Last time we rode in Rochester we met some expat members of the Rochester's Jackalopes, the very friendly Theresa and Earl . They invited us to their beautifull house near the magnificiant Adirondacks.
We met up with John(Echo) and Ralph (Instigator) after getting lost on our way there
We were supposed to ride West mountain that is 20 min from their house but it was close so we drove 2 hours to get to Plattekill. It was Isa's first DH ride ever and she was very scared of Plattekill because of it's reputation of very hardcore trails.
The borrowed shirt from Instigator fit her like a glove.......... well a oven mitten is some sort of glove no? :?
At Plattekill we met up with Mike(Tweek), Matt (Stuntmatty) and Chris(Gk. Willie).
Everyone was very happy to see each other and could not wait to hit the trails. Here's Instigator showing that he was ready to tackle the very rocky trails.
Echo took his helmet cam for his second ride.
It was a race weekend at Plattekill but it was not too busy. We had to wait 5 to 10 min for the lifts but we had so much stuff to talk about.
On our way to my favorite trail of the day we found this awesome jump.
Everybody to the limit! Stuntmatty skyrocketing into orbit
Chris was also getting some major air on that kicker made of rock.
We met another rider that was pullling some mad tricks on that sweet jump. After tweaking a ridiculous moto whip, he asked us if it showed that he once was racing bmx. Our jaws was still dislocated from the show of skills that we could not answer.
Here's Treesaw going down a tech part on her Ironhorse SGS that she bought from Instigator.
Isa did better that I ever expected on the loose rocks, rooty and steep terrain of Plattekill.
We got to a big drop (probably between 8 to 10 feet depending on where you land). I had gathered the will needed to do it until I heard Ralph land. I did not even see him land but the bang it made took all the courage I had and I bailed out. Ralph, Chris and Matt did it but with a price to pay almost everytime, bented seat, crushed nuts, aerials endos etc..... But they each stuck the landing once.
Here's Matt on the best pics of them all. For those who once worried about the durability of a air shock please note that Matt's Gemini is equiped with a very basic Fox Float and that except for a little harsh progressive feel it did just fine all day.
We really enjoyed our first visit at Platekill and the feeling of screaming down the tech trails, surfing on shell rocks, cornering hairy corners and nailing 4 foot drops after 4 foot drops all withing a few seconds was priceless.
We got to Earl's and Treesaw at 9 pm after a very full day of Dhing and hurtings bodys. But the very tasty Wachusett IPA beers and some of our host's delicious speedies we felt like new mans (and womens)
Sunday was XC day. We usually do the opposite; ride xc first, party and then survive throught DH so it was really hard to get our bruised carcasses out of bed for a very epic ride throught the mountains.
Here's a pretty sight (yeah the blur looks good too)
We rode in Moreau national park and we were granted by some steeps climbs and technical terrain..... in other words paradise!
The big slicks rocks were fun to negotiate. This is pretty new for us Québeçois since we have very few places to ride on them.
This is the 5$ dollar climb and Earl, John and me hit the jackpot ...ding ding.
After 2 hours of intense riding we got to this beautifull viewpoint.
We are all members of 2 teams for the 24 hours of Dalton, MA and we wore proudly our sponsor's shirt, the Trailblazers bike shop in Victor, NY.
Here's our host and guide posing on his own turf: some of the nicest xc trails I have seen. I could not understand why they wanted to wear pads for a xc ride, after falling more times than at Plattekill I knew why
but I wear my scars proudly.
We could think that the jackalopes like freeriding better than xc but it does not take long into the trail with them to understand that a xc ride brings out the best in them.
We got owned by a couple of climbs but a place that you can ride entirely on the first ride is boring, no?
We rode for 4 hours and we had a blast. Congratulations to everyone, everybody pushed hard and we all finished with a huge grin pinned on our faces.
We cannot thank Theresa and Earl enough for the wonderful weekend. John, Ralph, Mike, Matt and Chris it was great as always to ride with such good friends.
See you all at the 24h.
We met up with John(Echo) and Ralph (Instigator) after getting lost on our way there
We were supposed to ride West mountain that is 20 min from their house but it was close so we drove 2 hours to get to Plattekill. It was Isa's first DH ride ever and she was very scared of Plattekill because of it's reputation of very hardcore trails.
The borrowed shirt from Instigator fit her like a glove.......... well a oven mitten is some sort of glove no? :?
At Plattekill we met up with Mike(Tweek), Matt (Stuntmatty) and Chris(Gk. Willie).
Everyone was very happy to see each other and could not wait to hit the trails. Here's Instigator showing that he was ready to tackle the very rocky trails.
Echo took his helmet cam for his second ride.
It was a race weekend at Plattekill but it was not too busy. We had to wait 5 to 10 min for the lifts but we had so much stuff to talk about.
On our way to my favorite trail of the day we found this awesome jump.
Everybody to the limit! Stuntmatty skyrocketing into orbit
Chris was also getting some major air on that kicker made of rock.
We met another rider that was pullling some mad tricks on that sweet jump. After tweaking a ridiculous moto whip, he asked us if it showed that he once was racing bmx. Our jaws was still dislocated from the show of skills that we could not answer.
Here's Treesaw going down a tech part on her Ironhorse SGS that she bought from Instigator.
Isa did better that I ever expected on the loose rocks, rooty and steep terrain of Plattekill.
We got to a big drop (probably between 8 to 10 feet depending on where you land). I had gathered the will needed to do it until I heard Ralph land. I did not even see him land but the bang it made took all the courage I had and I bailed out. Ralph, Chris and Matt did it but with a price to pay almost everytime, bented seat, crushed nuts, aerials endos etc..... But they each stuck the landing once.
Here's Matt on the best pics of them all. For those who once worried about the durability of a air shock please note that Matt's Gemini is equiped with a very basic Fox Float and that except for a little harsh progressive feel it did just fine all day.
We really enjoyed our first visit at Platekill and the feeling of screaming down the tech trails, surfing on shell rocks, cornering hairy corners and nailing 4 foot drops after 4 foot drops all withing a few seconds was priceless.
We got to Earl's and Treesaw at 9 pm after a very full day of Dhing and hurtings bodys. But the very tasty Wachusett IPA beers and some of our host's delicious speedies we felt like new mans (and womens)
Sunday was XC day. We usually do the opposite; ride xc first, party and then survive throught DH so it was really hard to get our bruised carcasses out of bed for a very epic ride throught the mountains.
Here's a pretty sight (yeah the blur looks good too)
We rode in Moreau national park and we were granted by some steeps climbs and technical terrain..... in other words paradise!
The big slicks rocks were fun to negotiate. This is pretty new for us Québeçois since we have very few places to ride on them.
This is the 5$ dollar climb and Earl, John and me hit the jackpot ...ding ding.
After 2 hours of intense riding we got to this beautifull viewpoint.
We are all members of 2 teams for the 24 hours of Dalton, MA and we wore proudly our sponsor's shirt, the Trailblazers bike shop in Victor, NY.
Here's our host and guide posing on his own turf: some of the nicest xc trails I have seen. I could not understand why they wanted to wear pads for a xc ride, after falling more times than at Plattekill I knew why
but I wear my scars proudly.
We could think that the jackalopes like freeriding better than xc but it does not take long into the trail with them to understand that a xc ride brings out the best in them.
We got owned by a couple of climbs but a place that you can ride entirely on the first ride is boring, no?
We rode for 4 hours and we had a blast. Congratulations to everyone, everybody pushed hard and we all finished with a huge grin pinned on our faces.
We cannot thank Theresa and Earl enough for the wonderful weekend. John, Ralph, Mike, Matt and Chris it was great as always to ride with such good friends.
See you all at the 24h.
It was a blast to get to hang with you guys again and rip the trails. Can't wait for Dalton. Take care, see ya soon. 
Looks like you made kabobs instead. I'll let you slide since you're not from the Southern Tier. 
Too bad you missed out on them and the tastey beers too!!! :devil:
Didn't see anything!
