Do you really need a Fat Bike?

I had a couple of hours to kill on Friday after dropping my daughter off at a friends house so I threw the Spot on top of the car and headed down to Pepper Street in Monroe.  No one had been on the Housatonic Rail Trail headed towards Newtown so I headed that way.

Riding in 4 to 5" of light powder is interesting, more so if you not on a fat bike, because the skinnier tire upfront doesn't track well in the snow.  I let out some air before starting the ride but it probably wasn't enough.  

Since fat bikes run at a very low PSI which cause the bottom of the tread to flatten I would think this gives the rider much more stability with a larger surface area coming into contact with the snow (or sand).  Still, as long as there were no other tracks I was fine.

I think it was around 9 degrees (-13C) by the time I got to the Monroe/Newtown line and I was alternating between mask on, mask off because I was working really hard to keep myself up in the snow.  I never got out of the 2nd lowest gear and I could definitely feel the burn.

These snowy tracks are between the end of the "Newtown Trailway" (the trail actually goes all the way to Swamp Rd) and the Batchelder Property, which is an EPA Superfund Cleanup site actually in the process of getting cleaned up.  So there is hope that the trail can officially continue up to Swamp Rd.  That is of course if the back stabbing residents (long story) don't find some other way to block it like the fuss they put up on the initial part of the trail. 

Old Railroad Bridge

The trail down to Cutler's Farm road was also untouched.  In some places, much of the snow was blown off making it much more easier to ride.  While riding the section of the trail that goes out onto the road I got some long looks from those driving by in cars.  

From Cutler's Farm to Wolfe Park it was different story.  There was actually a pretty good defined ski track the entire length of this part of the trail that I tried to stay off of because as I found I get better stability in untouched snow as opposed to disturbed snow.  Riding down this part of the trail was a lot more work and I ended up opening my jacket, my riding jersey and the shirt underneath because I was really hot.  I had three layers on underneath my Windstopper Polar Fleece, which turned out to be too much.  When I turned around at the entrance to Wolfe Park I had to zip up again because everything got really cold, really fast.  By the time I got back to Wolfe Park I had to turn on my head light.

The Lake 303s performed beautifully but I did get a little cold nearing the end of the trail.  Still, for a winter cycling boot rated to 25 degrees (-4C) they were performing exceptionally.  At one point I had to stop and check my junk to ensure it wasn't frozen because I couldn't feel it.  Turns out it was just numb from the way I was sitting on the saddle but Mr Happy was still toasty warm!  Halfway down the last section to Pepper Street some douche bag on a Snowmobile ran down the trail making it nearly impossible to ride, again pedaling in the disturbed snow is a lot tougher than untouched, so I had to weed my way on the sides till I got to the end of the trail.

Overall, it was a great ride.  The only advantage to having a fat bike is that I could have pedaled through more of the disturbed snow and I probably could have gone faster.  Who knows, maybe I will get one next year but I think it's too late to get one now.

Outhouse Singletrack

Looks like this might be last opportunity for while to get some riding in so I decided to make the most of it on second to last day off but I wanted so variety because riding at Upper Paugussett too many times reminds of the popular saying, "If you not the lead dog, the scenery never changes!"

It wasn't going to warm up the later I waited before heading out but at least it stopped snowing.  There was maybe an inch on the ground with more later in the evening expected to come.  Still, a full compliment of snivel gear was required.

For variety I headed over to the Horse Trails off of Pond Brook.  There's a mishmash of old ATV trails that are mostly ridden by a few equestriennes that live in the area.  There is also some singletrack here and there but with all the storms we have had in the past few years most of the trails get blocked and since there are so few users go arounds are created very slowly.

Off to the east of this sign is a small pond or vernal pool and on the other side was an outhouse.  I was thinking that I could use the facilities pretty soon but when I turned around, I noticed some new singletrack coming off of Lake George.  Guess I haven't ridden here in a while not to have noticed this.  The snow, of course, is the unified equalizer and shows you were the trails are every time.  

I headed down the new trail and found it quite flowly and fun.  Very few fall line climbs/descents.  At one point it looked like you could jump onto the old right of way for Lake George Road or continue descending through some barberry (hope I don't get a flat later) and then pops out onto Lake George.  Crossing over the ROW I took an old trail on the other side that I used to ride back up to the town line and then I picked my way to the outhouse.  Only it wasn't really an outhouse, unless it was bucket shitter, fortunately, I really didn't need to use it so I headed on.

Brakes were squealing awfully and I peaked the curiosity of quite a few dogs but non came out after me.  A couple of years ago I had one come after me but it never got close enough to do anything, it just wanted to bark at me.

I like to take a breather at the bench in order to get ready for the big climb back up.  There is so much potential for some killer trails here but yet nothing ever happens.  Hard to believe the trail gnomes haven't found this place.

It starts out pretty good but snow turned it into instant Hike-a-bike.

From here, I rode over to Upper Paugussett State Forest

Rode up the Mulikin Trail

Then on to the Gussy

I looked at the temperature gauge on the Garmin and found that it was 14 degrees
yet my feet were toasty warm!

Ended up riding over 10 miles!

RbW: Riding at the Crack of Ass

After the snow we got Monday temperatures were holding at 32/33 degrees all night and I knew this would be an excellent opportunity to Ride before Work.  Ended up popping smoke around 6 on the nose and it was perfect!

The Spot was handling beautifully in the snow, largely I think due to the 2.4 Schwable upfront.  Lots of coyote and fox tracks on the trails, too.

I was able to ride the entire length of the Poly Brody without dabbing but on the Gussy I had a few issues.  It's no contest and such a joy to be out in such terrific conditions.

Probably want be back on the Gussy for another week since the weather forecast for Wednesday is a possible high of 55 degrees and thunder showers, and we are in the heart of winter!  Probably riding the fixie on the trainer on Thursday.  I am, however, going to start riding Tuesday and Thursdays in the mornings at Upper Paugussett and then save the weekends for elsewhere.  That will change when I start riding to work again.  This year I am going to shoot for 1000 miles!

Single in the Snow

My first ride in the snow in 2 years but by the time I hit the Gussy on Wednesday it was more of a inconvenience if at all.  It made the trail slushy at times, and very wet.  The Raleigh XXIX was riding really nice, in fact I would say that I have it dialed in now!

  

I was surprised to not have found any tire tracks in the cleared section that I worked on last Sunday.  I was the first!  It could be that people were just riding down and like the new reroute.  What's interesting about it is that the log is so high that I didn't have duck to get underneath it while riding! In fact, I never even noticed it.

 

 

Green Addiction: Grün ist Geil!

Photo Courtesy of ECTRR.com

After the pounding we took here in Western Connecticut earlier this week my riding plans for the week that I have off were literally blown away.  However, a buddy of mine who lives in Eastern Connecticut offered to sell me his Velocity Blunts so I drove to Old Lyme to pick up the new wheelset and to try the front wheel out.  Turns out the eastern part of Connecticut got much less snow than we did in the western part of the state and seeing that this is probably my last opportunity to ride in 2010 I was pedal to the metal!  What I didn't expect was how close the color of the rim would match the Dillinger.

Snow depths ranged from three to six inches of snow, some places were deeper due to drifting, but what made riding the hardest was transitioning between where people walked and the loose powder.  Still, it was a lot of fun and a great workout.  Thom and I met another mountain biker out on the trails, John W., but he was having a hard time pedaling and was walking more than riding.

This was also the first time riding with my new HD video camera, the Drift Inovation's HD 170.  I shot some ski vids the other day with it but I was out of power on Monday and couldn't edit any.  The files, however, are huge!  Above is an edited (shortened) clip that I loaded to YouTube.  It turns this unit takes DVD quality videos at a resolution of 1280 x 720, and that's just the medium setting!  The data file has a lot of overhead data in it, like stereo sound, and it's uncompressed, that I found from talking to Thom, if it were compressed it would be a much smaller file.  The other thing I need to ensure is that my helmet is on my head really tight.

We started riding around 3:45 pm and as you can see the sun was starting to go down but there was plenty of light for riding.  Still, it was really cold with the wind.  Initially, I was going to ride with my CT NEMBA Trail Ambassador Jacket, however, the wind was so strong I felt that wasn't going to keep my warm enough, so opted for a polar fleece North Face jacket that also acts as a zip in for another jacket.  I got pretty hot in the jacket but was able to vent most of the heat through a combination of zip pits and the main zipper.  I also had on Bib tights, and over pants.  That was a bit of overkill but combined with my lobsters, skull cap, and winter riding booties I never got cold.

Thom at the start of the Ridge Ride

Here is a slightly shorter clip of riding down the ridge towards the Pavilion at Rocky Neck State Park.  It's a really cool descent there are many rollers and rocks to roll and huck.  Of course I took it easy because of the conditions but looking forward to coming back here again when all the snow is gone.

Giant's Neck

We rode the board walk along the beach over to Giant's Neck where I will be renting a house this summer with my family.  Looks like I will be hitting Rocky Neck every morning and then doing the bike trails with my boys and daughter in the afternoons, besides lounging on the beach and building sand castles.

Photo courtesy of ECTRR.com

We tried to find the house that I will be renting but had the wrong address.  Thom took this picture of me and you can see the camera atop my helmet.  I originally tried mounting it on the side of the helmet but it was too heavy.  Whereas with my skiing helmet, the fit is more snug and I barely noticed it there. On the Mountain Bike helmet, however, it doesn't fit as snug and I could feel it pulling to one side.

Sunset at Giant's Neck

For these kinds of conditions, the Qball would have been perfect but it's still in the process of getting rebuilt.  The Dillinger performed beautifully in the snow.  Climbed just about everything and got a tremendously good workout!  Of course the snow softened a lot of the trail and the new wheel performed beautifully.  I might have to consider some Orange Blunts for the Qball.  Below is a little 3D map of the single track riding area of  Rocky Neck.  It's not a huge place but according to Thom there are many more trails in there to ride.  I am going to try to get back here in the spring to try them all and to familiarize myself with the area better so that when I am spending my week here, I know exactly where to find the goods.

Riding the 'Horse in the snow

I got my Iron Horse back from the shop about a week ago after having the brakes redone which included new pads and a new rear rotor. Also had the rear derailleur put back on after waiting a month for new hangers. That's one of the drawbacks of buying a bike and then a year later having the manufacturer go out of business. Luckily, I have the 2007 MKIII, apparently the rear triangles on the 2008 are known to fail and unless you got your bike from Randal Scott you are not getting a replacement rear triangle. I did seem them, however, on eBay.

The first thing I noticed after riding rigid for the past two months is how smooth the bike is. Having a range of gears to chose from made riding in the snow seem easy. Of course, temperatures were perfect for snow riding. Two to three inches of snow but not compressed enough so that it would turn to ice.

I tried something new on this ride, I brought a hex tool and a water bottle. If I got a flat, I am a 10 minute walk from home, so why bother bringing all that extra hardware? It's not like I am not accustomed to doing the walk of shame numerous times out of this forest.

Tried something new with the clothing, too. Given that it wasn't windy and the sun was out I opted for only two layers underneath my hunting jacket, which by the way is the warmest, fleece jacket that I have ever owned. I also just wore the lobsters and while my hands sweated some it was just cold enough that they didn't overheat.

The big let down of the ride came when I discovered ATV tracks on the Upper Gussy Trail. It looks like I am now going to have to do some serious rerouting and putting up trail blocks here and there to discourage them from riding on it.

The ATV'ers didn't ride the whole trail so I still had some virgin powder to ride and it was dreaming. The whole Gussy trail seemed like buff singletrack.