Local Conditions

[CouchingTiger]

I've gotten out riding the past couple nights and ingeneral, if you can find stuff that is packed, it's great. Absolutely hard as a rock. There is a MESS of ice around though, which mandates stud usage.

We did a bunch of the MM Rail Trail from Bedford->Lexington and it was good, but pretty bumpy. Good stuff though and it was fun just to be out.

-Couch

[AA]

Last nights conditions were good, other than the traffic "incidents" it was good to get out.

I plan on trying ti ride the snowmobile tracks near my house on Sat, I will post conditions here.

[johnbryanpeters]

...other than the traffic "incidents"...
Please elucidate.

J

[AA]

After I looked up elucidate..............


e·lu·ci·date

To make clear or plain, especially by explanation; clarify.

v. intr.
To give an explanation that serves to clarify


Anyway, a yahoo in a pickup wanted to run over Hogboy and Mrs. Couch and was getting out of his vehicle before he realized Hogboy had a "wild" look in his eye and would probably fight dirty (or spit on him). Meanwhile the rest of us were riding up the road unaware of the pending fracas. We had the green light and the pickup driver didn’t like waiting his turn for us to legally proceed through the light.

Incident #2 involved some, lets see how do we put this........ bad riding on Couch's part leading us into traffic against a light. (I'm sure Couch has and entirely different version).

So we batted .500 for the night regarding traffic, not too bad.

[johnbryanpeters]

Need I say more?

J

[Adam]

Being in Austin, TX for 7 straight days of meetings, training, and evening functions wasn't my idea of how to spend the rest of January..so I came in a few days early to grab a rental bike & hit some local trails. Today's ride @ Rocky Hill Ranch (www.rockyhillranch.com) was a blast! Sunny, 55 degrees, & fast, rolling sandy singletrack weaving through the cedars. Tomorrow I'm hitting the local 'technical' trails on a rented Specialized Epic. It's not my own bike @ Lynn Woods, but January riding doesn't get much better...:)

Adam,

On behalf of everyone on this forum...kiss my a*#... :D We don't want to hear about your 55 degree rides. Now go find a partner, hit a honky tonk and kickback some Lone Star.

Your Texas ridesounds like a nice change of pace...good work.

As far as my local riding:

Went out this morning. 14 degrees, but feels like 0. I rode the Newfields side of Ft. Rock. Sleds and XC ski folk packed it down a bit. Some loose stuff on top but makes you have to earn it. Went out solo. It was worth it and there is a decent network of rideable trails especially considering we got over 25 inches of snow over the Holidays :-\

[Adam]

Winter riding @ Ft. Rock? Nice! Yeah, I really wish I'd been home this weekend, after reading about all of the great trail conditions! I'm itching to mount up the studded 2.1s & hit the singletrack. It's good to hear the snow has packed down finally.

Today a buddy of mine from work & I hit Emma Long Park just west of Austin. It's a motorcycle park in the hills & is a nice technical, multi-use trail network that reminds me a little of (get this) Lynn Woods. It's very rocky, has short/steep hills, and has challenging 'stair' ledges that are 1-3' high & some tricky spacing. Anyway, it's great to see the locals making the most of the terrain.
The old Specialized Epic was working overtime on the ledges & I missed the Uzzi.
Cheers,
-Adam

[AGENTGRAPE]

rode in arcadia this am a whopping 16 degrees very soft dry snow some icy patches if it werent so dang cold its pretty good trail conditions was not so fun breaking in new avid disc put at least i couldnt lock up the front brake. saw gp out in the distance on top of a hill but couldnt hook up. its good to see some other crazies out there too...

[AA]

After hiking my local trails Sat I decided to give it a try today. All the double track was packed and rideable. I could only find one singletrack that was worth trying. Managed to ride for an hour, never felt cold. I'd say that anywhere that gets enough foot traffic and or snowmobiles shoud be rideable.

[Sci Teach]

Hey there NOO....did you use studs out at fort rock??? was thinking about giving it a whirl tomorrow.....have you tried the Newfields rail bed....lots of snow machines...very packed out!

[knucklebuste]

Alright enough. -25deg F with wind chill in Worcester. Enough. Enough. Enough, I can't take it anymore. I need Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. Knuckle

Hey there NOO....did you use studs out at fort rock??? was thinking about giving it a whirl tomorrow.....have you tried the Newfields rail bed....lots of snow machines...very packed out!


Sci Teach and Adam -

By Newfields side of FT. Rock I mean the skimobile network of fireroads and double track. Heading off Watson Rd heading into Newfields (past powerlines). I DID NOT ride over to Oakland or Swazey...I wish it was rideable....I checked out the beginning of the BLT trail and it is not doable.

[AA]

The rail trail extention from bedford to concord is well packed and Estabrook woods is about as good as it gets for winter riding. The double track is solid as a rock and the singletrack is perfect, fast and narrow. If your local trails get a lot of foot traffic they will most likely be rideable as well. Last night's ride covered a shade under 20 miles in about 2 hours and no one died from exposure............. that we know of.

[knucklebuste]

Local conditions Worcester. -2 def F, -130 deg F w/ wind chill. Butcha, totally f'n butcha