If you're a beginner you may just want to wrap yourself in bubble wrap before leaving the parking lot. |
Showing posts with label Mountain Biking. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mountain Biking. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 18, 2015
Daniels Road State Forest: Rock and Roll (July 2014)
Labels:
Mountain Biking,
New York,
Trip Report
Wednesday, August 12, 2015
Prime Time and a Return to Ascutney (August 2015)
Mt. Ascutney |
But is more always better? And does trail building equal improvement or progress?
Labels:
Mountain Biking,
Trip Report,
Vermont
Monday, September 22, 2014
Green Mountain Trails and The Fourth Lap
Coolest. Medal. Evar. |
Labels:
Green Mountain Trails,
Mountain Biking,
Racing,
Singletrack,
Vermont
Thursday, August 21, 2014
The Hampshire 100: It's Really Just an Eating Contest
More than seven hours into my day at the Hampshire 100 something my friend Brad had said to me echoed in my head as I ground my way
through a long steep climb. I was ten
minutes past my twenty minute deadline for downing another Gu but the thought
of one more oozy ounce of the sickly sweet gel made me want to get off the bike
and barf. Despite extra gulps of Gatorade,
I could feel my legs starting to seize.
The last thing in the world I wanted to do was eat something. And then the meaning of Brad’s seemingly
absurd advice became clear:
“It’s really just an eating contest.”
Labels:
Hampshire 100,
Mountain Biking,
New Hampshire,
Races
Tuesday, June 10, 2014
A Rare Day in Colorado's Front Range
High above Colorado Springs. |
When you really think about it, climbing and descending hiking trails on a bicycle is no more or less reasonable than collecting porcelain figurines, running ultra-marathons or re-writing all the endings to Disney movies to make them horror flicks.
But for some reason I've chosen mountain biking. So, what exactly do I get out of it? Why do I spend an inordinate amount of my free time either mountain biking or thinking about mountain biking? Why is it more appealing to me than, say, chasing a little white ball around a meticulously landscaped yard?
Labels:
Colorado,
Mountain Biking,
Singletrack,
Trip Report
Friday, June 6, 2014
Answering the Riddle at Charlemont Trails (June 2014)
Something tells me the skiing in this glade isn't too shabby either. |
"Where can I find the real big hills around here? The long climbs and descents?", he posited.
Labels:
Charlemont,
Massachusetts,
Mountain Biking,
Trip Report
Thursday, June 5, 2014
The Other Side of Ellicottville (May 2014)
This is what flow looks like. |
In what is fast becoming an annual tradition, I made a late May trip to ride the trails around Ellicottville, New York. Almost exactly a year ago I made my first trip there and was awestruck with mostly smooth, swoopy singletrack I found. I had sampled Big Merlin, Rain, Sidewinder, Mesa, among some of the other trails on one side of the mountain.
However, an offhand comment from a rider I met near the end of my day there, stuck with me. When I told him where I had ridden, he exclaimed, "Oh, man, you haven't even seen the half of it!" While the map showed a number of trails in the Northwest corner, I couldn't imagine they would differ so greatly from what I had already ridden.
Did they ever.
Labels:
Ellicottville,
Mountain Biking,
New York,
Singletrack,
Trip Report
Tuesday, June 3, 2014
Blueberry Lake Trails: First World Problems
I'm getting really fed up with the beautiful scenery too. |
Labels:
Mountain Biking,
Singletrack,
Trip Report,
Vermont
Monday, April 28, 2014
Michaux State Forest and Rethinking Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania rock garden. |
Pennsylvania, let’s be honest.
I haven’t given you a fair shake.
My impression of your burly mid-atlantic hollows has been tempered with
long car rides on Interstate 81. Usually by the
time I get to your border the luster on a long road trip headed south has worn
off. I am bored and just
cranking out miles. It’s usually about
this time that I pass through the Wilkes-Barre area. Just the name evokes images of broad valleys,
hills cut in half by strip mining, a massive car junkyard and perpetual construction.
Not to mention the “ker-clunk-ker-clunk” of the endless evenly spaced concrete with only deer corpses and semi-trucks to keep you company.
Needless to say these are
not positive associations.
Labels:
Enduro,
Mountain Biking,
Pennsylvania,
Racing,
Singletrack
Monday, April 21, 2014
A Weekend of Mountain Biking in the (Lower) Upper Valley
Blue Ribbon trail on Gile Mountain. |
If you're one of the many folks who make a regular pilgrimage to Kingdom Trails from your suburban hell of a life somewhere south of Nashua, you likely drive right through a hot-bed of singletrack and craft beer without giving it a second thought. That might start to change.
Labels:
Boston Lot,
Gile Mountain,
Lebanon,
Mountain Biking,
Upper Valley
Tuesday, September 10, 2013
Richmond, VA: Buttermilk and The Unpainted Two-By-Four
Remember to yield to this dude if you see him on the trails. |
I rounded what I guessed would be the last in a series of switchbacks on my way down a steep embankment to the James River near Richmond, Virginia. I was already well behind my seat to compensate for the steep downward angle and travelling beyond a comfortable speed. Ahead of me appeared a wooden ramp structure with one more ninety degree turn. A single two-by-four was all that stood between my inertia filled body and a ten foot dive onto rocks and pavement below. As my tires skidded onto the dirt covered wood it was all I could do to keep them from locking. As I looked ahead at the fast approaching two-by-four, I couldn't help but notice that it was conspicuously fresh looking and unpainted.
I clearly wasn't the first person to test that ramp.
Labels:
Mountain Biking,
Singletrack,
Trip Report,
Virginia
Friday, August 30, 2013
2012 Scott Spark 29 Elite Review
The Scott Spark 29 Elite |
As a general rule, it isn't a good idea to chase freeride bikers on a 100mm cross country bike.
It was early on an August Friday morning and I had Burke Mountain to myself. I had climbed up the CCC Road to the entrance of Lower J-Bar without seeing another soul when I rolled up on four guys getting ready to drop in on the morning's first run. I was looking decidedly cross country while they looked like they had just stepped out of a game of Halo. The 100mm of travel on my 2012 Scott Spark 29 Elite was contrasted with the full 5+ inches of coiled suspension that adorned each of their rigs. We exchanged pleasantries as they adjusted their full face helmets and armor, and with a wave they dove down the trail catching air on the first drops. I rolled up to the edge of the CCC in my lycra shorts and flimsy powerdry t-shirt, as they hooted and hollered somewhere down the trail below. I gave them a good ten second head start before launching onto the hard packed dirt below. Cross country bike or not, I was determined to catch them.
Labels:
29er,
Gear Review,
Giant Talon,
Giant Trance,
Mountain Biking,
Rock Shox Reba,
Scott,
Stans,
Stans Crest
Wednesday, August 7, 2013
Sacandaga Area Trails: The Pine Orchard Odyssey
Brian points home "Why can't we go that way?" |
Labels:
Lake Sacandaga,
Mountain Biking,
New York,
Singletrack
Friday, July 26, 2013
A Weekend on the Sacandaga: Double Rainbows
Hypoxia awaits. |
Although a bit overly morbid, Louis C.K., has a point. We're all doing to be dead one day- and for a long time. So what makes it have any meaning? [In my best double-rainbow voice] What does it mean?
Don't worry, I'm not about to tell you a parable about footsteps in the sand, or break out baby photos or start crying uncontrollably while you awkwardly check Facebook on your smartphone.
Instead, let me tell just you about a weekend I had earlier this summer.
Labels:
Adirondacks,
Lake Sacandaga,
Mountain Biking,
New York,
Singletrack
Tuesday, July 16, 2013
Ellicottville: A Little Magic In Western New York
Make sure to get wide right of that tree. |
With the most serious of looks on her face, my future wife looked at me and said, "That wouldn't be funny. Don't do that. Really. Don't."
Labels:
Buffalo,
Ellicottville,
Mountain Biking,
New York,
Singletrack,
Trip Report
Saturday, January 5, 2013
Santos Trails And the Endless Descent Dream
Turn, pedal, descend, turn, repeat. |
Every once in a while you wake up with no clue where you are,
what time it is, or how the heck you got there.
Ever since my diaper wearing drill sergeant arrived in August, those
moments have been occurring with more frequency than I’d like to admit. In that split-second, when you’re perched on
the precipice between the dream world and reality, both sides seem equally
plausible; and equally absurd. In those
moments your brain scrambles to dissect what was the dream and what reality is awaiting
you.
Was the baby crying?
Was I skiing? Am I in a tent on
top of Lafayette ? Am I sleeping in a chair again?
As I sit here writing about my most recent adventure, I feel
like I’m sitting on that divide trying to get a grip on reality. What the heck just happened?
Labels:
Dave,
Flor'Easter Backcountry,
Florida,
Mountain Biking,
Santos,
Singletrack,
Trip Report
Thursday, December 6, 2012
Map of Northeast Mountain Biking Trail Reports
I will now start sorting through the angry emails from mountain bikers in Rhode Island and Connecticut. |
Now that I finally brought order to our backcountry skiing chaos, I was inspired to clean up the mess that was our mountain biking trip reports.
Labels:
Mountain Biking,
Trip Report
Thursday, November 1, 2012
CircumBurke 2012
The course map. Of course. |
Twenty four miles.
Three thousand feet of climbing. Bridgeless
stream crossings. A soul-crushing twelve-hundred foot, three and a half mile 7%
grade climb straight out of the starting gate.
Speeds approaching 30 mph down a glorified streambed covered with leaves. Twisty singletrack up the side of a mountain that
makes FOMBA look like an airport runway.
And let’s not forget the half-dozen or so mud pits big enough to make
your redneck friends build a bonfire, buy a case of beer and make a mess of
their favorite truck.
These are the foes that line up to do battle with your
psyche when you step up to the start of the CircumBurke ride.
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
Biking Bondcliff
My White Whale |
Waterlogged and exhausted from close to 25 miles and 8,000
feet of hiking in the rain with a 30 pound pack it was all I could do to put
one blistered foot in front of the other.
Lower back spasms brought me to my knees more than once, but each time I
managed to climb back upright on my cramped legs and push on in the rain.
It was the second day of Gered’s bachelor party weekend. Our motley crew of hikers had set out the previous
day from the Lincoln Woods visitors’ center intent on completing the famed loop
around the Pemigewasset Wilderness. We were supposed to climb up onto the Franconia
ridge, march past Garfield and
eventually descend down off of Bondcliff.
We had failed miserably.
And now the Wilderness Trail was having its way with us.
Saturday, October 6, 2012
Whipple Hill in Photos
Not far from the entrance to Whipple Hill in Lexington, MA it becomes clear that you've left suburbia. |
Labels:
Boston,
Lexington,
Massachusetts,
Mountain Biking,
Singletrack,
Whipple Hill
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