Nobody will pretend there is a mountain pass in East Norwalk. This is the flat, salty shore of Long Island Sound in south-western Connecticut, where the Norwalk River opens into a harbour full of moorings, boatyards and marsh, with a chain of low rocky islands scattered offshore. East Norwalk is the older, waterside side of the city of Norwalk, with Calf Pasture Beach, a park and a long sandy shore facing the islands.
Norwalk was built on the sea. In the nineteenth century it was one of the great oyster towns of the East Coast, and the beds in the shallow waters around the islands supplied restaurants as far away as Europe; a few oyster boats still work the harbour today. The Norwalk Islands have a lighthouse, on Sheffield Island, reached by a small ferry in summer, and the Maritime Aquarium in South Norwalk tells the story of the Sound and its creatures, from seals to sharks. In the town, the Lockwood-Mathews Mansion, a grand Victorian house built in the 1860s, shows how wealthy the area became.
As a stop on a Catskill and Kaaterskill ride, it is far from the mountains, but it can be a sensible place to begin or end. The Catskills lie a couple of hours to the north, with Kaaterskill Falls, steep cloves and the Hudson River School painters' views, and the route there often goes up the Merritt Parkway, one of the most beautiful roads in the region. The Merritt, opened in the 1930s and 40s, winds through woods with a grassy median and dozens of ornate bridges, each one designed differently, and it is closed to trucks. Motorcycles are allowed, and on a quiet morning it is a joy, though it can be congested at rush hour.
Interstate 95 runs right through Norwalk and is one of the most congested highways in the country, so avoid it if you can. The local roads along the shore and up into the wooded hills of Wilton and New Canaan are much more pleasant, with stone walls, old houses and gentle curves.
East Norwalk has fuel, food and services, and the harbour area has seafood restaurants where you can try local oysters or a lobster roll. Ride down to Calf Pasture Beach, look out at the islands and the boats, and enjoy the salt air before heading north.