local people in need. Cannondale's sister company kindly donated helmets, so every bike was delivered with a helmet.

It is time to collect bikes for this year’s program!

Cannondale needs bikes for kids from 5 – 10 years old. This means 12” – 20” wheel bikes, for example BMX bikes. The greatest need is for boys 20” BMX style bikes in any reasonable condition. A few 24” or 26” wheel mountain bikes suitable for older kids are also welcome. Adult, road and racing bikes are not part of this program.

(1) Spread the word, feel free to forward or post this message. (2) Dig out, find and collect free bikes. (3) feel free to drop off any time behind the Cannondale office at 16 Trowbridge Drive in Bethel CT, even weekends or evenings. You will see a bike rack behind the building. (4) Or contact DYS program coordinator Tom Thomassen at 203-748-2936 x23 for pick up.

Early in December Cannondale will have one or more great sessions where they will clean, overhaul and tune up these bikes for Santa. I was in on the action last year and had a blast working on these bikes for kids. If you want to read about what happened last year, check out 2008 Wheels for Kids or Wheels for Kids Build Night.

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