WH Reservoir 6-6-10

[drjeff]

Got out after the AM T-storm just glanced the res about 8:15, before the PM storms were supposed to roll in. Met up with a friend of mine from dental school, who told me that he'd show me around the Res, I figured I should get out there and hit the trails before the MDC decides to close the place down

I have no clue what the names of the trails were, except that for the last maybe 3/4ths of a mile we were on the red/yellow paved combo to get back to the parking lot. Started out from the main parking lot, and making a beeline for the power lines on the way up to the ridgeline of Talcott Mountain - some of the rocks were a bit slimy from the rain, anda few muddy sections, but overall things rode well on the climb up. From the MDC map, and my memory recall, we basically took the mtb trail along the ridgleine that runs along with the Metacommet trail all the way out the the parking lot on Route 44 - enjoyed the downhill section immensely! Then once we left the double track along the flood control Dyke nesr Rte 44, we basically headed back in along the Eastern boundry of the MDC property along the fenceline that seperates the property from some nice homes in West Hartford. Got to the water tower near the North end of Res 5 and found that some new construction around the water tower had the trail we wanted closed off, so after a little doubling back, we ended up on the paved red/yellow and back to the parking lot.

Ended up with 10.5 miles in just under 2 hours with 2100 feet of climbing/descending. A fun ride!

 

[MR. evil]

Was just at the Rez a week or so ago. At the construction site that was closed off you could have hiked or ridden right next to the fence counter clockwise to get back to the trail.

 

[Trev]

Nice...

Looking forward to getting some more rips out there this season..

 

[drjeff]

Was just at the Rez a week or so ago. At the construction site that was closed off you could have hiked or ridden right next to the fence counter clockwise to get back to the trail.

Thought we might have been able to that along the fence - knew we should have gone all the way to the fence line before circling back

 

[WoodCore]

Thought we might have been able to that along the fence - knew we should have gone all the way to the fence line before circling back

Bummer! Sounds like you missed some fun sections of trail and the infamous "woodpile".

I'm curious, how did the Rez compare with the trails you've been riding?

 

[drjeff]

Bummer! Sounds like you missed some fun sections of trail and the infamous "woodpile".

I'm curious, how did the Rez compare with the trails you've been riding?

In terms of the "difficulty" of the trails I've usually been riding in NE CT, pretty similar! The rock garden sections I rode today were nothing worse than my usual rip (if anything slightly smoother), less roots/sizeable downed trees and stone walls to navigate over/through too in W.H. More larger rocks/boulders to ride over though in W.H. which this AM when they were slick, for the first couple until I felt pretty sure that I wouldn't slip out had me riding them a bit tentative - that became a non issue about midway through after a bunch of crossings at speed.

The biggest difference I found between W.H. and West Thompson Lake where I normally ride is how the elevation changes happen. The total ride/elevation gain for my ride today just over 10 miles and about 2100 feet is pretty close to my long route at West Thompson, the biggest difference is the length of the climbs/descents between the two. The climbs/decsents at W.H. were much longer than what I usually ride (both a good thing {the decsents} and a bad thing {the longer climbs} vs. out at West Thompson were there's the climbs and descents happen in much shorter lengths(but more of them) over the ride. That difference also meant that overall it felt like I was riding more flat terrain today than I usually ride.

Overall I had a really good time, and my friend who I rode with who's a stronger technical rider, about 60lbs lighter (he goes about 165/170) and riding a much lighter, tweaked out carbon fiber/titanium custom Deane hardtail (this is his bike http://www.deanbikes.com/mountain/colonel x-lite/colonelxlite.htm ), than my steel Kona had me pushing myself both technically and cardiovascularly all ride which was good all around for my riding today!

 

[MR. evil]

If you ever want to ride out this way again let us know. A few of us (Paul, Trev, O3jeff and myself) are planning on doing a ride at Greyville
in Hebron CT soon. Maybe you can drag Marc out this way and join us.