I've spent this week hanging out in Stonington, Connecticut with my family. We've been to the beaches, toured some historic sights, visited the Acquarium, done some shopping and made numerous strolls through Stonington Borough. I've also had the chance to enjoy some great cycling along the shaded, winding roads of the area. On Sunday, I rode 40 miles on a route I found on Ridewithgps.com. The route wound through the quiet roads around Stonington and Mystic with a nice mix of forested lanes, river views and seascapes. On Tuesday, I rode the Connecticut Yankee 107 km permanent route owned by Jennifer Wise. Jennifer's route included more country lanes and lots of historical sites. I especially enjoyed riding sections of the Washington-Rochambau route, this was part of the route Washington's armies travelled during the revolutionary war. The area was also flush with homes dating to the 1750's and lots of really old cemetaries.
On Thursday morning, Heather and I realized a long time desire to try out a tandem. We rode 40-ish miles in total. That included a redo of Sunday's route plus a section with the girls and Grandpa Tom along scenic River Road outside of Mystic. The tandem ride was really a lot of fun and we only had a couple of awkward moments. No crashes, no blood, and no "team meetings".
This morning, I got up early and did another 25 miles. All in all, I got in about 180 miles this week on vacation. I wasn't really expecting to find a cycling paradise in Connecticut but I think I just might have.
