Dirtbag Machine Works

    The Filthy Flyer **The Worst Publication in Cycling** Head XCT-West was hard.  It always is.  Thanks to Eytan and Zev for sharing a few miles.  The end goal is to link up the XMAT and XVT in one big pull, but that shall wait for another day and another year.  In other news, The Harwinator remains undefeated.  Christina, Greg, Brendan and I tried our best, but monster hills and relentless singletrack bested us.  We shall try again next year!   The XCT crew.  We all look so fresh and happy here. Brendan getting Harwinated.  That's as intense as it sounds and leaves a bit of an aftertaste. ii-V-I The season's end is coming in hot and fast, but there's plenty more work to be done before we say goodnight.  Here's the schedule of the most important remaining cycling events in CT this year: October 2 - CT Riverside Gravelish October 8 - XCT-East Scouting: Norwich to Windham Overnighter (A DMW Jawn) October 23 - The Eel *Note, all of the above are FREE.  Putting on a

Brought to you by DMW Special Projects Division (SPD), StruggleBus Entertainment and the Central Connecticut Ministry of Silly Rides:   Featuring:  Miles and miles of singletrack, crunchy double track, some gravel, a little bit of asphalt and plenty of climbing.  Total total distance is 56 miles with about 5,000 feet of climbing. NO, you should NOT ride your gravel bike.  😁 Crush it or cruise it, rider's choice.  I'll be riding at a moderate pace and stopping for a nice lunch in Collinsville.  Link to GPS track:  HERE Start location:  HERE Route description:  Using a large portion of the XCT West, this route winds its way through several regions of north/central CT by way of tight singletrack, chunky doubletrack and asphalt. Pack a mountain bike and the skills to pilot it. There are a few opportunities for resupply on and slightly off the route, but the ability to be self sufficient for at least three hours is suggested. There is one brief section with high grass, dep

  The Filthy Flyer **The Worst Publication in Cycling** Head The first actual month of summer has been a tough one for the DMW staff, but we have high hopes for the remaining days (not that seasons really matter anyhow; all are equally fit for getting lost in the woods).  June saw our corporate office, research labs, and manufacturing facilities all move to beautiful, sunny Hartford.  Come visit some time.  The weather is fine and the trails are great! ii-V-I As always, I'm full of excuses.  Life happened.  Riding bikes did not.  Here's the new schedule of the most important cycling events in CT this year: August 26 - XCT-West Petit Depart (now on BikeReg!) September 10 - The Harwinator October 8 -Norwich to Windham Overnighter Also worthy of note is The Eel on October 23. That one ain't mine, however, so if yer legs fall off, or you get eaten by wolves, I can't help ya.  Otherwise, it's a great ride organized by nice guy.   But wait!  Before you go run off over t

  The Filthy Flyer **The Worst Publication in Cycling** Headset Hey look!  It's Spring already!  Winter was annoyingly busy, and just wet enough to throw a wrench into my pristine schedule of all things.  Oh well.  I'm sure there's some worn out old saying to encapsulate both the frustration and resignation.  Anyone? In better news, bike-weirdo and fellow tinfoil hat technophobe Salem (that Salem) is writing a blog now.  Surely, this is a sign (one more) of the apocalypse, but maybe read it anyway. Salem's sorta-social media Jawn As noted, stuff got bumped.  The conveniently hyperlinked paragraph heading will take you to the schedule, but here's a quick rundown: March 12 S&R:  Canceled.  Heavy rains and heavy mud.  Wrecking the trails was not how I wanted to kick this off April 2 S&R:  Pushed to April 9.  We will launch from here at 9:59 am. May 8 S&R:  New date.  Route TBD August 12-15 PD:  Postponed to August 26-29.  Yes, that conflicts with some othe

Inspired by the XVT in Vermont, the XCTtrail (Cross Connecticut Trail) has been something of a grand hallucination dancing about my head for at least a solid three years now.  The general idea is that of a predominately south-to-north touring route, maximizing time and distance spent off pavement.  Giving credit where it is due, my first go at this was to simply follow my friend John's dual sport motorcycle route (this guy: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/10732116 ).  John's route is largely a mix of flowy dirt roads and asphalt.  Overall, it rides fairly well on a cyclocross/gravel bike, but the occasional exposure to traffic and general lack of technical challenge left room for improvement (From the cyclists perspective.  I'm sure it's just fine at the helm of a motorcycle).  The Elm City to Waramaug Loop was the next evolution, with much of the road sections swapped for the Larkin State Park Trail.   After a couple of rather memorable excursions with the one and only

The truth is that the whole blog thing has long since jumped the shark, but since I'm fanatically social-media phobic, and too frugal for an actual website, this is what we're doing.  The purpose of this remote little electronic outpost is to share my dedicated cheapskate perspective on all things outdoorsy and adventureish.  I'll try to keep the narcissistic navel gazing to a minimum, but there may be some words and photos comprising a trip report every now and then.