I ride a lot north of here on roads within Cockaponset State Forest and believe I know every turn and rideable surface. I may not have gone down every one, but today decided to ignore one of the many Dead End signs I’ve passed a thousand times since 1973.
In Haddam I have loop that takes the lanes near Thankful Arnold House (as a reference point) and snake around Timms Hill and Meeting House past Hayden Hill and over to Beaver Meadow Road. Then I do some turns before I’m on Filley and over towards Cedar Lake.
I took the left onto Bamforth to see just how dead the end there was. What a delightful stretch. Not more than a mile before I turned around only to notice some signage I missed on the way in. There’s a 35 acre preserve that shares the road’s name.
I went through and found narrow paths going three different directions, and decided clockwise was the wise choice. I rode for 45 minutes in an amphitheater of high grass, atop a pushed down surface of the same. Sun out. Fall temperatures. Only me.
The best rides, especially the best rides this year, have been when I had no place in mind except my lovely home waiting for me after some looking around and, maybe, breaking a small sweat. Everything else feels like the very first time. Cue Foreigner.
All This By Hand
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