Best of Summer. Inside: $5.00

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1 2017 Best of Summer Inside: An Elevated View of Manhattan Cycling the Summer Away Food Truck Dining Options Round the Block (Island) A Harvest of Local Produce Awaits $5.00

2 Get off the beaten path on two wheels and enjoy the journey By Carol Mihelik A short spur off the Farmington Canal Trail in Simsbury leads to the Old Drake Hill Flower Bridge. Photo courtesy of Farmington Canal Rail-to-Trail Association. Photo: Pete Salamon The trees are covered in a canopy of green. The birds are waking us with their happy conversations. The winter salt is washed off the roads. If you haven t done it already, now is the time to find your bicycles hidden behind the snowblower and garden tools and wipe off a winter s worth of dust. Get those bikes tuned up and explore the roads and bike trails in our area. Before we get out on the road or bike trail, first things first. How long has that bike been sitting in your garage or basement? Tire tubes dry out, crack and weaken over time. The protective lube on chains gets covered in dust. Play it safe. Take your bike(s) to your local bike shop and get a tune-up before you hit the road. There s nothing worse that having an old tire lose air or having your chain slip while being out and about. Bring your bike to a certified bicycle repair person very year, explains Tom Naughton, director of Public Relations at Zanes Bicycles in Fairfield and Branford. They will check your tires, brakes and chain. They will then inspect strategic parts of the bike depending on the type whether a hybrid, road bike or mountain bike. Naughton also suggests having a spare tire kit. You might not be able to fix your flat but at least you ll have a tube so someone can assist you. Have you freshened up your bike? Good. Now lets go over a few basic rules of the road. Safety comes first. Runners, people pushing baby carriages, and dog walkers go against traffic. Bicyclists (remember wheels) go with traffic. Rails to trails have a different set of rules but more on that later. Wear a helmet always! Wear bright, visible clothing. If you can, have a blinking light on the front and back of your bicycle. This makes you more visible to vehicles while biking in the shade. Use hand signals. Anticipate hazards and adjust your position accordingly. Check for traffic before entering streets or intersections. Most cyclists also drive cars so how would you feel if a bicyclist pulled out onto a road while you are driving? Vice versa, motorists use your turn signal at intersections, bicyclists can t read your mind. Let s work together please. Now for the fun part. Let s hit the road, shall we? If you are new to cycling you probably want to take it is easy so stick to flatter areas, mainly along the coast. Try to use roads that are less traveled and have wider shoulders. In Greenwich, the area around Bruce Park is ideal for short rides. Greenwich residents have access to their municipal parks. Cove Island Park in Stamford 12 Best of Summer May 2017

3 Bicyclists take a ride on the Mill Plain Road bike/walk route in Fairfield. Photo: Mike Lauterborn offers a loop trail for walking, running, roller blading and cycling. For an easy ride along the shore on the weekend, park at the Green Farms train station in Westport and ride along Beachside Avenue, toward Southport. This tree-covered roadway passes many estates and is a very popular roadway with cyclists, joggers and pedestrians. Continue past Southport Beach, and continue into town where you can grab a snack before heading back. If you re feeling frisky you can go up the hilly Harbor Road that will take you to the other side of Southport harbor where you can access Fairfield s Shore route. Visit www. fairfieldct.org/content/10724/12148/ default.aspx to access a map. The map also shows the Mill Plain Road Route and the Library-to-Library route that goes from the main library on the Post Road to Stratfield Road Library. Just further up the line, so to speak, is Bridgeport s Seaside Park, which has a bike lane along the beach and through the park. Connecticut also offers several rails-to-trail options, with the closest running from Trumbull to Newtown and the longest the Farmington Canal Heritage Trail & Farmington River Trail which goes from New Haven to Suffield. Bike trail rules are a bit different than riding on a road. On most rail trails, all foot traffic and bicycles stay on the right side of the trail. Bike trails also have speed limits that vary so please check the specific trails for more details. For bicycles, I suggest using one of those old-fashioned bike bells or yelling out passing left when coming up on pedestrians. During the summer months these trails can get quite busy. There is limited parking so to play it safe, and start early. the sun always shines inside the hobby hangout BiRthdAy PARties at the our 3 tracks ARe Built for hours of driving fun! the Speed Oval is perfect for on-road driving and drifting and a great place for beginners to practice their skills. the Rock Crawling Course will have you navigating 4-wheel drive trucks across rocks, over bridges and through tunnels, too! And finally, our huge turf track is the place for off-road racing with jumps and turns to test drivers from novice to pro. You and your guests will get to drive on our Speed Oval and Rock Crawling Course! thehobbyhangout.com 48 AndeRson Ave new MilfoRd A RAdio ContRol ReCReAtion destination Hearst Connecticut Media Group 13

4 First, there is the The Pequonnock River Trail. It was designated in 2001 as part of the inaugural group of state-designated greenways, and is located along the path of the abandoned Housatonic Railroad line. The trail officially starts in Seaside Park, Bridgeport and continues to the Newtown border. There is a dedicated 1.5-mile bike lane along Housatonic Ave. in Bridgeport, but until the trail reaches Tait Road in Trumbull, most of the trail is on busy roads with no shoulder. Parking is available at Tait Road but again, parking fills up quickly. The 4.5 stretch from Tait Road to Old Mine Park follows the Pequonnock River through a large canopy of trees, which is ideal in summer. A portion of this section is smooth stone dust, not asphalt. It takes a bit of care while riding but I have used this stretch of trail to get to Easton. To read more, and see an interactive map, go to For more details, there s also: river_trail.htm In Norwalk, there is the start of the Norwalk River Valley Trail, which will, hopefully in the future, connect Norwalk to Danbury. There are a few completed sections. Go to to see the proposed route and open sections. In Derby there is the 2-mile Derby Greenway that links to the Ansonia River Walk for a total of 2.5 miles. The last portion to the center of Ansonia is under construction. For more information go to for parking, rules and more information. Live in the western part of the state? Try out the North County Trailway that spans 22.1 miles in Westchester County, from Eastview in the Town of Mt. Pleasant, to Baldwin Place in Somers. It continues north into Carmel in Putnam County for 7.5 miles as the Putnam Trailway. The grand-daddy of Connecticut trails Farmington Canal Heritage Trail & Farmington River Trail starts in New Haven and continues to the Massachusetts border for a total of over 50 miles. The first sections of the Farmington Valley Greenway were paved in Simsbury and Farmington beginning in There is a gap above Cheshire and a 9-mile gap between Southington and Plainville. See for maps, history and details. Hamden has some good parking options. If you intend to rollerblade I suggest the stretch of trail above the Todd Street parking area since it is flat. There are parts below it that are a bit hilly and only recommended if you are proficient at slowing and 14 Best of Summer May 2017 The Farmington trail in Cheshire. Photo courtesy of Farmington Canal Rail-to-Trail Association. stopping. Either that or get in your stocking feet and walk down. Further up in Plainville there is a 27-mile loop that consists of the Farmington River Trail and the Farmington Canal Heritage Trail. It passes through the towns of Collinsville and Avon. The Farmington Canal Heritage Trail is part of the 3,000-mile East Coast Greenway that stretches from Calais, Maine (at the Canadian border) to Key West, Fla. Much of this trail shares roadways with cars but many sections are designated bike and walking trails. The Connecticut portion stretches from Greenwich, along the coast up to New Haven, where the greenway shares the Farmington Canal Trail before it takes a right before Simsbury and goes east to Rhode Island. Go to to learn more and see a very detailed, interactive map that shows the entire route. I have completed the route from the Black Rock section of Bridgeport to Cove Island Park in Stamford and have also completed the trail from Bridgeport to West Haven. Look for the pictured signs along roads that designate the route. Since the route follows many less-traveled roads, please check for details. With the tripplanning feature you can actually print a cue sheet, with elevations, based on the points you click on the map. You can also download a gpx file of the section chosen. By the way, the distance on the greenway from Black Rock to Stamford is 24.3 miles. Don t want to return to your starting point by biking the same route? Ride from train station to train station and return by Metro North. A $5 lifetime MNR Bicycle Permit is required. Permits may be purchased at ticket booths, onboard trains, and by mail. Bicycles are allowed aboard MNR trains at most times outside of rush hours and major holidays. See web.mta.info/mnr/html/getaways/ bikerule.htm for rules and further restrictions. I have done this a few times by biking to West Haven along the coast, enjoying lunch at one West Haven s restaurants, and then returning by rail. Please note that crossing the street to the West Haven station can be hectic. Feeling even more ambitious? Try riding your bike to Guilford, eat at one of the restaurants by the Guilford Town Marina and return via the Shoreline East train with a transfer in New Haven. The Greenway does not extend past New Haven so you ll have to do your homework by finding lesser-traveled roads via Google (avoid Route 1) and also coordinating train times. Some of the roads through Branford are not as flat as you would think. I found that out a few years ago when we traveled along Route 146. To help plan bike routes you can use www. mapmyride.com/us/ct/. Here you can enter your location and choose the length of your desired ride. For free you can view the map online or you can sign up for a $29.99 yearly or $5.99 monthly membership to print out maps and use other features, including the training app. There are rides from a few miles to more than 100 miles.

5 Bike Trails Cyclists take to the trail on the Housatonic Railway Rails to Trails Pequonnock Valley Greenway in Trumbull on Sunday, June 26, Photo; Brian A. Pounds Bob Long, of Derby, and his 8-year-old son Shane take advantage of the warm weather Tuesday, March 5, 2013 and go for a bike ride along the Derby Greenway. Photo: Autumn Driscoll Want to explore more but you don t want to ride by yourself? Check out Sound Cyclists at or Danbury-based Hat City Cyclists at They offer rides for all abilities during the week and on weekends. In May, Sound Cyclists sponsors the Bloomin Metric at Sherwood Island State Park with three distances and the Hat City Cyclists organizes Cyclefest on June 21 in Bethel with four distances to choose from. Enjoy biking? Then get out, ride and help raise money for a good cause. The CT Challenge, which starts at the Fairfield County Hunt Club in Westport, supports cancer survivors and it offers rides from 10 miles to 100 miles. Go to to learn more. On June 11, the Bike MS Ride in Stamford will take place, starting at Dinosaur Bar-B-Que. Learn more at On Sept. 17, the Fairfield Bike the Beach/Hike the Beach will be held. It benefits individuals with developmental disabilities through the activities of the Probus Club of Greater Bridgeport and its support of other community organizations such as The Kennedy Center, Inc. So this summer, get out, enjoy the ride and most importantly, be safe. Carol Mihelik is an art director at Hearst Connecticut Media Group, and avid sportswoman. Ha Ds-On a T Summer Youth Programs Ages Weekly Half- and Full-Day Programs July 10-Aug 25 Have fun Small classes Taught by professional artists Explore creativity Learn a new skill Programs in Glass Beadmaking, Fiber Arts, Blacksmithing, Fused Glass, Clay and Jewelry. Scholarships are available REGISTER & LEARN MORE: info@brookfieldcraft.org Hearst Connecticut Media Group 15