Where'd everyone ride today?

[off piste]

It was the first freakin' day in a week where it didn't rain -- I know there's stories! Where'd everyone ride today? I went to check out the Holyoke Range State Park, AKA Batchelor Street, in Granby, MA. I did 3 hours and got my butt kicked by those trails, and I will be back! Think of what the FOMBA trails want to be when they grow up, or decide to rush it and take steroids, you'll have an idea.

[minkhiller]

I was lucky enough to hook up with the Julie McCoy of mountain bike rides in the White Mtns of NH. My tour was awesome. You know how you sometimes just hook up with the right people, in this case my tour director was patient, i'm slow and technically challenged and not afraid to admit it, but adjustments were made and I was blessed to ride terrain that suited my skills. Simply awesome, thanks Julie....ah, Rob.

[Goldstar78i]

I was riding on the M&M in back of my house. Sorry I didn't make it there Tele_mark.

I felt strange riding today, I'm not used to this heat. Now I feel exhausted.

[MissJean]

Nhiker & I went for a really nice relaxing sort of ride in Mine Falls Park, Nashua. Then rode home and grilled a steak and some potatoes sprinkled with fresh cut herbs from the garden. All-in-all a very nice afternoon. :)

But, ya know, even if I had to just ride around my yard that would have been just fine because it was not raining!!!

[TrailBate]

I hit the Trail of Tears today. It's amazing what not biking in over a week does to my stamina. Plus the ben & jerry's that I ate to keep be occupied during the noreasters didn't help either.

Awesome day, chatted with some other mtbers and 4 equestrians. Picked a million ticks off myself, and the return trip to my car seemed excruciatingly long.

Not sure where I'll go tomorrow.....

[huff'npuff]

I did the usual wimpy stuff at Borderland. Bridle path,Bob's trail,and Northwest trail,with 2 others that joined the Saturday morning novice ride. Of course, there was a little bit of bike & hike, but it was fun.
8.27 miles,and I am beat. Early in the season for me to go that far-even if it is easy stuff. the other two did just fine. A 76 y.o. guy ( cousin inlaw who's been a roadie all his life),and a young lady from the north shore in her early thirties,who is very much a newbie,but did very well.
I hope we can get more novices/newbies to join on other Saturday mornings. It was fun!

Harlod Parker with truckboy and kgoldswo. 3 hours

Got back to the lot and met some new bikers to the area, twin Trek 3500 hybrids with reflectors and bike racks attached. Did a 2 hour tour with them.

I can now feel my hair grow.


bill
going back on the couch

[Body2Big]

I rode a couple miles in arcadia this morning then rode a few miles on the street this afternoon.

Arcadi has some debri in the trails plus A few extra logs.

Shawn

[pjekyl1k]

I rode borderland today did most of the trails I thinked I past huff & puff and his crew I was on the muddy jekyll .. a few of the trails were singletrak\water and i dont know my way around so I had to keep on truckin thru..all in all it was good ride..

[gnurider1080]

my driveway since i had to fix my bike and i was busy for most of the day. im praying for the weather to be good tomorrow when i go to lynn for quo's birthday party.

[jsb2dc]

Dogtown. One really large (and deep!) puddle that was difficult to walk around near DT SQ., but other than that the place rocked!

[MTBME]

Did about 28 miles today, on the road bike. I went out of my way to find the biggest hills in Groton, Westford and Carlisle. Good ride to shake out the cob webs. Thought I'd let the trails dry out a bit. Rain in the forecast for Sunday. We'll see. Monday will find me on the full suspension somewhere.

[splat]

did the Minutman Bike trail back and forth with my son.

[huff'npuff]

I rode borderland today did most of the trails I thinked I past huff & puff and his crew I was on the muddy jekyll .. a few of the trails were singletrakwater and i dont know my way around so I had to keep on truckin thru..all in all it was good ride..


pjekyl1k,
Yep, that was us.

[Slider]

Jisch, DNA and I rode at the Snip. All the winter mud has packed, so the place is a lot less jarring than it is in late summer. 2.5 hours, 18 miles. Three leg cramps.

Slider

[BigMac]

It was the first freakin' day in a week where it didn't rain -- I know there's stories! Where'd everyone ride today? I went to check out the Holyoke Range State Park, AKA Batchelor Street, in Granby, MA. I did 3 hours and got my butt kicked by those trails, and I will be back! Think of what the FOMBA trails want to be when they grow up, or decide to rush it and take steroids, you'll have an idea.

Glad to hear that you went out and ckecked the "Batch"
are those trails nice or what?... do you know which trails you rode? you need to check out missing persons-very cool.
Mark,

[off piste]

Mark -- I'm not totally sure which trails I rode, as I was guided, but we did do a brand-new trail. We must've been among the first to ride it, and 2 people were coming out on foot with trail building tools as we were starting. It was very similar to the new trails at Wendell -- lots of promise, but very difficult to ride due to the new condition. And quite challenging -- I busted a rear spoke on one switchback when the rear tire slipped and I sideswiped a rock.

All the "old" trails were beautifully broken in and well maintained. Real beautiful trail design. Here's the GPS map of the ride:

http://home.comcast.net/~wi1w/batchelor_ride.jpg

[radair]

I was lucky enough to hook up with the Julie McCoy of mountain bike rides in the White Mtns of NH. My tour was awesome. You know how you sometimes just hook up with the right people, in this case my tour director was patient, i'm slow and technically challenged and not afraid to admit it, but adjustments were made and I was blessed to ride terrain that suited my skills. Simply awesome, thanks Julie....ah, Rob.


Hey, who's Julie McCoy!? Were you looking at my butt and thinking perverse thoughts? Glenn, the pace was fine and it was great to ride with you. I ended up hooking up with another fun group and riding for 4 more hours. By the end my quads were cramping and I was toast.

Here's a ghost image on the long bridge on the De-enegizer.

[Z]

radair,
it was great hooking up with you after your ride with mikhiller... even if it *was* sloppy seconds! ;D As Don said, you are the energizer bunny.

The weather was fantabulous, and it was great to get out. Only, I am not sure I should have ridden that extra loop on my way home, my legs were toast and I nearly bonked! (Nothing a couple hefty doses of Advil couldn't fix, though.)

I guess I overdid it, thinking I should be up to a 5+ hour ride by this point in the season. But it's been a tough spring. My legs feel like it's early April! How about you guys?

Minkhiller, I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to see you. I was hoping you guys would swing by.

Z

[Jisch]

Jisch, DNA and I rode at the Snip. All the winter mud has packed, so the place is a lot less jarring than it is in late summer. 2.5 hours, 18 miles. Three leg cramps.

Slider


Photographic evidence...
Slider on a TOUGH up, he made it no problem:
http://forums.mtbr.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=80463&stc=1

Less jarring?
http://forums.mtbr.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=80466&stc=1

Jisch launch into rocks (tough landing)
http://forums.mtbr.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=80467&stc=1

Slider on Cheesecake - Steeper than it looks - I did a major endo after riding this...
http://forums.mtbr.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=80469&stc=1

John

[juiceguy03]

3 hours in Lynn Woods. 1 hour sort of lost and out of water.
Thanks to the couple I met who pointed me in the right direction, and especially for the water !

[aveski2000]

Almost five hours at Lynn Woods. A little over an hour directionally confused. Finally backtracked in the direction I was going in the first place. Moral to this story. Stay with the group. Thanks Greg for leading. BTW, pretty awesome riding.

[Superb Man]

Telemark and Big Mac,

This is the website for the mostly complete---very detailed color -coded map of the awesome trails of the holyoke skinner range (both sides of the notch, to boot!!1) Batchelor St and Earl's Trails! Enjoy

http://www.hampshire.edu/cms_html/Holyoke_Range.htm

oh, and I rode the DAR with some very good riders---nice trails in surprisingly good condition

Liam

[mcd]

upton state park...why is there no info on this on the nemba website?! I've been 2 days in a row just cruising around checking out the different ways to ride around it.

[minkhiller]

radair,
it was great hooking up with you after your ride with mikhiller... even if it *was* sloppy seconds! ;D As Don said, you are the energizer bunny.

The weather was fantabulous, and it was great to get out. Only, I am not sure I should have ridden that extra loop on my way home, my legs were toast and I nearly bonked! (Nothing a couple hefty doses of Advil couldn't fix, though.)

I guess I overdid it, thinking I should be up to a 5+ hour ride by this point in the season. But it's been a tough spring. My legs feel like it's early April! How about you guys?

Minkhiller, I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to see you. I was hoping you guys would swing by.

Z
I'll be back for sure, hopefully when you are in the area.

[minkhiller]

I was lucky enough to hook up with the Julie McCoy of mountain bike rides in the White Mtns of NH. My tour was awesome. You know how you sometimes just hook up with the right people, in this case my tour director was patient, i'm slow and technically challenged and not afraid to admit it, but adjustments were made and I was blessed to ride terrain that suited my skills. Simply awesome, thanks Julie....ah, Rob.


Hey, who's Julie McCoy!? Were you looking at my butt and thinking perverse thoughts? Glenn, the pace was fine and it was great to ride with you. I ended up hooking up with another fun group and riding for 4 more hours. By the end my quads were cramping and I was toast.

Here's a ghost image on the long bridge on the De-enegizer.


Thanks again, may your sunflowers be infested with frogs.

[EVIL BOTA]

I had my maiden ride on my Iron Horse today. Only thing I didn't like about the bike was....ME!

Fat and out of shape. I let my bike down.. Guess I'll have to work harder so I can please my bike..:)

[boingboing]

Ok Lets see here. Saturday went to vietnam. Broke my chain and was eaten alive by mosquitos while fixing it. I was so fired up it wasn't raining I totally forgot about the off. After shooting back to the car for the off I headed back out. 35 minutes into the rest of my ride I lost a caliper bolt wich caused my caliper to hit the top of the rotor tossin me over the bars. Not a whole lotta fun, but hey no rain. Sunday Lynn woods. Fun ride, the big hit held up like a champ this time. Weighed the bike in at 43# at the Topeak tent. Nice to meet everyone there. I wish I didnt have to work next weekend. I could have used those Harpoon brewery tickets. I ended up giving them to someone whos name I never cought. Hey if you read this have a blast and have one for me. Today Bachelor street for about 2 hrs. Tele-Mark from the looks of that GPS plot you found the new trail we built a couple weeks back. Its gonna be great once it packs a bit. John

[Mr_Cheeze]

Well, went up to Acadia NP in ME for the weekend, and my fears came to fruition: the bad weather followed us up. We hiked for 5 hours on Sunday in the rain and fog to the summit of Cadillac Mtn. Spotted peregrine falcons nesting in the rain. Spotted seals lounging in low tide... in the rain. Got a taste of tourist area, vacation weekend price guaging. (Maine Blueberries are so special that they cost more than gold bullion?) And drove home with the returning throng of vacationers in the f'n rain.

To top matters off, apparantly an electrical storm over the weekend zapped my DVD (brand new, but just past warranty period... figures) and VCR players. Piece of crap surge suppressor failed miserably to protect.

But hey, the Sox reeled off two wins over the Bombers. Some minor solace.

[Jisch]

Pulled off another ride on Monday with the daughter and horse...

http://forums.mtbr.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=80658&stc=1

Horse hucking:
http://forums.mtbr.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=80660&stc=1

We saw a lot of wildlife - turtles, frogs, beavers, a black rat snake and this little guy - anyone help me out with what kind of snake this is? It was 8-10" long.
http://forums.mtbr.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=80655&stc=1

[MTBME]

Timing is everything. I got out to the local forest, with some hand tools Monday morning to do some work on the kiosk. After a few hours I headed home, grabbed my gear, and headed out to Great Brook Farm in Carlisle. The closer I got, the darker the sky became. The temperature started dropping and thunder started rolling in. Crap. I'll turn around, head home and wait this one out. Hit a few downpours heading home and then the wife snagged me to go to Leominster to help my daughter move a bed. No riding to be had. But hey, the kiosk looks good!

FYI: I hope to make up for it tonight at the Lowell Dracut Tyngsboro state forest for a 6 o'clock ride. All are welcome.

[If_Rider]

Looks like an Eastern Milksnake. I had one living in my pool pump house last year. Harmless but freaked out my wife pretty badly.

[C.P.]

Nice weather, and trails were perfect up at KT (http://www.kingdomtrails.org) this weekend. Unfortunatley, I was so busy taking in the amazing riding, that I forgot to take pics to share.

[slapheadmofo]

I had 20 tons of dirt delivered Friday afternoon and spent most of the w/e turning it into jumps. :)

[truckboy]

Tour De H.P. Saturday and Great Brook with the G.F./Fiancee/Wife person on her new full suspension Monday. We got caught in that rain that turned MTBME around. Lot's O mud in the lowlands, but Keyes Loop, Beaver Loop and Stone Row were in great shape.

[flyinelvis]

Gordon College/Hamilton/Beverly Farms. Got stuck in a nasty spot that required riding about 50 yards in 12 inches of water but there was no going back. About 8.5 miles, no flats, slow and winded. I had so much mud on me my wife hosed me off before she'd let me go to the shower upstairs.

[NSrider]

Hey Flyine, I rode in the Gordon area on Monday morning. Great ride 2-3 hours. Love that area. Skeeters WOW. The other thing I noticed were the inch worms, I was covered at times with hundreds of'm. Anyone else notice them where they rode.

Anyway Flyinelvis, we otta get together for a ride sometime.

[BadDNA]

Headed down the road to take a ride at Hodges with some friends. Once we got there I decided to check out the dirt jump near the dam with one of the other riders. I took it a little too fast, overshot the landing and joined the over-the-bar club. I landed square on top of my head. I demolished my helmet and rolled in the dirt for a while in pain. When I was able to stand on my own I walked with my bike to the top of the dam and it happened that two park rangers were arriving when we got there. They called the ambulance for me and I got a ride to UMASS Memorial. Imobilized and on a backboard I got to sit still for what seemed like a dozen x-rays. Neck and back all checked out, just left with loads of muscle pain, bruises and a few broken teeth. So much for riding in the next few weeks. :'(

[slapheadmofo]

Man - that sounds like one scary crash!
:o

I hate seeing people land on their heads like that.

[flyinelvis]

BadDNA; Glad to hear you weren't hurt to badly! Sounds like a nasty spill! I busted a helmet last year on the street and now can't believe it when I see riders without them. NSrider, I live about 3 miles from that area and Im' always up for a weekend spin; I get home from work too late during the week. The skeeters were brutal but with all the rain that's going to be the deal for a while. You just have to keep pedling! The technical trail that runs along the north bound lane of 128 was pretty dry and the bugs were much less in play. I'll bet the sun of Monday morning had something to do with the worms. I was out early and didn't really notice them. PM me on Fridays when you're planning a weekend spin and we'll get together. There are a bunch of other local riders I go with and there is Tuesday evening ride out of the LBS in Manchester. Shameless plug here for Scott and the good guys at Seaside Cycle! ;D

[flyinelvis]

Hoo-ray! I'm no longer a newbie! ;D ;D

[truckboy]

Youch. Broken teeth. Not good. One of my worst fears. Sorry to hear it, but glad you got good care in a hurry. It could have been a lot worse.

[Quo Fan]

The perfect argument for wearing a helmet.

[BadDNA]

The perfect argument for wearing a helmet.


Yup, the kids outside the emergency room won't be riding without helmets any time soon. They didn't do much to clean up the blood, just the wounds on my face, I must have looked like the dead come back to life. Must've scared the crap out of them.

[gestematt]

Headed down the road to take a ride at Hodges with some friends. Once we got there I decided to check out the dirt jump near the dam with one of the other riders. I took it a little too fast, overshot the landing and joined the over-the-bar club. I landed square on top of my head. I demolished my helmet and rolled in the dirt for a while in pain. When I was able to stand on my own I walked with my bike to the top of the dam and it happened that two park rangers were arriving when we got there. They called the ambulance for me and I got a ride to UMASS Memorial. Imobilized and on a backboard I got to sit still for what seemed like a dozen x-rays. Neck and back all checked out, just left with loads of muscle pain, bruises and a few broken teeth. So much for riding in the next few weeks. :'(
[/quote

wow, thats nuts. glad to read you werent paralyzed or anything. i saw that dirt mound there sunday and rode over it but not at the clip you decribed. i actually did the airborne//broken helmet thing at a dirt jump some kids had setup at buffumville up the road some years ago. i was alone when i did it and it was not good. im fine now and hope the same for you.

[jerseygirl]

Well then the up side is maybe now those kids will avoid serious injury because they have seen what can happen in a biking accident and they'll be sure to wear their helmets.

Feel better soon.

[DVRider]

BLN Weekend
Rode Nam on Saturday
Lynn Woods MBAS on Sunday
Borderland on Monday

It's Wednesday and my legs still hurt!


We saw a lot of wildlife - turtles, frogs, beavers, a black rat snake and this little guy - anyone help me out with what kind of snake this is? It was 8-10" long.
http://forums.mtbr.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=80655&stc=1


Were you near water? Looks to me like a Northern Watersnake. Young one too, I've seen them a 2-3 feet long. They're pretty curious, I've had a couple try to get a closer look at me over the years!
http://www.greggofish.com/Northern_Water_Snake.jpg

More info on Northern Water Snakes (http://www.michherp.org/nwaters.html)

[slapheadmofo]

Just got in from a day/nite ride over at Swift River in Petersham. Some seriously nice singletrack out there.

[Jisch]

Were you near water? Looks to me like a Northern Watersnake. Young one too, I've seen them a 2-3 feet long. They're pretty curious, I've had a couple try to get a closer look at me over the years!



Yep, that looks like the deal. We were right up the hill from a nice beaver pond, thanks for the help. I did some searches and couldn't find anything... I probably should look beyond "Connecticut Snakes"....

Right after we saw this snake, my daughter scared a much larger snake on the other side of the trail (maybe 20 yards from this little guy) I didn't get a look at the larger snake but my daughter said it jumped off the ground and slid down the embankment towards the water. From the description, it could have been a watersnake as well. Given the thump it made when it landed (I heard it) I assumed it was a black rat snake.

John