Bark Eater Trail Alliance BETA!

Some Poor Man's DH action.....  PMD!

Had some great rides at Logggers / Lussi and Hardy Road last week, my first time riding BETA.  Kudos to ScottyJack and the other Barkeater volunteers for some great trailbuilding.  Lots of riding here, can't wait to get back.

Here's my trip report & photos:
Riding in the shadow of Whiteface: the Barkeater Trails

By the way, ScottyJack, way out on Loggers Loop 3 I came across an intersection not on the map.  Loop 4?  Future connector out to Cherrypatch Pond and Rt 86?

Goldenrod on Algonquin (Lussi trails):


Near the top of Good Luck (Hardy Road):

Great post Jeff, I can't wait to get back up there

whoa!  thank you very much for the kind words and endorsement!  

the trail off loop 3 goes past cherry patch pond out to rt 86.  techincal rock and not an offical trail.  

Gotta come back and ride All In on the east side!  And let us know and we'll hook you up w/ a shuttle run down PMD!

Flume trail system is awesome too!  Next up for us is Taylor Pond Wild Forest!!

thx man!  made me

Scotty is the Hardy Hour still start at 6 on Friday's?  Not sure if you move it earlier as the sun goes down earlier now.  Love my new bike and want to join in the ride.

I picked up the maps with my bike.  One silly question do the colors somehow denote how hard the trail is?  That would seem to me to be a nice improvement in future editions so a newer rider does not find out the hard way a trail is over their head.

ScottyJack wrote

whoa!  thank you very much for the kind words and endorsement!  

You bet!

ScottyJack wrote

the trail off loop 3 goes past cherry patch pond out to rt 86.  techincal rock and not an offical trail.  

I figured it headed out that way.  Future connector to Wilmington? (I knew there are significant hurdles to overcome, both regulatory and terrain.)

ScottyJack wrote

Gotta come back and ride All In on the east side!  And let us know and we'll hook you up w/ a shuttle run down PMD!
Flume trail system is awesome too!  Next up for us is Taylor Pond Wild Forest!!

Definitely.  My only regret is I didn't have more time to ride more of the trails.  All In and PMD look awesome, and what I've heard about the Craigwood trails sounds pretty great too.

I had in the back of my mind the idea of dropping by for the 6pm Fri Hardy Hour, but the timing for that didn't fit in well with family plans, so I rode a little bit earlier at Loggers/Lussi that day.  Would have been cool to hook up with you guys for the locals tour.  Next time.

Coach Z wrote

Scotty is the Hardy Hour still start at 6 on Friday's?  Not sure if you move it earlier as the sun goes down earlier now.  Love my new bike and want to join in the ride.

Z - First, congrats on the new bike.  Sweet!

The first bike accessory you should buy is a headlamp.  You will be amazed at how bright they are.  It will extend your riding season right to the start of ski season.  Lamps have gotten ridiculously cheap.  This one would work just fine (make sure you also buy the helmet mount):

4 Mode 1200 Lumen CREE XML T6 Bulb LED Bicycle bike HeadLight Lamp Flashlight Light Headlamp 


As a bonus, the headlamp can be used for nighttime ski tours (use the included headstrap).

Adk Jeff wrote

Z - First, congrats on the new bike.  Sweet!

The first bike accessory you should buy is a headlamp.  You will be amazed at how bright they are.  It will extend your riding season right to the start of ski season.  Lamps have gotten ridiculously cheap.  This one would work just fine (make sure you also buy the helmet mount):

4 Mode 1200 Lumen CREE XML T6 Bulb LED Bicycle bike HeadLight Lamp Flashlight Light Headlamp 


As a bonus, the headlamp can be used for nighttime ski tours (use the included headstrap).

As an owner of this headlamp, I wouldn't recommend it. Sure it's cheap and bright, but the beam pattern is god awful. I bought the 30° wide lens that is recommended with it on Amazon and it still sucks. It has to be the smoothness on the reflector vs. Magicshine's texture. I ponied up and spend the extra $70 (when I bought it, it was $40) to get the real Magicshine version. Link, Other Link.  Much, MUCH better.  Having a single light, one on the bars is good because your light source doesn't come from almost eye-level. That will give you no depth perception. But only having one on my bars, you can't see around tight corners. I've been using both lights - The Magicshine on my bars and the generic one on my head, which I think ended up being the best setup given the equipment I have.

They're definitely fun for nighttime skiing excursions.

SJ & Co. I think MC2 and I are headed to the BETA trails at the end of this month. I'll get ahold of you as we get closer to figure out if it's actually gonna happen or not. Really just comes down to if I have to guide. Things should be slowing down, though.

Good points Tbatt.  
I have the MagicShine, my wife and bro each have the cheap version.  To me they seemed identical.
Interesting that you prefer bar mount,  I prefer helmet mount, as I want the light to shine where I'm looking.  I've thought about appropriating my wife's light for a dual helmet/bar set-up (hell, she won't miss it) but the single light I've been using seems so bright that I hardly feel like I need duals. Goes to show there's a lot of personal preference that factors in.

It's not so much about brightness, hell, I usually keep my Magicshine on the lowest setting. I just like the bars for the depth perception, but want something to look around corners.

<quote author="Adk Jeff">

ScottyJack wrote

the trail off loop 3 goes past cherry patch pond out to rt 86.  techincal rock and not an offical trail.  

I figured it headed out that way.  Future connector to Wilmington? (I knew there are significant hurdles to overcome, both regulatory and terrain.)

We haven't figured out which side of 86 to connect W-town to LP yet.  there is an old road that leaves WF and climbs around Sunrise Mtn dropping into the WF landing area that has better soils/less wetlands....

Adk Jeff wrote

<

ScottyJack wrote

Gotta come back and ride All In on the east side!  And let us know and we'll hook you up w/ a shuttle run down PMD!
Flume trail system is awesome too!  Next up for us is Taylor Pond Wild Forest!!

Definitely.  My only regret is I didn't have more time to ride more of the trails.  All In and PMD look awesome, and what I've heard about the Craigwood trails sounds pretty great too.

Craigwood is sweet.  fastflow.  the climb up from river road is a heart pumper.  linking w/ lussi/logger makes for a good day of riding.

Flume trails are excellent too.  Some old school rocky stuff and some sweet switchbacked climbing.  We link into PMD through the Reservoir trail and that makes for one hell of a day.

tBatt wrote

<
SJ & Co. I think MC2 and I are headed to the BETA trails at the end of this month. I'll get ahold of you as we get closer to figure out if it's actually gonna happen or not. Really just comes down to if I have to guide. Things should be slowing down, though.

Cool.  We do bigger rides on SundayFunday.  We're up for a tour of Wilmington at some point.  We ride everything in town.  w/ beer stops and stuff it's usually a 5-6 hour ride - unless of course we throw in CooperKlin Pond.

Coach Z wrote

Scotty is the Hardy Hour still start at 6 on Friday's?  Not sure if you move it earlier as the sun goes down earlier now.  Love my new bike and want to join in the ride.

I picked up the maps with my bike.  One silly question do the colors somehow denote how hard the trail is?  That would seem to me to be a nice improvement in future editions so a newer rider does not find out the hard way a trail is over their head.

Missed this one!  Sorry coach.  People do leave earlier than 6 at Hardy Hour.  We ride a loop on the west side and then come back to the parking lot to hook w/ the crew.  Swing out this Friday.  

Got some business travel this week so I'm not sure I'll make it.  I think i need to ride some more by myself and get better beefore I ride with a group.  I bashed my forearm yesterday when my front wheel got stuck in a rut.  Ouch!  

I've now fallen twice pretty hard in a week and had not ever fallen off my rode bike in 10K+ miles.  I can only recall falling a few times with my old hard tail.  Does a FS 29er = more crashes?

Most mountain bikers I know walk around with bruises dotting there body.   Its get better but never goes away.  chicks dig scars

I was cruising along really enjoying a slight downhill section and whammo I hit the ground with my forearm whacking a log

I fall maybe a couple times a whole ski season and twice in my 1st week with my new bike

I may need to think about some protective gear

if you can, do some group rides - you'll improve drastically quicker just riding behind and watching more skilled riders and picking up a few pointers along the way. body position and technique are as important in mtb as they are in skiing and not always intuitive - elbows up, ass back and flick those feet!

Coach Z wrote

I bashed my forearm yesterday when my front wheel got stuck in a rut.  Ouch!  

It ain't a ride if there's no blood.  Now quit your whinin' and take Gorgo's advice - get out there and ride with some other strong riders (I think I said it too in that other thread).

mtn biking is way harder than skiing!  And chicks really do dig scars!