May 10, 2023 - South Norwalk, CT, to Black Rock State Park, CT

Start: South Norwalk, CT
End: Black Rock State Park, CT
Miles: 54.3
Feet climbing per mile: 92
Record of the day's ride: https://ridewithgps.com/trips/120649266

I left home at 8:30 to ride to Grand Central Station to catch the 9:05 train scheduled to arrive in South Norwalk at 10:10. The temperature was a cool 55 degrees when I left home and a pleasant 60 degrees as I arrived South Norwalk. Rush hour was over so while riding away from the station I encountered only light traffic.

At mile 18.7 the road was blocked due to work on some water mains. I took the picture below after I walked on the grass to get around the construction. A woman from the construction crew asked me whether I had taken a picture of the work and I told her I had. She said that taking pictures was not allowed (really?) and asked me to delete the picture. When I told her I would she asked whether I would do so now and I replied "All set!" or something to that effect. I lied right?

At mile 26.6 I turned off Monroe Turnpike onto Old Zoar Road. I was clearly in the country slightly less than halfway to my destination.

Old Zoar Road

At mile 29.8 I stopped to look at a waterfall on the Boys Halfway River just before it spills into Lake Zoar.

Just beyond the waterfall I stopped at the Lake Zoar Drive-In to order a single scoop of chocolate ice cream. After paying for the ice cream and while I was waiting to receive it, I noticed that a single scoop cost $3.75 and a double scoop cost just a dollar more. So when my server, Kelsey, brought me the ice cream, I asked for a second scoop. She said that the second scoop was on her. How about that!

About a third of a mile after leaving the drive-in I stopped to look at the Lake Zoar Dam which separates the Housatonic River from Lake Zoar.

At mile 31.1 I needed to walk about a tenth of a mile up Coppermine Road. I saw another waterfall at mile 36.2, where Papermill Pond empties into Eightmile Brook.

At mile 38.6 I encountered the barriers seen in the picture below. The supposedly-closed road would allow me to avoid heavy traffic on CT-188, so I proceeded. It was easy to walk my bike around the barriers, so the claim that the road was closed seems false.

I encountered nobody while riding the private road for about a mile and a quarter, so although I was a violator I was not prosecuted.

According to Wikipedia, the property belonged to the Chemtura Corporation until 2017 when Chemtura was acquired by the German company Lanxess.

After leaving the private road I was back on CT-188 with its heavy traffic. Less than two miles later, at mile 41.7, I was happy to see the beautifully-paved Middlebury Greenway which I had not planned to use but which now provided relief from the traffic for 1.5 miles, at which point I entered a road with almost no traffic.

Middlebury Greenway

At mile 49.9 I needed to walk up Echo Lake Road for about 1000 feet. Two miles later I saw a few cows, one of which was sufficiently curious about me that she came to the fence. It seems that there's usually one such cow. That's me mooing in the video, not the cow.

I arrived at Black Rock State Park at 5:00, six and three quarter hours after leaving South Norwalk. It had been sunny all day and the temperature was mostly in the mid 70s.

I rode a short distance to the campsite I had selected when I made my reservation. (I had wanted to stay in one of the rustic cabins, but they were not unavailable.) As I was unpacking my gear I realized that I hadn't been camping since October of 2021 and that I should have examined my camping gear at least few days before departing on this trip. Fortunately the only problem I discovered was that one of the elastics in my tent pole was a little loose. (Later I would discover that the batteries in my Molly light needed to be replaced. See Miniature flashlights in Gear Update - November 13, 2021.) I looked around my site and found a rock which would serve as a hammer to insert my tent stakes into the ground.

After a little while my tent was up.

After setting up my tent, I walked to the building nearby to have a shave and a shower and was surprised to discover the door was locked. I walked to another shower building a little farther away and again discovered the door was locked. I went online to the campground's website and saw the information shown below.

I called the campground office and said I was disappointed and upset that I was not informed during the checkout process that there would be no bathrooms or showers available. I said that I stunk, having just ridden 54 miles in the hot sun, and that I needed a shower, and furthermore I needed electricity in order to charge my electronics. I asked whether one on the shower buildings could be opened and was told that the pipes were not connected, but that on the outside of the campground office there was a spigot with drinking water and an electric outlet.

Knowing that drinking water and electricity were both available, I closed my tent and rode about half a mile to Señor Panchos where I had a Mexican dinner that included guacamole made to order without cilantro. On the way back to my campsite I stopped at Branch Brook Campground which I considered an alternate place to stay. I saw that it was a crowded RV park, quite unattractive compared to the spacious Black Rock State Park.

At 9:00 I walked to the Black Rock Pond a quarter mile from my campsite. It was now dark, an hour after sunset, so I carried my phone and used the RideWithGPS app to record my path so that I would be able to find my way back to my campsite.

I tested the water with my feet and found it quite cold. Because it was dark I did not go in further that night, but thought that maybe the next day I would do so. I walked back to my tent, spent some time charging my electronics at the campground office, and then got in my sleeping bag with the intention of getting some good sleep.

Next day: May 11, 2023 - Black Rock State Park, CT loop

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