This will be a short one...just got back from Vassar Farms.
For those of you unfamiliar with Vassar, it is a small trail network in Poughkeepsie New York and generally doesn't warrant a ride report (just not exciting enough).
But here is the twist. My regular trail bike (Yeti 575) is out of commission with a wrecked rear derailleur. Today is the first day in about 3 weeks where it isn't raining of overcast. So I'd be damned if I wouldn't get a ride in today. So I pulled out the DH bike for some trail riding, at least I would get a good workout.
And a good workout I got. My lower back is killing me, too much out of the saddle riding. And it is certainly different trying to push a 45 lb beast through twisty singletrack and rooty climbs.
I started off in a relatively flat section that has great flowing singletrack. This part wasn't bad, except for the one time I got a little too far forward and smashed my knee on the upper crown of my fork. That hurt.
Then I went to the first climb, not long but with all the rain it was muddy and the rooty section made it a difficult climb. Being out of the saddle caused a lot of spinning on roots.
I then came to the next section which is more twisty singletrack. It's unfortunate this section is a little overgrown. There is a nice little decent which was a lot more fun with the big tires and extra travel.
I then came up to the section with spurs to some freeride stunts. The first one has a bit of a ramp and I usually don't have any problems with the yeti. But the softer rear shock and lower bb caused me to catch my pedal just as I was coming to the top of the ramp and almost through me off. I managed this bridge with some creative use of trees.
The next spur was "Blair" with a bridge about 10 feet above the ground. The entrance is a flat bridge off a cliff, about 2.5 feet wide. It goes out to a platform with 90 degree right turn down a 2.5 foot wide ramp on a fairly steep decline. I made it out ok and just as I was making the turn on the platform, something felt all wrong and I stopped dead. I hate that.
So that was my ride today. A helluva workout and some extra challenge on what is normally a fairly uneventful ride.
Dog
For those of you unfamiliar with Vassar, it is a small trail network in Poughkeepsie New York and generally doesn't warrant a ride report (just not exciting enough).
But here is the twist. My regular trail bike (Yeti 575) is out of commission with a wrecked rear derailleur. Today is the first day in about 3 weeks where it isn't raining of overcast. So I'd be damned if I wouldn't get a ride in today. So I pulled out the DH bike for some trail riding, at least I would get a good workout.
And a good workout I got. My lower back is killing me, too much out of the saddle riding. And it is certainly different trying to push a 45 lb beast through twisty singletrack and rooty climbs.
I started off in a relatively flat section that has great flowing singletrack. This part wasn't bad, except for the one time I got a little too far forward and smashed my knee on the upper crown of my fork. That hurt.
Then I went to the first climb, not long but with all the rain it was muddy and the rooty section made it a difficult climb. Being out of the saddle caused a lot of spinning on roots.
I then came to the next section which is more twisty singletrack. It's unfortunate this section is a little overgrown. There is a nice little decent which was a lot more fun with the big tires and extra travel.
I then came up to the section with spurs to some freeride stunts. The first one has a bit of a ramp and I usually don't have any problems with the yeti. But the softer rear shock and lower bb caused me to catch my pedal just as I was coming to the top of the ramp and almost through me off. I managed this bridge with some creative use of trees.
The next spur was "Blair" with a bridge about 10 feet above the ground. The entrance is a flat bridge off a cliff, about 2.5 feet wide. It goes out to a platform with 90 degree right turn down a 2.5 foot wide ramp on a fairly steep decline. I made it out ok and just as I was making the turn on the platform, something felt all wrong and I stopped dead. I hate that.
So that was my ride today. A helluva workout and some extra challenge on what is normally a fairly uneventful ride.
Dog
