Today's Ride

Took the new ride out for a shakedown yesterday with a couple of my buddies. We did a loop starting in Downsville, along the north side of the Pepacton Reservoir, climbed up and over to Rt 17 and stopped in Roscoe. Great roads with very little traffic until near Roscoe. The road on the north side of the Res has been paved in the last year or so and was very smooth and scenic.

We stopped at Roscoe Brewing for a beer then hit the hardest climb of the day right after that. It was over 5 miles averaging around 6%, but the real kicker was the 1.2 mile section that averaged 10.5% and maxed out at almost 18%!! Probably the hardest mile I've ridden this year, maybe ever.

The new bike is great fun, especially when we finally got to some gravel sections. It's definitely slower on paved than my road bike - mostly due to the rolling resistance of the tires - but I'm not sure how much slower until I ride it on some familiar roads and get a sense for how it compares to my road bike on the same routes. Going to be lots more gravel and dirt riding in the near future though!


https://ridewithgps.com/trips/38775502

billyymc wrote

The new whip...getting it out for a 62 mile loop near the Pepacton Res tomorrow.

Nice bike. If you want to come a little further north for your excursions, this is a good gravel ride in the spring:

http://www.farmersdaughtergravelgrinder.com/

MC2 5678F589 wrote

Nice bike. If you want to come a little further north for your excursions, this is a good gravel ride in the spring:

http://www.farmersdaughtergravelgrinder.com/

Thanks MC - looks like a fun ride...will check it out next year.

had a crazy crash on my mt bike ride yesterday
my son passed me on the trail and kicked up a stick into my front wheel
full endo but luckily it was soft where i landed except for a root on my knee
a bit sore this morning but could have been much worse

good times Z
I can't tell you how many times I have gone OTB...now i wear full pads regardless of the run/trail..

Did a 39 mile loop with 4,500 feet of climbing starting in Richford, NY today. Lots of excellent dirt and gravel roads - from smooth and fast to pretty choppy to a weed covered mess that was called Valley View Road. Hit a 16% grade almost right out of the gate, and put my tubeless setup to the test with a big screw at mile 4 (it pretty much sealed after I pulled it and spun the wheel but I put a plug in anyway).

It's almost embarrassing how slow the avg pace is, but until you go out and do that much climbing - with lots of it on dirt and gravel, and with lots of dirt descents where you have to control the speed rather than just let er rip - it's hard to understand.

https://ridewithgps.com/trips/39376135

Been riding with Neve a little bit, checking out the singletrack near our new house.  

She has a hybrid type bike — street bike with a front shock.





She said last night "somehow mountain biking reminds me of skiing. Can I get a mountain bike?"

She'll be good in sales I think.

indulge that young girl...

MTB ing is good for the soul

JasonWx wrote

indulge that young girl...

MTB ing is good for the soul

This! Even though my son doesn't ride any more he still talks about the rides we did!

Went out yesterday with the intention of doing one of my last big rides for the year - 110 miles with over 10k feet of climbing, with much of it on dirt and gravel. Probably 40% dirt and gravel roads, maybe more.

A buddy planned to ride with me the first 25 miles, at which point he'd peel off and head 15 back to the start while I kept on my route.

At mile 3 riding slightly uphill on a dirt road (Lamb Road near Maine, NY), two deer sprang out of the weeds just a few feet from us. There was no time to react. The first one hit my rear wheel and it's leg went through my spokes. The second one simultaneously hit my buddy square in the body. All four of us went down, with the deer that was caught in my spokes crying out. The deer got up quicker than we did and ran off in the direction they were originally heading. As my buddy and I were checking our bikes over (there was fur on my spokes and wheel, and I think my derailler hanger is a bit bent but not bad enough to worry about it yet), a guy driving a road grader who saw the whole thing pulled up and said "that was the craziest fuckign thing I've ever seen in my life!" The road where we were had been graded the day before so it was soft - neither of us really got hurt, just a few scrapes. We rode on, now laughing our asses off for the next several miles, thankful it hadn't happened on a fast descent on pavement.

Unfortunately I had to bail on my plan - at mile 25 after a steep gravel descent - the plug that I put in my tubeless tire last week was leaking. Must have pulled loose on the descent. I replugged it, aired up, and a minute later the new plug let loose with a loud bang. Replugged again and it seemed to hold, but at this point I was concerned that I didn't have enough sealant left to be really effective (and had 85 hard miles to go). And although I had a tube I didn't have a pump and had just one CO2 cartridge left. Hate to bail on my plan but it was the right choice. The roads will be there when I'm ready to ride that route. The tire is almost brand new so when I got home I took it off the rim, cleaned out the remaining sealant, and patched the hole from inside with a regular tube patch. Popped it back on with some fresh sealant and all seems good - ready for the next ride.

That's a great story!!!

billyymc wrote

The first one hit my rear wheel and it's leg went through my spokes. The second one simultaneously hit my buddy square in the body. All four of us went down, with the deer that was caught in my spokes crying out.

You gotta be shitting me.

JasonWx wrote

That's a great story!!!

... because it wasn't a tragedy.

Harvey wrote

JasonWx wrote

That's a great story!!!

... because it wasn't a tragedy.

absolutely  !!

bumps wrote

billyymc wrote

The first one hit my rear wheel and it's leg went through my spokes. The second one simultaneously hit my buddy square in the body. All four of us went down, with the deer that was caught in my spokes crying out.

You gotta be shitting me.

Haha...I know it sounds made up, but it's 100% true. When the deer came out of the weeds about all I had to do was think "oh shit."

We got lucky in the sense that it was on an uphill grade so we were going slow, and it was a dirt road that literally had the high center scraped the day before so we fell on softish ground.

I've come close to hitting deer on my bike on many occasions. It would be a shitty way to get really taken out - ripping down a descent at 45 mph and t-boning a deer.

billyymc wrote

It would be a shitty way to get really taken out - ripping down a descent at 45 mph and t-boning a deer.

20 years ago while mtb near Mount Tremblant, I came around a blind curve on a fast downhill and an adult moose was in the middle of the trail. Barely missed it and end-overed into the woods. Wasn't physically injured but almost had a heart attack when I saw the moose -- truly the last thing I was expecting.

Still, the deer's leg getting stuck in the spokes is something I've never heard before.

billyymc wrote

bumps wrote

billyymc wrote

The first one hit my rear wheel and it's leg went through my spokes. The second one simultaneously hit my buddy square in the body. All four of us went down, with the deer that was caught in my spokes crying out.

You gotta be shitting me.

Haha...I know it sounds made up, but it's 100% true. When the deer came out of the weeds about all I had to do was think "oh shit."

We got lucky in the sense that it was on an uphill grade so we were going slow, and it was a dirt road that literally had the high center scraped the day before so we fell on softish ground.

I've come close to hitting deer on my bike on many occasions. It would be a shitty way to get really taken out - ripping down a descent at 45 mph and t-boning a deer.

That's awesome Billy

Great story and I'm glad no people and deer were hurt, as far as we know. I almost t-boned a moose once in a similar situation, thank Ullr for brakes.

Meanwhile I'm just over here like:

My reactions to those sorts of things have been getting worse over the years. This is one minute after getting stung by a yellow jacket last summer. I carry an epi pen now.