I... am... a... mushroom! - Village Park - Swansea, MA

• Trailhead: Library
• Riders: OMMB & JD
• Miles: 4.5
• Weather: dark
• Temp: 71
• Trail Conditions: dark 
•  GPS Track: http://www.trimbleoutdoors.com/ViewTrip/1281736

Notes: Nice little night ride...left the house after dark.  I was sort of in a hurry so I grabbed the Gold Member who still had a light mounted from the bike path ride the other night.  I had kind of a wild ride.  I believe partly because the 29er is fast and partly because the headlight was just that... my head "helmet" light.  Not a wide beam like my actual bike mount lights, so the spot light was all over the single track making it tough to judge the turns. I also think the tires were a bit too hard because the ride was jittery.   Anyway...I kept seeing these white things popping up in my peripheral.  I thought maybe they were little mini-ghosts.  After stopping for a break, I realized they were mushrooms.  All over the place...strange.

Tidbits: Not often do you come home from work to find a bunch of turkeys in your yard (well...it HAS happened, not just too often, and they usually brought beer ;) )

Happy Trails (please pass the cranberry sauce),

OMMB

Social Sluggy Sunday - Village Park - Swansea, MA

• Trailhead: Case Jr High
• Riders: OMMB and JD
• Miles: 4.5
• Weather: muggy, sluggy
• Temp: 73 (but felt like a muggy 95)
• Trail Conditions: perfect 
• GPS Track: http://www.trimbleoutdoors.com/ViewTrip/1275606

Notes: A sluggish ride. I will blame the muggy weather. Sluggy weather. So sluggy, I raced a slug, I barely won.  Well...actually the slug won.  But I gave him a run for his slime.  Before the slug fest, I did run into Greg and Al, last Winter's riding friends.  We chatted about Matt's phenomenal ride out at the Leadville Trail 100 (he finished in less than 10 hours!).  A few minutes later, I ran into another riding acquaintance, Tim.  We chatted about the Blackstone River Bike Path...need to try it for ATK's rehab.  DAMN SLUGO! Beat me by one tentacle...



 
Happy Trails,

OMMB

50 Bugs per Second - East Bay Bikepath - RI

Notes: Wanted to get some pedaling in on this 75 degree somewhat humid night; so I hopped on the Kona "Gold Member" at sunset and gave the bike path a shot.  Like most road rides in my world, compared to a trail ride, it was boring.  BUT is was fast and a good workout for almost 9 miles.  Had a head wind down to Colt State Park yet pulled off an overall average speed of 19.5 mph (3 minute mile pace on a MTN bike, not too bad...the bike is quick).  Saw lots of rabbits and ate lots of bugs on the way home with the headlight on. Bug munchin at 20 mph, that was fun.  

- GPS Track:




Tidbits: Jesse had his bath at the groomer and I'm not allowed to take him in the woods just yet since he's smelling nice and clean (well that's one persons opinion, my opinion is he smells like an old lady).

Happy Trails,
OMMB

Son of a Leech! - Big River, RI



A little mini toad!



- Trailhead: Burnt Sawmill Rd

- Riders: OMMB and JD
- Miles: 7.25
- Weather: cloudy, light rain
- Temp: 70
- Trail Conditions: excellent
- Wildlife: "look at the little mini toad"
- Whoops, Yikes, and Oh Sheets: Went over a pretty hefty pair of roots and started pedaling air. Thought, "my that's strange". Then realized that my front wheel seized up on root #3 and I was floating close to and endo! Thankfully drifted back down safely.  Sometimes gravity IS your friend.
- GPS Track: http://www.trimbleoutdoors.com/ViewTrip/1264130


Am I a toad?


Notes: Even though a nasty storm was threatening the area, I was determined to get to BR, late start and all.  We were lucky to receive nothing but light rain throughout the ride.  Given how wet everything was already, the rain made little difference. My intent was to route a decent ride, not too short and not too rough, for any potential SMGR.  The track takes you directly to the hidden single-track, skipping the Mark-Broken-Arm (MBA) Trail. After leaving the hidden track, you can take the Coaster Trail option, which I did. After Coaster it's pretty much a nice cruise back to the trailhead on typical wide BR trails. Still hope an SMGR will happen this summer. 


That's my tire, top left. Mini toad near the middle.



I am NOT a toad!



I AM A FREAKY WOLF CHANGELING!!!


 

Glad he's not really a wolf changeling. 
THAT would be creepy (especially since I turned my back on him)!






On Dog Pond


Tidbits: Somewhere in mud dog's travels, he picked up a small leech.  Found it on his fur when we got home. Jeesh a leech! And that IS creepy!

Happy Trails,
OMMB

Future Pro MTN Biker! - Village Park - Swansea, MA

- Trailhead: Case Jr High
- Riders: Patrick "Patch", OMMB, and JD
- Miles: 2.25
- Weather: Still perfect
- Temp: 75
- Trail Conditions: Still perfect (although Patch was hoping for lots of mud)

- Whoops, Yikes, and Oh Sheets: a couple of whoops by Patch, one blood point

- GPS Track: http://www.trimbleoutdoors.com/ViewTrip/1261219

Notes: I had promised the little 8 year old nephew a mountain bike ride quite some time ago...he did not let me forget!  So I finally came through on a good day and took him for a ride.  He's quite the little athlete so I was assured he would do just fine tearing through the woods!  Indeed he did.  He had a real joy on the downhills, some pretty tricky, and had no issue hauling his bike back up to ride down again.  Too funny.  He also really enjoyed the wooden bridges and tried his best on the skinny plank over a mudhole (now dry).  The only thing that slowed him down was a broken pedal!  Unfortunately I did not have a wrench, so we hike-biked back to the trailhead.  And of course he managed to find plenty of downhills to ride, one pedal and all!   



Ready, set, go....



yaaaaaaay...



And back up again!  Don't even need an admission ticket for this ride!



First bridge crossing...clean!



Cruising along!



First wall crossing...a breeze!



Slight mishap on the first boulder climb...but spirits are not broken




Great downhill reward on the other side of the boulder!


Then comes the WIPE-OUT!



Now ready for the BIG hill...

...here he comes!!  




Getting ready for the loooong bridge!


 

Then disaster struck...at least the Camelback still works!



Oh the sadness!

But really...who needs a pedal when you can do this...



We HAD to get a water crossing in!

Way to top off a good time by playing with the pooch...




Tidbits: Checking Patch's bike more carefully would have resolved the loose pedal issue (my bad), but I think he got an idea of how tough the trails are on your bike (and yourself)!  Off to Double D we go....

Happy Trails,
OMMB


Top Ten Excuses... - Village Park - Swansea, MA

...for not going mountain biking today:

#10. The weather is way too perfect.
#9. I have to get ready for Massachusetts tax-free shopping tomorrow.
#8. The trails are much too dry.
#7. The Red Sox are playing on the West Coast tonight. Late game, I'll need to rest.
#6. It's going to rain on Sunday (today is Friday).
#5. Price of gasoline is down, going for a drive instead.
#4. School starts at the end of August.
#3. I need to cut my toenails.
#2. I haven't been on my mountain bike all summer, why start now?

And the #1 excuse for not going mountain biking today is... My dog ate my pedal.

Well I didn't have any excuses...so I went riding... (in fact I went twice, this was Ride 1)

- Trailhead: Case Jr High
- Riders: OMMB & Jesse Dog
- Miles: 5
- Weather: Damn what a PERFECT day...unheard of for August!
- Temp: 68
- Trail Conditions: dry
- GPS Track: http://www.trimbleoutdoors.com/ViewTrip/1260528

Happy Trails,

OMMB

Bring on the DEET - Village Park - Swansea, MA

• Trailhead: Case Jr High
• Riders: OMMB, Jesse 
• Miles: 4.5
• Weather: Fuggy
• Temp: 85
• Trail Conditions: Still good, despite 2 days of rain/thunderstorms 
• Wildlife: a big fat toad
• GPS Track: http://www.trimbleoutdoors.com/ViewTrip/1255979

Notes: Went for a mid-day "lunch break" ride but it was just too fuggy (that's "f*in muggy" if you live in my head). Managed to get an okay ride in, but it was hard to see where I was going, with sweaty balls and all (eye balls that is).  Dryer days ahead...hope to grab some miles.

Tidbits:  Judging by how many bugs were following me, you'd think I was the only creature in the forest worth harassing! 

Happy Trails,

OMMB

Squirrel Bin Laden - Village Park - Swansea, MA

- Trailhead: Case Jr High
- Riders: OMMB and dog
- Miles: 4.25
- Weather: perfect
- Temp:  the same year I graduated High School minus 1900 (first person to guess correctly wins a free tour of the hidden trails at Big River)
- Trail Conditions: perfect
- GPS Track: http://www.trimbleoutdoors.com/ViewTrip/1249253

Notes: A real nice quick ride through the very dry trails in Swansea.  Re-mounting the front derailleur with chain guide made a big difference...gee the chain stayed on!  I did fine without the granny gear.  In fact, felt pretty strong...best I've felt in a while.  A good clean ride with one exception.  When your dog is faithfully running by your left side, at a good clip I might add, and a squirrel (should I stop here?).........runs across the trail from left to right, your dog takes a jump ahead and an immediate right because he just can't help but chase anything that moves (especially a squirrel so arrogant as to run across his path) and runs right in front of your wheel as you hit him broadside, almost sending owner, bike, and dog rolling into a big heap.  Wow that was the longest OMMB sentence yet.  Damn squirrel tried to killed us.  I'm going to call Seal Team Six.

Happy Trails,
OMMB

Genius - Big River - RI

- Trailhead: Burnt Sawmill Rd
- Riders: The usual...me and the dog
- Miles: 5
- Weather: perfect and dry
- Temp: 75
- Trail Conditions: same as the weather
- GPS Track: http://www.trimbleoutdoors.com/ViewTrip/1246891

Notes: GREAT day for a ride.  I was hoping to log about eight to ten miles today.  My bike only wanted to do five.  Well I can't really blame the bike, because I'm the wizard that decided to remove the front derailleur for the heck of it (no granny gear, why should I need the derailleur?).  I found out that they just don't put that chain guide on the derailleur for the heck of it...smart move.  Chain proceeded to jump off the front ring about every 5 to 10 minutes.  Had to manually reset it, while the high performance deer flies attacked.  Even tried removing a few links from the chain but that didn't work...good times.  Anyway, the trails were in fantastic condition.  Intent was to map a good course through the hidden single track for the next (hopeful) SMGR.  Got pretty sick of resetting the chain, so back to trailhead I went.  To top things off, while heading back, Jesse Dog decided to chase a red squirrel up a tree and must have twisted himself.  He started yelping like a baby hyena (sounded like he was yelling "my leg is broken!"). When I looked back, he was just sitting on the trail. A few head pats and he was good to go...I'm guessing he through his hip out or something.

Happy Trails,
OMMB

Ask Yourself the Question, "Do I Like Mtn Biking?" - Village Park - Swansea, MA

Notes: Went for a 4.25 mile ride on the Kona...nice weather, nice conditions. If you are not riding trails right now, you are missing out on nice dry conditions...like last summer!  I know some of us have good excuses, like ankle surgery and pregnancy (valid "conditions"), but I think some of us just have EXCUSES!  Come on people, the summer is TOO SHORT!  SMGR?

Tidbits:  Still don't know how ya'll ride hardtails in New England!  What a freakin beat-down ride!  Yes...faster and more efficient pedaling on the 29er, but oh my aching kidneys! 

http://www.trimbleoutdoors.com/ViewTrip/1243351

Happy Trails,
OMMB

PS-If you answered "yes", then what are you waiting for???   Email me to pick a day (direct to my DingleBerry, I mean BlackBerry)... srebello@aol.com

Do I Really Need Granny Gear? (Part 2) - Village Park - Swansea, MA

- Trailhead: Case Jr High
- Riders: OMMB and JD
- Miles: 5.25
- Temp: 88, not so comfortable
- Trail Conditions: very dry, fast...with one exception

Notes: Within five minutes of leaving the trailhead, the question was answered.  Whether I subconsciously hit the left shift lever, or bounced the chain over a bump, result was a downshift to the vacated granny gear.  The chain managed to lodge under the grommets where granny once lived. It took quite an effort to dislodge the chain (I'm thinking that single speed bikes must have some solution for this, I'll have to take a closer look).  At this time...I need granny gear.

Although it was uncomfortably humid today, I was able to squeeze out another mile over yesterday.  I wasn't feeling very enthusiastic though. When I got to the section of trail owned by the gun toting quad driving farmer I decided to take the "public" cut off down the pipeline (straight track heading left starting on right of map below).   I also didn't feel like taking the risk that Farmer Quad may take shots at my coyote look-alike riding partner. But apparently this trail is only manageable when frozen, because OMMB and dog had to walk through knee deep muck to get through.  It was absolutely lovely. 

Jamming up the chain, dealing with some rear derailleur quirks (been too lazy to tune it up), AND finding a rear flat tire due to multiple thorns (with a Slime Tube???)....decided I will ride the Kona 29 "Gold Member" next time out.

Happy Trails,
OMMB

Do I Really Need Granny Gear? (Part 1) - Village Park - Swansea, MA

- Trailhead: Case Jr High
- Riders: OMMB and JD
- Miles: 4.25
- Temp: 85, comfortable
- Trail Conditions: dry, hard, fast

Notes: So I figured I would try out the Hi Fi without granny gear and see how it goes.  Sort of like a single speed...well...not really, but only one gear up front (since I have a bash guard versus a big ring).  I was able to do most of the usual loops without much issue.  Steep climbs would be an issue, but those are pretty short around here.  I began to have thoughts of removing the front derailleur and shift controls...simplify the bike.  hmmmm...    

Happy Trails,
OMMB

Broken Granny - Village Park - Swansea, MA

- Trailhead: Case Jr High
- Riders: OMMB and dog
- Miles: 4.4
- Weather: overcast
- Temp: 70
- Trail Conditions: dry, yes...dry

Notes: Well it's been two weeks since I hit the trails...it's a long story...foot long.  ;)  I think the dog was feeling the lag too...lots of huffin and puffin.  On our way out we ran into Bob and Matt (Bikeworks twins). It was good to see them again.  Once I'm riding at a faster pace more regularly, I'll be joining them again.  The trails were in great condition and I wasn't feeling too bad considering...certainly did not feel like a broken Granny.  But I DID break my granny...gear that is.  Hit down to granny gear while climbing and heard something ugly as my pedaling spun out.  Broke the damn gear in half...strange.   New one on order from Bikeworks.

Tidbits: Matt qualified to enter Leadville 100 by placing 30th in a 65 mile race...fun starts August 13!  Go Matt!

Happy Trails,
OMMB

Every Dog has His Day - Village Park - Swansea, MA

- Trailhead: Colt Jr High - Riders: OMMB
- Miles: 4.6
- Weather: perfect
- Temp: 70
- Trail Conditions: hard pack, some puddles

Notes: Hoje um lobo. Gave Jesse the day "off", although I'm not sure he would look at it that way.  He had a much needed appointment for hair and nails at the dog spa.  They found one of my biking gloves in his bushy tail (I was wondering where that went).  Well he is now a well groomed, bushy-less dog who is anxiously waiting for his next mud jump.  Aside from overzealous briers overhanging in some places, the trails were fun and in great condition.

Tidbits: I heard a recent fact...Mtn biking is more popular in America than golf. When riding the trails on my own, I find that a little hard to believe.  Just sayin...

Happy Trails,
OMMB

A Text Report from Mrs. OMMB - East Bay Bikepath - Warren/Bristol, RI

Text 1: 

"Highlights of my ride so far: your seat hurts my butt (she borrowed my bike...her bike(s) are MIA), your bike is not really rider friendly, I saw Lyle Robertson biking, there's a guy on a quad riding in Colt State. To be continued..."

Text 2:

"Part 2: Some lady asked me for directions so I must look like I know what I'm doing, some lady must of fallen off her bike- she was a bloody mess, it was a nice day - perfect day for a bike ride. I miss pedaling. I did somewhere between 5 and 6 miles. Time for a beer! The End "

Happy Trails,
Mrs. OMMB

Murphy's Lessons Learned - Village Park - Swansea, MA

Yesterday: 

So I don't know if it was our extended vacation in Hawai'i, or if it was being "out of rhythm", but for some reason I decided that I would do a quick "break-in" ride and would not need my Camelback.  The weather was warm but tolerable, so I grabbed a sport bottle of water before heading for the trails. Aloha, Mahola, it's all good, right?  Wrong.  Got over a mile out and the front tire goes flat.  No problem, I have a spare under the seat.  Problem, tools and pump are in the Camelback. 

Lessons:

1) Fingers don't work as tire removal tools. And if they did, filling a tube up enough to ride on with only air from your lungs remains to be seen. 
2) Sometimes the self sealing Slime tubes don't work (is there an expiration on them?  I haven't had a flat in months).
3) Sport bottle of water is not enough for man and dog.
4) Walking your bike back to the trailhead is embarrassing...even the dog kept his distance.

Today:

Headed for the same trailhead near the lake; that way dog face could swim after visiting every muck puddle during the ride.  Filled the Camelback, check the tire pressure, and off we went.  Pretty vanilla ride.  About 4 issue free miles. A bit odd that Jesse was not chasing anything and stuck real close to my left side.  So close that my shoe actually hooked his collar at one point.  I'm guessing he may be a little out of shape...along with OMMB.  Aloha, Mahalo, it's all good...

Learned:

Put EVERYTHING in your Camelback and bring it!  The additional weight is worth it's weight (huh?). Besides, if you don't bring it, that will be the day you need something from it.  Why is that?  Damned if I know. Does Murphy ride a Mountain Bike?

Tidbits: Saw the darnedest thing in the lake.  Looked like a small alligator head.  After watching it for at least 10 minutes I decided it had to be a log or something (also decided that I must be still jet lagged and delirious).

Happy Trails,
OMMB

YMMB Strikes (no longer a Blog Virgin) - Village Park - Swansea, MA

Trailhead: Swansea Library
Riders: YMMB, Jen, Dawn
Miles: No clue / short
Trail Conditions: Dry
Whoops, Yikes, & Oh-Sheets: Jen - 1 Yikes for her very first (and graceful) endo.

Notes: When a new friend shows up at your house with the most kick-ass, PLUSH, cross-country, full-suspension bike in hand (women's specific, Specialized Safire, for those of you who're asking), you know it's time for a ride.

:-)

Jen & Dawn came to visit YMMB for the 4th of July weekend with bikes in tow.

Jen, a longtime road warrior (on the bike and the stage), was/is in the market for some fat tire fun and wanted to get a taste of what all this madness is about.

Dawn, a seasoned MTB vet (with the scars and stories to prove it) was ready for anything the trail could throw at her with her pimped out bike, knee pads, & body armor (good to have, but not needed for a Swansea ride as she would soon find out.) ;-)

YMMB, on the other hand, had yet to hit the trails this season and had limited knowledge of the terrain thanks to OMMB always leading the way & YMMB not paying enough attention. LOL!

The morning started with breaking into OMMB & ATK's house and shed to "borrow" a couple bikes for YMMB & Jen. Really digging the "alarm" that scared the bajeebees out of me after I opened the shed. Although, I suppose that's what it's there for, and lucky I know the code. :-)

Jen was like Goldilocks on ATK's bike as OMMB & ATK (who were vacationing in Hawai'i) had already had visitors that came and switched seat heights, etc. on some of the bikes in the shed. I wonder what their reaction to the shed alarm was?!?! After a little trial and error, ATK's bike for Jen was "just right".

YMMB opted for the "extra" bike and took the 29er out for his first time on the trails.

Bumped into Bob from Bikeworks at the trailhead and caught up for a little while. He warned us that it was buggy and to just keep moving.

We probably only spent 30-40 minutes in the woods, but it gave Jen enough of a taste to spend a good amount of the post-ride afternoon searching eBay for a Women's Specific, 29er, Full-Suspension bike (a tall -expensive- order as she soon discovered!).

Ended up finding some of the fun, windy (as in twisting, not blowing from the sky), singletrack stuff, so it made for a fun, quick ride.

BTW, the 29er eats up those old, crumbled fieldstone wall crossings as well as treefall that blocks the trails. Not sure that OMMB is allowed to have this bike back. LOL!

Jen chalked up her first 'Yikes' as she endo'd on a descent; Dawn & YMMB kept giving her pointers throughout the ride, and she's hooked.

We did some bike swapping toward the end of the ride so that Dawn could try out the 29er for a minute and bumped into a very fashionable rider who was kind enough to snap this photo for us (though, he was a bit winded and shaky as you can tell from the super-in-focus (NOT) pic).

All in all, a good introduction for Jen and a great time with new friends with tires in the woods. Looks like we're going to add a couple new friends to the SMGR before the summer is out.

:-)

Peace.

YMMB

A First for Summer First - Burlingame State Park - Rhode Island

- Trailhead: King's Factory Road
- Riders: OMMB and Jesse
- Miles: 6.25
- Weather: Summer day!
- Temp: 80
- Trail Conditions: Single track, boulders, slick rock, short ups and downs, bridges
- Technical Level: Intermediate (at least on the portion of trails I rode)
- Wildlife: just a toad
- Whoops, Yikes, and Oh Sheets: a bit clumsy from the heat, one little flop while stopped

Notes: It was upper 80's inland, so we decided to head closer to the ocean for a cooler ride.  I've had this place on my list for quite a while and was happy to get here for the first time.  Although not as cool as I would have hoped, it was a very challenging and fun place to ride!  Lot's of fun boulder climbs and slick rock.  Awesome man-made bridges ala Bradbury were excellent.  There is a "famous" 12-mile loop here, but a portion of it uses the road...so not good when riding with four legged fur face.  I chose a remote trailhead and stuck to the inner woods loop...some of which was not on the map.  The ride pretty much kicked my ass!  Long drive to get here, but I would definitely attempt other areas of the park when up for a challenge.



Tidbits: this place could just as well be called "Bouldergame"

Happy Trails,
OMMB

Turtle Turtle - Village Park - Swansea, MA

Me and Jesse for almost five... nice quick ride, nice weather (even for turtles).

Happy Trails,
OMMB

Subie-doo - Circle X - Malibu, CA

Another very entertaining Vander Blog...

We did a ride Thursday afternoon. Hector apparently didn't ask for permission on Wednesday...so I'm thinking his misses shot it down on Thursday b/c he was a no-show. Did I mention riding w/o Hector is bad for Tim? Tim has troubles pacing himself whereas Hector ALWAYS climbs at a nice steady pace. In addition, Hector is good at 'splaining' where the trailhead is even though he still has troubles underestimating ride distances. So, Tim relied on Scott to get him to the Encinal Canyon start point of Circle X. No joy for Tim. So Tim meets up with Ron and Scott at the Decker Canyon start of Circle X and then proceeds to climb it like a mo-fo. Tim waits a couple minutes and Ron/Scott arrive. Ron is lamenting his lunch choice at this point. Note to Ron - ALWAYS a bad idea to eat a late and heavy lunch before a mtn bike ride. The real climbing begins on the fire road and more mo-fo climbing outa Tim. Note to Tim - DO figure out whatever you ate for lunch cause that sheet was working? The fire road turns into more fun, long, easy singletrack climbing. Tim hangs at the end and Ron/Scott show up shortly afterward. After a little snack session and 'wat the f@ck is going on at work' bitch session we proceed to head back. The return on this one is ALWAYS better because you are mostly descending the singletrack. One word of caution, you can really ride it fast...of course, there's that fine line of riding too fast right of the track and down the mountainside. Note to Tim - Take more air outa your front tire on the way down. There's not too much to say about the descent except for the final 2-3 miles. Its smooth, flat with berms on many turns. Very fun, very fast and relatively easy except for those times when you make a hard/fast right bermed turn into a flat left turn and just about fly off the track. All in all - a good time w/ Scott and Ron. Did I mention doing some weird post-ride maneuver in the Subie which high-sided left rear wheel and ground the right rear wheel into the wheel well. My car was momentarily stuck and spinning a wheel or two. I'm thinking 'wat?' until I smelled something burning. Had to roll the car back off the embankment to get out...poor Subie having me for an owner.

Ride: Circle X, Malibu Mountains
Time: ~2 hrs
Length: ~16 miles
Temp: Low 70s and June Gloom overcast
Tech Rating: Easy, Fun, whatever

Tim V.

...awesome! Thanks Tim!