We met McGRP01 in the lobby of our hotel, the Great Escape Lodge. My older brother and I had spent the day yesterday at the amusement park and village spending the majority of the day on our feet and ingesting foods high in saturated fat and yellow dye #5. Not the best way to prep for a day of riding.
After finally meeting McGRP01 face to face and doing the introductions to my brother (not active on Ridemonkey), we went to the parking lot and began our trip to the trailhead. It was a hot and humid morning, topping 80 degrees at 10am. We drove about 25 minutes south to Saratoga Springs and pulled up to the trailhead near Skidmore College. There we met the other two riders for the day, Treesaw and her husband Sq-Earl. My brother and I introduced ourselves and the got ready for the days ride.
I was on my trusty Yeti 575, my brother on a Specialized Stumpjumper, Treesaw on a Cannondale Jekyll, Sq-Earl on a Kona Cowan Singlespeed, and McGRP01 on an unknown brand singlespeed.
It had rained the day before and it was another humid day, the trails were sure to be wet. We started with a short ride along the road before hanging a left turn onto a dirt road. We followed this road for about a 1/3 of a mile when we came to another small parking lot. From there, we turned onto our first cut of singletrack, Pilgrim. Pilgrim was vintage Northeast singletrack, rocky, rooty, and twisty. The fresh rain kept everything pretty slick. We twisted and ran our way through the hardwoods, going up and over outcropped granite. After about 20 minutes, we came to the first climb; a steady incline doubletrack. Nothing too serious, but challenging enough to make you work for it. McGRP01 spun out on one of the rock faces. I took what appeared to be a good line cutting left to right across the trail. What I didnt see is this ended in a small pitch that I also spun out on. My brother, the dirty bastard, hopped up the trail like he was a jackrabbit. Sq-Earl also made mince meat of the trail as Treesaw, McGRP01, and I pushed to the top of the pitch.
Back on the bikes I followed Sq-Earl through the next section. He would turn around and tell me You want to go left here as he would launch of a rock booter to the right. Our next stop was to turn onto trail 107, another twisty section of rocky singletrack. By now, it was getting hot and my shirt had soaked through. The moisture built up on my glasses made it impossible to see and they quickly found the bottom of the pack. On 107 there is an excellent little downhill pitch through a brook. I watch Sq-Earl fly through it and then attempted myself with no ill effects. My brother made it a-ok as well. Treesaw had just wrecked there not that long ago (while carrying her first child) and opted to take the safe way down.
After 107, we picked up Bee which climbed to the tallest part of the trail. We found Christmas tree point where a lone pine sits the local club decorates in the winter. That was pretty cool. We then found a nice descent with a mix of 1 foot drops and light rock garden.
Finishing up 107, we did a quick time check; high noon. We had about 30 minutes left. Treesaw had busted two spokes and opted not to push it and headed back to the cars. Sq-Earl, McGRP01, my brother, and I decided to do a nice section called inner loop. This flat and fast trail flowed extremely well. You could pin in through the corners, even if they were still a little slick. It was on this section we found the most treacherous section of the trail. A gnarly rock garden with double fall line exposed rock face jutting oil and breathing fire. McGRP01 nearly lost an eye trying to tame this beast and in my unselfish ways, I dove in to rescue him. I ended up on my back but he was saved!!!
It was also on inner loop we found the monkey bridge. This six foot long skinny bridge was about 18 inches wide but the challenging part was the entrance. There was a small depression right before the bridge that was nice and muddy. I pulled up and nearly stalled as soon as I got my front tire onto the bridge, but managed to pull it off.
From there, it was a fast ride back to the parking lot. We ended up riding about 7 miles. This time I remembered to bring the most important part of the bike trip, the beer. The 5 of us uncapped a mixture of Circus Boy (Magic Hat), Porkslap Pale Ale (Butternuts), and Heinnieweisse (Butternuts). The best part of the trip!
Thats my long ride report. Id like to thank McGRP01, Treesaw, and Sq-Earl for schlepping me and my brother around and giving us a taste of what Saratoga has to offer. I highly recommend that if you are doing the Great Escape family thing, bring your bike and look this place up.
Check em out on www.smba.org.
After finally meeting McGRP01 face to face and doing the introductions to my brother (not active on Ridemonkey), we went to the parking lot and began our trip to the trailhead. It was a hot and humid morning, topping 80 degrees at 10am. We drove about 25 minutes south to Saratoga Springs and pulled up to the trailhead near Skidmore College. There we met the other two riders for the day, Treesaw and her husband Sq-Earl. My brother and I introduced ourselves and the got ready for the days ride.
I was on my trusty Yeti 575, my brother on a Specialized Stumpjumper, Treesaw on a Cannondale Jekyll, Sq-Earl on a Kona Cowan Singlespeed, and McGRP01 on an unknown brand singlespeed.
It had rained the day before and it was another humid day, the trails were sure to be wet. We started with a short ride along the road before hanging a left turn onto a dirt road. We followed this road for about a 1/3 of a mile when we came to another small parking lot. From there, we turned onto our first cut of singletrack, Pilgrim. Pilgrim was vintage Northeast singletrack, rocky, rooty, and twisty. The fresh rain kept everything pretty slick. We twisted and ran our way through the hardwoods, going up and over outcropped granite. After about 20 minutes, we came to the first climb; a steady incline doubletrack. Nothing too serious, but challenging enough to make you work for it. McGRP01 spun out on one of the rock faces. I took what appeared to be a good line cutting left to right across the trail. What I didnt see is this ended in a small pitch that I also spun out on. My brother, the dirty bastard, hopped up the trail like he was a jackrabbit. Sq-Earl also made mince meat of the trail as Treesaw, McGRP01, and I pushed to the top of the pitch.
Back on the bikes I followed Sq-Earl through the next section. He would turn around and tell me You want to go left here as he would launch of a rock booter to the right. Our next stop was to turn onto trail 107, another twisty section of rocky singletrack. By now, it was getting hot and my shirt had soaked through. The moisture built up on my glasses made it impossible to see and they quickly found the bottom of the pack. On 107 there is an excellent little downhill pitch through a brook. I watch Sq-Earl fly through it and then attempted myself with no ill effects. My brother made it a-ok as well. Treesaw had just wrecked there not that long ago (while carrying her first child) and opted to take the safe way down.
After 107, we picked up Bee which climbed to the tallest part of the trail. We found Christmas tree point where a lone pine sits the local club decorates in the winter. That was pretty cool. We then found a nice descent with a mix of 1 foot drops and light rock garden.
Finishing up 107, we did a quick time check; high noon. We had about 30 minutes left. Treesaw had busted two spokes and opted not to push it and headed back to the cars. Sq-Earl, McGRP01, my brother, and I decided to do a nice section called inner loop. This flat and fast trail flowed extremely well. You could pin in through the corners, even if they were still a little slick. It was on this section we found the most treacherous section of the trail. A gnarly rock garden with double fall line exposed rock face jutting oil and breathing fire. McGRP01 nearly lost an eye trying to tame this beast and in my unselfish ways, I dove in to rescue him. I ended up on my back but he was saved!!!
It was also on inner loop we found the monkey bridge. This six foot long skinny bridge was about 18 inches wide but the challenging part was the entrance. There was a small depression right before the bridge that was nice and muddy. I pulled up and nearly stalled as soon as I got my front tire onto the bridge, but managed to pull it off.
From there, it was a fast ride back to the parking lot. We ended up riding about 7 miles. This time I remembered to bring the most important part of the bike trip, the beer. The 5 of us uncapped a mixture of Circus Boy (Magic Hat), Porkslap Pale Ale (Butternuts), and Heinnieweisse (Butternuts). The best part of the trip!
Thats my long ride report. Id like to thank McGRP01, Treesaw, and Sq-Earl for schlepping me and my brother around and giving us a taste of what Saratoga has to offer. I highly recommend that if you are doing the Great Escape family thing, bring your bike and look this place up.
Check em out on www.smba.org.
Hit them up again tonight and they were really dry and fun!!!
