2015-2016 BIYF online winter complaint repository

Mountain Bike Mike

Well-Known Member
3/20
3:01:53

https://www.strava.com/activities/522263464


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Arwen's Mom

Mother of Dragons, Breaker of Chains
March 19
Moving time 2 hr 35 min


The Hubby and I head to Lewis Morris.
I really wanted to head someplace we have never been to, and have an epic adventure eliciting a fabulous recap, but every place I suggested he went “eh, Lewis Morris.”
That was actually OK with me though. Based on how I performed with @fidodie yesterday it was probably better we went someplace I was already familiar with.

I really like Lewis Morris. Some of my regular riding buddies don’t care for it very much and I cant figure out why. It’s a lot of fun. We used to only do the “yellow” trail and leave. That was enough for us, but the last 2 times I have been there I got back to the lot thinking, “I want a little more.” And today was the same way. I actually talked The Hubby into “just a little more.” We went on a trail we never tried before, and the next time I am hoping to explore everything there I have ever missed. Got the map and already have it planned in my head. When I showed The Hubby he looked nervous. Maybe he will hike with my son that day :/

So today started with going up a trail we never tried before. It was horrendous. My knees were KILLING me. My mind was willing, but the body was weak. We get to the top of that trail and see this sign:
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Hmmmm, trail closed? There wasn’t one at the bottom of the trail, and this one was pushed over and hard to see if you were riding by. There were lots of tire marks on that trail, so the sign is being ignored. Just a heads up to those that do TM at LM. And to those that do, THANKS! Good job out there.
Like this bridge:
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Love the bridge, and those types of rock gardens :)

It seems most people do the yellow trail going clockwise. And we always did too. But I hated feeling like I was climbing FOREVER to get to the “good stuff.” And the “roller coaster” at the end was a nice finish to the ride. But one day many moons ago I decided to mix it up and go counter clockwise. Ooooooh much better! The climbs are more do-able (for me), and I felt the downs flowed nicer. And then there is that LOOOONG climb that now became an unending downhill. “Its still going!” So now The Hubby and I like to do the yellow trail counter clockwise. With our increased endurance (cough) we even take a shortcut trail back around and get to do the “roller coaster” the fun way at the end too.

The only problem going backwards is that from having gone CW so long, that now when I go CCW sometimes I forget which way I am supposed to turn. At the top of one climb I am waiting for The Hubby and wondering which way I am supposed to go and I look down and see this “Direction Stone” pointing the way. “Hey! Thanks!”

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Passed a few polite fellas. Thanks for being nice, you know who you are.:p But of course passed a few…well…you know:mad:
Saw a couple hikers with a nice doggie. They called it a flat haired retriever. Nice looking dog. There was one guy there I was watching him come down the hill, he was very smooth and just seemed to flow. Nice riding. He was polite too :thumbsup:

Doesn’t he look like he is having fun?
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The Hubby looked quite miserable so I slid over next to him and gave him a quick smooch. He smiled, so he got a few more. He smiled a lot. :hugs:

We can have some fun now that he has some endorphins going through his head. Then it was a down section and I admit I felt like I had more energy at that point. Endorphins are a wonderful thing. I felt like my knees didn’t hurt so bad and maybe I could actually pedal up all the hills from this point (I did too!).

Most of you probably know I don’t care for logs much. But this one log I stopped right in front of it and said “You know, we got this.” so I went back up the trail, turned around, and went over that stupid log. After that I popped over every one I came to, but ya know, it just doesn’t give me that feeling of accomplishment that makes it “fun.” Not like when I clean a downhill section or jump and know my form was good or my landing was just so “right.” Those types of trail features make me feel like “wow did you see that!” Logs? Nah.

Speaking of logs, saw this one and thought the fungus growing on it was pretty.
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Found some treasure on the trail. Broken hanger?
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As we were ending our ride, a couple of guys were near the lot and working on their wheels. As I went by, one asked about my bike. You all know I love it when my bike gets compliments. So of course I stopped. I asked if they needed help (I was going to anyway, even if they hadn’t complimented my bike). Seems they had some spoke/rim tape issues. I told them all I had was some electrical tape and that may help for a bit and get them on the way, so I gave them some. They were appreciative.

It was a very good ride.

Later that day I felt I wanted to just some gentle road riding so went out for just an hour. As I am approaching a red light. Not in anyone’s way. Not interfering with traffic in any way. Some bonehead in a black jeep pulls up next to me. He doesn’t say anything till the light turns green and as he starts to pull away he yells to me “Get a car bitch!” What a pansy.

Then another guy backs out of his driveway like hes on his way to a fire, never looked. Thankfully I had seen him get in his car from quite a ways back and had slowed and was prepared for stupidity. When he was next to me I waved and he jumped with that “where the hell did you come from?” look. Don’t people look when they back up anymore? Who teaches these people to drive anyway? As for the jeep guy, would like to smack him. Hey jerk I own 2 CARS and 5 BIKES!

Well, made it home safe and burned off the popcorn I ate, hopefully.
 

bigW

Well-Known Member
Impressive on a SS. I'm liking this ride, with a little work I can turn this into a miserable century.

For myself there seems to be a tipping point where a small increase in the grade has a dramatic increase in how much damage it does. 42x18 was a big help in comfort level but hills like Iron Bride or Ludlow Station would have been too much for me.

W
 

bigW

Well-Known Member
Oops looks like I get to end this without a link to ride data, left the Garmin at home. Watchung Wheelmen Gravel Ride. I was tired and it looked cold out at 7:00am so I drove to the start of the ride rather than biking and no regrets, the weather was raw. 42x18 worked well, I will be spinning like a fiend on HoH. Using last Sunday's data as the ride was the same.

40 miles, 2:45 moving.

Took a pic when we were stopped for the obligatory pinch flat that comes with fresh gravel.

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Big thanks to @fidodie for his computational efforts and all the BIYF content providers.


Hope next winter is just as warm.

W
 

Patrick

Overthinking the draft from the basement already
Staff member
in case everyone hasn't found it - hour totals are in the stats tab.
your rides in order are on the sorted ride data tab

The lone w. wheelman at ST. Chris's face says it all.
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(well, i'm a member - but i don't want to embarrass them, so i ride under the tri club name - nobody expects much
from a triathlete, unless you want to talk about changing shoes quickly)
 

rick81721

Lothar
Turns out we got a bonus day. I assumed friday was my last ride, yesterday went to pennsy for a hike on the Appalachian trail, thought today was a noreaster washout but glad the weathermen were wrong. So yesterday, climbed blue mountain trails with some high school friends. This is called the pinnacle (I have a lame pic of me but the scenery here is better - you can see a good 40 miles):

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Too bad we can't ride here, amazing views, and most of the trail was rideable. There was a cave about 15 feet below where this pic was taken, me and another guy climbed down and went in. Pretty cool (forgot to take my phone for a pic), we had headlights to see, after about 30 feet in it turned sharp right and went down, it got very narrow and wet and we didn't want to crawl so turned around. I used my garmin but for some reason it only kept track of time and elevation - no distance - what's up with that? It said ~ 1500 ft of climbing to that summit, all down hill from there.

Anywho, so today I was surprised to wake up and see the sun, no wind, and no forecast rain/snow until this evening, so decided to hit chimney rock. For those like me that drive vosseler to gilbride, note gilbride is closed - it took me a few wrong turns to get to chimney rock rd, parked in my usual spot in the ball fields lot. I like to start with Norm's brown trail as a warm up, then crossed gilbride to yellow. I continue to be impressed with the new 27.5+ bike - on the rocky climbs with the big tires and big suspension I was just rumblin, bumblin, stumblin up the climbs, not going fast but never had to slow down. Set several PRs today. Hit orange next, had to wait for a father and son hiking team going down to CR road, then crossed over and hit red. Funny how I jinx myself - I was just thinking after yellow and orange there is little chance of crashing, then went over a rock drop on the north downhill red and with my weight too far forwards, went OTB. Hit my left elbow really hard - it hurts like hell right now and has a big knot - looks like a popeye elbow. Also starting to beat the crap out of my new bike - found a 1/4 in chip in the paint on the back of the seat tube - how'd I ding that?? Well it's a mountain bike and I suck, so it's gonna take a beating. Continued on, did a loop on blue, then white. Took a pic near the end of white (today was full camo day):

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Found another OJ glove at the end of white right before CR road. Overall CR is in great shape - some mud in the usual spots (I don't think I've ever ridden there - even in july/aug - and not found mud somewhere) and some erosion on red and blue.

So finished up with 44 days of riding. Thanks again to Rob and Pat for hosting the show!

3/20

1:33:31, 10.8 miles

https://www.strava.com/activities/522374165
 

huffster

Well-Known Member
3/20/2016
Moving time: 3:04:01
https://www.strava.com/activities/522331015

I did not expect to get a final BIYF ride today. After my past 2 days of business trip extended for "MTB play time", I figured today was going to be "family oriented". After a nice family breakfast, my 2 daughters and wife blew me off. 2 went shopping and 1 went with her friends to a local St. Patrick's Day parade. I was instructed to go for a ride. "Uh gee, OK, If I have to"

So, off to Stewart State Forest I went. It was a little chilly for the first day of Spring, but the 30's is pretty nice for BIYF. This ride started out single-track heavy. When I got close to Kelly's Pond, I remembered that I had seen what appeared to be an abandoned vehicle from the trails on the opposite side of the pond.

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So, I decided to ride in as far as I could and then bushwhacked my way down to the shore on foot to get a closer look. What a shame?

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For those that know SSF, you know there are many abandoned vehicles. Some of them are right along side of the trail and others are a bit more tucked away. Someday I should do a ride called "Tour of Abandoned vehicles of Stewart". There are easily 10 I can think of off the top of my head. Here are a couple others that were along today's ride.

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After getting the "abandoned" bug, I decided to head out to the west along the rail-bed and visit this old abandoned building as well. I don't know the story behind it, but its kind of cool. Its been thoroughly 'tagged' at this point as well.

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So, after a nice 3 hour+ ride, I head home to find the family is still out and sitting on the counter is a package. It was the used Nobby Nic I bought for $24 shipped. This is for my HT 29er that blew-out a few days back. So, I installed it. It set-up easy and the term "used" is an over-statement. Great deal!

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Magic

Formerly 1sh0t1b33r
Team MTBNJ Halter's
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teabagger11

Well-Known Member
.....well I knew what I was up against, @bigW threw down the last few days and I knew I didn't have a chance for 5th. , but maybe hold onto 6th depending on what @thegock does, so I ride. Planned a ride with some friends for 11, so I started out at 10 and met up with them get an hour in ahead of them. They're game for a long ride so we head out. Did I mention that the 1st day of spring is as cold as any day this past winter wind chill sucks. We just roll having a good ride. I just want to say that BIYF made winter riding that much more enjoyable thx for having me. Can't wait for next year and hope I get to meet some of the guys I competed with. By the way are plans in place for a post BIYF ride April fools weekend? Oh and @bigW I hope your legs aren't too tired to remove your riding shoe from my throat and I say that with peace and love. Love that bike by the way. Some how I feel @thegock is still riding seeking to bury me. Dam I love bikes and the community that goes with it ride on and huffster I get that you like to ride alone but I would like to ride with you some day
3/20
3:36:02
Krampus still with the jenky BB
Hop fish and torpedo
Let the trail building begin
Check out my 26.6 mi Ride on Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/522286486
 
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thegock

Well-Known Member
.....well I knew what I was up against, @bigW threw down the last few days and I knew I didn't have a chance for 5th. , but maybe hold onto 6th depending on what @thegock does, so I ride. Planned a ride with some friends for 11, so I started out at 10 and met up with them get an hour in ahead of them. They're game for a long ride so we head out. Did I mention that the 1st day of spring is as cold as any day this past winter wind chill sucks. We just roll having a good ride. I just want to say that BIYF made winter riding that much more enjoyable thx for having me. Can't wait for next year and hope I get to meet some of the guys I competed with. By the way are plans in place for a post BIYF ride April fools weekend? Oh and @bigW I hope your legs aren't too tired to remove your riding shoe from my throat and I say that with peace and love. Love that bike by the way. Some how I feel @thegock is still riding seeking to bury me. Dam I love bikes and the community that goes with it ride on and huff sterling I get that you like to ride alone but I would like to ride with you some day
3/20
3:36:02
Krampus still with the jenky BB
Hop fish and torpedo
Let the trail building begin
Check out my 26.6 mi Ride on Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/522286486

@teabagger11 :

You're fine. Did a quick hour and a half this morning. Consider me teabagged!

The
 
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