Trail Report...8/26/09 - Case Jr High

- Place: Swansea, MA
- Riders: OMMB
- Distance: 4.5 miles
- Weather: nice
- Temp: 70
- Humidity: low
- Trail Conditions: good
- Technical Level: beginner
- Hills: 10%
- Bug Report: low
- Wildlife: too dark to see anything but shadows
- Whoops, Yikes, and Oh Sheets: nope
- Notes: OMMB took a late ride and realized that ATK was right about bringing lights...can't believe the daylight is dwindling already! Ventured to some outer loops (yeah, great idea in the dark...NOT!)

Tidbits: would be a cool place for a night ride (with lights that is, wasn't so cool without them)

Happy Trails,
OMMB

Trail Report...8/25/09 (Welcome to OMMB Post #50) - Case Jr High

- Place: Swansea, MA
- Riders: T & OMMB
- Distance: 4 miles
- Weather: clear
- Temp: 80-ish
- Humidity: low
- Trail Conditions: very good
- Technical Level: beginner/intermediate
- Hills: 15%
- Bug Report: when you stop peddling...they bug you
- Wildlife: just this guy named John, lives near there, says a homeless guy lives in the tent near the pond and has a bike (OMMB wonders if the guy in the tent is named "John")
- Whoops, Yikes, and Oh Sheets: Whoops by T, clipped in uphill but oh-oh, toppled onto a very hard rock ledge...more bruises for the collection (could be another blog in the making)!
- Notes: Nice little after work loop!

Tidbits: yep...Blog Post #50

Happy Trails,
OMMB

Trail Report...8/20/09 - Cheeseboro Park

- Place: Agura Hills, CA
- Riders: Hector, OMMB
- Distance: 11 miles
- Weather: clear, dry, HOT!
- Temp: 195 degrees
- Humidity: ZERO (more like -98%)
- Trail Conditions: dry dusty hard-pack, some slide-out areas over slick rock
- Technical Level: intermediate
- Hills: 50% (climb up, glide back..not a bad upward grade)
- Bug Report: yeah right, they'd be fried to a crisp...it was REALLY HOT!
- Wildlife: Well they looked like a cross between groundhogs and squirrels (with heads), ground squirrels? Surprised they were running about...it was REALLY DAMN HOT!
- Whoops, Yikes, and Oh Sheets: Nope. Because if you hit the ground, you sizzle up like a fried egg...it was REALLY FRICKIN HOT!
- Notes: First time here for OMMB, nice alternative to the all out climbs in the area...but it was REALLY FRICKIN DAMN HOT! :)

Tidbits: One of the best things about riding out here...open bar at the Embassy Suites Mandalay Bay!

Happy Trails,
OMMB

And let's not forget the "cheesy" movie (a bit shaky, haven't mastered the helmet cam yet)...

Trail Report...8/16/09 - Big River West & Middle

- Riders: Alex, Chris, Patrick, Spencer, T, OMMB - Distance: 6 miles
- Weather: Sunny

- Temp: 80-85 and rising!

- Humidity: 71%
- Trail Conditions: good...some mud holes
- Technical Level: intermediate
- Hills: 15%
- Bug Report: skeets if you stop too long
- Wild life: magic hat (thanks Spenc!!)
- Whoops, Yikes, and Oh Sheets: Alex had an oh sheet (or two), Spencer oh sheeted into the river, OMMB oh sheeted into the river with an over and out (over the bars and out of the bike).
- Notes: Our friend from down under needs to lead a ride at Arcadia (hint, hint). Alex has surpassed Greg in the Mud points category!

Tidbits: Chris...thanks for joining us! (I still haven't figured out how you rode straight through that tree and only left your shirt behind). Alex...way to go, you didn't give up ("train kept a rollin, all night long..."). ATK...thanks for grabbing the awesome video!

Another GREAT SMGR (Sunday Morning Group Ride)! Be sure to catch the movie...

Happy Trails,

OMMB

Trail Report...8/14/09 - Case Jr High

- Place: Swansea, MA
- Riders: Anna, Mark, OMMB
- Distance: 3.8 mi (same loop as 8/11)
- Weather: Partly Cloudy
- Temp: 77
- Humidity: 66%
- Trail Conditions: moderate mud
- Technical Level: intermediate
- Hills: 20%
- Bug Report: moderate
- Wild life: G&T's, Beebop Burritos
- Whoops, Yikes, and Oh Sheets: good clean ride, just a few "wooo's"
- Notes: Intended to ride here on Thurs but re-planned due to the rain. T got stuck babysitting the howling lab and M&A were gracious enough to wait for the late arriving OMMB (thx!). Haven't grown tired of this place yet, we rode a nice loop for the time slot.

Tidbits: Mark rode (rid?) road and trail today...AND still had energy for G&T's! (go figure)

Happy Trails,
OMMB

Trail Report...8/11/09 - Case Jr. High

- Place: Swansea, MA
- Riders: T, OMMB
- Distance: 3.8 miles
- Weather: partly cloudy
- Temp: 81
- Humidity: 72%
- Pollen Level: low
- Trail Conditions: excellent
- Technical Level: intermediate
- Hills: 20%
- Bug Report: stupid deer flies were chasing and assaulting us!
- Wildlife: just some woodpecker
- Whoops, Yikes, and Oh Sheets: some whoops added to T's bruise collection...ouuuuch
- Notes: real nice ride at a good rate...just a great place for daily practice! Tracked by Nuvi 205.

Tidbits: Upstate New York has a real nice wine region...thanks M & A!

Happy Trails,
OMMB

Trail Report...8/9/09 - Big River "Middle" from West

- Place: West Greenwich, RI
- Riders: Alex, Greg, Patrick, Sara, Spencer, T, OMMB
- Distance: 6.8 mi
- Weather: overcast, but nice
- Temp: 70
- Humidity: nil
- Pollen Level: niller
- Trail Conditions: good but a few mud holes (good thing, otherwise Greg would be sad)
- Technical Level: intermediate
- Hills: 15%
- Bug Report: nillest
- Wildlife: just 4 motocross dudes stalking us
- Whoops, Yikes, and Oh Sheets: 1 yikes by Greg (I'm sure mud was involved somehow), 1 yikes by Sara (sorry I missed it), rumor of 1 whoops by Alex, 1 oh holy sheet by Teri (the up side of the ramp was great, but her front wheel "slipped' off the down side ending in a gnarly endo...yeah, ass over "T" kettle!!!)
- Notes: we followed a track from the OMMB archive that was well handled by all...even the rookier rookie! Another stellar group ride! All had a blast (or the smiles hid the grimaces)

Tidbits:
1) today marks one month until a 4th anniversary for T and OMMB!
2) a welcome back to Alex...still got it (and he even rivaled Greg in the mud lovers category)
3) tough ride for our newest, but she got through the whole ride with a great attitude!
4) we used T's Nuvi 205 to log this trail, it tracked great from inside the Camelback.
5) today's rewards...trail head brews from S & S and a clam boil at the home base.

Download the Google Earth File....https://www.qdrive.net/download/sharelinkdownloader.php?id=30262&key=GhX9tXP46mX3MqX6Cp452nx4OmN7tj86rhN

Happy Trails,
OMMB

Trail Report...8/6/09 - Case Jr High

- Place: Swansea, MA
- Riders: T, OMMB
- Distance: 3.5 mi
- Weather: nice
- Temp: 75
- Humidity: med
- Pollen Level: low
- Trail Conditions: slightly muddy, not bad
- Technical Level: beginner/intermediate
- Hills: 25%
- Bug Report: low
- Wildlife: just a little black and white woodpecker
- Whoops, Yikes, and Oh Sheets: nope
- Notes: went for a quick ride on the regular loop with some extra climbs thrown in

Tidbits: for people with very short term memory, weather.com has historical data (thanks T)

Happy Trails,
OMMB

Trail Report...08/02/09 - Big River West

- Place: West Greenwich, RI
- Riders: Greg, Mark, Pat, Spenc, T, OMMB
- Distance: 6.8 miles
- Weather: excellent
- Temp: 80
- Humidity: low
- Pollen Level: low
- Trail Conditions: good
- Technical Level: intermediate
- Hills: 15%
- Bug Report: low
- Wild life: ICE COLD beers at the trail head!! ("m o o n")
- Whoops, Yikes, and Oh Sheets: Pat, 1 oh sheet off a jump into the woods; Spenc, 1 whoops, 1 yikes; T, 1 yikes slide out; Mark, 2 unobserved whoops; all had yikes over the seesaw!
- Notes: First group ride in a while was a blast! Included a mix of old pros and young-ens!

Tidbits:

1) Something old - Patrick and Spencer ("the originals") returned for an epic ride and showed us how little rust they had accumulated!

2) Something new - Congrats to Greg for surviving his first MTB ride...he was willing to try everything we threw at him!! (but why does he like the mud so much???)

3) Check out the movie (crank up the volume)...

4) And let's not forgot the Original Seesaw Sallie....http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6hWwpRLsbs

5) Then there's more video....http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=1B623E786503582C

Happy Trails,

OMMB

Trail Report...7/30 - Swansea, MA

- Place: Case Jr. High, Swansea, MA
- Riders: T & OMMB
- Distance: 4.7 mi
- Weather: clear
- Temp: 80
- Humidity: low (shocking)
- Pollen Level: low
- Trail Conditions: good
- Technical Level: intermediate
- Hills: 20%
- Bug Report: not too bad
- Wildlife: a chipmunk
- Whoops, Yikes, and Oh Sheets: nope
- Notes: some dingle-berries have cut trees down over some of the trails. looks like they are cutting property boundaries....oh boy.

Tidbits: there seemed to be some fussy sounding noises throughout the ride...but I'm sure it was only the squeaking from my bike (needs a tune up).

Plans: Second attempt for a group ride at Big River this Sunday AM...weather permitting. Come one come all... even if you're a chump Yankee fan who prefers to golf over MTB!

Happy Trails,
OMMB

Trail Report...7/26/09

- Place: Massasoit State Park, Taunton, MA
- Riders: T, Mark, OMMB
- Distance: 4.25
- Weather: HHH
- Temp: 85
- Humidity: High
- Pollen Level: Med
- Trail Conditions: Rooty...a little mud
- Technical Level: intermediate
- Hills: 25%
- Bug Report: med
- Wildlife: nope
- Whoops, Yikes, and Oh Sheets: none
- Notes: My second visit to Massasoit...due to the morning rain, thought this would be a good (dry) place for a ride. Was not as impressive as the first time I hit the place for 7 miles. Lots of roots and not much variety...but then again, maybe the humidity made us fussy....

Bottom Line: Trails were not really worth the drive to Taunton....should re-visit Rocky Woods.

Tidbits: Holy Cow...Uncle Ed's Ice Cream is BETTER than Grey's!!!! (Thanks Mark!)

Happy Trails,
OMMB

Trail Report...7/22/09

- Place: Case Jr. High, Swansea, MA
- Riders: T, Anna, Mark, OMMB
- Distance: 5.8mi
- Weather: good
- Temp: 80
- Humidity: high
- Pollen Level: med
- Trail Conditions: it's baaaack...muddy!
- Technical Level: intermediate/expert
- Hills: 20%
- Bug Report: med
- Wildlife: no beer, no wild life
- Whoops, Yikes, and Oh Sheets: whoops by OMMB, slow roll off the bike down a hill (stopped, dropped, and rolled)
- Notes: heavy rain the night before mucked up the trails...again.

Happy Trails,
OMMB

Trail Report...7/19/09

- Place: Case Jr. High, Swansea, MA
- Riders: Patrick, OMMB
- Distance: 4.5 miles
- Weather: perfect
- Temp: 75-80
- Humidity: low
- Pollen Level: low
- Trail Conditions: very good, almost dry
- Technical Level: beginner/intermediate
- Hills: 15%
- Bug Report: some skeets when you stop
- Wildlife: a hawk (or falcon) took off from a stream right in front of us
- Whoops, Yikes, and Oh Sheets: one Oh Sheet by Pat; first endo this season resulted in a dislodged rear axle and a left hook to the gut from his handlebars!
- Notes: got Pat a nice intro ride to the area

Tidbits: 1. P & R were married at the waterfall near the trail head! (who knew???) 2. Happy Bday Pat - 7/18/09

Links:
Google Earth File: Case Jr High - Swansea MA - 4.5 mi - 19 Jul 09.kmz

GPX File: Case Jr High - Swansea MA - 4.5 mi - 19 Jul 09.gpx

Happy Trails,
OMMB

Trail Report...7/7/09

- Place: Case Jr High; Swansea / Rehoboth, MA
- Riders: Bob, Jack, Matt, Scott, Pat (not the musician, a girl Pat), OMMB
- Distance: 12 miles
- Weather: overcast, misty
- Temp: 75
- Humidity: high
- Pollen Level: low
- Trail Conditions: very good
- Technical Level: intermediate/expert (because of the heart rate)
- Hills: 25%
- Bug Report: skeets if you stop to long
- Wildlife: rare sight...a box turtle, Jack made enemies with a bee, 2 dear deers.
- Whoops, Yikes, and Oh Sheets: 2 whoops by Jack (slide out & where'd the trail go), 1 yikes by OMMB (half-endo on a stone wall)
- Notes: nice long trail ride, not too technical, but ridden at a fast pace caused a few mishaps (like ripping my shirt on a tree when leaning into a turn on a rock bridge)

Tidbits: most likely the last ride before vacation...see ya in a week and a half! In the meantime, ponder this ride from my West Coast friends (note the vertical profile)...

Happy Trails,
OMMB

Trail Report...7/5/09

- Place: Big River East - Hopkin's Hill
- Riders: T, Patrick, OMMB
- Distance: 5 miles
- Weather: gorgeous (could it be summer...already?)
- Temp: 80
- Humidity: low
- Pollen Level: low
- Trail Conditions: some mud & water crossings but overall, excellent
- Technical Level: intermediate/expert (whoops)
- Hills: 40% (whoops again)
- Bug Report: low (but tasty)
- Wildlife Observed: a turtle (painted versus snapping)
- Whoops, Yikes, and Oh Sheets: some minor whoops by T; some Yikes expected from Pat, but no go
- Notes: a real nice (read "technical") 5 mile single track loop with all the typical New England "good stuff"

Tidbits: Local music sensation, Patrick McAloon, joined us for his first ride in many (more like many, many) years! He really did unexpectedly awesome, considering the nasty trails his Dad threw at him. T nailed the ride too (glad Pat was there as a buffer for OMMB ;) )

Happy Trails,
OMMB

Trail Report...6/27/09

- Place: Bradbury State Park, Pownal ME
- Riders: T, Anna, Mark, OMMB
- Distance: GPS died, but from the map, about 7 miles
- Weather: only sunny while riding, otherwise rain all weekend!
- Temp: 70
- Humidity: high
- Pollen Level: low
- Trail Conditions: a bit wet for Bradbury, but good considering the rain
- Technical Level: intermediate
- Hills: 40% (sorry Mark!)
- Bug Report: plenty, couldn't stop for long ("hop, hop")
- Wildlife: chipmunks and red squirrels, cava, Gritty's ale, Dogfish IPA, etc. We know who doesn't have a wild life...Tammy the Ranger.
- Whoops, Yikes, and Oh Sheets: other than the occasional "whoooo", all had a clean ride
- Notes: we were lucky, the trails had been closed due to the rain. Tammy was considerate enough to open the park on Saturday. Go Tammy!

Tidbits: Great place for a camp/bike trip but be warned...they "strictly enforce the no alcohol policy" for Maine State Parks (we strictly enforced our right to consume alcohol in the State of Maine).

Links:
http://nemba.org/ridingzone/bradbury_mountain_2.html
http://www.state.me.us/cgi-bin/doc/parks/find_one_name.pl?park_id=12

Happy Trails,
OMMB

When it rains...it pours cava!

Trail Report...6/25/09

- Place: Case Jr High, Swansea MA
- Riders: Bob, Jack, Jason, Paul, OMMB
- Weather: overcast
- Temp: 70
- Humidity: high
- Trail Conditions: good, considering all the rain
- Technical Level: beginner/intermediate
- Hills: 10%
- Distance: 9.4 miles
- Bug Report: none (didn't stop long enough)
- Pollen Level: high
- Wildlife Observed: 2 rottweilers and a chick
- Whoops, Yikes, and Oh Sheets: none
- Notes: Jason the trailblazer took us on some new areas, great addition to extend the normal loops.

Tidbits: heading North this weekend...Bradbury State Park - Freeport, ME

Happy Trails,
OMMB

Trail Report...6/16/09

- Place: Case Jr High, Swansea MA

- Riders: T, OMMB
- Weather: sunny...FINALLY!!!
- Temp: 70
- Humidity: none
- Trail Conditions: excellent...surprisingly dry
- Technical Level: beginner/intermediate
- Hills: 10%
- Distance: 3.5 miles
- Bug Report: none (used a real smelly spray)
- Pollen Level: low
- Wildlife Observed: a huge snapper!!! (turtle that is) ...crossed a dirt road in front of us.
- Whoops, Yikes, and Oh Sheets: ouch...classic gear bite on T's calf!
- Notes: quick little last minute ride with T...good to see the sun again, so we took advantage.

Tidbits: Gotta see this (snapper-licious)... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gn8EQ0azXpQ&

Happy Trails,
OMMB

Trail Report...6/4/09

- Place: Case Jr High, Swansea MA
- Riders: Hector, OMMB
- Weather: overcast
- Temp: 70
- Humidity: high
- Trail Conditions: moderate mud
- Technical Level: intermediate (moderate pace)
- Hills: 15%
- Distance: 5.2 mi
- Bug Report: manageable
- Pollen Level: high
- Wildlife Observed: nope
- Whoops, Yikes, and Oh Sheets: nope...clean ride
- Notes: quick loop before sundown...started at 7:10 and finished in 1 hr

Tidbits: stayed away from any rock jumps or ledges...fearing Hector Knievel might strike again!

Happy Trails,
OMMB

Trail Report...6/2/09

- Place: Big River, West Entrance
- Riders: Hector, Ron, OMMB
- Weather: Rain at first, then cleared
- Temp: 75
- Humidity: high
- Trail Conditions: excellent
- Technical Level: intermediate/expert
- Hills: 20%
- Distance: 13.87
- Bug Report: moderate
- Pollen Level: high
- Wildlife Observed: Ron got chased by a deer
- Whoops, Yikes, and Oh Sheets: an awesome Oh Sheet by Hector "Knievel"...watch the video!


- Notes: these CA riders do not tire easily (riding up mountains year round does that)...and I'm a little afraid of their after-ride activities (see picture)

Tidbits: liquor stores are scarce around Big River, we ended up at Flo's for fish & chips...and pitchers of Bass!

Great tracks recorded by Ron on his iPhone ("there's an App for that")...

Google Maps Link

Google Earth File

GPX Track File

All the pix...
http://picasaweb.google.com/srebello417/TrailReportPix6209?feat=directlink

Happy Trails,
OMMB