[JRogers]

I guess most tourists don't get up very early. Compared to the summits I've done out west, ours was quite late (it was a tourist type thing afterall, not in a big park).

Yeah, you don't get the thunderstorms and such that require an early summit. I actually find that waiting a bit in the east can help clear the fog and raise the temps more often than not.

Mansfield is a fun climb. but a bit ridiculous at the top late in the day in season. When I was backpacking last summer, I stayed at Taft Lodge on Mansfield. I was amazed at how many people just drove up. I really couldn't believe it. People looked at me and said "wow, you walked up?". I was thinking "Wow, you drove up?" I didn't bother explaining that I walked there from Williamstown.

 

[syadasti]

Today we rode the Waterbury trail system. Its a cool little trail system that has three main trails that start with a big main climb to the top followed by long, twisty, and technical descents to the bottom with some occasional rock faces and some pine forest riding sections. At the bottom you are treated to some massive waterbars and a few wall rides to play with.

It was a another hot and humid day. After some confusion where we were meeting we found that John already knew where the trails were and we met him at the gas station nearby.

We did the long climb up and started winding our way down towards Rastaman. John took a small tumble and a short time later when he was coming up and over a technical section with a rooty rocky roll down planted his tire in the wrong spot, went OTB, and knock himself out for about 30 seconds or so. It was pretty scary.

We assessed the damage and decided it was best that we escorted John back down to the cars, skipping Rastaman. We kept on asking him various questions to make sure he was not concussed and he decided to return to work.

Wish John could have stayed around for the rest of the ride (the red trail was great - super flowy, lots of rock face riding, turns, etc, I can't remember what Mike called it). There was a good technical DH section call the Meatgrinder too. Afterwards we finished off the ride with some random pine forest riding near the bottom in the flat section.

There is always next time - you gotta go again John. Will be a nice place to ride the Heckler when you get the new fork. You mentioned you can no longer get the tires you are looking for - maybe get some Kenda Nevegal 2.35s (thats what SC measures their geo fork and tire-wise).

Thanks again Mike and James for showing us around Stowe and Waterbury it was great! Pete says he likes Jimmz better than Piecasso's in Stowe - thank you for the food.

Wish Tony could have made Waterbury today - maybe next time.

John in the lot after the fall:

John's front brake lever:

Mike talking to John and Pete:

 

[syadasti]

Yesterday was another hot and humid one. We met with Johnnyru at the access road and took a short loop on Pilgrim while waiting for Tigg.

John told us the story about the trail system and the club and it sounded like a pretty sweet deal - you are lucky to such a big piece of land for so long. You have a lot to work with.

Tigg arrived and we hit the trails. There was a lot of variety - open, technical, and some climbs. A good mix of everything. Towards the end we even got to help burn-in some new trail off near the dam trail (forget the name of the new trail?).

We finally had a mechanical (first one of the trip) midway into the ride - Pete cracked his derailluer hanger in rocky section. I had a spare in my bag but we are down to one - hopefully we don't need any more.

Thanks again for showing us the goods and keep up the good work!

 

[johnbryanpeters]

Josh,

Hope I didn't slow you guys down too much. I didn't know I was flat knocked out for thirty seconds - that might explain why I don't remember the crash. My recollection starts with the discussion of riding out and the ride down. Thanks for the ride and thanks for looking after me.

J

 

[McGRP01]

Yesterday was another hot and humid one. We met with Johnnyru... Tigg arrived and we hit the trails.

Thanks again for showing us the goods and keep up the good work!

Fun, albeit short, ride. The heat/humidity was killer. It was great meeting you both, have fun on the rest of your journey!! Hopefully Johnnyru will add the few pics he took and I'll try to edit the helmet cam footage tonight!

 

[johnnyru]

Yesterday was another hot and humid one. We met with Johnnyru at the access road and took a short loop on Pilgrim while waiting for Tigg.

John told us the story about the trail system and the club and it sounded like a pretty sweet deal - you are lucky to such a big piece of land for so long. You have a lot to work with.

Tigg arrived and we hit the trails. There was a lot of variety - open, technical, and some climbs. A good mix of everything. Towards the end we even got to help burn-in some new trail off near the dam trail (forget the name of the new trail?).

We finally had a mechanical (first one of the trip) midway into the ride - Pete cracked his derailluer hanger in rocky section. I had a spare in my bag but we are down to one - hopefully we don't need any more.

Thanks again for showing us the goods and keep up the good work!

Josh and Peter,

It was great to have someone visit and enjoy the trails we've worked so hard on. Thanks for the kind words and here are the pictures I took...

I had the entire day off from work so I was doing trail maintenance before the others got there. This guy was hitching a ride on my rake...

We had to stop to fix the broken hanger.

Tigg sporting the club colors

One of the many technical sections on Bee

Tigg coming through

Josh and Peter giving it a go

Josh is trying it again...this time the harder line

Josh making it through the first time

Tigg on the big roller

If you're ever in the area again, don't hesitate to drop us a line. Enjoy the rest of the tour.

 

[johnnyru]

Fun, albeit short, ride. The heat/humidity was killer. It was great meeting you both, have fun on the rest of your journey!! Hopefully Johnnyru will add the few pics he took and I'll try to edit the helmet cam footage tonight!

yeah, I wish I could have ridden longer but I was wiped...too humid for my liking. Thanks for coming out yesterday Tigg.

 

[syadasti]

Yesterday was our "day-off"

First we started with a trip to Corning to the Museum of Glass. We saw most of the museum other than the shows they offer and spent about 3 hours there. Afterwards we walked across the bridge into town and had some beer and food at the Market Street Brewery.

Next we called up my cousin Warren who works as a licensed glider instructor at Schweitzer Soaring School for a glider ride. Their school is separate from their helicopter business and is actually owned by the National Warplane Museum now.

Afterwards we drove to Walkins Glen to walk up/down the glen. We've been seeing lots various vintages of Ferraris throughout the area as there is an international meet in the area (sorry no photos).

We finished off the day with a drive around one side of Lake Seneca and we had dinner at the Red Newt winery.

I think for our next day off we'll actually take the day off for the most part:biggrin:

Today's ride is Shindagin Hollow.

 

[syadasti]

Barry and crew - thanks for the smoking ride at Shindagin - the conditions were super fast and it was a good hammer yesterday. These rides in the middle are a good change from the rocky technical rides we've been on for the most part. It will be cool to check out Dryer today - see you then Barry!

Sorry no photos again, we are bad

 

[bluebug32]

I love how you guys just decide to hike Watkins Glen on your day off. You need to find a couch and some beer!

Did you have time in Ithaca? There's also an incredible bike shop in Geneva (not sure if you were up that way). Enjoy!

 

[robdamanii]

Today we rode the Waterbury trail system. Its a cool little trail system that has three main trails that start with a big main climb to the top followed by long, twisty, and technical descents to the bottom with some occasional rock faces and some pine forest riding sections. At the bottom you are treated to some massive waterbars and a few wall rides to play with.

It was a another hot and humid day. After some confusion where we were meeting we found that John already knew where the trails were and we met him at the gas station nearby.

We did the long climb up and started winding our way down towards Rastaman. John took a small tumble and a short time later when he was coming up and over a technical section with a rooty rocky roll down planted his tire in the wrong spot, went OTB, and knock himself out for about 30 seconds or so. It was pretty scary.

We assessed the damage and decided it was best that we escorted John back down to the cars, skipping Rastaman. We kept on asking him various questions to make sure he was not concussed and he decided to return to work.

Wish John could have stayed around for the rest of the ride (the red trail was great - super flowy, lots of rock face riding, turns, etc, I can't remember what Mike called it). There was a good technical DH section call the Meatgrinder too. Afterwards we finished off the ride with some random pine forest riding near the bottom in the flat section.

There is always next time - you gotta go again John. Will be a nice place to ride the Heckler when you get the new fork. You mentioned you can no longer get the tires you are looking for - maybe get some Kenda Nevegal 2.35s (thats what SC measures their geo fork and tire-wise).

Thanks again Mike and James for showing us around Stowe and Waterbury it was great! Pete says he likes Jimmz better than Piecasso's in Stowe - thank you for the food.

Wish Tony could have made Waterbury today - maybe next time.

John in the lot after the fall:

John's front brake lever:

Mike talking to John and Pete:

Holy sh!t, someone else actually has the same model bike I do? I've never seen another one on the trails.

 

[syadasti]

Barry - thanks again for the ride yesterday. Dryer road was a fast, twisty, and smooth change from all prior rides. I stopped by Trailblazers and they didn't have the Torq bit either but they too decided it was lubrication related and hooked me up with some drips of oil (thanks TB!).

Today we drove to Cayuga Lake and met my father's best friend and his wife for some sailing. He has a real nice sailboat and we had a great time. Awesome day off.

 

[Barry]

I'm glad you liked Dryer. It's quite unique. I went back and try'd CMP a couple more times. I just couldn't make myself drop off that bridge onto the roots with the rigid. Somehow on one try I nearly endo'd up the bridge. I'll take the Reign up that there for a try sometime.

Too bad I couldn't join you for the Prompton and Merli rides. Have some great rides!

 

[syadasti]

Yesterday we drove down from Horseheads to Merli for a laid back ride. Pete loved the trails and we finished in just over three hours. We decided to skip Prompton as we didn't feel like staying in the area. Instead we grabbed some sushi at Wegmans and drove back to my place.

Today we had a double header - Sourlands in the morning and Chimney Rock in the afternoon. Pete liked both trails but Sourlands was the most technical ride in the tour so far and he was frustrated in some sections, it being his first time there.

I got some photos from the giant glacial streambed at Sourlands.

So far we only had two notable mechanicals and some squeaky pivots on my RFX from the super dry conditions (I assume) - no flats!

 

[syadasti]

Final rides...

-September 7th (Friday) Ramapo/Ringwood, NJ 10 am?

-September 9th (Sunday) Huber/Hartshorne, NJ 9am? (Misc NJ Riders)

 

[johnnyru]

Awesome. What an adventure. It was great riding with you guys and getting a chance to show you our trails.

 

[syadasti]

Thanks again for showing us the trails John.

Today we rode the Ramapo-Ringwood loop for a little over 3 hours. Ramapo claimed Pete as he tried the very technical roll down section (by his own choice) I showed him. He isn't used to very technical trails like this and was attacking them too slowly. Momentum is your friend otherwise you'll eventually bury your front wheel between some rocks and go over the bars. He scratched up his nose, chin, and elbow superficially and slightly bruised a finger but also jammed his big toe very hard and pull the nail a bit - I think its just bruised and sore - hopefully we are all good for Sunday. We also got our first flat - Peter's rear tire almost immediately after the roll down incident. We rode about 11 miles instead of the full 16.5 mile loop - didn't hit as much stuff in Ringwood as I normally do on the loop - it hurt Pete to pedal afterwards and we did quite a bit of fireroad after the camp area.

Here is a photo at the look out pre-crash.

edit- Post crash photos from today [Saturday]...

He stubbed his toe twice today in NYC and the nail bled some...

We took the ferry from Hoboken to 39th St. and went to the top of the Empire State Building and then we took a 90 minute harbor/skyline tour by boat.

 

[syadasti]

Sunday is a rest/packing only day (no Hartshorne/Huber ride) as his toe still hurts quite a bit - bummer

Tour map:

 

[syadasti]

I dropped Peter off at the airport this morning at around 4:45 am.

It was an awesome trip.

Peter again said it was a trip of a lifetime for him.

I'm back at work this morning.

 

[syadasti]

Here are some photos of Frank's sailboat we sailed on 9/3. It was built in the 80s in BC: