Winter Riding Reminders

All this warm weather we are having, while great for mountain biking, is taking it's toll on the trails. The CT DEP is asking mountain bikers to be considerate of the temperate conditions and the impact that they are having on on the trails. I saw this yesterday at Trumbull and got a first hand splattering of mud, too. I am going to wait till the next freeze before I start riding again.

Additionally, keep in mind that State Forests and Parks in Connecticut close at sunset. If you are going to ride at night, you could get a ticket! I got this note sent to me by the President of CTNEMBA:

Another thing we have been having lots of NIght Riders at Huntington, coming here after 6 pm for night time rides. recently we have had to start writing tickets for hours of operation to and or simple tresspass to curb some of this. The last 6 guys were quite irate as you can imagine...also its amazing the amount of riders that come out as soon as we get a thaw, the trails are getting hammered.

Please be mindful of the trails during the thawing conditions.

Crazy CT Weather: 45 degrees in January!

Had a great ride on the Qball at Pequonnock River Valley with Rich. Couldn't pass up the balmy weather today. Expected to be in the 50s but felt like mid 40s!

This area is perfect for single speeding that I am not sure I will bring the 'Horse back unless I want to try some of these drops that I have pictured below. Of course, once the Fixation is back to being an All Mountain HT Single Speed, probably ride that instead. Never-the-less, Rich and I haven't ridden together since Nepaug because shortly after that ride he was here and as you see down below, did this jump (pictured below) and broke his scapula. Two months later he is now back on the bike and riding, slowly, but still riding.

I am thinking it's time to get a computer to atleast track the actual miles because until I get the Edge back, these two other units are driving me nuts. They work reasonably well but not as good as the Garmin Edge. The MAP60 (green track) outperformed the eXplorist (red track) today, think because of where it was in the camel, in the media pouch with the antenna sticking out.

The eXplorist was on the shoulder strap in a pouch. Still need to test the eXplorist on the stem to see how the performance is there because I read somewhere that it has to be parallel to the ground to reach it's maximum efficiency. Just have to figure out a way to hold it there. The OEM handlebar mount is horrible and the Garmin Edge is the only unit that I have seen so far made for the stem.

The report from Huntington SP yesterday was that to have a good ride you need studded tires, something I don't have, so I opted to head south. Bunch of guys from Crankfire were headed to Westwoods but that was too far for the little time that I had to ride today. Similarly, Mianus is the only other warmer weather riding area that I would think would be devoid of snow. Mianus, while often joked about by it's namesake, again too far to drive.

Took a new trail up out of the old reservoir that linked up with the yellow trail just before the picnic tables. At this one roller/drop called the lunchbox we met up with a trio of guys from Class Cycles in Southbury that were warming up for the picnic tables. The 29er rolls things alot differently and I could feel it here. It was fun.



Didn't get any names but this guy is riding a ferrous Gary Fisher and he going big everywhere.


This guy is the mechanic at Class Cycles and he was the star of the show.


This is some guy on a 2006 Specialized Enduro (?), the one with the Brain Shock.


Looking up at the Roller (with ladder) and drop that follows.


The guy on the Ferrous Fisher cleaned both stunts nicely. Steal is real!


At the roller play ground, I slipped on a root and did the lower part of this roller my side. Here is another attempt.

Here is the jump that got Rich. If you hit it too fast it turns into a gap jump and you soar through the air...


... as Rich found out two months ago. See the scrape on the tree Rich is pointing to? That is where his shoulder hit. This is at least five feet or so off the ground and ten feet from the jump.

Again, the guy on the ferrous hucking it.

This is the third guy from their group, riding a Foes Weasel with a hydraulic rear cantilever brake.

And the man of the hour, the mechanic from Class Cycles nailed both times!



Rounding a corner before the last stream crossing I hid a muddy patch and went down in the slop.


Except from the occasional splatter from mud I was reasonably clean before this latest mishap.

A good day of riding with friends and new friends is better than just about anything.

2008 Rides and Trail Maintenance

RIDES, RIDES, RIDES!

Every Tuesday (May thru August)
Girlz rides at Trumbull
Contact: Jo Brooks joannabrooks4@gmail.com and Paula Burton PEBurton@aol.com
Contact Jo or Paula to ensure the ride is still on for a particular day

Saturday 2 August: MTB Huntington
Meet at the statues off Sunset Hill Road at 9:00. We'll go to the north end of the park and play on the singletrack. Advanced novice level. Please RSVP with ride leader to assure ride is still on. Rain or really wet trails cancels. Ride leader Eric Schonenberg schonenberg@charter.net, 203-746-0246.

TRAIL MAINTENANCE

Upper Paugussett State Forest
Parking: TBA
Date: TBA (probably first weekend in July)
Mark Lurie at eatsleepfish@gmail.com

George C Waldo State Park
Purchase Brook Rd, Southbury, CT
June 26, 30
July 3, 10, 17
Paula Burton at peburton@aol.com or 203-426-5369

Last Ride of 2007

My last ride of 2007 was your basic Upper Paugussett State Forest Polly Brody to my new trail loop for a total of 5 miles. Had to finish the year on the Qball and as you can see I learned my lesson from the other day by putting on the rear fender and it was godsend! Could have used something upfront, too, which I have but I just didn't have the time to take it off the Fixation. In fact, I should probably get another for the 'Horse. The best thing to do is see if I can just get another adapter or two and then I can switch the front fender to which ever bike I am riding.

Had a bit of another Nor'easter last night that put a nice mix of snow and ice on the ground totaling about an inch. The prediction was up to eight inches and if that were the case I would have went XC skiing this morning rather than mountain biking. Still by 1:30 PM with the wind blowing it was chilly, to say the least.

To combat the windy conditions I wore my new Columbia Howling Wind Jacket and it was toasty warm. I think the perfect combination with that jacket, when it's above 30 degrees is just one layer underneath of either a turtle neck or long sleeve T-shirt. I had a long sleeve T and a short sleeve T on underneath and I hadn't gone but a quarter mile up the Polly Brody when I had to open zip pits because I was already too hot.

The micro fleece ear band that Santa gave me for Christmas was perfect and my neoprene socks of course always do the trick in the feet department. I skipped tights and wore a pair winter weight BDU pants, and of course my C'dale winter gloves.

I was able to climb the Polly Brody in most places except on the first climb by the old rusted out Jalopy because the snow was too deep and then the steepest part, the leaves were way too slippery. On the back side, though, there was more snow and at slower speeds I felt I was on a ski bike rather than a mountain bike. When I got a little momentum going, though, it seem to help somewhat, in fact it might have been better than the 'Horse in the snow. Of course, a Surly Pugsley would have been really nice here, as well. I don't think it's in the cards to get one in 2008.

There was an ATV track in the snow, from the last snow, that I had noticed right after that storm. I wish the DEP would lay some logs or rocks near the gate across from Silver City to make it harder for the bastard(s) to get in. I know, I know, they'll just find another way in but why make it so easy? I hate to say this but having that ATV track through the snow actually made sections in which there was more snow actually ride-able. None-the-less, there should be no ATVs. I wonder if the owner lives on Bramble Trail? Saw some ATV tracks between the last house on Bramble and Hanover.

There was a hunter parked in the Echo Valley lot. I met this guy before, he drives a black El Camino and I think he told me that he hunts mainly on the west side of the forest along the blue trail. Good thing I was wearing blaze orange!

The shot above of the Qball is heading towards the right-of-way trail aka the new section of my trail and wouldn't you know it, I had another mechanical! I thought I fixed my rear brake issue where the cable was coming out of the lever but obviously I didn't. Gotta love the Avid Speed Dials, though, because after tightening one end of the cable at the caliper I was able to make some fine tune adjustments on the lever which solved the problem.

The Tunnel of Love was pristine, not even a hunter had been through it and I cleaned it's clock like it was butter. Still, making that hard right is still a tough maneuver and something that I wouldn't even try in the with snow on it. Still, the Qball rolled it perfectly.

Also of note, while riding back on Sanford road, there were a lot of pink engineer tapes lining what could be the start of a new trail? My guess it's hunters but it follows the forest boundary and could be interesting to investigate further.

As the for coming new year, I am going to focus on riding more trail miles. I did achieve a new milestone this year of breaking the 500 miles of trail riding this year and continue to shoot for 1000 miles but it will be tough. In addition to trail riding, my road riding/commuting goal for 2008 is ride a 1000 miles. It means I have to ride to work at least once a week for 10 months. That gives me a little cushion during the winter months, however, I have most of the cold weather gear that I need (except Booties!) so unless there is snow on the roads or subzero temps I am going to try it.

And of course, the bike project for this year is to take my old Fuji Royale from College and turn it into a commuting/touring bike, which cyclecross touches. Of course if I can get my hands on a 59cm Fetish Position, then I may forgo that project altogether but I doubt that will happen. Still, I will continue to troll the 'bay to see if something pops up.

Happy Trails!

Saddle up little doggies!

I am back on the 'Horse! Picked her up from EMS two weeks ago but due to the weather and the holidays just didn't have a chance to see how she runs after the almost month long visit to EMS. If they tuned it up, I sure can't tell if they did anything except address the issues that I brought it in for, which by the way appear to be resolved.

I went out to Collis P Huntington State Park today and started at the Dodgingtown lot. Conditions were absolutely crappy. If you weren't riding on crusty, slushy, packed snow/ice then it was wet everywhere and I should have thought to have brought my mud flaps! Doh!

I initially planned on doing just a circumference ride on the blue trail but had to give the singletrack that starts by the glacial erratic a shot. Half way through I thought my rear tire was a little low on air so I stopped to put some more in but the release valve snapped off and the tire immediately went flat. Good thing I had a spare tube on me.

This was a first for me because I don't think I have ever had to change a flat while on the trail. I initially snapped a tire lever trying to get the bead off the rim and I thought I was screwed but I found my other tire level and was able to get the tire open and changed tubes. I think I must have lost 30 to 40 minutes on that operation and had to cut my ride shorter.

Still the conditions were awful. Hopefully Monday will be better as I go for my last ride of 2007.


I did get to try out some new gear, though. It was in the 40s so I had a short sleeve jersey on, turtle neck, and my official Bikerag "Don't shoot me bro" blaze orange riding jersey.


Also tried out my new Camel, too. The Mule, which I thought, for some reason, would have more little compartments than my first hydration pack made by Sierra Designs. It is, however, more roomier with a main compartment that is not shared with the water bladder as in the SD one. On top is a media pouch which my Magellan fits nicely in. Have to try the GPSMAP60 and see if I get better reception here because on the strap, where I rode with it today, I got a horrible track. Good thing I had the Magellan for back up!

I really like it's fit and how forms to the body. I could barely tell it was even there at times. The 100 ml bladder will be nice in the summer. The SD has a 70 ml bladder.