Trail Report - 9/29/10 - Village Park - Swansea. MA

- Distance: 3.5 miles
- Temp: 75
- Weather: a bit humid

Notes: Started to feel a little stagnant today, so since the sun was shining after work, I blasted over to Swansea before dinner.  I scooped up the Kona since the GF has a flat front tire.  Didn't really try to ride the course full blast, but still clocked a pretty decent time, 29 minutes. 

Tidbits: I have NO idea how you people ride hard tails on East coast trails...just way to rough and wild a ride for me!!!

Happy Trails,
OMMB

"New stuff" - 9/24/10 - Crane Wildlife Management Area - Falmouth, MA

- Trailhead: Route 28 and 151, small dirt parking lot east side of 28.

- Rider: OMMB

- Distance: 3.6 miles 

- Temp: 65

- Weather: clear

- Trail Conditions: real nice, smooth, fast single track

- Technical Level: good mix of beginner to intermediate

Notes: While down the Cape for a wedding, OMMB got a chance to investigate an area found on the NEMBA site.  About 4 miles from the house we stayed in was an area known as Crane Wildlife Management Area which borders the Otis Air Force Base.  There are trails marked on the AFB land but I did not venture over the border.  I encountered PLENTY of single track riddled throughout the area.  Some real cool boulder climbs and a fun "Sidewinder" type trail (high banked switchbacks).  I circled most of "Crane West" but there are so many more trails to check out (along with Crane East).  Soooo......I hope to get back here soon. 

Tidbits: A morning ride with lunch in Falmouth Village would be something to consider...only one hour from home!

Happy Trails,

OMMB

Trail Report - 9/22/10 - Village Park - Swansea, MA

So it's the last day of a NICE dry summer in New England.  What better way to celebrate the "last hoorah" than a quick ride in the morning?  Did about 3 miles on the typical loop in Swansea with a few variations.  Temp was 65 degrees. Just me and the squirrels.... goodbye Summer, hello Fall!!   

Other than my "lovely assistant" T, I had trouble finding riding partners this Summer...are you all waiting for Winter?  Well then call me when you're ready to ride!  ;)  

- OMMB

Trail Report - 9/20/10 - Village Forest - Swansea, MA

Weather was a nice 67 degrees so T and I went to the typical Swansea Library loop to run the Time Trials course.  I was hell bent on trying the course on the HiFi, hoping that after the epic rides out west, I would have some steam to match my time on the Kona.  T just felt like going for a ride...so I started on the course first, with her close behind.  I had recommended that she skip loop 1 and head to loop 2 in order to synchronize our finish.  The theory would have worked but some jamoke had moved a boulder, with orange arrow, in the wrong direction.  T, not knowing exactly where the course leads, got sidetracked.  I flew by her while yelling "this way!".

I came in at the same time as previously clocked on the Kona, 26 minutes.  Time could be a little skewed due to running into some horse's ass (three in fact) along the trail. What the hell is this, national ride a horse week?  Anyway, I watched the clock while waiting for the horses to clear the trail and decremented 2 minutes from my total time.  Surprisingly I matched the Kona 29er, since I know it's a faster bike.  Go HiFi! 

Good little ride, 3.5 miles for me, 3 miles for T.

Happy Trails,
OMMB

"Woulda Coulda Shoulda" - Vander-Blog - 9/17/10 - Mt Pinos, Los Padres National Forest, CA

Trail: McGill/Mt Pinos

Riders: Hector, Ron, Scott, Steve, Tim

Length: ~16 miles

Time: 3.5 hrs plus 30 mins of "breaks"

Temp: mid-70s

Humidity: less than 1%

Rating: A-

So Hector had this great idea to drag the crew up to Frazier Park and ride Mt Pinos. We all agreed and the stars aligned on 17 Sep 2010. No easy feat as it's a 1.5 hour ride to the trail head...a relatively unknown trailhead to all of us. We all managed to arrive via three separate cars at the trailhead around 1000..and after properly icing down post-ride beverages we headed up the trail. "Up" being the operative word since this trail is essentially a singletrack trail to the top of a rather tall mountain. The ride starts off nice and pleasant with a limited gradient, yet after 1/2 a mile Tim thinks he feels almost out of breath. Hey Tim, look at all those Pine trees...you're not on the coast anymore, but rather at around 6000 feet. It's also bone dry necessitating use of a camelbak. Fortunately, Hector or Ron keep a pleasant pace so Tim (and Steve) don't blow themselves up.

Eventually, Tim is following Hector and almost follows him right off the trail and onto the ground. Turns out Hector has no rear brakes? At least that's the excuse provided. Apparently this is something he knew about before the ride...but decided that since this was only a 15-18 mile alpine ride well away from civilization...it didn't warrant correction the night before? At this point Tim decides to lead the group (or at least get in front of Hector) until reaching this campground at around 7800 ft for a much needed water and food break.



Funny thing is that it not obvious where the trail continues...so Tim asks ONLY person in campground. Tim makes comment to person about having campground to himself and person responds by saying "yah, I kinda like it that way". Note to Tim - No more questions for "loner man". So the crew makes a judgement call to take the trail to the left. Judgement being severely influenced by exceedingly mild gradient of trail. This turns out to be wrong trail as it dead ends in a descent after 1 mile.



After more trail floundering Steve blows his rear tire and Hector decides to fix his brakes. How many engineers does it take to fix a flat tire? Apparently that answer is three engineers with one loggy wandering about aimlessly. How many Engineers does it take to swap brake pads...Hector would like you all to know that its just one.

After riding back to the campground, the crew takes the steep trail leading to the road and finds the trail on the other side. After another missed trail the final ascent looms...and it turns out to be fairly brutal. One section either due to elevation (~8000 ft or so) and/or gradient is just a killer...but then it's a pleasant ride to a parking lot with a building indicating you've reached the Mt Pinos Nordic Center @ 8300 ft.



For some strange reason Tim (of questionable cardio shape as of late) kills this final ascent and reaches the top first followed by Hector who makes a bee-line for the porta-potty. The crew is very thankful for said porta-potty because the elevation has been causing havoc with Hector's insides all day.

After many photo ops, the crew hits the descent.



Group shot...after 3 tries with the timer!



The elevation becomes immediately apparent to Tim as his suspension does not feel as "plush" as usual...and he knows from 1st hand experience (Hector) NEVER to attempt letting air out of your fork or shock manually. The first part of the descent is fun but then it gets really good after the 7800 campground due to the many "hits" and jumps. Scott has taken an apparent liking to all things jump related and Tim now wonders why he didn't go for "the jump" last week?

Sadly, the descent is over in about 20 minutes. Kinda shocking when one considers it was a 2.5 hour climb plus 30 minutes of trail floundering. There are a few pucker factor moments on the way down...one of those apparently took out Ron who (by the way) is still ailing from his experience with "the jump" from the previous week. Also, sadly, Tim notices upon consulting an Atlas at home that Mt Pinos summit is 8800. This is later confirmed by Steve's GPS which will drive the crew to schedule another attempt.

Happily, everyone has grub at the car. Scott, proving to be a resourceful southern gentleman, has an awesome portable grill, Ron has burgers/buns, Steve has something but I can't remember (OMMB editorial note: Steve brought plenty of ice and some Newcastle (aka "real beer") for those who didn't have to pick up their kids today), Hector has dogs, all the "fixins" and Tim has the uber-iced "bolus o beer"...aka - the Coors Light fridge keg (OMMB editorial note: not "real beer" but very refreshing!).

All in all a fabulous ride that gets an A+ but has been decremented by our poor trail finding skills and lack of making the summit.

- Tim V.



   

yaaa..."missed it by that much"







More pix from RoFo (Click On)

More pix from OMMB (Click On)

 

Happy Trails,

OMMB and the Left Coast Crew



"Smells like crap" - 9/16/10 - El Nido Preserve - Ojai (oh hi!), CA

- Trailhead: Chaparral Crest Loop

- Riders: Hector, OMMB

- Distance: 7 miles

- Temp: 87 at trailhead, much cooler in the woods

- Weather: dry, hot, clear

- Trail Conditions: dry, dusty, some ruts, huge dry river crossing with boulders, nice shaded areas, some hike-a-bike hills
- Wildlife: no spiders, no snakes, no scorpions, two horses

Notes:  First off, finding the river crossing soon after entering the trailhead was the trickiest part.  Well only tricky if you don't stay on the main trail and jump down into a HUGE dry river bed too early.  Hike-a-bike was required for about 50 yards (or more).  I'm thinking, based on the creature I saw yesterday, and knowing what other creatures lurk under rocks and brush out here, what the frick are we doing?  Nevertheless, we made it across without any scorpion or rattlesnake encounters which were my biggest worry (that and wondering what else Hector the Tour Guide of Terror had in store for me).

The actual trails on the other side of the riverbed were great.  My first reaction when entering the wooded area was "what the heck is that?"...by far the smelliest trail I've ridden. After the first real sandy hike-a-bike climb my question was answered.  Horseshit, no bullshit.  Apparently the area is popular for horseback riding.  Well we met the source of this crap and turned out to be a very friendly horse (two actually, being walked by cowgirls, or is it more PC to call them cowpeople?).  He/she (I didn't bother to check) was out of the corral for the first time (must have been nervous, happens to me too).

We did an up and around loop and returned through a valley.  Plenty of climbing but a nice smooth downhill.  Good ride, good change of scenery.   

Tidbits: Hector is actually human....see him hike a bike!

Up a hill...

down a dry riverbank...




...and across the dry riverbed!

  
Happy Trails,

OMMB

"Balancing granny" - 9/15/10 - Sycamore Canyon - Point Mugu, CA

- Trailhead: Sycamore Canyon Campground

- Riders: Scott, OMMB (also Freddie and Lola) 

- Distance: 12 or so miles

- Temp: 65

- Weather: clear, cool, dry

- Trail Conditions: dry, dusty, runoff ruts

- Wildlife: 8 inch or so lizard, some fancy quails, and a couple of...yeah you'll see
- Whoops, Yikes, and Oh Sheets: Nope...just Yikes regarding the unwelcome clan

Notes: So how do you celebrate one year to the day since your Birmingham Bilateral Bifornication Bifurcated Hip Resurfacing Replacement surgery?  Well you ride 12 plus miles through Sycamore Canyon with a 2 mile climb in the middle of course!  First real climb for me in quite a while, so it was balancing in granny gear all the way up.  The decent was the usual seat of your pants Guadalasco Trail ride...BUT my "buddies" out here never bothered to mention the size of the creatures roaming the area!  I knew about the wildcats and rattlesnakes...is there any other dangerous creatures I should know about??? uuuuhhhh....like, for example, scorpions, jumping killer squirrels, or attack condors?  Jeesh...flying down the trail I see this black fur ball go whizzing by my tire.  I'm thinking, what the hell was that?   Was that someones sock?  Shit....that was a freakin spider!  Did some kid drop his giant plastic toy spider?  So it finally clicks...hit the brakes and go take some pictures.  At the time I did not know what kind of spider this thing was, later found it to be a Tarantula.  When I caught up with Scott, I told him about Freddie (he's thinking what a nutty New Englander)...apparently there's also spiders on steroids in South Carolina.  Some redemption was had when Scott spotted Freddie's cousin Lola a few hundred yards down the trail.  Based on his reaction, he NOW knew what I was talking about! 

Tidbits: Happy Birthday to Hipper and Hipple, one year old today!

Happy Trails,

OMMB

"Mo, Larry, Curly.... and Shemp" - Vander-Blog - 9/9/10 - Rosewood... - CA

Trail: Rosewood/LosRobles/Los Padres/Oak Creek
Distance: 11.7 Miles
Temp: 75 degrees
Rating: B+

So yesterday Ron, Hector, Scott and Tim conspired to do the usual Thursday afternoon ride. Based on the weather being rather cool, we opted for a version of the 'Rosewood Loop' in thousand oaks. The ride started off brutal as usual - straight up with no warmup and Tim immediately began to suffer. Note to Tim - pick an easier climb when you've been off the bike for 6 weeks. Then Scott started suffering...so Tim and Scott plodded along while Hector and Ron took off. Toward the end of the climb Tim started feeling much better but that all changed when a skinny girl on a hard tail blew by him as though he was standing still.
So we made it to the top, took a break and worked our way along the ridge. The property owner has now set up some sort of 'no trespass gate' which all riders promptly ignored. After a wicked short climb, the traverse continues until the top of Los Robles trail is reached. There we took another short break and then gunned the singletrack downhill. The downhill was great except for the woman on a mountain bike that apparently became petrified of our downhill speed...so she stood in the middle of the trail to ensure the possibility of a collision. Her male friends pretty much did the same. Apparently no one has suggested they pick a side of the trail when encountering others?
We then reached the bottom and climbed up Los Robles trail east. It's a fairly easy climb except for those folks who have not ridden in 6 weeks. Tim happily brought up the rear on this climb. Once on top Tim suggested the Los Padres singletrack down which was fun except for the liberal trail clearing recently conducted. At this point the 'good times' finally commenced...
Tim had this great idea to show the crew a favorite 'jump'. Said jump is really great because there's a 30 foot hill to go down and thereby generate great speed w/o having to pedal...its followed by 20 foot runout and a 2 foot jump. Everyone was slightly unsure of the jump so Tim demostrated proper technique. Hector followed and demonstrated accumulated wisdom (eg: he pretty much avoided the jump). Then Ron went and performed a textbook endo at 15-20 mph. When Tim got to him he noticed a) Ron's helmet visor had been ripped off; b) Ron was sporting a strange wicked smile; c) blood was coming rather steadily from Ron's elbow. Tim slightly panicked at the sight of blood and quickly applied a bandage fashioned from his headband.
After we decided Ron was OK...we continued down Oak Creek singletrack and took Lynn Road back to our cars. At this point Scott was apparently too slow crossing Lynn road causing a motorist to behave aggressively and speed up/honk thereby causing us all some concern. Ron and Tim showed appropriate aggressive behavior back by flashing 'bird sign'. Well, apparent bird sign was not appreciated as motorist came back looking for an altercation. Motorist had apparently singled out Tim as provocateur and was somewhat desperate to engage in some sort of rumble. Tim had prime chance to jump off bike and pin motorist within door whilst pummeling him but a) saw female driver; b) considered car being used as a weapon; c) saw no positive outcome; d) thought about police involvement/his security clearance...and then chance was gone. Tim wants to add that Hector missed all this because he's in such good shape and was already at the car. GOOD TIMES.

- Tim V.

"Time Trials Take Total Taxing Toll To Triumph" - 9/9/10 - Village Park - Swansea, MA

- Trailhead: Library
- Riders: OMMB & a dozen or so others
- Distance: 3.5 miles
- Weather: 70 and dry
- Whoops, Yikes, and Oh Sheets: just a little whoops clipping a tree with the bar end at top speed.  got sent off trail and almost lost it, but bronco-ed back on track!

Notes: My second attempt at the trials. I hoped to shave a minute off the last run (27' +) by riding "Gold Member" (eeeasy with the comments).  The previous practice run on this bike clocked at about 26 something.  Now that I had the tire pressure up to par, I hoped to beat that.   It was a wild and crazy, buckin bronco, of a ride. Goldie was hopping all over the trail...too much speed for me to handle?  ...accustomed to more control on a full suspension?   Despite the out-of-control sensation, turned in a time of 25' 26".  My lungs are still burning.   Matt the stick topped his best at 19' 45"...wow.

Tidbits: It was FIVE years ago today, we said "I do"!!  To the Tav for dinner!

Happy Trails,
OMMB

"Might as well face it, you're addicted to trials" - 9/7/10 - Village Park - Swansea, MA

- Trailhead: Library
- Riders: T, OMMB
- Distance: 3.4 miles
- Temp: 77
- Weather: perfect
- Trail Conditions: still dry (what is this, California????)

Notes: Our intent was to get to Home Depot Somerset right after work.  Teri suggested riding the time trial course first...who was I to argue with THAT!  Hell yeah.  Had a great time giving her a 2 minute headstart and trying to catch her on the Gold Member (by the way, now with tires up to accurate pressure, duh!).  It took over 12 minutes to catch up!  She completed the whole trial course without a stop...34 minutes.  It was awesome.  Her goal is now to get that down to 30 minutes.  Go girl!

Tidbits: Time trials are fun...and you can get addicted to trying to better your time (and your health)!  So when you slackers out there are ready, some time before Winter First, come on out and challenge yourself!!!!!

Happy Trails,
OMMB

"OMMB is such an ASS!" - 9/6/10 - Part 1 - Big River - RI

- Trailhead: New London Turnpike and Division
- Riders: Teri, Cara, Joshua, OMMB

- Distance: 5.2 miles

- Temp: 75

- Weather: perfect

- Trail Conditions: dry
- Technical Level: rocky & hilly parts, normally too much for beginners (hence...I'm an ass)
- Wildlife: Oh there was a BIG, BLACK, MONSTER of a ......................................................................

...................................................................SUPER friendly Newfoundland named Stovepipe (I think he would have loved Josh's beagle Shiloh, no matter what all the OTHER dogs say!)

- Whoops, Yikes, and Oh Sheets: unfortunately, Josh did NOT crash (I'm such an ass)...but Cara did.  I did not witness the crash, but from the blood and bruises, it must have been a "yikes".

Notes: Teri and I took the newbies on an introductory ride today.  You know the kind of ride that gently cruises over the nicest trails for a couple of miles, so that the beginners can become accustomed to their borrowed bikes, the new surroundings, the balance required, and to gently break in their lungs?  Welllll...this wasn't one of those rides.  Yes, I'm an ass.  Have I mentioned that yet?  I took the rookies on a trail nearest to Josh's apartment, so that he'd know the area.  And I wanted to at least get them to Carr Pond for the best scenery in Big River.  Well I succeeded, but it meant dragging their hike-a-bike asses up one of the rockiest hills in the area.  What an ASS!  My excuse?  I didn't want to give them the wrong impression about Mtn Biking.  It's not an easy coast through the woods...it's difficult!  Was this lesson intentional?  No...but I'm still an ass (smirk)! 

Tidbits: Teri's well-on-a-big-bike and the newbies did great!  Cara was hopping logs...Josh was watching Cara hop logs (at least when he was able to catch up to her).  Aside from the torture, I think we've recruited a couple of good ones for future rides....let the bike shopping begin!  

Happy Trails,

OMMB

Cara's pretty happy about this, Josh......not so much.

Hey Teri's pretty happy too! Here she is sitting on "Gold Member".

And here's what a semi-psycho ASS looks like!!!

As for the great scenery?  Here ya go....

"Kicked asses in the AM..." - 9/6/10 - Part 2 - Village Park - Swansea, MA

"...kicked my ass in the PM"

- Trailhead: Library
- Riders: OMMB
- Distance: 3.5 miles
- Temp: 72
- Weather: uh, yeah, still perfect
- Trail Conditions: dry
- Technical Level: fast as fast can be...
- Wildlife: doe a deer, a female deer...

Notes: So what's better than one MTB ride a day?  Two MTB rides in one day.  Somebody...named Paaaatrick got it into my head to ride again in the PM since he may be able to go.  Since he wasn't able to go, and I had stolen his bike for the newbie ride this AM (when he could ride), I decided that I should go promptly kick my ass on the Time Trial course....so I did...both.  Rode the course AND kicked my ass trying to ride hard.  I hooked up with Teri's new Kona 29er (thank you Teri) for what seemed to be a very fast pace.  The bike handles cornering effortlessly!  Strange thing is that I only shaved a minute of my time...felt like 5 minutes were going down.  I think I'll still take the Kona to the next trial...possible they were generous with the 27 minutes last week.  I looped it in 26 minutes today.

Happy Trails,
OMMB

"Trial by fire" - 9/4/10 - Abram's Rock - Swansea. MA

- Trailhead: Library

- Riders: T, OMMB

- Distance: 3.52 according to Mr. Magellan the GPS

- Temp: 77

- Weather: windy, dry, nice (post hurricane awesomeness)
- Trail Conditions: perfect

Notes:  After the home stuff was done, Teri and I went to ride the trials loop.  Her on the newly acquired Kona 29er and me on my little HiFi (hahaha).   The loop is advertised as 3 miles, but my GPS begs to differ.  We'll have to try it on Teri's little bike with the odometer.  The trail is marked so well that we're going to try our own "time trial" with me on the Kona, because remember...Kona equals Kuick.

Tidbits: The trails did not suffer any ill effects from yesterday's passing of Hurricane Earl.  Just shows you just how DRY the woods are...able to soak up many inches for rain with no issue.

Happy Trails,
OMMB

"Time trials? more like lung trials" - 9/2/10 - Abrams Rock - Swansea, MA

- Trailhead: Library
- Riders: Matt, Tim, X, Y, Z, OMMB
- Distance: 3 miles
- Weather: hot and muggy
- Trail Conditions: great

Notes: Joined in the Bikeworks time trial series, first of four.  It was good fun.  Informal and no pressure...simply timing yourself through the course.  Goal is to improve your speed throughout the series.  I huffed and puffed from beginning to end and did the whole route cleanly (with the exception of one micro-stop to remove a hitchhiker from the back wheel).   27 mins, some seconds.  So I hope to improve on that over the next few weeks. 

The course is nicely marked, so come on out and practice with me this week!  Then show up for the trials on Thursdays at 6:15. 

Tidbits:  Matt did an incredible job marking the route and running the show! (not to mention his 20 min run!).   He said to bring lights if you are interested in a night ride after the trials.

Happy Trails,
OMMB