Downing Some More Double Downs in the Nutmeg State.

If you have followed me for any period of time, you have come to realize I don’t just go out for a ride. Today is no different and I am knocking off some double letter towns in eastern Connecticut. One nice thing about these little destinations is they take me on roads I would not have thought to go on or approach a familiar area (like the intersection of 169 and 197 in CT) from a different direction. It seems like you are riding in a whole new area if you approach it from a different angle.

The weather is sunny, but not exactly warm. I did wear my one piece suit which is mesh, but wore a long sleeve underneath. Glad I did, while the weather has warmed up, I would not call it warm for May. Still 5 degrees off. I downloaded 2 routes to the GPS’s one with highways and the other on back roads.

First up is South Woodstock Baptist Church. I found this using Google and it was confirmed by MapSource as well. As I have found this may be where the church has a license filed but there was not church or sign, so this stop was a bust. As I write this another Google search finds it located on another street, which is linked to the church’s website.
I was headed for the Woodstock Town Hall, but picked up the Woodstock Fair Grounds instead. The Woodstock Fair has roots back to 1809, however the current fairgrounds was established 1870.



Heading north on 169 I picked up the North Woodstock Congregation Church and unplanned site. I have passed thru this intersection 1000’s of times but never stopped other than at the stop signs. This is called or was called Villages Center and became more populated when the Norwich Worcester Turnpike was completed and intersected with the Old Turnpike. It was a popular mail stop back in those days. The church dates to 1895.



Couple pictures of the neighborhood.

This should look real familiar for those that have crossed RT 169 via 197. Its on the way to the Vanilla Bean

Making a left turn onto RT 197 you are sure to pass Bigelow State Park.




As you pass over I85 you can keep heading on CT 190 or take the right on Webster Rd and head for Staffordville. The Congregational Church there was built in 1859.



Headed up the street to turn around and picked up Staffordville PO for Waymarking purposes and snapped off a pic of the neighborhood.





Headed for the next stop, Stafford and caught this place out of the corner of my eye, which would satisfy the requirements for Stafford.



Picked this Post Office and Grange up for Waymarking, a two-fer



The actual destination for Stafford was this place. Nice big sign, but the sun was getting in the wrong place.



Headed out of Stafford on CT 32 for Storrs.

I had a choice in Storrs, head for the barn or head further south and complete the journey.



Went south. This would be the turn point to head back home. Still a couple of towns to pick up.

Brooklyn was the last target for the day. I was starved at this point and headed straight up CT 169, which is a National Scenic Byway. As I was riding up 169 I was saying to myself it really is not the pretty out. Yeah there is bits of yellow from the Forsythia and purple from the rhodies that are blooming, but the trees are still bare and pretty barren. While it is definitely warmer than it has been, the air still has a bite to it. At the intersection of CT 169 and Ct 101 I came across these.
























What is really neat about these old cars is the spectacular colors. The paint jobs are just so deep and reflective. The music was classic 50's and many songs I did not recognize. This completed the day covering just under 175 miles. Picked up 9 towns and now have a total of 28, enough to qualify for a Double Down T Shirt.

Seeing Double Presidents

If you missed the first part of the days ride you can find it here. It was off to Jefferson MA to pickup 2 spots. Initially I told the guys (Giff and Leith) that we were heading for Jefferson Jewelers, but I had placed this spot in the GPS first. Leith thanked my for the sand filled parking lot.

Since the Team Strange Airhead tour will accept only post office or city limit signs and the GLMC specially excludes both of those, we headed for...



Can't really say the ride out of Worcester to Jefferson was real scenic and with out traffic, but it did get somewhat countryish. Giff did say that he would be turning off at some point because he had to be home. I was frankly surprised that he was following me doing GT stuff. As we headed into Hubbardston, the scenery definitely became more rural. First I had picked up the library, but the sign was too small. We had passed the Highway department on the way up to the center, so I stopped to pick up a much bigger sign with HUBBARDSTON on it.

Giff did say they would spinning off before the next town. Right turn and heading into Barre for the oldest newspaper still in print in Worcester County.



Picked up 2 more towns that I had not planned on.

Picked up the Post Office for another hobby of mine, Waymarking.



Wheelwright was next up on deck. I was unable to find anything via Google for Wheelwright, so I did not have any hope of finding anything. I made this right turn down a side street and low and behold.





By this time the ride had become very scenic. Picked up the old grammar school in New Braintree, which I was sure would be on the NRHP. When I got home it is not specifically listed, but is probably part of the Historic District. Found in MACRIS, it was built in 1938 as New Braintree's first consolidated school. It is Art Moderne in style, which was unusual for Massachusetts.



Across the way was this massive farm. There has to be cows in that place and hooked up to tubes providing us with GOT MILK.



The high point of the trip was pulling up to Three Rivers Laundromatt. A guy sitting in the joint, no pants, watching the washing machine tumble cleaning his clothes.



This was the turn point to head back east for day. I had no clue what time it was, because the Nuvi 855 I was using had the time all screwed up this morning, the FJR battery was replaced and I never set the clock to the right time, but based on temperature in was before 5.

The last time I was specifically in Warren, MA was when I ran the 6 Warren town in New England to take the lead in OSJ's first treasure hunt. West Warren and Warren are 2 different towns for the GLMC Double Down tour.





To finish the day up I hit the Brookfield's











If you made it this far, I forgot to explain the 3 Grand Tours I am doing. Double Down is riding to towns that have double letters, except "LL". Team Strange is President GT, towns with the presidents last name for the town. There is 1 more I am doing but I didn't pick up any towns for this one, spell Team Strange Airheads 30.

What really surprised me today that potholes were not that bad, but there was sand everywhere, piles of it. I knew I would be sore when I got home. My throttle hand was killing me, especially the thumb. Of course the inner thighs would kick in, cramping up just as I made that one wrong twist on the couch. Not a long run for the day, just shy of 150 miles or so.