Went for a ride...

Happy Trails,

OMMB

More Syca More

• Place: Sycamore CYN
• Trailhead: Sycamore Canyon Campground
• Riders: Hector, OMMB
• Miles: 15
• Weather: partly sunny, partly cloudy
• Temp: 60s
• GPS Track: http://www.endomondo.com/workouts/hAMUCCFVmZw



You can spot one of the trails near the bottom of this pic. 
Clouds at the higher elevation.



Happy Trails,

OMMB

Sycamore Canyon

• Place: Pt Mugu State Park
• Trailhead: Sycamore Campground Pacific Coast Highway
• Riders: Hector, Ron, Tim, OMMB (although we had trouble in coordinating the ride all together, "who's on first, what's on second, I don't know's on third")
• Miles: 13
• Weather: slightly humid for this area, rain forecast for tomorrow
• Temp: 60's
• Trail Conditions: dry, hard pack  
• GPS Track: http://www.endomondo.com/workouts/pcGa4RoNQew

26 vs 29

Happy Trails,

OMMB

Folly on Foster's

• Place: Big River
• Trailhead: Division Rd/New London Turnpike
• Riders: Jeff, OMMB
• Miles: 8.5
• Weather: clear
• Temp: 75
• Trail Conditions: dry 
• Whoops, Yikes, and Oh Sheets: A whoops from Jeff, knocking his chain off.  A Yikes from OMMB, hitting the Foster's Folly teeter into a drop for the first time. Cleared the teeter just fine, but coming off the thing throws you down into a hole very quickly...at a tree!  A sharp right turn to avoid the tree caused a front wheel slide out and rib crushing slam down.  "I'm okay...just can't breath (thinking...it will pass right?)".  Fun?  (ah nothing a little G&T by the water won't fix!) 
• GPS Track:

Notes: First time for Jeff at Big River, so I wanted to show him some of the newer, better condition stuff.  Although it felt a lot hotter than the temp indicated, we had a good ride.  I was dragging from the heat, hopefully my slow pace didn't discourage future riding with Jeff! 

Tidbits: Some of the trail props are missing... the scary manikin on Halloween and the Hoover on Hoover...so sad.



Gotta love Jeff's post ride refreshment!!



Happy Trails,

OMMB

Tracking a Time Trial

• Place: Village Park
• Trailhead: behind Case Jr High, start of Ridge Loop
• Riders: Al, Bob, Jeff, Jesse, OMMB
• Miles: 6+ (although my app clocked less than 6...gees)
• Weather: clear
• Temp: 50
• Trail Conditions: great... dry 
• GPS Track:

Notes: Bob wanted to track a potential time trial course (ala Chip) that should be 7 miles without repeating or crossing a trail in the park.  It's a good course....with some trails ridden in reverse making them just a little tougher.  I clocked 5.8, Bob clocked 6.3.  Starting/ending at the alternate parking behind Case may have gotten us closer to 7.

Tidbits: Jesse looks funny...hahahahaha

Happy Trails,

OMMB

Back on Home Turf

• Place: Village Park, Swansea MA
• Trailhead: Library
• Riders: Jesse, OMMB 
• Miles: approaching 5
• Weather: clear, dry
• Temp: mid 70's
• Trail Conditions: dry, really dry, California dry 
• Whoops, Yikes, and Oh Sheets: none
• GPS Track: http://www.trimbleoutdoors.com/ViewTrip/1620700

Notes: Felt like I had too many days off... too hot, too tired, too f*in old!  ...had to cut the ride short. Yet there's good news...the trails are sooooo dry.  No mud, no toxic puddles, no streams.   Hopefully this drought will keep the bug population down, although the frogs will not be happy.

Happy Trails,

OMMB

Weebles Wobble...

...and they fall down.   Had a very wobbly ride for some unknown reason...late start due to traffic, GPS not tracking half the ride, sliding all over the place due to rain before I started, and a general wiped-out feeling (okay maybe from a recent cold and the 34 trail miles I've logged in the last 7 days).  Nevertheless got in about 7 (mostly miserable) miles.  I didn't actually fall down, but had numerous close calls, one of which pinned my ankle against a sharp boulder (ya that hurt).  Looking forward to better rides ahead...

Oh and found a new trail friend...

Happy Trails,

OMMB

Massacre-soit

Statue of Massasoit in Plymouth, MA

• Place: Massasoit State Park, East Taunton, MA
• Riders: Aaron, Al, Bob, Matt, OMMB
• Miles: 15
• Weather: clear 
• Temp: 50s
• Trail Conditions: dry, dusty
• Whoops, Yikes, and Oh Sheets:  none
• GPS Track: http://www.endomondo.com/workouts/hDOmxwCBOSk

Notes: Boys from Bikeworks are gearing up for yet another race...The Massasoit Lung Opener.  So "somehow" I get roped into one of their "training runs" on my usual Tuesday ride with them.  One (and 3/4) loop on the course and my ass was kicked! Not only was I dropped (like Great Sachem Massasoit), I kept getting lost on various forks (until Bob informs me that the course is marked, duh). Generally a really fast course, with some challenging hills (especially unfriendly near the end of the course).  That didn't slow down Matt on his Kona Big Unit Single Speed...cool looking bike.  It was also GREAT to see Al back on his mountain bike after a long recovery from his injury.

Tidbits: OMMB doesn't really like what happened to the Wampanoag...just sayin

Happy Trails,

OMMB

In Search Of (Part 2)...

... Elephant, Azorian Driveway, and Alan's Ave.

• Place: Big River
• Trailhead: New London Turnpike near Gun Club Entrance
• Riders: OMMB
• Miles: 7
• Weather: clear 
• Temp: 55-60
• Trail Conditions: perfect
• Technical Level: Intermediate 
• GPS Track: Not posted out of respect for the land owner

Notes: Yep...finally found the rest of the hidden trails (at least the one's I know about!).  Searching for these trails with very little details was fun, and the real fun came when I found them. NICE area! Lots of variety and challenges. The high point, literally, of this ride was when I found the well stocked "Candy Mailbox" at the top of an awesome overlook...Adirondack chairs and all!  I actually thought I had passed out and woke up in Maine somewhere.  The very generous owner of this land, Alan, stocks the mailbox with candy and dog biscuits.  He owns this overlook of Big River that can't be matched, and the fact that he shares this with us riders is very admirable.


Mamma Elephant




Baby Elephant



Not quite sure what this is all about.



Features on Alan's Ave...



Gotta love it!  (note: ride down only, up = hike)

Azorian Driveway

Best seats in town...

...with a great view...



...AND candy!!!



Even for the dogs!

THANK YOU ALAN!

Happy Trails,

OMMB

Hunger Games

• Place: Big River
• Trailhead: Rte 3 Parking Lot
• Riders: Jeremy, Dan, OMMB
• Miles: 14
• Weather: perfect 
• Temp: 50 or so
• Trail Conditions: dry, very dry (don't even light a match dry) 
• Wildlife: nope
• Whoops, Yikes, and Oh Sheets: Several Whoops on the technical stuff by all, but a nice Yikes to start the day by OMMB. Literally 5 minutes into the ride I clipped a boulder the same size as the one that took out my '67 Mustang GT Fastback when I was a teenager (story for another day).  Never saw it hiding right on the edge of the trail masked by a bush. I went flyyyyying off the bike. All good. 
• GPS Track:

Notes: Awesome inaugural ride with my new friends from Connecticut. Good quick riders. It was nice to have others joining me for the extra miles, because I get lazy on my own.  Did a solid 14 miles on predominately technical single track...ya the good stuff!  We "Saw Dead People" which lead to a maze of hidden single track that begs to be visited again.  Real nice variety of terrain which pretty much kicked my ass. If you've read The Hunger Games, I pretty much ended up feeling like that kid hiding half dead in the mud.  Once I finally got some food in me, after 1:00, I started to feel almost human again....ready for another kick-ass ride!

Don't know if this is to be taken seriously yet...will find out.

Happy Trails,

OMMB

Back on Two

• Place: Big River
• Trailhead: Burnt Sawmill Rd
• Riders: OMMB and Jesse Dog
• Miles: 12
• Weather: too nice to stay inside 
• Temp: 55-61
• Trail Conditions: some freshly chewed areas (dirt bikes) 
• Wildlife: a few turkeys...two that flew, one four-legged turkey that chased them (I love when he does that)
• Whoops, Yikes, and Oh Sheets: just a whoops flop over going up a rocky climb...backward momentum down the hill made it worse than it should have been
• GPS Track: http://www.endomondo.com/workouts/p1L-7MF3xlU

Notes: After a week away, where I was forced to use my two feet to jog on Waikiki Beach, I'm back on two wheels.  Wanted to make the best of the nice weather so extended a ride to 12 miles on lots of single track at the River. Unfortunately a lot of this single track was shared with dirt bikes, but for the most part, still ride-able. Kind of wore out Jesse at the end, but he loved the turkey chase.

Hey remember me!

 Happy Trails,

OMMB