The Farmington Canal Heritage Trail

[mlctvt]

Anyone ride the Farmington Canal Heritage Trail?

I'm from south central Connecticut but one of the bike clubs I belong to did a ride yesterday that used this paved multi use trail for about 10 miles, from Phelps Road in Suffield to Drake Hill Rd in Simsbury.

I was impressed with the trail itself but riding a road bike on it can be challenging because of the clueless people using it. In the 10 miles my wife and I rode we had more close calls than the last 2 years of riding on the road.

We dialed back our speed when we came upon any others and especially little kids and/or dogs.
Many people used the entire width of the trail and seemed not to care about other people using the trail. I witnessed numerous near misses between other groups. Usually caused by people riding or walking side by side and not yielding to oncoming traffic.
When I announced "passing" or "passing on your left" some wouldn't move over. Once I said "passing" then again "passing on your left" to a guy and girl on mountain bikes riding slowly side by side. The guy moved right slightly so I start to pass then he moved left and I had to ditch it off the trail to avoid hitting him. Luckily I didn't go down. My wife was behind me and said he probably didn't hear you he had earphone in both ears.

I'm sure Sunday is probably the worst day to ride this trail. Especially on a nice Sunday like yesterday.

I prefer to stay on the roads.

 

[bvibert]

Those type of trails are really cool... for taking kids out for a ride... not so much for road biking at speed. I take my 3 and 5 year old kids out on a different section, they love it! I do my best to keep them to the right side and out of the way, but they're 3 and 5. It makes me pretty nervous when a fully kitted up roadie comes cruising by like he's training for the Tour de France. That's not really what they were meant for, IMHO.

 

[o3jeff]

I think the trick is to ride it first thing in the morning. I rode it the other Sunday and there were only a couple other bikers and a few joggers out.

One of the local bike shops is having a ride on it this Thursday night that I plan on going to, will report back on how crowded it is.