Riding the Dillinger at Grayville Falls Park

I have been wanting to ride Grayville Falls Park for a few years now and finally got the chance today because I was off from work for Veterans' Day. I had wanted to get there early and do a warm up on the nearby rail trail but the Veteran's Day ceremony at my kid's school all but killed that idea.

I brought the Dillinger because it was time ride the bike on some more challenging trails and this was the place to do it. The first trail, along a river was very technical and at one point I endo'd on the trail, now I am 2 for 2 but once past that trail it opened up into some really buff single track, which riding a rigid 29er was awesome. The bike really held it's own and the gearing (34:22) was perfect. Besides the ongoing issue with my seatpost there was a new sound when I climbed coming from the cranks. Turns out one of the bolts on the EBB was loose. Mental note: make sure they are torqued before every ride now.

group picture

Grayville is so flat that every climb, with the exception of one, is attainable! The Dillinger was perfect for this kind of terrain.

More pictures over on the CT NEMBA blog

More shorts weather

If you are a mountain biker (or roadie) and live in the Northeast I hope you got out today because the weather was simply outstanding! Saturday morning was 23 degrees but this morning it was around 40 by 8 AM and it felt like spring. Given the circumstances of this weekend's events I was unable to get out on the trails until 2 pm Sunday but I still got out and had a great ride, in shorts of course. Fifth ride on Dillinger and while the bike is performing, my latest part edition is not. The seat mount on the carbon fiber seat post is a little problematic. It keeps moving back probably because my big behind, riding rigid, and it being too far back. I readjusted again and this time it seem to hold better.

I went to the spot where I took this picture, Houses of the Holy shot , last week but I was probably an hour too early. I had to settle for a shot atop a roller, the first roller I rolled with the Dillinger today. On the second lap I ventured onto a side trail that I haven't ridden in years. It was much better than the forest road with it's trap rock that makes riding through there always a bone shaking experience. It turned out to be nicer but it had a lot of obstacles from the recent forestry practises this past summer.

It seems with every new bike there are certain events in which are engrained in your mind, like your first endo. I tried riding over a stick only to have it break and chunk get stuck in the front spokes causing me to go over the bars. I reacted like I always do and way able to break my fall without any injury. I will probaby alway remember this event, just like I remember my first endo at Ninham on my Trek, then crash on my Giant AC, the endo on the Qball on the Rock and Roll Trail at Huntington, and the endo on my Iron Horse, also at Huntington, on the blue trail heading down to Southpond.

I am starting to get used to the abuse you take from riding rigid. Aluminum is definitely harsher but I can feel the power transfer with every stroke of the pedal. It's time to branch out and try some other trails with this bike. Maybe I will take it Grayville on Wednesday.

Smooth as buttah!

Fourth ride on the Dillinger, this time a little longer, and it keeps getting better and better. I think I have proven that the bikes rides nicely on the home trails so now it's time to head out and hit some other trails. Definitely coming with me to Mianus for the CT NEMBA Turkey Burner on 11/27. Riding rigid still takes a lot out of you. I started doing core strengthing exercises at the gym and it's helping but I have to do more.

The carbon fiber seat post I recently put on was really nice and felt smooth on the tush. While I still felt every bump I could definitely tell the difference over the aluminum seatpost in the absence of vibrations.

No hunters in the forest this afternoon, however, I did encounter an ATV on the Poly Brody. When he saw me, he turned around and beat feat out the forest. I think the kid might live on Bramble Trail.

Thursty Thursdays: Sierra Nevada Anniversary Ale

The first thing I noticed about this ale when I poured it into the glass was the aroma. It has a pleasant, hoppy fragrance that took me by surprise. Not as dark as the famous India Pale Ale but a smoother finish. 5.9% ABV but I felt unsatified after a 12 oz bottle, definitely get the 22 oz bottle! I miss that after taste you get with the IPA. Nothing really to celebrate here.

Taste of Nassty

If you are an active rider in CT maybe you have heard of the Tour de Nasty or some other rides in the Nassahegan State Forest of truly epic proportions and if you thought they were myths, think again. Just look at the Tour de Nasty map on Crankfire.com and you will see. There are miles and miles of trails, from tight and twisty single track devised by riders that actually know how to build trails (hint, hint), to old skidder and cart paths that connect riding areas, this trail system is amazing.

I met a fellow MTB racer and CT NEMBA Trail Ambassador, Mark L, along with a few of his riding buddies, at the Sessions Woods Wildlife Management Area, which boasts a few miles of trails itself but not what I would call interesting. Mark offered to give me a taste of this place and I wanted to talk to him about some MTB business. I had a few hours to ride and Mark said that would be plenty of time to check out some trails.

We headed out on a mix of tight, twisty single track that at times used old cart paths (typical to New England) and started heading away from Session Woods. Very few trails were actually blazed but you could follow them easily enough because they are so well traveled in most places. The fresh covering of leaves even made it much more difficult to find the trail at times, too.

Early into the ride Bob, one of Mark's riding buddies, Bob, executed a perfect superman maneuver on a little up and over. Just caught him by surprise so we took a break to let him get readjusted. Then, a little further down the trail, Scott (green jersey) developed a wardrobe malfunction. He lost a screw from one his cleats making it impossible for him to unclip.

He was able to tighten the other one down but later down the trail found that it still wouldn't hold. I offered to zip time his shoe to the pedal because I had read about someone doing that MBA once but he said that he had some spare screws in the truck back at the lot. Seeing that were still close to the parking lot we circled back so that he could fix his shoe.

After the shoe repair we crossed over Route 69 and entered into a really cool pine forest with trails winding in and out and around all covered with fresh fallen pine needles. We crossed over a stream on a bridge made out of three telephone poles that had been shaved a little flat. No one tried to ride that. From there was a nasty climb on an old skidder/cart path. I was only able to make it up half way but Scott and Mark cleaned it.

Bob almost cleaned it but then his chain broke. We all offered up quick links but Bob had his own and we were soon back on the trail again.

A couple of miles up the trail we came across John who told me later he often rides in the Danbury area and is actually one of the Trail Gnomes I have often talked about here and on the Gussy Trail.

Trails at Nassahegan all have particular names. For example, this trail in which we met ran into John on was called 69er but I don't it's named because of some Frankenbike concoction. Not sure why but there very well could be some sexual connotation. That would seem right because this trail is sexy. A lot thinking went into this trail and it came out excellent. It's benched where benching is needed, climbs never exceed 10 percent, except for one spot but it's kind of minimal so I see why they didn't bother, it hugs the contours and takes advantage of high points and stream crossings.

Further on we got onto a trail called Cemetery Twisties whose name says it all. There is a cemetery where Scoville Road intersets with Milford Road and trail through there twists and turns squeezing out a few miles. From Scoville Road, which happens to be another big jump off point for riding at Nass we made our way back over to Sessions Woods.

Here is the route: Sessions to Four-way, Truck Trail to Sessions and back to the parking lot (to fix Scott's shoe). Then crossed Route 69 to Blue Trail to Baba's Bypass, walked over the brook on Baba's Bridge, climbed to High Road, then Cemetary Twisties (in reverse) to 69er to Laura's Bridge (crossed it) to Route 69 (crossed it) to Hinman's to Boy Scout Bridge (crossed it) to Four-way (see above) to Brian's Trail (or B Trail) and back to parking lot!

Two hours and forty minutes and 10 miles of riding, and this was just a taste!