Annual Let Your Baby Chipmunks Run Memorial Day Event - Big River, RI

Jesus Wolf

- Trailhead: Hopkins Hill Lot - Riders: OMMB and JD
- Miles: six
- Weather: Hazy Hot Humid (Tornados in MA)
- Wildlife: 300 chipmunk families
- Lowlife: some drunk looser polluting the lake shoreline, real friendly dude...nice rodent like demeanor

Notes: Nice ride but damn humid.  Lucky for Jesse Dog the lake was perfectly clear (aside from the misplaced bum) for a swim.  Jesse wore himself out trying to catch each and every baby chipmunk along the trail!  I'm glad he was with me because there were soooo many of them I may have been a little freaked out if riding alone. You know how those chipmunks get during an eating frenzy! 




Hey where the hell did the dog go???


 

HA! There he is!  See him?





Duck eggs.  Next time bring the bacon!



Tidbits: If you don't have a dog, carry some spare acorns to divert the chipmunks for a clean getaway.


Happy Trails,
OMMB



Man's Best Friend? - Village Park - Swansea, MA

Did six point six miles with Jesse.  About the only thing I remember about this ride is we crossed paths with Al and Greg along the way and were invited to join them.  But as usual, they rode way faster than me.  Jesse being Jesse just HAD to be the leader of the pack...so he left my sorry ass behind in order to run up with single speed speedster Greg.  Got my ass kicked AND got ditched by a so-called "man's best friend"...riiiight.

Happy Trails,
OMMB

Green is the New Brown - Village Park - Swansea, MA

I'm way behind on my trail posts, so I must say I don't remember too much about this particular ride, other than everything that was brown before I left for California is now a lush green.  I did four and a quarter miles with Jesse Dog...oh wait...I remember now...this was the ride where we came out from the woods along the edge of a field.  In the middle of the field of two foot high grass, was standing a pretty large deer.  It was staring at us as I attempted to reach for the camera in my camelback before Jesse was clued in.  Too late.  He dashed across the field bounding over the grass, pretty much just as the deer did.  He chased it into the woods, then joined up with me in a few minutes further down the trail.  The look on his face was..."man that was a HUGE squirrel!!!"  Had to laugh.
Happy Trails,
OMMB

Oh Hi Oh Hot - Gridley Trail - Ojai (oh hi), CA

- Trailhead: Gridley

- Riders: Hector, OMMB

- Miles: bout 6

- Weather: hot and dry

- Temp: 80's

- Trail Conditions: typically gnarly trailhead, then up up up the mountain

- Whoops, Yikes, and Oh Sheets: a yikes by Hector...while hike biking down the gnarly trail, his bike decided to launch itself down the hill onto rocks (hmmmm).

Notes: Well...last time I attempted Gridley I did make it to the top of the rideable trail.  That was my second attempt.  On this, the third attempt, I did even worse than the first time up here.  I'll attribute the "fail" to the heat and the fact that I had a bunch of miles in already this week.  Ojai is much further inland from the 60-70 degree coastal air.  The air is HOT and dry here and coming off a season of riding in 20 degree weather didn't sit well with me.  I was kicked very early.  Come to think of it, I do have a third excuse...the pedals on the rental bike were road pedals (one sided SPD) which made it almost impossible to clip back in when I needed to take a break from climbing.

Tidbits: bringing my own pedals with me next time!



Hector made it, but his trip computer did not!



Hitting Ojai Pizza to "rehydrate" with Fat Tire Ale and carb back up was definitely a Ojai-light!!

Happy Trails,
OMMB

Six out, a half dozen back - Sycamore Canyon, CA

Day 2 on the West Coast... today an enjoyable out and back through the canyon with RoFo.  It's a slight incline out so the sprint back is always a great time!  Nice cool and dry weather on the coast. As usual, Ron was prepared with apre munchies and beer...loves it!



End of a great day...



Happy Trails,

OMMB

Did I ever tell you about the time... - Sycamore Canyon, CA

...I rented a car in Providence, RI and drove out to Oxnard/Port Hueneme, CA for the working group meetings I typically attend?  Well here's the RI car I rented (one way) and the sweet Specialized 29er I rode while there. 

 

The road trip, which I always wanted to try, took about four 12 hour days of driving. Didn't really get to stop and sight-see since I was on a tight schedule, leaving on a Friday to make a Tuesday meeting. But the Rockies and endless deserts were quite amazing! Next time I pull this off I'm definitely going to stop for riding.

Day one ride at Sycamore with Tim, Scott, and some random Brazilian guy that decided to join us, resulted in close to 14 miles and perfect 70 degree dry weather. The area was actually green for this time of year which was nice to see. The snake, assumed the rattling kind, seemed to like it too!

Do you think this post was total shit?  Well it was only mostly shit...the riding was true the driving was poo (but wasn't it so cool that I rented a car in LA that had RI plates...and didn't even realize it right away!!).

Happy Trails,
OMMB

Fox on a Rock - Village Park - Swansea, MA

Did this 5.5 mile ride with Jesse Dog.  He got muddy and smelly.  Hmmm...I guess I did too.  Oh and we saw a fox on a rock. Well, I saw him anyway...and it was more like a boulder.  We stared each other down until he turned and ran.  Glad Jesse did not see him...he would have given chase!

Happy Trails,
OMMB