Lakeville belongs to the town of Salisbury, in the far north-west corner of Connecticut, and it takes its name from the two lakes beside it, Wononscopomuc and Wononpakook. The first is a deep, clear glacial lake, the deepest natural lake in the state, and the second is a smaller, quieter neighbour. The village has a short main street, an old inn, a library and a handful of shops, set among the first ridges of the Berkshire hills.
Its history is in iron. In the 1760s Ethan Allen, later famous as the leader of the Green Mountain Boys, ran a furnace here, and over the next century the local ore supplied the Continental Army and the Union. The Salisbury forges produced the cannon that were cast for the Revolutionary War, and the ruins of the old furnace stand near the road, a mossy stack of stone in a quiet wood. The remains of the charcoal industry are found throughout the district, in flat circular platforms where the charcoal burners worked, and the forests, long cut and regrown, are now thick and green.
Another claim to fame is Lime Rock Park, a road racing circuit built in the 1950s in the hills nearby, which still hosts races on summer weekends. When the engines are running, you can hear them from the road for miles. The roads near Lakeville are a pleasure on a bike, with Route 44 and Route 41 climbing and falling through the woods and farmland, past stone walls and open pastures, in gentle, flowing bends. The traffic is light on weekdays and heavier on race weekends, so check the calendar if you want peace.
Lakeville has a few places to eat, a bakery and a market, and fuel is available on the main road, though the nearest large town is Winchester Center or Torrington, some distance away. Millerton, in New York, and Sheffield, in Massachusetts, are both within about twenty kilometres, and offer more options. In autumn, the lakes reflect the colours of the surrounding hills, and an early start gives a quiet road and a bright light. Be ready for cold mornings, because this is high country by Connecticut standards.