Local ride taken for granted

[Jisch]

The closest real ride to my house is Shenipsit Forest (affectionately called "the Snip"). I used to ride here quite a bit, mostly when I couldn't find anyone else to ride with. Lately, I've been able to hook up, so I haven't ridden there in some time. In my mind its a rather non-technical XC ride. Slider and I rode there today. Wow. That place is nice. Killer hills, tons of rocks. We had a good time. I need to put the Snip back onto the list of places to ride.

John

[splat]

I've ridden snip twice and I would not call it non-technical. I foundit a fun place to ride . That is a Nice placeto have asa local spot

[Jisch]

I've ridden snip twice and I would not call it non-technical. I foundit a fun place to ride . That is a Nice placeto have asa local spot


It is very technical, my point being that its weird how much different things can be in my memory compared to reality.

If anyone wants a tour of the Snip - let me know, extra set of lungs and legs are recommended. Its probably 30 mins or so from the 84 exit off the Mass Pike. 20 - 30 miles of goodness.

John

[magruder2]

I always made a distinction between the Snip, Snipsic Lake area south of rt 140, Soapstone bordering rt 140 to the north and Shenipsit south of 190. Since the trail systems blend together, it really depends on where you park to start and end your ride. A lot of people refer to the whole area as the Snip.

Same thing with Bigelow Hollow, Nipmuck and Breakneck. It's the same trails merge together thing, different start points.

Bolton Notch and Box Mountain, etc. I'm sure there are a dozen other places that are grouped together.

[Jisch]

I usually park over off 140 by Hopkins Road. I guess I consider the whole thing The Snip. We do a quick loop across the road from Soapstone Mountain, but mostly I stay on the Soapstone side of things. Ever ride down any of the trails off the top of Soapstone - that's some technical stuff!

Truly a great place to ride though. The place does see a fair amount of MX traffic, some parts are pretty worn.

John

[ktmsx]

John... I was wondering where you were going with this thread, because if those trails are easy and not technical to you ....I would be curious where would be?????? there are a lot of trails out there you can take easy trails if you want but you can also get into some great stuff...Me and a friend went in Hebron last Friday..took a nice loop was going good until we ran out of daylight I am still waiting for a new bike, so it took a while on the old rusted out diamond back ...

[Jisch]

I would be curious where would be?????? there are a lot of trails out there you can take easy trails if you want but you can also get into some great stuff...

Here's the way I rate CT rides in order of technicality, from easiest to toughest. Of course there are easier rides than Salmon River, but I don't ride there (anymore).

1) Salmon River/Day Pond
2) Bigelow (select spots are VERY tough)
3) Snip
4) Case/Grayville
5) Westwoods
6) Middlesex
7) Chatfield Hollow

John

[Slider]

You mean, of course, you don't ride the places that are less technical than Salmon River, right. Wouldn't want to see that excellent ride disappear from our travels!

I'd place the Snip higher than you do, Jisch. It has a constant level of difficulty that gets harder as you pile on the miles, especially at speed. Forearm pump is a good indicator for me. The bars get a lot harder to hang onto after a couple of hours of that place.

There is usually an "oh ****!" line available at the Snip, though. REALLY technical places don't have those. At Middlesex, you can hit stuff going really fast, and have no choice but to hang on and hope. I think Case rates higher for that reason, too.

Besides - if any given spot isn't technical enough, you're going too slow. ;D

BTW - that is NOT what's happening with you, Jisch.

Slider

[ktmsx]

Where is chattfield hollow??????

[Jisch]

Its in Killingworth. I haven't ridden there in probably 5 years. The one and only time I rode there, I walked more than I rode - to be fair it was raining that day. I'm dying to go back and see if my tech skills have improved enough to be able to ride it. All rocks.

http://www.bikerag.com/images/MAPS/ct_chatfield_hollow_review.htm (http://www.bikerag.com/images/MAPS/ct_chatfield_hollow_review.htm)

Oh and I left Cockaponset off my list - put it in after Case and before Westwoods

John