Today's Ride

This looks a bit nutty

Great view on my ride at lunch today

Wear your day-glo!

its not hunting season yet is it?

Coach Z wrote

its not hunting season yet is it?

archery season started last week in some areas for doe down here in peeyay

Coach Z wrote

its not hunting season yet is it?

Just bow season

don't worry those dudes can't hit anything

think regualr season (up there) starts last week of Oct

We have had a nice long stretch of excellent riding conditions.  I’ve been getting out twice a week, typically once mid-week for a night ride and once on the weekend.  Mostly SMBA, but Luther Forest too (like last night).  These photos are from last Sunday morning at SMBA.

This boulder field is my nemesis.  I have yet to climb it cleanly.


Lots of color showing.


Backstretch has its share of rocks and roots, but also some nice, relatively smooth sections like this:


Beaver flow along Backstretch:


Just a reminder of who’s really in charge here:


More color along Backstretch.

Adk Jeff wrote

This boulder field is my nemesis.  I have yet to climb it cleanly.

I can relate. One of our most technical local loops has something that looks alot like that pic.  I worked hard to where I could do 90-95% of it, but never got it perfect.

Nice pics.

This whole thread is fun.

Did you know it was Fatbike Friday today? On today's ride, I continued my flirtation with the fatbike. There is a new bike in my future, but only one, so I am trying to decide between the full suspension 29er (or 27.5...) and a fatbike like the Salsa Mukluk. Currently, the fatbike is winning. It suits my style and all the compromises are acceptable.

When I checked the Hinterlandian Snow-Depth-O-Meter this morning, it was clear that skiing was not in the forecast. But wait, what is that shiny red beast leaning so seductively up against the picnic table? Of course, it is that Salsa Mukluk I borrowed from the rental fleet at work!


After dilly-dallying enough for the frost to melt, I headed down to Buckwallow, our local awesome MTB center. I have ridden fatbikes in a number of situations but not on purpose-built singletrack. This was the final test. There, I met Donnie and Scout, my companions for the first session. Donnie is our bike shop manger and a fatbike evangelist. This guy has ridden every kind of mountain bike there is, and now, only rides a fatbike. Hmmm. To quote Donnie: "fatbikes are just so much fun!" Scout the dog just wants to go.


Donnie's current ride is a 2013 Salsa Beargrease. Very light, very blue, very trick. He is trading up and getting the 2014 carbon version shortly. I am plodding behind on a 2014 Mukluk 3, on its maiden voyage.


Buckwallow Cycling Centre is well known for awesome trails but also for the vibe created by the humble operator, Mike. Mike was out working on the trails today, so kindly left a nice note for anyone who showed up. Which seemed to be Donnie, Scout, me and some other guy and his elderly golden retriever.


We rode until there was no more trail. So we turned around.


Donnie had to leave early so I carried on solo. When riding alone, of course, you can take take awesome pictures of your bike. The big tires do take a little more effort in really sharp turns but also roll over everything. Hey Coach, those leaves and roots? ADK Jeff, those babyhead rocks? No problem on the fatbike. This is a nice smooth trail but we did ride some rough stuff.


Finally, it was time to head home. Woot, no hands!

Sick Bird Rider wrote

Did you know it was Fatbike Friday today?

Actually I did know that.  Ran into a buddy of mine at a school event Fri evening and he was just glowing about all the fun he's been having rolling through the woods on his fatbike.  Looks pretty cool, SBR, I can definitely see the appeal.  

Adk Jeff wrote

This boulder field is my nemesis.  I have yet to climb it cleanly.

I usually just take the singletrack to the right of that boulder field (dark brown soil in your pic). I think I tried going up the boulders once and failed miserably. Sort of fun in the other direction, though.

mattchuck2 wrote

I usually just take the singletrack to the right of that boulder field (dark brown soil in your pic).

Geez, what's the fun in that?  Actually that line's no picnic either, though I have managed to ride it clean on rare occasion (like maybe just once). The hardest part seems to be turning onto it at the bottom of the climb without losing momentum and stalling out.

mattchuck2 wrote

Sort of fun in the other direction, though.

Especially at night in the fall when the leaves are 6 inches deep.

By the way, rode SMBA Sunday morning, trails are in beautiful shape.  Doing a race 6pm tomorrow night at Schenectady Central Park, two 5-mile laps.  Hope I don't get lost this time.

With the crick closed for the season and my dad on a business trip, I could only ski one day this weekend which will be tomorrow at Hunter, so I broke out the bikes for the first time with my mom today.  We rode the Wallkill Rail Trail from New Paltz to Gardiner.  It was an out and back ride that was 12 miles round trip.  I got these pictures during the ride.

Still some snow on the ground in New Paltz.


Looking down the trail.


Shawangunk Ridge in the background.


Some cows crossing the Plattekill Creek.


Some ducks swimming in an unnamed pond.


Where we turned around to head back.


I didn't take as many pictures on the return trip and they are similar to the ones here, so I didn't post them.  It was a good way to start off the bike season.  With Hunter's closing day tomorrow and a trip to Six Flags in the works for Monday, ski season is winding down.

Yea - it's bike time in the low country. Still a lot of good skiing at elevation though. Maybe Tucks next week it's a clear day.

I like to make my skiing and mountain biking seasons overlap during the spring and fall transitions, but I got a late start on the bike this spring.  More accurately, I ended my ski season early when we went to Florida for the kids’ spring break from school, missing out on those last two weekends of epic spring skiing.  When we left for FL, there was still quite a bit of snow hanging on in the woods.  Here’s our backyard the morning we left:

No riding yet.


But the last patch of snow was long gone by the time we got back, and I soon got my first ride of the season on my out-the-backdoor trails.

Last night I hit Luther Forest on the way home from work for a quick lap or two.  I really like LF for early season riding – the trails are smooth and flowy, and they dry out quickly. Here  are a couple handlebar views of the trails.

Even after quite a bit of rain Wednesday, the trails were dry and in great shape.


It’s a late spring here in Saratoga County, with very little green in the woods on May 2.


I’ll probably hit SMBA and Spier Falls in the next week or two.  Reports are that SMBA’s already in pretty decent shape.  Who else has been out yet?  Snow in your woods still SBR?

Adk Jeff wrote

  Who else has been out yet?  Snow in your woods still SBR?

Those trails look nice. Snow - haha. Actually you can find isolated small patches here and there but the white stuff is mostly gone. The ground, however, is really wet and soggy. Buckwallow, our local MTB centre, supposed to open this weekend but they have delayed it for another week. Too wet. I have not ventured out yet, other than a brief ride down the driveway. That will change this week, the weather forecast looks promising.

On a side note, have you all seen the Strava Heat Map? I don't use Strava but this is a very cool way to see where people ride (or at least, where those who track their rides ride):
http://labs.strava.com/heatmap/#6/-120.90000/38.36000/blue/bike

I've been riding since mid-March.   


I finally bit the bullet and used my tax refund to buy that lovely piece of whimsy back in March. I said I'd never get one; couldn't see the point of buying a bike that was built for such a specific purpose, but man, is it FUN!!!  It makes the snowmobile trails feel like roller coaster tracks!  Plus we don't get enough snow for xc skiing out here, so this is my replacement sport.  

The ground's a lot drier and there's no snow on the ground now.  Just rocks and such:


(this is a photo from last August; it's not this green yet, but these are the typical trails out here in central MA)

snowmonkey wrote

I've been riding since mid-March.   


I finally bit the bullet and used my tax refund to buy that lovely piece of whimsy back in March. I said I'd never get one; couldn't see the point of buying a bike that was built for such a specific purpose, but man, is it FUN!!!  It makes the snowmobile trails feel like roller coaster tracks!  Plus we don't get enough snow for xc skiing out here, so this is my replacement sport.  

Woohoo! Snowmonkey is the first NYSBer to admit to owning a fatbike! I just get to borrow one every now and then. Good for you, they are tons o' fun and you should ride it all year.

Must admit, I am saving up for this - coming fall 2014:

Today's ride is vicarious. This, believe it or not, is in New York State - somewhere near Rochester:

THE LAND - Freeride Bike Park from David Royka on Vimeo.

If you, like me, can't even imagine yourself riding stunts like that, you should still support The Land. Click on their website, like their Facebook page. They want to know that people believe in what they are doing, and someday, they might open to the public.

THAT is sick!! ^^^^^

SJ, you ever ride anything like that??? I kow for 100% certainty I will never ride anything like that. Think I'll stick with my snowmobile trails here in CNY and call 'er good.