"Night Time is the Right Time...for Friends " - 3/29/11 - Swansea, MA

- Trailhead: Library
- Riders: Jesse, OMMB
- Miles: 4.5
- Weather: dark
- Temp: 40
- Trail Conditions: good
- Wildlife: nothing...actually TOO quiet

Notes: Since I failed to get out of work early enough to ride today, I took Jesse Dog out after dinner.  I wasn't sure how well he would see the trail at night, but he ran like there was no issue at all.  He did tend to run ahead of me more than usual, I'm guessing he was attempting to stay in the light.  The trail always seems so different at night, but it was good to know a four legged friend was close by.  There's nothing freakier than riding through the dark, quiet, woods alone.  Having company with similar size and shape of the biggest predators in the area was comforting. There is a big difference between us though, besides shitting in the woods when it really isn't an emergency, he'll head towards a noise in the woods where I do my best to get the hell out of there!

Happy Trails,
OMMB

"Standard Loop" - 3/27/11 - Village Park - Swansea, MA

- Trailhead: Colt Jr High
- Riders: OMMB & Jesse Dog
- Miles: 4.5
- Weather: clear & cool
- Temp: 45
- Trail Conditions: decent, very little mud
- Wildlife: spotted a hawk flying below the tree line

Notes: Back on the trail after one week hiatus in San Diego. Took Jesse along for the ride (run) and had a good break-in ride on a typical Swansea loop.   Looking forward to more rides this week...

Tidbits: Someone has built a nice plank bridge over one of the swamp crossings. Previous option was a line of rocks.

Happy Trails,
OMMB

"Last ride of the Winter" - 3/19/11 - Village Park - Swansea, MA

Notes: Went for a midday ride around Swansea. Weather was pleasant, cool and dry.  The trails, although still littered with sticks and logs, were in good shape.  I'm sure in a few weeks they'll be back to the well worn hard packed single-track we had before Winter's ravaging.   GPS track got a little messed up, but about 5 miles were logged.

Happy Spring,
OMMB

Here's some fine sh*t...

...check out this Red Bull footage from Brazil;


VCA 2010 RACE RUN from changoman on Vimeo.

"Back to the River that keeps getting Bigger" - Green Day 2011 - Big River, RI

- Trailhead: Exit 6 / Rte 3 Burnt Sawmill dirt road
- Riders: OMMB
- Miles: 7
- Weather: clear
- Temp: 62
- Trail Conditions: a little soft, mostly dry.  One large water crossing (remember Chris' Blood Points from the naily bridge...that's the crossing)







Notes: Well I assumed I was in Rhode Island when I entered the trail, I did notice the temp was at least 62, I'm pretty sure it was St. Paddy's Day, and I know it rained all day yesterday, but what I did NOT expect was snow on the trail!  Wasn't bad, just small sections, but still surprising!



Some green, but no Shamrocks here!

This route is one of my favorite singletracks recently introduced on a Bikeworks ride, but I actually took a turn that landed me in an area that I had never seen before. Crazy that there are still areas of BR that I haven't touched. This was on the North side of Sweet Pond (see map below), which seemed to be at a lower water level due to a natural damn break.  Pictures of the resulting stream can be seen in the slide show below.

Saw some strange sights...

Here's something that could be used to distill Irish Whiskey!

Wasn't sure what to make of this one...

Here's where you end up after too much Irish Whiskey...

The slideshow:




The route:



Tidbits: NEMBA Pete said the Peepers are here...they are.  Spring is VERY close.

Happy Trails,
OMMB

"Four legs are better than two!" - 3/15/11 - Village Park - Swansea, MA



"Woof!" from the summit of Village Park!

- Trailhead: Library
- Riders: Jesse and 2-wheeled OMMB
- Miles: 6.5
- Weather: clear & crispy
- Temp: 38
- Wildlife: Squirrels, YAY squirrels!
- Trail Conditions: Some water, some mud...it was the best!

Notes: My new owner decided to make me run for over 6 1/2 miles while he rode his stupid bike. Although I had a LOT of fun and freedom, I was pretty tired afterwards.  I was a little overheated but OMMB gave me water from a bottle and I was able to find some nice mud holes and streams along the trail.  I also spotted squirrels that I wanted to chase, but I was too worn out.  Next time we come here, I hope OMMB leaves his bike at home and uses his two legs (hahaha...he only has TWO legs...hahaha).




This is what you do when the temp is 38 degrees and you are part Alaskan Husky!




aaaa so nice...two streams in one day!



Tidbits: A hiker on the trail was nice to me. He found a bike tool set. OMMB contacted Bikeworks but nobody claimed it.  The hiker will keep it in his truck for now.

Happy Trails,
Jesse Dog

"See a Seal" - 3/15/11 (Part 2) - Rome Point - North Kingston, RI

Thing 1

Thing 2

- Trailhead: Boston Neck Road
- Hikers: Cara and Joshua, Teri and Steve, Shiloh and Jesse
- Miles: 3-ish
- Weather: Clear
- Temp: 45-50
- Trail Conditions: Real smooth, very little mud/water
- Wildlife: At the furthest end of the point, Harbor Seals can be seen on the rocks about 1/2 mile out.  And oh dear a dead deer.

Notes: As suggested, we planned a hike two hours before low tide for best viewing of the seals.  Note that you should bring binoculars or telescopes to actually "see" the seals. They are a lot further off from shore than I had expected.  Regardless, the park is well worth the visit.  Several miles of double and single track to roam.  I will be taking the bike here to scope out some more trails...could be a great place to ride when conditions are not good elsewhere.

Tidbits: Seals in RI...click on


See the seals?

 

The end of a GREAT day!

Happy Trails,
OMMB

PS-was supposed to be posting this from San Diego...trip was postponed!

"Yay Mud!" - 3/15/11 (Part 1) - Village Park - Swansea, MA

- Trailhead: Library
- Riders/Runners: OMMB & Jesse Dog
- Miles: 5 and a bit
- Weather: clear
- Temp: 45
- Trail Conditions: typical pre-Spring conditions, some mud, some water crossings, all ride-able

Notes: First trail ride with Jesse tagging along.  He did awesome running for 5 miles and stayed right behind the bike for the most part (never ran off).  He did let out a couple of barks to warn me of a trail runner coming up behind us.  No wise-ass comments please...the trail runner only caught up to us during a break!  And we ran into one of the Bikeworks gang, Eric, who also opted out of the group road ride this morning.  Go trails!

Happy Trails,
OMMB

Trail Dog!!!

"Oh look, no snow" - 3/08/11 - Village Park - Swansea, MA

- Trailhead: Bikeworks to Colt Jr High
- Riders: Bob, Matt, Steve
- Miles: 9.3
- Weather: clear
- Temp: 27
- Trail Conditions: good, frozen hard-pack



Notes: With temps back down in the twenties, Bob and Matt opted for the trails versus a road ride (cloud over OMMB's head said "yeah").  I did expect some mud from yesterday's rainstorm, but the trails were able to freeze overnight. Really enjoyed the loops we rode, seemed liked I hadn't been here in a while.  But I felt like my pace was off (the other cloud over my head wondered if I had forgotten to check my tire pressure!).  Thankfully the speedy duo stopped occasionally to clear branches from the trail, so I was able to somewhat keep up.

Tidbits: Hey you know those large mounds of dirt over the tombs in cemeteries...they make for a fun up-and-over.  Just sayin.

Happy Trails,
OMMB

"Over the River and Through the...River" - 3/6/11 - Dartmouth, MA

Went for a little hike with Mom, Teri, and four leggers Cody and Jesse.  The 2.5 mile hike was mostly muddy and wet. In fact, the route seemed more like a river than a trail.  That didn't stop the four legged hikers from running full speed through the water with an occasional belly flop into the deeper puddles. Silly dogs. Would be good to carve out some biking trails back here when things dry out. Plenty of old logging trails and active motorcycle routes used extensively when I was a teen.  Oh by the way...temps neared 60 degrees today.  Come on Spring! 

Happy Trails,
OMMB

"Hopeless Trail Junkie" - 3/5/11 - Swansea and Rehoboth, MA

- "Trail"head: Bikeworks, Swansea, MA
- Riders: OMMB and about 14 others
- Miles: 27.4
- Weather: cloudy/damp
- Temp: 45
- "Trail" Conditions: blacktop with some sand and slush crossings

Notes: In case you haven't figured it out yet, wait, hold your breath, yes...OMMB hit the road with the street gang from Bikeworks today.  Something I hadn't done in roughly 12 years.  I followed the group that took the shorter route back and secured a second to last finish (the quality of riders with Bikeworks never ceases to amaze me!).  So what prompted this fall from trail grace?  Bottom line, the local conditions have been crap.  Got to admit that riding the road sure beats peddling on a trainer in the shed. But my heart still lies with the trails. Bikeworks gang set me up with a borrowed road bike, which was truly awesome and I'm extremely appreciative.  Even though the constant pace of road riding has a huge benefit over trails, I'm just not hooked on it.  Another plus is the camaraderie amongst the riders in the group, which is quite entertaining.  This of course is only true if you are strong enough to stay on the rear wheel of most of the riders.  Because when you fall behind, fighting the wind on your own, road biking can be one of the lonliest activities imaginable. 

Happy Trails,
OMMB

"Cape No-Snow" - 3/3/11 - Crane/Otis AFB - Falmouth, MA

- Trailhead: Rte 151 east of Rte 28, over the small dirt mound on the left
- Riders: Matt, OMMB
- Miles: 7
- Weather: clear
- Temp: 19, but really didn't feel that bad
- Trail Conditions: near perfect, very few ice sheets, not a deterrence
- Technical Level: intermediate
- Wildlife: got a glimpse of a large hawk (or maybe an eagle?)
- Whoops, Yikes, and Oh Sheets: nope, clean ride

Notes: Jones-in for an ice-less, snow-less trail, I joined Matt for a trip to Cape Cod.  The drive was a breeze with no summer traffic.  We were on the trail before 9:00.  The loop Matt planned was awesome on any day.  Although I'm sure I slowed his pace on the big one speed 29er (the guy can fly), I think we both had a great ride.
 
Tidbits: Matt tells me that Otis is an alternate landing site for the Space Shuttle (who knew?).  Also, one time when he was riding here the Obama's, in their family vacation station wagon (aka Airforce One) took off from Otis.  Rumbled the forest.

Happy Trails,
OMMB

"Skating Away" - 3/2/11 - Massasoit State Park - Taunton, MA

- Trailhead: parking lot
- Riders: Matt, OMMB, 2-guys, and Pedro (the Portuguese hunting dog)
- Miles: 5 and then some
- Weather: clear
- Temp: 36
- Trail Conditions: ice
- Technical Level: off the chart
- Wildlife: nope...just Pedro
- Whoops, Yikes, and Oh Sheets:  1) One of the 2-guys slipped while walking his bike, landed flat on his back onto his bike...ouch.  And that was BEFORE we even got on the trail!  2) Matt stopped at a 4 foot high log hop.  I tried to take the route through the woods around the log...graceful flop (where's the soft snow when you really need it?).

Notes: We hoped to find some clear trails but they were a mess with ice.  2-guys bailed after 15 minutes, Pedro didn't see the issue.  Matt and I pressed on.  We managed to find a clear loop and scraped out a few miles by looping.  Maybe the forecast 60 degrees for Sunday will melt the rest of the ice...or wait until June!

Happy Trails,
OMMB

"Snow line in the Hometown" - 3/1/11 - Destruction Brook Woods - Dartmouth, MA

- Trailhead: Slades Corner Road Parking Lot
- Riders: OMMB
- Miles: 6
- Weather: cloudy then cleared
- Temp: 32
- Trail Conditions: smooth as ice
- Technical Level: novice
- Whoops, Yikes, and Oh Sheets: just lots of thoughts of slipping, could have used studded tires (and golf shoes)



Notes:  I normally shy away from any trail with "Destruction", "Jaws", "Ripcord", or "Blood-Curdling Scream" in it's name, but this place is a piece of cake.  Very "novice" as far as trail riding goes.  Actually not sure how it got it's name, maybe it was a way to keep the native Indians away?  Anyway...  although the trails were well maintained, fast, and very easy to ride, the mostly ice conditions made for plenty of hike (skate)-a-bike.  I was hoping that any place south of the current "virtual" snow line would be clear to ride (Snow coverage map - hit the snowflake and zoom in).  But not the case in "reality" world (maybe I need to find an "ice coverage" map).  Any trails north of Ella's Bridge were mostly covered with snow and hard packed ice.  South was much less snow with occasional ice across the trails...ride-able.  "Happy Valley" was indeed nice enough to make a hibernating mountain biker "happy" for a short while.  Going to keep this place on the list for any fresh snow conditions...and Spring riding! 

Tidbits: I grew up only a few miles from here on Horseneck Road.  Davol's General Store, where my mother would buy us (my brother and I) Matchbox cars, is still there!

Happy Trails,
OMMB