Crusty.

extremedave

extremedave

Well-Known Member
Team MTBNJ Halter's
Conditions are rideable crust around here which is pretty darn cool. "Paved woods" someone named it last year which is apt. No idea how it is north or south. Oddly, the more open the area the firmer the crust, if anything breaks it up like swamp grasses it's too soft. Also soft around the trees sometimes so not sure how thats going to work in the trails, I've been playing in other areas.

Point; it's kinda awesome and if you were on the fence about going out its worth trying to see if it holds. Last night under the moon was sweet. :D
 
At first, it was cool, but it got pretty frustrating very fast. I rode about 4- miles in the woods. I got going, wound up getting up to about 9mph and then I sank in for the first time and my bike came to a dead stop, but I did not.

It was awesome for a while, but there were times that I had to put my foot down and my stand over went from 28" to 36" in a split second when the ice crust would break under my foot. I then hit a section that was hit by the sun and I got nowhere, so I hiked up to the road back to my car.

Glad I got out, but it was pretty difficult. More like riding on an eggshell.
 
It really varied. When it was good, it was really good. But yeah, punching through was not a wonderful moment. ;). The more open the area the better it seemed. We'll get a report from Rob and Segundo today, see how it is up the Tourne. Probably varies a lot by area depending on the rain/snow mix.
 
Same in Tourne - stretches that could ride on top followed by dive's when the crust was giving up. Highlights were riding on top of a frozen stream that wandered into a swamp and then hitting two frozen lakes (and a swimming pool :)). In one of our swamp inroads (or offloads really) Rob went down through thin ice/snow and wet his whole leg so we bailed at quick pace-on a trail packed by XC skiers and foot traffic-before he'd get frostbite.

When we got to the parking lot Vlad switched to plan B - XC skis, and I did the same but with snow shoes. It was pretty shitty for the snow shoes too and came back and switched to plan C - ice chains & running shoes. Did a short run on those and called it a day as I pulled a muscle earlier on and didn't want to aggravate it.

Lot's people out there trying to see what would work today. Run into Utah and Kirt on their bikes and they seem to be having a better day on the trails.

Overall worth the try and a heck of an exercise. I'm dead tired now.

BTW, thank you for showing me around Rob!
 

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Swamp ride

Anytime Pampa. Actually, we really didn't ride too many trails in Tourne today. It was mostly swamp, stream, and lake riding. Definitely an odd-looking Strava map. We'll have to try again sometime and get all the singletrack.

Despite that, today was pretty awesome and I'm glad we ventured to places in the park I'd never ridden before. Breaking through the snow/ice knee-deep into that stinky swamp muck shortened the ride for me (to avoid frostbite). I made it home quickly enough but then couldn't remove my boots because the laces were frozen. Had to break out a hair dryer to defrost the laces and remove the boots - that was a first for me too.
 

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Crystal Lake

For regular (non-panoramic), this pic came out pretty good too...
 

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Basically anything that is out in the sun was for the most part rideable. Kirt and I found a few spots. The portion of the tourne across old boonton rd, the huge park/former air field, then we rode up to the split rock res. and onto the ice for a bit. Yesterday I went back to the tourne for a bit. I could ride on anything that had foot traffic, but anything untracked in the woods wasnt strong enough.

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The Kalmyk said:
Damn!!! i don't want but NEED one of these bikes
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That video was incredible. I too agree. I may have to jump on the bandwagon and make a purchase, but if I go, I am going all the way with the fatest tire they make.

What is the fatest tire these days (built for actualy fat bikes)
 
Johnny Utah said:
What is the fatest tire these days (built for actualy fat bikes)
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As far as I know, Surly Bud 4.8" and Surly Lou 4.8". Not the best all around/ all season fat tire but the best winter fat tire for me. In the 120 tpi version and setup tubeless you can run them at very low pressure for good floatation and great traction. The big knobs are studs-friendly too, which allows for extra fun when you encounter ice.
 
Pampa said:
The big knobs are studs-friendly too, which allows for extra fun when you encounter ice.
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See the deer park fat ride for examples. Pampa was fun to watch tearing it up as I tip-toed around!:popcorn::D Got me thinking to stud my Nates.
 
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