Ride Across Connecticut 8am Saturday September 13, 2014

Ride Across Connecticut 8am Saturday September 13, 2014

New Haven Green to Southwick MA             Join cyclists on Saturday riding on the completed portions of the Farmington Canal Heritage Trail (FCHT) and the on road where work is underway to complete the Trail.  Most of the remaining third is work-in-progress, leaving about five miles in Plainville and Southington waiting to be planned.

          The FCHT was selected at the trail of the month by the Rails to Trails Conservancy.  The Farmington Valley Trails Council, The Farmington Canal Rails To Trail Assn. and the East Coast Greenways Alliance, the sponsors of this ride, are committed to completing this Trail that runs up the central corridor of Connecticut.  

          There will be rest stops at Canal Lock State Park in Cheshire, at the town hall in Plainville, and at the Meadows in Simsbury for lunch.  There will be SAG support on the ride.

Parking in New Haven is Ignalls Ice Arena at Prospect and Sachem Sts in New Haven.  The Green is five blocks south of Ignalls on Prospect St.  The ride is 56 miles from New Haven to Southwick MA where a bus will take riders back to New Haven.  You can register for the ride, the bus, and lunch at http://bit.ly/1CLgGid

The FCHT showcases Connecticut with the southern third running through the Yale campus, by Sleeping Giant, by a canal lock keeper’s house, and later by a restored lock.  The middle third of the Trail is on and off the road.  This is where work remains to be done.  A completed part goes near the center of Southington on the abandoned railroad.  From the south side of Farmington the Trail goes continuously to the Massachusetts line and beyond.  It crosses far above the Farmington River, goes by former buildings of Ensign Bickford Company, near Simsbury Flower Bridge and through former tobacco fields to Massachusetts.  

The route:  http://ridewithgps.com/routes/2596915