[whale]

We just got back yesterday on a long trip from Silver Spring, MD up to Bromont, Canada and back hitting up various riding spots and resorts along the way. This trip was much better than a similar trip I made in 2006.

The final map of the trip with stops is here. According to the odometer, we started at 125,960 miles and ended at 127,683 miles for a total of 1,723 miles. We had a Jeep with a 5'x8' trailer and a bike rack that gave us plenty of space to each bring a DH/FR bike and a DJ bike and all our camping gear. Somehow, we managed to only drive at night for about 4 hours throughout the trip which meant plenty of time for drinking and campfire antics at night and riding during the day.

Each post below is a day-to-day account with some pictures. Enjoy. I'm exhausted from the trip, but can't wait to do it again in a few years (next year, it will be BC again).

 

[splat]

where are the pics ?

 

[whale]

Sunday night 07/27/08:
- Grill out food and pack up stuff to get ready to load into the trailer early the next morning
- Good food and beer to prep for the trip
- Went to bed early to get up early


Beer stuffed chicken

Grilled peppers, squash, corn

Bulgogi

 

[whale]

Monday 07/28/08:
- Packed up the trailer at 5am for a 6am departure
- Hit up 2 local dirt jumping spots in Binghampton, NY for some limited sessioning due to wet conditions
- Left Binghampton for Syracuse to ride a local freeride trail
- Drove up to Queensbury, NY to crash with some family
- Played Rockband late into the night... too much beer


trailer packed up at 5am, 6am departure...

Binghampton Dirt Jumps, Spot #1

Binghampton Dirt Jumps, Spot #2 (Jason railing berm after step down)

Binghampton Dirt Jumps, Spot #1 (accessed through the tunnel)

Binghampton Dirt Jumps, Spot #2 (by the river)

Binghampton Dirt Jumps, Spot #2 (Jason hitting a double)

Binghampton Dirt Jumps, Spot #2 (Mobius hitting a double)

Unfortunately, most of the jumps were wet at both spots so we only spent about 1/2 hour at each spot sessioning some of the dry stuff.

Syracuse Freeride trail (one of the fun drops on the trail)

Syracuse Freeride trail (Mobius hitting the drop, bad pic)

Syracuse Freeride trail (Jason hitting the drop)

Syracuse Freeride trail (sign at the end of a set of small jumps)

Syracuse Freeride trail (overlooking the quarry the trail rode around)

Furious rain on the drive up to Queensbury

Aftermath of cooler falling off trailer and getting dragged on 87 for about a mile

There were some casualties

Mobius would draw first blood after falling off a guard rail on 87 trying to recover a lost tarp that was never found

All in all it was a fun warm-up day to get us ready to the tons of riding we would end up doing. It was great to break up the long drive we made by stopping at a few spots to stretch our legs and ride. (PS: We later found out that many people have been getting busted for riding the Syracuse spot and fine up the a**, so be careful).

 

[whale]

Tuesday 07/29/08:
- Drove up to Whiteface and rode until the lift closed
- Hit some serious storms on our way out and headed for the Canandian border and made camping arrangements to stay in Bromont for 2 nights
- Set up camp in Bromont and grilled out steaks and corn and had plenty of beer, Wild Turkey 101, and Fireball whiskey to keep us company.


On our way to Whiteface

Whiteface mountain and a gorgeous day

This was my 4th trip to Whiteface and the first for the others. We had a blast riding a BIG mountain. This place has so much potential... the ledges is still my favorite trail with all those nasty rocky switchbacks. The pumptrack wasn't easy to access and was a bit disappointing.

Crossing the border into Canada

Good stuff to get the night going

 

[whale]

Wednesday 07/30/08:
- Got up early to ride Bromont all day from 10am-6:30pm
- We took one brief break for lunch and each of us had minor mechanicals and sat out a run
- Took showers back at the camp and hit up a local bar for some food, Canadian beers, and talked to some DH WC racers from Australia


Hello Bromont

Goodbye Bromont

We were too busy riding all day to take any pictures. Again, Bromont was a blast to ride. The WC was being held so one side of the mountain was closed which kind of sucked, but we rode the hell out of the rest of the mountain. The bridge to gap at the bottom was an awesome way to finish each run. A lot of stuff has been added to the park since I last rode it. We hit the big bridge drop leading into the monster jump, but never had the balls to hit it... it's really BIG!

 

[whale]

Thursday 07/31/08:
- Thunderstormed like mad all night and up until about 10am
- Got breakfast at a local cafe
- Packed up our camping gear and headed to Bromont at noon
- Found out the lift was struck by lightening a bit earlier and they weren't certain about when it would re-open
- Decided to head down to try and hit up Attitash for a 1/2 day
- Got to Attitash pretty late and talked to an employee who said they were closed for the day and uncertain about Friday
- Searched for a camping spot and eventually found a spot in White Ledge
- Campfire drinking and made the decision to skip out on Attitash and head down to Highlands for Friday


A TON of rain and the lightening strike of the lift forced us to abandon Canada and head back to the US. It was our only real "rest" day and we got a ton of rain dumped on us.

Somewhere in New Hampshire

Silver Cascade Falls

The Waterfall

From near the top looking down

Our NH campsite for the night in White Ledge

 

[whale]

Friday 08/01/08:
- Found the most amazing deli in Tilton (Anna's Deli) and got monster sandwiches that would be eaten for breakfast and lunch
- Rode Highland from 10am-4pm (thought lift closed at 5)
- Jumped into a local lake to "shower"
- Got groceries to grill out and camp in the Highland parking lot
- Grilled out and had some drinks and realized that that the park was open and lift was running until 7pm
- Too full to ride, we waited it out until dark... where we did some night riding (with permission from bike park staff)


The highlight of our trip was Highland Mountain Bike Park. It was so good that we decided to stay 2 days and ride. We almost stayed 3 days. They only have 6 trails, but they are top notch and loaded with some fun, big stunts. The pumptrack is amazing (fun in the dark too). They have an intermediate set of doubles in Sherwood forest as well as a big dirt jump park with tons of lines all over the place. They also have a huge slopestyle course that we didn't hit at all on this trip.

If you haven't been to Highlands, make the trip. Bring a DH bike and a DJ bike and you will have a blast! The park is run and built by riders and they all friendly. There is a full service bike shop, a bar, as well as a cafe to get some really good food. We plan to make another trip up to Highlands before the end of the season.

Unfortunately, I didn't get any pics of the trails or stunts because we were just too busy riding and never bother to bring a camera with us on trails. I do have a bunch of pics of the DJs and pumptracking in the dark

Highland Mountain Bike Park

The Slopestype Course

What happens when you try to hit a double in the dark with a crappy head lamp (Jason)

Jason redeems himself on the pumptrack

I got a little airtime on the pumptrack in the dark

Jason and I taking a break

A fun berm in the pumptrack.

I need a little PBR break (Canadian dry, 5.9%)

Pumptrack with long shutter

Pumptrack with long shutter

Pumptrack with long shutter

Pumptrack with long shutter

We had permission from bike staff, but don't ride without it!

I tried a few runs up to a double in the dark, but chickened out with memories of Jason's earlier attempt

 

[whale]

Saturday 08/02/08:
- Highland was so good, we decided to stay another day and spent the day rotating between DH and DJ bikes
- Got sandwiches at Anna's deli in the morning again for breakfast and lunch
- Hit up the pumptrack and the unbelievably good dirt jumps
- Rode from 9:30am - 4pm
- Sadly, packed up our campsite to head down to Saugerties, NY to crash with family


After becoming more familiar with the trails the day before, we were able to do a bunch of top to bottom runs. Our favorite trails were Maiden Voyage and Threshold. The staff was busy operating machinery to build out a new trail and to reroute and improve NE Style.

The highlight of the entire trip was probably sessioning the best dirt jumps we have ever ridden. It just might inspire us enough to rebuild our local spot.


Dirt Jump Park

Dirt Jump Park

Dirt Jump Park

Dirt Jump Park

Mobius whipping it

Local rider and builder showing us a line

Mobius DJing

Jason

Me

Jason

Me

Jason and I training it

Again, with Jason doing a no footer

 

[whale]

Sunday 08/03/08:
- Decided to make it more of a rest day and check out the local mountain that had lift access
- Did a handful of runs on Hunter Mountain
- Did a trail ride at Roundtop Mountain with a shuttle and getting a bit lost and doing some hike-a-bike with a fun double-track long descent
- Cliff jumped into a river to clean off
- Had a wonderful dinner and built a bonfire in the backyard


Sunday ended up as more of a rest day, but we accidentally ended up doing a bunch of pedaling on a local trail at Roundtop Mountain. Hunter mountain is a decent sized mountain with a lot of potential for DHing, but there weren't many trails and most of them were just trails running across the ski slope. Disappointing, but it looks like there could be a lot of potential there. It would be a good place to take a beginner who might be interested in the sport since they seemed to have a lot of bikes to rent as well.

Hunter Mountain

Random shed

The best discovery of the trip

The Bonfire

Nightsky over Saugerties

 

[whale]

Monday 08/04/08:
- Left Saugerties to hit up Diablo on the way home
- Rode Diablo from 11:30am - 5pm
- Home at 10pm


Our last day of the trip was driving from Saugerties to Diablo and then to home. It was another day at Diablo (we have been there many times). It was good to see so many riders (TONS of waterparkers) there on a Monday. No riding pics, just the last time we had to pack up the trailer to head home.

The end.

 

[mobius]

Everyone must go to highland mountain. If you are near it or within a few hours it is the ****. I recommend that you support their cause because this place needs to blow up. They know what they are doing and have a completely dedicated staff that all ride. I've ridden numerous resorts and never have I been to a place where everyone is so stoked that you like it and so stoked to see people riding their work.

 

[corey_rideDC]

as usual, thanks great write up and pix. you guys make vicarious living possible! highland looks amazing, i'm saddened that it's a 10 hour drive from va though.

 

[jmvar]

Wow, looks like a great trip.

Next time I will join you guys.

 

[whale]

Wow, looks like a great trip.

Next time I will join you guys.

no kidding! at least your trailer made the trip!!! :biggrin:

 

[Nick]

Looks like a great trip.

The highlight of the entire trip was probably sessioning the best dirt jumps we have ever ridden. It just might inspire us enough to rebuild our local spot.

Now you're talking .... get to it man!

 

[DORO]

glad you enjoyed Highland...hard not too!

ski high!

 

[mobius]

I'm at work and i keep staring at the pictures of the jumps. I just want to teleport back to highland and go jumping right now.

 

[narlus]

awesome trip report, one of the best.

sad to say i live ~75 miles from Highland and have never been.

 

[whale]

I'm at work and i keep staring at the pictures of the jumps. I just want to teleport back to highland and go jumping right now.

we can make it happen at 495 if you come out and dig... we need some rain though.

 

[whale]

awesome trip report, one of the best.

sad to say i live ~75 miles from Highland and have never been.

go this weekend!

 

[rockdrop888]

looks epic -nice skytop photos. i wanna go to highland so bad.

 

[narlus]

go this weekend!

well, i've got the Melvins show this sat, and the wife's got plans sunday so i am on kid duty...the travails of a music fan w/ kids...

 

[SpasticJack]

we can make it happen at 495 if you come out and dig... we need some rain though.

May want to hang back on that a bit until the HOT Lanes insanity is at least marked out/started. The construction will be coming pretty close to there and Church although word around the campfire is that they're widening via the median and the other side mostly.

 

[mobius]

May want to hang back on that a bit until the HOT Lanes insanity is at least marked out/started. The construction will be coming pretty close to there and Church although word around the campfire is that they're widening via the median and the other side mostly.

We won't be having any issues with hotlanes apparently. They are gonna come close, but very very doubtful the jumps will be affected.

 

[mobius]

awesome trip report, one of the best.

sad to say i live ~75 miles from Highland and have never been.

That my friend is blasphemy. If you love freehucking, you have to go to highland mountain.

 

[dft]

how did you keep your other bikes safe while riding?

 

[whale]

how did you keep your other bikes safe while riding?

we had a cable and u-lock... we also had a tarp to cover up the bikes when we left them with the trailer.

 

[dft]

gutsy. in whistler they would of been stolen pretty fast.

 

[whale]

gutsy. in whistler they would of been stolen pretty fast.

yeah, i'm well aware of the the risk of leaving stuff around in whistler... i always brought my bike into the condo when i was there and never left my bike out of sight.

 

[DORO]

I'm at work and i keep staring at the pictures of the jumps. I just want to teleport back to highland and go jumping right now.

if thats the case you should see the new NE style.

 

[whale]

we are coming back for some more columbus day weekend. the plan is to drive up most of the way thursday night and ride all day friday, saturday, sunday, and then head back monday with a pit stop or two on the way back to do some dirt jumping in NYC.

if you haven't been, plan a trip up there and bring both a DH and DJ bike. the park is exclusive to bikes and is open into november.

fyi, highland has it's slopestyle course open to the public:
http://www.vimeo.com/1759159

 

[hooples3]

and then head back monday with a pit stop or two on the way back to do some dirt jumping in NYC.



fyi, highland has it's slopestyle course open to the public:
http://www.vimeo.com/1759159

whhere in NYC are ya going?? Highbridge ? Cunningham?? both.. try to do both .. there are both pretty awesome..
Let me know when you will be here..perhaps we can meet up

great pics btw

 

[whale]

whhere in NYC are ya going?? Highbridge ? Cunningham?? both.. try to do both .. there are both pretty awesome..
Let me know when you will be here..perhaps we can meet up

great pics btw

we aren't really sure. it will be on our trip back from NH which is about a 9-10 hour drive back to DC. we will play it by ear, but would love to hit up both spots.

are there any concerns in each location regarding having a trailer of stuff? how close are the parking lots to the actual jumps so that our stuff doesn't get stolen?

 

[TankerX]

U can park right in front of highbridge jumps, cunningham is in a really quiet friendly family oriented neoghborhood which is safe to park in front of the trailhead. Most likely it'll be just riders in front so no worries.

 

[DORO]

we are coming back for some more columbus day weekend. the plan is to drive up most of the way thursday night and ride all day friday, saturday, sunday, and then head back monday with a pit stop or two on the way back to do some dirt jumping in NYC.

if you haven't been, plan a trip up there and bring both a DH and DJ bike. the park is exclusive to bikes and is open into november.

fyi, highland has it's slopestyle course open to the public:
http://www.vimeo.com/1759159

highland is open this up coming monday for the holiday. They have opened another trail of shaleighly. Its part of the new "A Line" and then reconnects into maiden voyage.

 

[whale]

highland is open this up coming monday for the holiday. They have opened another trail of shaleighly. Its part of the new "A Line" and then reconnects into maiden voyage.

can't wait! we plan on driving through thursday night and riding all day friday, saturday, sunday there! i hope the weather and DJs are in good condition.

 

[DORO]

can't wait! we plan on driving through thursday night and riding all day friday, saturday, sunday there! i hope the weather and DJs are in good condition.

weather is going to be perfect. been dry all week too for the most part.

 

[daisycutter]

dude that was a mistake. Platty is a great moutain to ride. Hunter is wear you take your family. If you make a trip to NY again make sure you hit it. The trip looked great I am married to two younglings and way jealious.

 

[Ctrider]

Looks like a ton of fun. Wish I had the fins for a trip like that!