Bicycling New England, the
Erie Canal, & around Lake Ontario 2005
Enfield to Norfolk CT

June 29, 2005
Distance 41.7 Miles

We started early again this morning leaving the motel at 7:30 AM. The bad news was we were heading for the highest point in Connecticut. The really bad news was that we would be climbing to a high point and then would drop down to almost our starting elevation before we again climbed to our final destination. In total we climbed almost 4,000 feet today. During the first climb we had several hills where the grade was 9% or greater so we ended up walking several of those hills. About ½ of the way to Norfolk we stopped at a bridge which crossed over the Salmon Brook and took a rest. It was a good thing because as we headed out we rounded a curve and there was a very long, steep grade for us to climb. We continued on our way and crossed over an earthen dam named the Barkhamsted Dam. The good news was that we had finally finished for the day all of the really steep climbs and were on our way down so we could start the final very long but not as steep climb to our destination.

We stopped in Pleasant Valley and ate an early lunch from a gas station, deli. Pleasant Valley is next to the Farmington River. This must be a good fishing river because we saw a number of fishermen standing in the river fishing.

We left Pleasant Valley and began the final climb of the day which was about 13 miles long. The steepest grade was only 6% and it was short. We spent most of the time going less than 7 miles per hour. And wouldn't you know, we were less than 4 miles from the Bed and Breakfast were we would be spending the night when we got caught in a thunder storm. We took shelter twice. The first time it looked as though the rain had stopped so we continued on only to run into more rain in a very short time. We took shelter under some trees that were next to a garage. The man who owned the garage saw us and opened one of the garage doors so we could get out of the rain. Unfortunately, George had leaned his bicycle against the garage door that was opening and he broke one of his mirrors when the bicycle fell over. We stayed in the garage until George thought that the rain was going to go on forever and we rode to the B&B in the rain.

After we showered and washed our clothes, the sun came out. A couple of hours later we walked downtown to dinner. We had good Italian pasta in a pizza restaurant. Bought ice-cream at a grocery store and walked home. The four of us are the only guests tonight at the B&B so it is very quiet.