Northwest passage

Back in May, I went for a bike ride and ended up in this weird network of dirt bike trails north of Day Hill Road in Windsor. It was pretty cool. It was also the ride where I was face to face with a bear. Those events were so distinct that I just remembered that they were part of the same ride. On that ride, I ended up in a Superfund site, hopped a fence and end up back on the road. According to maps, where I was riding was just slightly south of Northwest Park- a giant Windsor park that I'd always wanted to visit, but didn't really understand where it was. 

Yesterday, after I finished my work, I resolved that I was going to throw a leg over my trusty bike machine and figure out where and what Northwest Park was. Using technology and maps, I figured out how to get to this park- cutting through a state park that may be made up by Google. I arrived at this Northwest Park and was dismayed to find that the trails in the woods were closed to bikes. Then, I realized that wasn't true, just like two trails were closed to bikes. The pretty and interesting trails near the Rainbow Reservoir, however, are open and I rode on them for awhile and thoroughly enjoyed myself. I followed them to the dump, cut through the dump, found that the perimeter fence of the dump ended and I could continue riding to the place I rode in May. I found the secret passageway of northwest.

Does this mean that an Eel of the Farmington River is possible? Does this mean that there's still ample room up there for office parks that drain downtown Hartford of its jobs? Does this really mean anything other than there's a lot of dirtbikers in northwest Windsor? Who knows?

What was cool, though, was that I think I rode a good 10 miles of singletrack up there. I don't think you should put your 8" travel bike in the back of your truck and go do shuttle runs there, but if you're bored and don't know what to do some afternoon with your 'cross bike, perhaps you should go get lost in northwestern Windsor.