Got up around 6:30 this am and saw it was about 50 degrees here in Norwich. Put on my chaps and a sweatshirt under my leather jacket, Left the house shortly after 7 and fueled up at the east great plains Mobil.
Jumped on 395 south to go to the Mobil station to use as my starting point. It was kind of cool so I decided to put on my neck gaiter before I left from the 395 South Mobil Station in Montville at 7:25 am
. Set the cruise control for about 75 and headed south to 95 then south to exit 27A in Bridgeport, then Route 8 North till it ends in Winsted. Route 8 north was in the shade for about 50 miles and this was the coldest part of the ride (my thermometer said 40ish) so I was glad I put on my gaiter!! Made great time on this section as the end of route 8 is pretty much the half way point of my lap at 128 miles and I was there in 1 hr & 45 minutes for an average of just over 73 mph.
From here is wasn't as good as it was on secondary roads, took route 44 east to 318 east (missed this left turn) which goes over the Saville Dam in Barkhamsted, then to 219 north into Granby to route 20 east into the back side of Bradley Airport then back to highway cruising speed on 91 south to 291 over the Bissell Bridge onto 84 east.
I got off exit 66 route 31 Vernon/Rockville for gas/bathroom as this was about 175/180ish miles into the trip and this exit has easy on & off in both directions and as I'm planning to reverse direction on each lap this station works about to be the perfect distance so I'll only need to use this station and the 395 Mobil no matter which direction I'm going. After about a 10 minute fill up (4.6 gallons)/bathroom/package of crackers break, got back onto 84 to exit 73 (secondary roads again). Then onto route 190 east to 171 east to 197 east to 131 to 12 north to Wilsonville rd back onto 395 south back to the Montville Mobil.
The route worked out to be 259 miles covered in 4 hrs even, for just about a 65 mph average!!!! Yes I was cranking 80+ish the last leg from Plainfield to Montville to make it in 4 hours!!
I think 18 - 20 hours is realistic with at least one decent meal/rest break in the mix. The 2 sections of secondary roads are the variable as if there's lots of traffic there isn't a lot of places to pass. Not much construction other than 95 in East Lyme and at the bridge in New Haven. Route 8 has some fresh pavement along with some other sections. If the weather next Saturday is like today it'll be a piece of cake!!
The key is to keep moving and keep the stops to a minimum!
Evert
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