Just a little leg stretcher!

• Place: Big River
• Trailhead: Greasy Joes
• Riders with OMMB: Jesse Dog
• Miles: 6.5
• Weather: clear
• Temp: 75-85
• Trail Conditions: good, some mud still around, but not bad
• Wildlife: A Black Racer (that's a snake, not a rider), about 4 feet long, haven't seen one since a kid.  Another snake (looked like a Milk Snake) that swam towards me while I was swimming...thankfully it was heading for a pile of rocks, not me.
• Whoops, Yikes, and Oh Sheets: nope, but a little clumsy given too much time off.
• GPS Track:
  

  

Notes: With today's slightly more tolerable temperatures I figured a month long hiatus was enough!  Jesse also needed some exercise so I planned a "ride a little, swim a little" route around Carr Pond.  Stopped at several real nice swimming holes.  The water was perfectly clear but oddly warm (considering it's spring fed)...but no complaints.  Great day.

Tidbits:  I met a published wild mushroom expert (Ryan Bouchard), great guy.  He was new to Big River so I gave him a printout of my tracks to use as a map...he gave me his calendar "Gourmet Mushrooms of Rhode Island".  Pretty sweet, now I know which ones are okay to throw in the spaghetti sauce!

After a bit of riding the first rest stop was very welcome!

Second rest stop came with a tennis ball to play with.

Third stop had a giant turtle.  Oh wait, that was a boulder.

Fourth stop came with a butterfly (or moth, I dunno).

There were several other water stops, but this one was last...

...it came with a snake! (just under the top rock)

Happy Trails,

OMMB

Too hot, too tired, too f*in LAME!

Notes: Yeah that was me...again. I truly have to come to the realization that I am worth crap on a bike when it's hot.  Alfonso and Craig catered to my three legged dog, no wait, two legged dog pace for about 10 miles through Big River.  We went out and back to Allan's Ave from Burnt Sawmill (I was already cooked on the "out", nevermind the "back").  It really was a great route...but man I suck!   When the temp is over 80 and humid, I really really really have to learn to say "no" to riding (a difficult task for me).

Happy Hot Humid Trails,

OMMB

Time to Ride!

• Place: Big River
• Trailhead: Hopkin's Hill
• Riders with OMMB: Bruce, Tom, John, Rex, Alphonso, Remi, Richard, Skip
• Miles: 7.5 to 8 -ish
• Weather: warm and humid
• Trail Conditions: very good, slightly muddy in areas
• Technical Level: I don't think these guys know (or like) anything other than "technical"
• Whoops, Yikes, and Oh Sheets: Single speed Rex made a great save on a possible endo...no damage

Notes: After 2 weeks of pretty much nothin, back with the West Bay gang.   As always, a technical route, with plenty of ass-busting.   Good ride.

Tidbits: "Down and Out" is not called "Down and Up and Out".... gees   

 
Happy Trails,

OMMB

See trails by switching map to "Street Map" (openstreetmap)...

More water than trail!

• Place: Village Park (or River)
• Trailhead: Case Jr High
• Riders with OMMB: Jesse K9
• Miles: not much
• Weather: rain, we caught a couple of hours of sun in between storms
• Trail Conditions: see title
• Wildlife: a couple of turkeys (the gobble kind, not the human kind)

Notes:  A break in the rain gave Jesse and I a chance to head out for a bit (he needs the exercise).  Also gave me a chance to test another GPS tracking app, MapMyRide.  It's website has plenty of great features, but the app has no map mode (maybe the pay-for-upgrade does?).  Not much good if off in the woods without your bearings, no track view to loop back with.  Other than that, works good.

Tidbits:  Hey Trail Elves, there's a tree down on Ladies Room.  Not that I took Ladies Room, because I usually go up Men's Room.  Oh all right, some times I take Ladies Room.  Well maybe most of the time.  All right all right, I take Ladies Room, now go clear the trail with a chain saw!  :)

Create Maps or search from 80 million at MapMyRide
               

Happy Trails,

OMMB

Arcadia - The Mt. Tom Pearson Loop

• Place: yep, Arcadia
• Trailhead: end of Austin Farm Road (beautiful drive)
• Riders with OMMB: Tom, Bruce, John, and Skip
• Miles: 10.5 by GPS app, it was more
• Weather: perfect!
• Temp: 57 at trailhead (almost chilly),  70 afterwards
• Trail Conditions: excellent, technical
• Whoops, Yikes, and Oh Sheets: several whoops, no blood

Notes: Tom lead us on an entertaining loop with Mt. Tom at the midway point.  Fun trail with lots of variety. I hope I redeemed myself, after the shellacking I took the last few rides.  Temps were right for me, kept up with the group almost to the end of the ride!

Skip, Bruce, and John cranking up Mt Tom.

Great whalebacks.

And nice views.

Bruce focusing on "up".

And quite a bit of this too!

Skip getting ready to hop up some ledges.

Skip and Tom

Some old dude on his Niner, showin us how it's done!

House at the trailhead...hmm let's move here!

Pack it up...ready for another day.

Happy Trails,

OMMB

70 at 7 and 80 at 8...

...are the kind of temperatures I really HATE.

And yeah, yeah, yeah...it's not the heat, it's the humidity. Well whatever the hell it was, I tanked in the heat AGAIN.  So bad, that I felt I should retire my bike for the summer!  I really need to turn down any hot weather rides, I just can't handle it.  We couldn't get to the Carr Pond swimming spot soon enough.  Once I hit the chilly water, I felt human again, re-energized (at least enough for the climb back to the parking lot). 

Riders were Bruce, Paul, and Skip from the Hopkins Hill Lot at Big River.  Although they claimed they were impacted by the conditions, it didn't seem to affect them at all.

Good news is... a great little technical route from "The Maze" to "Down and Out".  I will definitely ride this route again...next Winter.

Happy hot, 87 in the shade, Trails,

OMMB

Jesse and me, a few miles at Village Park...

"Fabulous ride...yes fabulous."

Happy Trails,

OMMB

A Romp Through The Swamp

• Place: Village Park
• Trailhead: Library
• Miles: 7-ish
• Weather: wet
• Trail Conditions: wet

Notes: Went up to Swansea on the way home from work.  Luckily there was a break in the clouds, but of course the remnants of the last 12 hours of rain were apparent.  Made for some plush pictures of Spring.

And in the end... a mud fest...

Happy Trails,

OMMB

Route SR = Perfect 10

• Place: Big River
• Trailhead: Burnt Sawmill
• Riders with OMMB: none
• Miles: 10
• Weather:  cloudy with a threat of rain, lucky only a threat
• Trail Conditions: damp, no dust, not slippery
• GPS Track:

Notes: Off on my own today for a pretty enjoyable ride...at my pace of course. I hadn't tracked Shoot the Moon in a long time so I started my loop from Burnt Sawmill, down Shoot The Moon over to Al's Nature Trail, across to Dead Shed and out to the Hopkin's Hill Parking Lot, where I caught Bruce and Tom at the end of their ride.  Left HHPL down Big River Expressway, and over to Out-n-Back to return to Burnt Sawmill.  A good flowing loop...perfect 10 miles.

Happy Trails,

OMMB

And the Pussy Award goes to...

...wait for it...




...wait for it...



...you got it...



...ME!


Royally SUCKED today.  The slowest, whiniest, overcooked rider in the group!  Why?   Oh lessons learned are...

1) don't eat 2 burgers the night before a ride
2) don't forget to hydrate BEFORE the ride
3) if the temp is over 70 at 7am, it's most likely going to be 80+ at ride time
4) if temp is 80+ on a ride planned for Arcadia, don't ride
5) DON'T ride the Breakheart Trail in reverse direction (clockwise), too many climbs

Of course the other riders, Tom, Bruce, John, Skip, Rex, Mark, and Alphonso were gracious enough to put up with Mr. Slowpoke the Baby!  Thanks guys, you are too kind. 


The route...

Happy Trails,

OMMB

Another One

Notes: Another nice loop on the Carr Pond side with Bruce, Richard, John, Paul, and Rex.  Unfortunately John blew out his rear tire, loudly I might add, on Foster's Folly.  Right through the sidewall.  They patched it up with some sort of plastic or rubber.  We assume he made it back to the trailhead, haven't heard from him since.  ;) 

Happy Trails,

OMMB

Dr. John's Loop

Notes: Joined John at Hopkins Hill lot for an enjoyable spin around Carr Pond.  We ran into the NEMBA crew over on Slab Rock Trail, which parallels the "contested" trail where someone has been barricading the entrance.  They were out measuring a route for the upcoming Big River Fun Ride. Well, wouldn't ya know, the Slab Rock Trail was blocked midway by some pretty big trees and branches.  Go figure.  It's not private property, so the mystery continues.  We helped Steve O's crew move the stuff aside. 

Happy Trails,

OMMB

...and then I went over there.

(trails are not very clear "over there")

Happy Trails,

OMMB

I went over here...

...with Jesse, perfect riding weather.

Happy Trails,

OMMB

Big River Double Shot Tens

Shot 1: Burnt Sawmill Road. A 10-ish mile ride on 9 May with Tom and Greg, plagued with thunder, lightening, and downpours. Yay mountain biking!

Shot 2: Hopkins Hill Parking Lot. Another 10-ish miler on 10 May with Bruce, John, Richard, Remi, and 2 others. Perfect conditions. Perfect loop. Perfectly tired.

Happy Trails,
OMMB

Arcadia Rock Gardening 101

Notes: So after a little "loosen up" ride yesterday, I figured I'd try riding with the group again.  I figured Tom, Alphonso, and John would go easy on me, considering my rib aches and pains.  I figured wrong.  What I got was a brutal 12+ miler on the hottest day yet.  Wow was I wiped, but what a great loop.  We started from Rte 165 lot but instead of riding the North side that I'm familiar with, we crossed the road and jumped into some real nice single track.  After some climbing, made our way over to the Browning Mill Pond area, all new to me.  A lot of real technical rock gardens and stream crossings to maneuver.  Especially on the "95 Trail" where Alfonso climbed to the top of one boulder only to endo and header into the next boulder.  Ouch. 

Happy Trails,

OMMB

Shake Test

• Place: Village Park
• Trailhead: Library
• Riders with OMMB: Jesse K9
• Miles: 5+
• Weather: perfect
• Trail Conditions: perfectly dry
• Whoops, Yikes, and Oh Sheets: no no no, that would HURT 

Notes: After a week of limited mobility and lack of sleep from that slam down on the ribs, we went for a short, easy ride to see how things would hold together.  Some extra pain when huffing and puffing or when on the bumpy stuff, but not too bad.  The Park trails are in excellent condition, clear and dry.  Get out there before the bugs do!!

Happy Trails,

OMMB

Whammer Jammer Slammer...or...Shoulda Woulda Coulda

• Place: Big River
• Trailhead: Hopkins Hill
• Riders with OMMB: Bruce, Alphonso, John, Richard
• Miles: 9
• Weather: perfect riding weather
• Trail Conditions: perfect riding conditions
• Whoops, Yikes, and Oh Sheets: here's where things were not so perfect

Notes:  We were on a real nice counterclockwise loop around Carr Pond, when on the very first mile, OMMB found his own version of J. Geils Band's,  Whammer Jammer.  It's where the front tire "whams" into a stick, and the stick "jams" into your front spokes...now my version of the song adds a "slam" down to the ground via endo, driving my left arm into my side.  Whammer, Jammer, Slammer people... also known as ...awe that f*in hurts!  And now two days later I'm still sayin, this mother f*in hurts!!  What is it with rib slams?  Is that much pain really required to let me know that endos are not what a 50-something year old gran-dude is supposed to be doing?  I get it.  But gees I wasn't even doing anything close to what these guys usually do, I was just riding, no tricks involved!  Just when you least expect it... Whammer, Jammer, Slammer!   

 
Tidbits: Of course all this pain could have been avoided if I had only taken Bob's offer to ride Swansea on Monday versus Tuesday.  Shoulda, Woulda, Coulda.

Happy Trails,

OMMB

They Route the Routes - Big River

Notes:   Another great route with the group.  They always seem to find new ways to get around Big River on each ride.  Only one "Oh Sheet" by Alfonso.  He was walking his bike over a very large tree that fell on a trail, and somehow flopped over the other side of the log without his bike.  The bike proceeded to endo on it's own, right on top of him! A tangled mess.  It was reminiscent of the time Mark did his very best Wile-E Coyote imitation.  Priceless.  Glad to be out again, since we had some soggy weather this week.  Forecast ahead is for 10 days of perfect riding weather!   

Happy Trails,

OMMB

Old Guys on Crack

• Place: Big River
• Trailhead: Hopkins Hill
• Riders with OMMB: 4 other old dudes
• Miles: 9, 10-ish
• Weather: CHILLY
• Trail Conditions: perfect
• Technical Level: technical as technical gets
• GPS Track:

Notes:  Nice gentle old men, right?  Wrong.  If you ever want to improve or brush-up on your technical skills, ride a few times with these guys!!!  They seem to thrive off the most difficult trails to "ride".  Each trail wears me out, but what a great time and a great workout, egging each other on for every challenging ob-stacle.

Happy Trails,

OMMB

Four For Five

Notes: Yes, 4 great rides this week. Given the events in Boston, starting with the senseless bombing at the Boston Marathon by a couple of maggots, I haven't been inclined to write any trail reports.  Will this be the last of terrorist attacks in America? Sadly no. But I can say, I am happy that...  1) Most people do not let religious or political extremism drive them to hurt innocent people.  2) Most people know that evil will always be defeated. 3) We live in a country where we're allowed freedom of thought and religion, without persecution. And 4) we have the police, military, and security forces to defend our freedom and bring extremists to justice (as disheartened as I felt about the bombings, I was just as proud that we had the means, provided by our city, state, and federal governments, to track down the cowards)

 
As for my trail activity...

1) Monday, perfect riding weather, 9 miles with the "Old Guys" and the "Thunder From Down Under" Chris W, at Big River Hopkins Hill...

2) Tuesday, perfect riding weather, 7.5 miles with Jesse K9, Bob, and Al at Village Park...

3) Thursday, perfect riding weather, 8.5 miles with the "Old Guys", at Big River Greasy Joe's...

4) Friday, perfect riding weather, 12 miles with the "Old Guys" at Big River Hopkins Hill...

Happy Freedom Trails,

OMMB

Hot Tuesday Ride

• Place: Village Park
• Riders with OMMB: Bob and Brandon
• Miles: 5+
• Weather: cloudy, drizzle
• Temp: 60 and rising
• Trail Conditions: a bit wet, a bit slippery

Tidbits:  Temps went over 70 today...Spring is busting through...

Happy Trails,

OMMB

More Old Dudes

• Place: Big River
• Trailhead: Hopkins Hill
• Riders with OMMB: 7 or 8, mostly grandads
• Miles: 11-12 eeesh
• Weather: perfect
• Temp: 55
• Trail Conditions: perfect
• Technical Level: intermediate
• Whoops, Yikes, and Oh Sheets: Yay... clean ride. But I did refresh my memory of how much it hurts to kick the handlebars with the top of you knee...add that bruise to the list
• GPS Track:
  

Notes: Back with part of the group that beat me up the other day!  This time a kinder, gentler mob.  A good long route, with some climbs and technical areas. I was kicked, in a good way, after the ride.  Added some new tracks to openstreet map. This place keeps growing!  Search "big river ri" on http://www.openstreetmap.org/. 

Happy Trails,

OMMB

Grandad's Punishment

• Place: Big River
• Trailhead: Greasy Joe's
• Riders with OMMB: Tom, Bruce, a guy with his cool dog, another guy, and a first time MTB rider guy (who had to bail out early, lucky shit)
• Miles: 8-ish
• Weather: perfect riding weather
• Temp: 55-60
• Trail Conditions: perfect
• Technical Level: Yeah technical
• Whoops, Yikes, and Oh Sheets: Too many flops to mention, all me
• GPS Track:
  

Notes: So once in a while I join the "old guys". Not really an old guy ride, but the leaders are old guys.  Half the group were grandfathers.  That didn't prevent them from beating up this grandad.  I honestly believe that someone in the group must have found out that I ditched my wife today, leaving her at home with the nasty sore throat, cough, watery eyes, head cold that I passed along to her.  My punishment?  To get beat to shit by old guys riding the most technically challenging route I could imagine at Big River!  Most of the trails I had been on many times, but these guys like to take the less ridden line...over rocks, climbs, log crossings, etc.  And if they "liked" the line the first time, they would go back and do it again!!!  SO if I didn't crash on the first try, I DID crash on the second.  I landed on boulders several times and took out a small tree, roots and all. Rode a few "new to me" trails...very cool.  Granted, I was a bit under powered due to the recent plague, but I was a train wreck!  Bruises, scratches, and damaged ego to show for it.  Punishment accomplished.

Tidbits: I'll be back with those old bastards soon enough (with body armor).

Happy Trails,

OMMB

Meanwhile, at the Park...

...about 8 miles with Bob at Village Park this morning...temp in the mid 30's, trails are in great shape.  Still some large trees across some trails...I'm sure the trail elves will get to them soon.

Tidbits: It's April... temps in the 20's tomorrow morning... shoot the groundhog!

Happy Trails,

OMMB

CT Connection

• Place: Big River
• Trailhead: Exit 7 PP
• Riders with OMMB: Jeremy, Dan
• Miles:12-ish
• Weather: to quote Alan W... "perfect riding weather"
• Temp: 50
• Trail Conditions: perfect
• GPS Track:
  

  

Notes: Met up with my favorite bootleggers from CT on a great day to ride.  It was Dan's return from his spectacular crash at Kingdom Trails last year.  He hasn't slowed a bit.  Jeremy was tearing it up as usual on the new Fat Boy 29er (whoops! I mean Tall Boy 29er).  The old "fat boy", aka OMMB, was lagging behind near the end of the ride, but all good considering what little riding was done this Winter.  A couple of memory lapses, but we basically followed our favorite loop on the Carr Pond side.  Seems to me...perfect riding weather is back from hiatus!! 

Tidbits: Dear Wanda has seen better days...

Happy Trails,

OMMB

A ride...

...with Bob and new guy Brandon for 5 or so at Village Park.  Had a good time...sort of a "break-in" ride for the Spring (and Brandon).

Happy Trails,

OMMB

Mucky Muck

Notes:  Jesse K9 and I went out for a little check up of conditions in Swansea.  After the quick melting snow we received overnight, if was far more wetter and muddier than usual.   Still got a decent ride in for 5.25 miles.  Jesse had a blast running through some pretty deep puddles on Bridges. Lot's of mud on J-Lo, Leap Three, and Graveyard.  In general, dog loved the conditions, old guy did not. 

Happy Spring Trails,

OMMB

Another ride...another gator

• Place: Marrington Trails, Goose Creek, SC
• Riders with OMMB: Teri, Sadie, Greg
• Miles: 12.5
• Weather: perfect, clear and dry
• Trail Conditions: perfect, clear and dry
• Wildlife: Gator Mom let Gator Baby lay on a log near the trail...a little camera shy, but I got one
• Whoops, Yikes, and Oh Sheets: Greg did his best impression of several "I can't clip out flops", entertaining
• GPS Track:

Notes: Another tour through the southern forest, looping the more technical side of the trail system.  Lots of fun with whoop-dees and variety of terrain.  The "Amazon" looked like the Amazon, not that I've been there, but it's what I would imagine the Amazon may look like....well, with smaller gators, no crocs, and a few bikers.

Look at the little mini-gator!

Happy Trails,

OMMB

Scoping Summerville

Cruised over to check out some wooded areas. Mostly flat dirt roads, good enough to ride. Hit some woods, hit some tar.  Should have stayed in the woods...got lost trying to loop back quicker by taking the road. Bad plan.
 

Happy Trails,

OMMB

Aaaaaaaa...alligator!!!!

• Place: Marrington Plantation Trails - Goose Creek, SC
• Trailhead: Naval Weapons Station
• Riders with OMMB: Teri and Sadie
• Miles: 9.5-ish
• Weather:  Overcast
• Temp: 70
• Trail Conditions: excellent
• Technical Level: easy
• Wildlife:  um yeah... see below
• Whoops, Yikes, and Oh Sheets:  just one "whoops" by Sadie...forgot to put her foot down
• GPS Track: GPS didn't track the first couple of miles, but I'll fill it in later...  http://www.trimbleoutdoors.com/ViewTrip/2150543

Here's the map... https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B5i71gqJB5xbTTBNUEZ4Tnl1ejg/edit?usp=sharing

Notes: Well if you look up smooth, flat, fast trails in the MTB dictionary, surely a picture of this place will come up!  Not to say that's a bad thing, especially when you're taking your daughter for her first MTB ride, and your wife hasn't ridden all New England Winter...this is a great place to keep the peace!  Fun, easy, winding trails with real nice southern forest and river scenery, very well marked.  The trail loops are long for a beginner since there are not many loop-back options, but the flowing trails make it easy to keep going, along with inspirational signage coaxing you on (the trail is also used for Navy Training).  We saw an egret at Mary's Landing, a dead mole (biggest I've seen), and at one point when I sped around a corner, from behind me I heard "aaaaaaaa an alligator" from Sadie.  I'm thinking, "she's kidding, right?".  Wrong.  An "Oh  my GOD, an alligator" from Teri confirmed it.   It was laying on the river shoreline, a few feet from the trail, I had cruised right by the thing.  So we stopped and gawked.  About 5 feet of unblinking lizard.  NOT what I would ask for on a trail, but cool to see in the wild.  Great time!!   (I believe Sadie did like her first ride!!)

Tidbits:  When there's too much snow to ride next Winter...drive South!   Oh and recommend padded bike pants to new riders! ;)

Happy Trails,

OMMB

Big River Big Mistake

Notes: K9 and OMMB ventured down to Burnt Sawmill Rd in hopes of finding ride-able conditions at Big River.  Wrong.  Well, mostly wrong.  The first few miles, which included Archie and that trail that follows Carr River, Out and Back I think it's called, were real good.  That was the last of clear trails we hit.  At the end of Out and Back, I took New London Turnpike towards the fork to Sweet Saw Mill Rd.  It sucked, pushed through snow and a giant tree or two down.  Tried to take the trail around Sweet Pond, spent more time cutting fallen trees and more pushing through snow.  Worst 7 miles I've ever ridden...no lie.

Good news, Jesse had a blast.  Bad news, another storm on the way....I'm not going back to this area for a good long time!

Tidbits:  Had the pleasure of helping out some of our National Guard who got their van stuck getting ready for a training exercise tomorrow.  They had unlocked the gate on Burnt Sawmill Rd so I was able to 4x4 down to them and help get them out.  They were very appreciative...wooraa.  

Archie survived the winter, even sporting a new sandal necklace.

Sweet Sawmill Rd

Trail around Sweet Pond...no fun.

Another biggin'

Happy Trails,

OMMB

Anyone got a lung brush...

...because I think a bird made a nest in my lungs over the extended snow break!!

Good news is... the Swansea Village Park trails are clear!  Aside from some typical Spring-ride type of mud and water, and some large trees down, all good.  There's even a new feature that the energetic Trail Elves put together using a downed tree.

It's skinny,
it's high,
it's NOT for this old guy!!!

Happy Trails,

OMMB and K9 (aka Jesse Dog)

...and hike (Copicut Woods)

Notes: Took Jesse to an area new to me, in order to scope out the trail conditions.  They were far worse than I expected.  Snow in most of the area, some places over 6 inches deep. So bad that at one point I actually lost the trail...just disappeared under the snow in the middle of the woods.   Used my GPS app to head straight to the nearest dirt road and headed back.  Gees.

Happy Trails,

OMMB

Can't bike...go hike!

Happy Trails,

OMMB

Finally...a leg stretcher

Notes: The East Bay Bike Path thawed enough to get a ride in today during "lunch break".  Mostly covered with trodden snow, slush, and ice but definitely worth pedaling...even if only to stretch the legs.  Headed out around Colt State Park and back to Warren, 8 miles.  Snow drifts and downed trees (believe it or not) were an issue.  I would imagine that a trail ride can not be considered yet...downed trees must be pretty bad. 

Tidbits: Haven't crashed on the trails all Winter, I ride the bike path and do a slam down trying to get through one of the snow drifts.  gees. 

Happy Trails,

OMMB

10 days and counting...

...one blizzard, 2 snow storms, one near-miss blizzard...

Happy Snow Trails,

OMMB

Beating Nemo

• Place: Big River
• Trailhead: Burnt Sawmill
• Riders with OMMB: Jeremy
• Miles:14+ (Jeremy did an extra 2, because he's Jeremy)
• Weather: the air was "moist", impending snow storm
• Temp: mid 20's
• Trail Conditions:  perfect
• GPS Track: http://www.endomondo.com/workouts/157467441/1559905

Notes: Out for a night ride.  Even though the days are a bit longer, at least half the ride was dark.  The air was very heavy, causing blurry vision experienced by both of us...strange effect.  We clocked a pretty decent pace with very few stops (under 8 min/mile pace on the 14+ mile loop).  This was a pretty kick ass ride...and regretfully I must say, "Barbie" beat the crap out of me!  

Tidbits: That stupid fish.  Won't be any trail riding for a while!

Happy Trails,

OMMB

Hello Margaret

Notes: Felt bad about not taking Jesse riding lately, so I decided to try this place out for a short hike.  Teri and I scoped it out last year but I haven't been back since.  It's a cool little place.  Great geology.  The issue is that it is on private land, BUT I ran into one of the owners and got the okay to use the trails.  I may consider biking around here to get the trails fully mapped. 

Tidbits: There's a monument provided by the family of Roger Williams at the south end of Margaret Rock. The rock shelter was named after the Wampanoag squaw who nursed an ill Roger back to health. It was here that, during that very cold winter of 1636 and with the aid of Massasoit, Roger spent 14 weeks following his banishment from Massachusetts Bay Colony and prior to his founding Providence (now you know the rest of the story).

Happy Trails,

OMMB

Crazy Eight Plus

• Place: Village Park
• Trailhead: Library
• Riders with OMMB: Bob
• Miles: 8+ at 8+ mins per mile
• Weather: overcast, snow flurries
• Temp: 25
• Trail Conditions: Fast and furious
• Whoops, Yikes, and Oh Sheets: Came in hot on that switchback on Two Guys, slid out on a stick on on the turn, whoops into a tree
• GPS Track: http://www.trimbleoutdoors.com/ViewTrip/2107169

Tidbits:  My 2010 Gary Fisher Roscoe 3 is moving to the West Coast today. Found a new home in the state of Washington.  Sadness...but that's the price to afford new stuff!

Happy Trails,

OMMB

Every New Bike Day is a Good Day

• Place: Big River
• Trailhead: Exit 7 Park and Ride
• Riders with OMMB: Jeremy "Tall Boy"
• Miles:14.2
• Weather: overcast, crispy
• Temp: mid 20's
• Trail Conditions: excellent... frozen
• GPS Track:

Notes: Great 14 mile loop around Carr Pond...good variety of trail and terrain.  Jeremy is tearing it up on a new Santa Cruz Tall Boy (carbon full suspension)...very sweet ride!  I neglected to get some pictures...next time!!

Happy Trails,

OMMB

Brickyard Pond - Barrington RI

Notes: Had a little time to kill, so headed over to the park behind the Barrington YMCA.  Chilly and windy heading up the bike path, but there's a nice little area for kicking around a bit.  Several small loops with colored trail swatches, a map can be found at the trailhead at the YMCA parking lot.  Although the map shows a trail circling the pond, I ran into dead-ends and needed to hit pavement to complete the loop.

Tidbits: Barrington has their own outdoor skating rink?  Lights and all?  who knew?   (east of Brickyard Pond)

Happy Trails,

OMMB