To Hell and Beyond

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Patrick

Overthinking the draft from the basement already
Staff member
That is barely north Jersey, just saying :popcorn:

i knew that would wake you up! it meets the rt 78 rule, but not the rt 80 rule you northerners advocate.
Can i be safely said that it started in NNJ? Half of the loop was north of LM.
 
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qclabrat

Well-Known Member
gosh, I've been on Jacobs ladder quite a few times and didn't realize
it's one of those loops I used to do before starting mtb last year
Pat, if you find yourself in the area on Friday afternoons give me a holler, I work in Peapack
but I can't remember the last time I was on the road though
 

Patrick

Overthinking the draft from the basement already
Staff member
Might have been a couple of the nicest riding days of the year! And it continues tomorrow.

Met up with a couple of my triathlete friends for a loop around RV - nice easy 30 miler, as one was two days out from a marathon,
the the other is on a strict training program, and this was her off day (yes, that strict) - triple bonus, they were all F! This was very useful for
getting priority through all the pipeline construction zones, and other than one person who sneaked up on us, then yelled to single up, it was all good.
anyway, 2 hours of saddle time, and not netflix and chill.

Today I met up with Freddie. Another triathlete type, and customer of @jdog. She is heading out to AZ soon to retire. She is 60+ and her
buds won't go on the trails. Handles the bike well, doesn't back down going over stuff, spins the uphills. We put in 10 miles at LM at a varied
pace. Good time. Age is only a number. no bare activity today either.

I would recommend taking tomorrow off, and riding your bike.
 

Patrick

Overthinking the draft from the basement already
Staff member
Love on the Rocks,
ain't no big surprise.

hit Sourlands with @rick81721 , and had a good time trying to find some lines through the rocks. I'm amazed that just a little downhill bias makes a huge difference on making it through a rock garden. re-rode some stuff to try to get it right on the 26er - it really is a disadvantage, but so what. was really feeling comfortable after 2 hours. Lots of fun, rick is getting fast on the trails, and is getting accustom to the gnar. think we got a passing grade. will take it.

So then had to revisit the land of disappointment. The water co ride that made me feel like i had never ridden over a rock a couple weeks back. Met up with @michael.su, and after some parking lot adjustments (where is the friendly poke emot) we got out. i suck at downhill, i suck even worse when there are some wet leaves. i'll leave it at that. anyway, it took an hour to kinda get the hang of it, but when it clicked, it was all good.
nothing fast, but def rode deeper or through many of the rock fields. was able to do a few on repeats. still have trouble on some of the uphill features - think i just don't process fast enough.

anywho - thank you to the peeps that maintain water co - the improvements are much appreciated.

i'm not spending enough time getting better at the rocks, as general endurance and strength are lacking, but
after just a couple days of hitting it, there was definitely improvement. maybe work on both at the same time!

.
 
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stb222

Love Drunk
Jerk Squad
Where at water co do you consider a downhill? The trail from 518 to the 4 way intersection or just the little ups and downs?
 

Patrick

Overthinking the draft from the basement already
Staff member
good morning!

Where at water co do you consider a downhill? The trail from 518 to the 4 way intersection or just the little ups and downs?

guess i shouldn't use the term downhill, as that means something - i suck at that too, like coming down the pipeline..

i'm talking about single track where speed builds even when not pedaling (so the trail u mentioned qualifies), this might be an extension of my cornering issues mentioned before. I'm def looking down the trails "better" - just smoothly making the turns is a problem. i just don't trust it (?). probably should go learn the limits where hitting a tree isn't the result of over-doing it.

on the flip side

going through a rock garden one way vs the other when it isn't flat. take the one on the roaring brook trail. I've made it through there coming down a few times, but get about 3 rocks in and stall going up. but this is getting better.

i'm going to stick with the advice to ride more trails, and come back later.
trying to get a better idea of weight distribution, and leaning the bike over, then dealing with a little drift.
 

michael.su

JORBA Board Member/Chapter Leader
JORBA.ORG
Love on the Rocks,
ain't no big surprise.

hit Sourlands with @rick81721 , and had a good time trying to find some lines through the rocks. I'm amazed that just a little downhill bias makes a huge difference on making it through a rock garden. re-rode some stuff to try to get it right on the 26er - it really is a disadvantage, but so what. was really feeling comfortable after 2 hours. Lots of fun, rick is getting fast on the trails, and is getting accustom to the gnar. think we got a passing grade. will take it.

So then had to revisit the land of disappointment. The water co ride that made me feel like i had never ridden over a rock a couple weeks back. Met up with @michael.su, and after some parking lot adjustments (where is the friendly poke emot) we got out. i suck at downhill, i suck even worse when there are some wet leaves. i'll leave it at that. anyway, it took an hour to kinda get the hang of it, but when it clicked, it was all good.
nothing fast, but def rode deeper or through many of the rock fields. was able to do a few on repeats. still have trouble on some of the uphill features - think i just don't process fast enough.

anywho - thank you to the peeps that maintain water co - the improvements are much appreciated.

i'm not spending enough time getting better at the rocks, as general endurance and strength are lacking, but
after just a couple days of hitting it, there was definitely improvement. maybe work on both at the same time!

.
"Adjustments"
:rolleyes:
:D
 

stb222

Love Drunk
Jerk Squad
Yeah, obviously downhill momentum helps with rock gardens but while going fast downhill in tech terrain is a skill, speed also masks lack of skill to do it slow.
 

Patrick

Overthinking the draft from the basement already
Staff member
Hey, here is a peek at what is going in inside my head at any given time....



Warning: you can't unwatch it :D
 

Patrick

Overthinking the draft from the basement already
Staff member
A long time ago, a guy on here that rides his fat bike all over said to me, "Son, if you want to get stronger,
ride single speed. Cause if you can shift you will, if you can't, you'll figure it out."

Well, finally finished the conversion, cause i need to make everything harder than it is. The Paragon had twisties, so needed new grips.
no reason for new chain, but got one. no reason for new chainring, but got one (and it didn't fit the chain??) the only real block
was the chainring bolts were too long. Ordered the spacers. this would not have been a problem if i just left the outer chainring in place
and used the 10sp chain...tensioner and cog.

So I've only ridden SS once, and that was on @jimvreeland 's bike at short track (which convinced me that fatbikes are fun, and extend the range of biking)

58694163-DSC_1591.jpg


So, yeah, @Schilling is on my mind, and his You've Got This, as i rolled into the lot at 6MR this afternoon. I really don't know what to expect. Don't know how jim's bike was geared, but
there weren't that many hills in the short track course - so no problem. @clarkenstein rides SS with me, and he does fine - although the swearing... The bike is untested, but it isn't skipping under stress, so here we go. Figured 6MR is the right place to start, let er rip.

Results, was 1 minute slower on a blue/white/red loop than on the anthem - and i had to come to a complete stop twice for people riding the other way and had to soft pedal for a bit to wait for a passing lane. I know i was pushing the pace on the anthem, and i consider it a faster bike. Not sure how to interpret the data, but putting in the power with more standing is probably the difference. Wasn't able to do the first two rooty "ups" on the red trail, but was close. Maybe next time.

Yeah, def will make one stronger. There is no choice, put out the power, or walk. who wants to walk?

1st #singlespeedforSchilling
 

michael.su

JORBA Board Member/Chapter Leader
JORBA.ORG
A long time ago, a guy on here that rides his fat bike all over said to me, "Son, if you want to get stronger,
ride single speed. Cause if you can shift you will, if you can't, you'll figure it out."

Well, finally finished the conversion, cause i need to make everything harder than it is. The Paragon had twisties, so needed new grips.
no reason for new chain, but got one. no reason for new chainring, but got one (and it didn't fit the chain??) the only real block
was the chainring bolts were too long. Ordered the spacers. this would not have been a problem if i just left the outer chainring in place
and used the 10sp chain...tensioner and cog.

So I've only ridden SS once, and that was on @jimvreeland 's bike at short track (which convinced me that fatbikes are fun, and extend the range of biking)

View attachment 26758

So, yeah, @Schilling is on my mind, and his You've Got This, as i rolled into the lot at 6MR this afternoon. I really don't know what to expect. Don't know how jim's bike was geared, but
there weren't that many hills in the short track course - so no problem. @clarkenstein rides SS with me, and he does fine - although the swearing... The bike is untested, but it isn't skipping under stress, so here we go. Figured 6MR is the right place to start, let er rip.

Results, was 1 minute slower on a blue/white/red loop than on the anthem - and i had to come to a complete stop twice for people riding the other way and had to soft pedal for a bit to wait for a passing lane. I know i was pushing the pace on the anthem, and i consider it a faster bike. Not sure how to interpret the data, but putting in the power with more standing is probably the difference. Wasn't able to do the first two rooty "ups" on the red trail, but was close. Maybe next time.

Yeah, def will make one stronger. There is no choice, put out the power, or walk. who wants to walk?

1st #singlespeedforSchilling

Extra points for the snotsicle. ;)
 

clarkenstein

JORBA Board Member/Chapter Leader
JORBA.ORG
Those rooty things suck my butt. Gotta time the momentum loss and pedal pushing so it's not at spinning out and not at the can't move my pedals. I never get them.

Glad you got it going tho. Conversion for simplifying your bike can be... Complicated?
 

stb222

Love Drunk
Jerk Squad
You may be SS'ing for different reasons, but if you are faster on a SS than with gears, you are doing something wrong.
 
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