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long, hard, slow ride

narlus

Eastcoast Softcore
Staff member
Nov 7, 2001
24,658
63
behind the viewfinder
after seeing The Big Rock Show, drinking a half dozen beers, having no dinner, getting 4.5 hr sleep, then waking up, having two cups of coffee, no breakfast, and driving to unnamed location for some classic rock-infested riding w/ noted hammerheads Couching Tiger, PK and Alexis, i knew i was in trouble.

3 hours later, ~12 miles down, i was toast. there is very little in the way of extended climbs on these trails, but the ups that exist are the ones which send you into anaerobic conditions pretty easily. rough, steep, and very unforgiving to poor line choices. even the flat spots are nothing where you can crank away; i'd wager there are more wheelbase or under boulders on these trails than most anywhere i can think of, and i've ridden around a lot of new england trails.

the day was a bit cooler than it has been, and i was glad to be wearing tights and a long-sleeved jersey; certainly a far cry from the nice riding weather i've enjoyed on the last few rides. but in the first 10 minutes or so, after a huge in-the-red climbing effort had my HRM screaming to me that i'd just about hit my max (yeah, i've got the geek tool on, sue me), suddenly cool weather wasn't on my mind.

we gradually wended our way through some new stuff, old stuff, slow, stuff and fast stuff - the only constant was the familiar grey rocks, flecked occasionally w/ greenish lichen.

at one point we came across the only riders we'd see all day, a strange amalgam of freeride (fullface helmet, big travel transition w/ 66 as a fork) and old school (singlespeed 29" w/ rigid fork, but running 2.6" kendas w/ DH tubes). the rest of the day, the woods were our own. here's some shots of the proceedings:

PK on a small rock face:


alexis, on a 29"


couching tiger and his ever-reliable bullit, in a pretty neat wooded section:


PK on the up:


me, same place:


couch:


and again:


up over the roots and rocks:
 

pk

Chimp
Oct 3, 2002
6
0
MA
Hey Narlus,

Glad you didn't post all the pics of me falling down, biffing out, cutting my leg and generally riding like a spaz! What a nice guy you are.... almost as nice the trails you brought us on! Definitely the best MTB ride of the season.

Unfortunately, any health benefit of the ride was throroughly blown out of the water by ingesting massive quantities of fried clams at Woodmans -- real lard, baby! Couch's stomach is still burbling, I'm sure!

pk
 

narlus

Eastcoast Softcore
Staff member
Nov 7, 2001
24,658
63
behind the viewfinder
more photos, courtesy of PK:

couch, on the rock face roller (doesn't look too steep, eh?):

a couple of other angles:



me:


couch and AA:


couch (we took a few @ this nice little glen):
 

MMcG

Ride till you puke!
Dec 10, 2002
15,457
12
Burlington, Connecticut
Nice photos.

Those three guys are wicked fast.

cool to see photos of Alexis on his Waltworks

I didn't ride with him a few years ago at Bear Brook (NEMBA Roast and Ride), but he did his full loop and then some before our group of intermediate riders finished ours. And he did it all on an IF single speed so I knew he was fast as hell.

Where are those trails? They look nice.
 

narlus

Eastcoast Softcore
Staff member
Nov 7, 2001
24,658
63
behind the viewfinder
it's not, really, but that transition from rock to dirt can swallow a small travel fork pretty easily...we didn't get any shots of AA roping the calf. ;)
 

SkaredShtles

Michael Bolton
Sep 21, 2003
65,375
12,529
In a van.... down by the river
narlus said:
it's not, really, but that transition from rock to dirt can swallow a small travel fork pretty easily...we didn't get any shots of AA roping the calf. ;)
Camera is slightly tilted. I call foul. :D

They do seem to be pretty far forward in those pics. My seat would be around my throat on that rock.
 

narlus

Eastcoast Softcore
Staff member
Nov 7, 2001
24,658
63
behind the viewfinder
SkaredShtles said:
Camera is slightly tilted. I call foul. :D

They do seem to be pretty far forward in those pics. My seat would be around my throat on that rock.
that's the myth...most of the times you don't need to way way behind the saddle, or else you'll risk looping out when you get to the transition. unless it's really steep. :)

dfinn, these were taken in the 5th quadrant of the Zoskia galaxy. :cool:
 

SkaredShtles

Michael Bolton
Sep 21, 2003
65,375
12,529
In a van.... down by the river
narlus said:
that's the myth...most of the times you don't need to way way behind the saddle, or else you'll risk looping out when you get to the transition. unless it's really steep. :)
I don't know what you mean by "looping out" but I'd rather do that than endo any day of the week. :D
 

Skookum

bikey's is cool
Jul 26, 2002
10,184
0
in a bear cave
SkaredShtles said:
Camera is slightly tilted. I call foul. :D
aha he thought he'd catch us asleep at the wheel like when he has us click the link to all the obscure music nobody's ever heard of.:p

All jokes aside looks like some good ole fushuned rocky goodness you east coasters have in abundance. And whatever camera tricks you have in your bag you can never make it look as steep or gnarl as it looks from behind the handlebars right before you ride it.:)
 

stephanie

Monkey
Dec 7, 2005
308
0
East County via East Coast
Where in MA do you ride? I used to live in South Hadley (western MA), and seeing the woods actually makes me want some interesting singletrack to ride...made me remember how different SoCal is (seems as though I've forgotten my roots) :o:
 

mud'n'sweat

Falcon
Feb 12, 2006
1,250
0
I was a little worried this thread might not be safe to open at work based on the title. ;)

Luckily I took the risk. If I'm stuck at work and can't ride, pic's will have to do. Damn fine pic's they are too. :cool: