eMTBs at Waldo

On Friday Scott decided to join me on a mountain bike ride at Waldo State Park in Southbury. We headed out on the main trail and as we neared the big climb these two females were on what looked like eMTBs coming the other way, but I could have been mistaken.  This is the first time I have been out riding in the woods and seen others riding, too. 

Log Sesh at Waldo

I took my neighbor's son to Waldo on Sunday and he loved it and we barely scratched the surface. It was his first time riding skinnies and now I think he is hooked.

Here he is riding one of the skinnies on the Where's Waldo Trail.

Before leaving we tried the skinny on Thing 2 and he cleaned it as well.

TGIFat Amy

I had grandiose plans last Friday to ride 40 miles after work but I had to run an errand that took a lot more time that I wanted.  As a consolation prize, I threw the mountain bike on the car and headed over to George C Waldo State Park. It was windy on Friday and there were some blow downs that I took care of.

The Cujo, aka Fat Amy, was riding exceptionally well.  I run my tires at 20 psi and it just floats over anything and everything.  It feels like riding a full susser.  I just don't feel comfortable doing any big hucks.

Cannondale Cujo 1: I stand corrected, it's a Midfat Bike

My Facebook Friends (reminds me of the Prejudice Commercials on Sunday mornings back in the 1970s) pointed out that what I am riding is a MID FAT bike and not a FAT BIKE.  Well, EXCUSE MEEEEeeee! I don't care if there is a difference, it still has fatter tires and therefore it's a fat bike for all I care. Semantics aside, this was the first Saturday in three months that I wasn't skinning up and telemark skiing down Windham Mountain in the Catskills because my son was still recovering from the flu. So I took Fat Amy across the river to play Where's Waldo.

It must have been somewhere between 15 and 20 degrees when I started out and probably colder with the wind.  Wearing my Lake MXZ303 boots, blaze orange Columbia hunting jacket, and lobster gloves I couldn't fee the cold.  In fact, mid ride I had to open my jacket because I was getting pretty hot.  

I think it's been almost two years since I last rode here and a lot has changed.  All the new trails on the north side of park are finished, there are new features, including a nice boardwalk with some up and overs in the middle of it that reminded me of the Moose Alley trail at Kingdom Trails, and some nice bridges.  I rode down to the lake and then started climbing up the main Waldo Trail.

The one thing that I noticed off the bat is when I get up to speed and turning through corners, Fat Amy turns like my old 29" mountain bikes which always had a tendency to swing out wider.

For the most part, the trails at Waldo were frozen but there were still some frost heaves that I crunched through.  On today's ride I remembered to unlock the fork and the ride was totally plush.  In fact, I would just point the bike on a line through a rock garden and just blaze through it.  A 29er tire never felt like this.  Looking forward to more rides in the near future.

Last Dirt of 2014

As luck would have it, my last dirt for 2014 was not the Gravel Grinder I had in mind, rather a two hour tour of George C Waldo State Park in 25 degree weather.  I started out riding in full snivel gear regalia including my Lake303 boots, lobster gloves and a balaclava.  Halfway into the ride, I ditched the lobsters at the car because my hands were sweating.  I got a double shot on the new trail where I rode it both directions.  Going down the trail is great, but riding up has some tough sections, especially the one pictured below that I am calling Satan's Stairway!

Waldo's Hot and Steamy

My original intention for riding on Saturday was a 20 mile tandem ride with my son Elliot but after sampling what summer used to be in Connecticut to and from his Kung Fu lesson he didn't want to go back out again if he or I could help it.  So I threw the Spot onto the top of the car and headed over to Waldo.  I have never used the new parking lot before, in fact now that I think about it, it was never officially open the last time I rode here, so it's been quite some time.  Unbelievably, the parking lot was empty and I had the whole place to myself.

There were some new little challenges here and there which were fun.  There was a huge, dead, oak tree that had fallen across the trail, near the parking lot, that already been re-routed around.  By the looks of the trail it seems to have been there for quite some time.  Further down, there was a change to the trail, too, that I guess I might have heard about but didn't really think much about it.  The main trail, Red Blazed, makes a U turn and hooks back into itself that leads eventually down to the fire road and the water.  Meanwhile the what used to be the route to Captain's Log is now yellow and the section in between Captain's Log and where the new cut off has been closed.  I understand why that it because it's always been wet and it gets rutted out in the spring.  Kudos to Paula for finally making this happen!

By the time I got down to the water I was soaked in sweat.  The front of my riding shorts looked like I pissed my pants!  There was a nice wind coming off the water which made it a little pleasant but the fact remained that it was still hot and muggy.  Getting here I tried the new trail but found that it's not quite ready.  It's has some great benching and rock work but then peters out half way in.  Others have been riding it, though, and a trail is starting to form.  At one point, near the end of the park the flags stop and it's quite hard to follow where the trail is intended on going so I ended up bushwhacking a bit till I found the fisherman's trail that eventually ties into Extra Credit.  That's probably the other part of the trail but the connection to it isn't really marked.  Still, it's a great trail.

I had a great ride and felt great and few pounds lighter after that ride!

The right way to ride Waldo

It's more of a personal opinion but I have been struggling with how to ride all Waldo without having to repeat any of the trails in the same direction more than once, and staying on Singletrack.  Today I found that formula!  Just when I got to the parking lot it started to sprinkle but the real surprise, besides still finding the new parking lot still not open for business, was the weather had remarkably changed and the temperature had dropped 20 degrees.  Could have used another layer and wool socks.     

OK, here is the course:

1. Take Waldo all the way down to Elmer Fudd 
2. Cut over to the new Daffy Extension and ride that all the way down to the bottom  
3. Ride up the Rabbit's Foot (fka Extra Credit) and back down to the shore.  
4. Back up the forest road (OK, not singletrack but it's only 100 yards) and then back on the Rabbit's Foot which leads back into Waldo.  
5. Waldo all the way back up Elmer Fudd and then down to Daffy.
6. Ride up Daffy back to Waldo
7. Down Waldo to the Captain's Log
8. Back up the Daffy Extension to Elmer Fudd
9. Elmer Fudd back to Waldo and take that all the way out to the parking lot
10. Thing one back to Waldo and do the uber technical section to the cut through
11. Back down to Thing 1 and then out!

On my way up Waldo I ran into my neighbor Chris riding with his son.  

This kid is going to be a shredder!

New blazes on Daffy!
Well, the temperature took it's toll
because by the end of the ride my toes were numb!

 

Waldo's Indian Summer

I missed the planned Trail Maintenance Day at Waldo because I had things to do with my kids (that I missed for the past two weekends) so I headed over to Waldo at about 2 PM.  The state hasn't finished the new parking lot and the current lot was jammed up so I had to park on the other side of the road.  Never done that before but the car fit perfectly so it's good to know.  I passed a woman on a white full suspension bike that I have seen before but I didn't stop to chat.  I was there to ride!

  

I met up with Glenn Vernes who was there for the trail work and was riding after the work was done.  He turned around and we rode back down to the water and amazed at how low the water was on Lake Lillilonah.

The water is so low because the State DEEP is pouring concrete for the new boat ramp at Rt 133

My Kona Unit 29er is still rocking!
I love this bike.

  

Looking at Upper Paugussett State Forest

This eye is usually submerged.
It must look eerie when it's covered in water.

 

The "NEW" trail at George C Waldo SP

I didn't feel my initial post really did the new trail, the extension of Daffy Duck justice without actually calling it so people could see it. With a little editing of some GPX tracks I have made it so you can now get a better idea of how the new trail is laid out.

The Daffy Extension (Blue) starts at the intersection of the Hunter's Trail (Pink) and rejoins the Waldo trail at this big up and over called Captain's Log.  As for the new trail, riding down it was pretty good.  I think there are few turns that need some tweaking but overall it's fantastic.  My only regret was I didn't get to ride back up it.  That will be the next time.

Also pictured in the map, near the entrance to the park is a little piece of Singletrack (also in Blue) called Thing 1.  I am told there could be more things to accompany Thing 1.

Daffy has a longer Duck!

Headed over to Waldo Sunday morning after hearing that the continuation of
Daffy Duck was now open for business.

One thing I noticed right off the bat is someone took a leaf blower to all the trails.

The Mickey Mouse skinny is finally complete and it's basically Mickey Mouse!

Because I could do it!

The view down at the beach was spectacular!

 

The Spot is rocking!

The feature is called Captain's Log and it's where the Daffy extension comes out.  Unfortunately, I only had enough time to ride the extension in one direction.  Going to try and come back this week and give it, along with the Hunter's Trail and Waldo a thorough rip.

Ran into the these riders from the City all on steel, rigid bikes riding here for the first time!

While Waldo in general is not overly technical the times I have ridden rigid here I always feel like I was beat to crap.  These guys are pretty hardcore to be out for the first time on rigid bikes!

Stoopid Epic

As many will agree, Singlespeeding is Stoopid.  Who in their right mind would want to ride what everyone else rides with just one gear to choose from?  Why not have a plethora of gears to use and when it gets really tough cry home to momma only to find help from Granny!  Well, I am still not one of them.

One of my riding buddies wants me to do the VT 50 with him next year and I think I might do it, on my singlespeed, of course!  On Saturday, I set out to do a little epic singlespeeding riding.  Granted, there was some pavement, maybe 60% of it in fact but this turned into a really good ride.  I hit three areas:  Upper Paugussett; The Vineyard Trails; and Waldo.  I might have to try working in some more sections of Al's Trail to get more trail riding in and increase the mileage.

Looks like there is a new Trail Gnome in Town!

This is a well Engineered up and over on Al's Trail!

I noticed quite a few improvements behind the Vineyard.  There are still some sections that could use some better benching and it would be great if there was a loop, too!

Found the new skinny at Waldo

Took a break at the lake and talked to some Kayakers

The lake was really empty

 

Fresh bench cutting on Thing 1

There are three new trails at Waldo, Thing 1 which you see above is a short clip that connects to the beginning of Where's Waldo and to a section of WW before the big technical climb.  I think Thing 2 starts at the intersection of Daffy Duck and the Hunter's Trail.  Not sure where Thing 3 is going to start but that will be an awesome trail when it's done!

Time for a pit stop in Sandy Hook at the Village Perk

After 24 miles riding, nothing beats a cold pint of 'Gany Fest Lager!