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Fairfield County = Some of the Worst Riding in the World
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| General Discussion | Triathlon Talk » Fairfield County = Some of the Worst Riding in the World | Rss Feed  |
 2008-09-02 2:32 PM |
Expert  715   Welcome to Super Mario World |  Subject: Fairfield County = Some of the Worst Riding in the WorldAfter looking at one of the Triathlon Talk threads about someone getting hit on a bike, I thought I would bring up an interesting conversation I had at an Ironman finisher's party a couple weeks ago... My friend has lived all over the world. She has lived and trained in Ireland, England, Dubai, Australia, New Zealand, Japan... the list goes on and on. She asked me why I wasn't training for another Ironman. I have some personal reasons, I said, but the main one is I don't feel like dying any time soon. She laughed and said," I have lived all over the world and Fairfield County is BY FAR the MOST DANGEROUS place I have even ridden anywhere in the world." This year alone I personally know 4 people who were hit by drivers. One person whom I don't know was even recently killed in Norwalk... so try and stay safe out there FC. Please forgive the brashness of the inductive reasoning in my forum title. |
| 2008-09-02 3:29 PM in reply to: #1644011 |
Extreme Veteran 643 Connecticut | Subject: RE: Fairfield County = Some of the Worst Riding in the World Yep - Dan good call I have done 3500 miles on FF county roads this year and my secret to staying alive is 1/ Ride as early as I can to avoid the soccer mums in their 4 ton menaces called SUV's whilst they drink DD coffee in one hand and talk in their mobile in the other. 2/ And I now avoid riding anywhere down my Southport/Westport/FF/Norwalk coast anytime after 8am it is frightening down there. In a 40 minute stretch one day I was alomst hit 3 times one day unbelievable. I ride up into the hills around Bethel/Southbury/Roxbury and am lucky if I see 5 cars an hour much safer...
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| 2008-09-02 4:00 PM in reply to: #1644011 |
Pro 4528 Norwalk, Connecticut | Subject: RE: Fairfield County = Some of the Worst Riding in the World sooo true, i ride at 6 am or 7 pm, before and after work, other times it is tooo frigging dangerous. I have been almost hit 4 times in the last month,, and no one gives you an inch on the roads. Besides the roads are all potholed and crummy. |
| 2008-09-02 4:22 PM in reply to: #1644011 |
| New Haven, CT | Subject: RE: Fairfield County = Some of the Worst Riding in the World Pretty much the same in New Haven county. Have to go up to Bethany/Cheshire area to get out of harms way. The roads generally suck too. I also tend to run into rogue peletons on the few occasions I do get outside, who try to run me off the Hamden-Cheshire greenway as I make my way up toward cheshire (forget about Rt-10). I now play chicken with them as I (a) have a much less pricey bike and (b) have about 100 pounds on the heaviest of them. This is why I end up doing most of my biking inside. |
| 2008-09-03 9:04 AM in reply to: #1644011 |
Veteran 223 | Subject: RE: Fairfield County = Some of the Worst Riding in the World BF & I do the majority of our riding out Wallingford, Durham, Guilford way...North Haven..Rte. 17 is fantastic for biking & every other cyclist out there on the weekends is friendly & courteous...just last night, I saw some of the worst (read: dangerous) cycling...over in Hamden, by the trail there...looked like a group ride (don't know if it was the Amity bike shop group or not..). As we were driving down from Cook Hill, three cyclists, two male, one female, were in front of us on the raod...the rider in the back was literally in the middle of the road, holding me back from passing....all three of them, for that matter, were all over the place, squirrely & nervous looking, it was so unsafe. When I finally did pass them, the two men gave us a look like, what the heck is your problem? I hope they noted the USTA sticker on my window and realized I was trying to respect their space...in any case...some people give cyclists such a bad name...even when drivers do try to do the right thing, its never good enough. But, I digress....get out of the New Haven area, off that Farmington Canal Trail & head up Cook Hill Road, through Wallingford & out towards Gouveia Vineyards...great riding, challening climbs & beautiful scenery! |
| 2008-09-03 9:26 AM in reply to: #1645709 |
| New Haven, CT | Subject: RE: Fairfield County = Some of the Worst Riding in the World takeofftheskirt - 2008-09-03 10:04 AM BF & I do the majority of our riding out Wallingford, Durham, Guilford way...North Haven..Rte. 17 is fantastic for biking & every other cyclist out there on the weekends is friendly & courteous...just last night, I saw some of the worst (read: dangerous) cycling...over in Hamden, by the trail there...looked like a group ride (don't know if it was the Amity bike shop group or not..). As we were driving down from Cook Hill, three cyclists, two male, one female, were in front of us on the raod...the rider in the back was literally in the middle of the road, holding me back from passing....all three of them, for that matter, were all over the place, squirrely & nervous looking, it was so unsafe. When I finally did pass them, the two men gave us a look like, what the heck is your problem? I hope they noted the USTA sticker on my window and realized I was trying to respect their space...in any case...some people give cyclists such a bad name...even when drivers do try to do the right thing, its never good enough. But, I digress....get out of the New Haven area, off that Farmington Canal Trail & head up Cook Hill Road, through Wallingford & out towards Gouveia Vineyards...great riding, challening climbs & beautiful scenery! The cook hill to RT-17 is a great ride, particularly on early wknd mornings, you can basically ride from Middletown to Guilford with few cars on a wide well paved road. Be careful on the side roads behind Sleepy Giant (off cook hill), they are in rough shape. Were you driving behind the bikers on a tuesday night? That's when the Sleepy Giant ride occurs. Your experience sounds similar to mine, don't know what is up with that group but one of the spin instructors at my gym said to steer clear of them. Enjoy your rides! |
| 2008-09-03 9:49 AM in reply to: #1644011 |
Veteran 223 | Subject: RE: Fairfield County = Some of the Worst Riding in the World Yep it was Tuesday night...and everyone was all decked out in their gear. Post -ride, though,I observed riding without helmets...swerving across Rte. 10..I would hesitate to ride with that group. I've been told by experienced triathletes (well, some not all) that riding with roadies in those groups is a fantastic way to become a better cyclist. I mentioned the Amity group b/c a woman I work with suggested I head out with them some time to get more comfortable in the saddle...there's such a techincal difference between us & roadies, I'd love to check it out sometime... |
| 2008-09-03 11:58 AM in reply to: #1645858 |
| New Haven, CT | Subject: RE: Fairfield County = Some of the Worst Riding in the World takeofftheskirt - 2008-09-03 10:49 AM Yep it was Tuesday night...and everyone was all decked out in their gear. Post -ride, though,I observed riding without helmets...swerving across Rte. 10..I would hesitate to ride with that group. I've been told by experienced triathletes (well, some not all) that riding with roadies in those groups is a fantastic way to become a better cyclist. I mentioned the Amity group b/c a woman I work with suggested I head out with them some time to get more comfortable in the saddle...there's such a techincal difference between us & roadies, I'd love to check it out sometime... Biking is probably the area I need the most improvement and have the most potential but due to time constraints 80% of my biking is spin class/stationary bike with 1 ride a week as far as I can go.... so I DEFINITELY agree with you on the want to ride more vein. If you are in the New Haven area, the New Haven JCC (which is actually in woodbridge) has a great bike boot camp, which is open to nonmembers, running sunday mornings. The instructor was a bike in a former life and is terrific. If you're interest I can PM you the information. |
| 2008-09-03 12:39 PM in reply to: #1644011 |
Expert 715 Welcome to Super Mario World | Subject: RE: Fairfield County = Some of the Worst Riding in the World I don't think I remember how to ride a bike... |
| 2008-09-03 3:17 PM in reply to: #1644011 |
Master 1410 White Plains NY | Subject: RE: Fairfield County = Some of the Worst Riding in the World I have had a lot of luck riding in Greenwich, especially northern Greenwich on into northern Stamford along the NY border. Never really hit a bad road and Greenwich has been paving a lot of roads over the past year. Also not a lot of traffic and lots of big houses to gawk at. I think there are enough hills to get a quality hill climbing session in as well. |
| 2008-09-08 10:11 PM in reply to: #1644011 |
| Veteran 290 | Subject: RE: Fairfield County = Some of the Worst Riding in the World BaitBoy - 2008-09-02 3:32 PM After looking at one of the Triathlon Talk threads about someone getting hit on a bike, I thought I would bring up an interesting conversation I had at an Ironman finisher's party a couple weeks ago... My friend has lived all over the world. She has lived and trained in Ireland, England, Dubai, Australia, New Zealand, Japan... the list goes on and on. She asked me why I wasn't training for another Ironman. I have some personal reasons, I said, but the main one is I don't feel like dying any time soon. She laughed and said," I have lived all over the world and Fairfield County is BY FAR the MOST DANGEROUS place I have even ridden anywhere in the world." This year alone I personally know 4 people who were hit by drivers. One person whom I don't know was even recently killed in Norwalk... so try and stay safe out there FC. Please forgive the brashness of the inductive reasoning in my forum title. i think this may be true of lower FF county, however if you can get up to northern ff county it is a different world and much safer for cyclist....i live in the norther tip of ff county and there is great riding! |
| 2008-10-06 1:14 PM in reply to: #1644011 |
Expert 715 Welcome to Super Mario World | Subject: RE: Fairfield County = Some of the Worst Riding in the World Another cyclist died yesterday in Greenwich...  |
| 2008-10-06 2:40 PM in reply to: #1721151 |
Master 1410 White Plains NY | Subject: RE: Fairfield County = Some of the Worst Riding in the World |
| 2008-10-06 3:34 PM in reply to: #1644011 |
Expert 715 Welcome to Super Mario World | Subject: RE: Fairfield County = Some of the Worst Riding in the World I saw it on the news when I was waiting in line at Roly Poly today. |
| 2008-10-06 3:51 PM in reply to: #1721692 |
| New Haven, CT | Subject: RE: Fairfield County = Some of the Worst Riding in the World Pretty sad. FFC sucks. |
| 2008-10-07 1:09 PM in reply to: #1644011 |
Expert 715 Welcome to Super Mario World | Subject: RE: Fairfield County = Some of the Worst Riding in the World |
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