Mountain, Cross and Shuffleboard Nats

pixychick

JORBA: Ringwood
JORBA.ORG
Art and I have had a trail proposal in the works at RSP for several months. We have been back and forth with the land manager and Trenton all summer long trying to supply them with all the information they needed. Most mountain bikers have no idea what actually goes on behind the scenes. It is real easy to get excited and then have the rug pulled out from under you. Art and I have been holding off on getting too excited, as it was beginning to look like it may not get approved by all the questions and exact locations the state was asking to confirm. I thought we were clear of historic sites and rattlesnake dens, but was not sure about wood turtle habitat. Did you know that now raptor nesting is sensitive? The 3 types of raptors nest at 3 completely different times of year. Bat nesting has been added as well. So in short, there is a lot of red tape and things to challenge your patience, but if you look at the whole picture, these rules are here to protect our parks natural resources. If we want trails, we have to go through the process. Some parks are easier than others.

Ringwood has a no new trail status. New trail as mountain bikers know them are usually just re-routes of old eroded crappy trails. Occasionally we may have a reason to propose a new trail. Connectivity, is real popular now with many land managers as parks are looking to link their recreational lands together. Now that Sterling Forest is building bike trails, we really wanted to connect the two parks together better. So as part of a re-route we are doing for the park to address a condemned bridge, we have asked for a connector trail to the north end of the park at the state line. This will allow an easy, flat 2 mile ride on mostly quiet roads to Sterling. I am especially excited about this approval as this trail head will be less than half mile from my house.

The whole re-route will be about 5 miles and connect the botanical gardens to Ringwood Manor with awesome single track! I am guessing it will take 4 years to built if we continue to get decent numbers for volunteers and we don't get called away to other things, like hurricanes, floods or vandalism, etc. Art and I start flagging tomorrow. Volunteer work days start next Sunday Oct 2. Please check the Jorba calendar for Oct dates if you are interested.

Yesterday was the soft opening/work day at Sterling. As I walked in, I was greeted by a Kingfisher on a pond which was really cool! A bunch of us went out to work and get the trail completely roughed in from lot to lot. We brought extra bikes and let the Americorps ride the trail that they spent their entire summer building. It was a good time and I am super grateful for their work. And once again, a few individuals worked really hard to get this trail approved, and I am very grateful for their patience and persistence. Art had worked 15 years to get trails open to bikes in Sterling and had given up, yet a few others kept at it. Yesterday we got to ride 3 miles of new trail. When I walked the area a few years back, I thought the area was ok and some parts had potential. Now that it is underway, I must say that it exceeds my expectations. Americorps leave in a week, so volunteers will be needed over there too.

This is certainly my favorite time of year .... time to build trails!

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pixychick

JORBA: Ringwood
JORBA.ORG
I posted yesterday about my stoke for new trails near to where I live, but quite a bit more happened last weekend. Art and I accepted a management position with the NYNJTC. The long time hateful old hiker organization has finally begun to accept bikers into their plans and taken a more sharing approach. That does not mean that all members like bikers, or that all hiking trails will become multi-use. They just seemed to be adopting a more inclusive stance as an organization. This is certainly a step in right direction. What has surprised me is that they are open to sharing resources for projects in Ringwood. Two groups working together has a much better chance of getting funds, approvals and volunteers.

Now that we are retired and spending half our time in AZ , we really did not want more involvement, but this opportunity seemed too good to ignore as a JORBA ambassador. So here we are with another paperwork job, which is really not that big of a deal, but could offer a chance to communicate and work side by side with another group of trail people. Right now half the maintainer spots in RW are vacant, so we hope to enlist some more bikers into these vacant spots. There was also a request that maintainers work in small groups instead of solo as the TC has always done. This request was almost too good to be true, as it gives us a chance to let hikers and bikers work together.

So while my loyalty is to Jorba, I am hoping this will work out and foster better relationships between the two groups and serve both groups with more opportunities in RW and beyond. I promise not to let it derail any of our Jorba energy!
 

pixychick

JORBA: Ringwood
JORBA.ORG
Art and I broke ground on the new section of the Crossover Tr in Ringwood. Art had been going to work almost every day and I was going a few times a week. Our last day of work was Oct 4. The trail was looking great and we were poised for 3 more weekend days. That afternoon Art crashed at cross practice and ended up in the hospital. He hit something in a compression at the bottom of a downhill and his bars rolled, dumping him on his head. We are super grateful that Willy, Dave and Larry convinced him to take an ambulance where he was put in a neck brace.

He ended up fracturing 3-4 vertebrae and crushing on disc. While this injury was pretty scary, we are both feeling pretty lucky that it was not worse. Every medical professional that came in contact with him during his hospital stay had to mention that he was pretty lucky. He is home now, walking around and basically doing ok in context of what happened. He still has some finger numbness and minor finger dexterity issues with his hands, due to the swelling from the injury, but it should improve.

So sorry to say, but progress on this new section of trail, could slow down a bit. I do plan to work and lead volunteers next Sunday, but Art will not be able to work for the remainder of the year. Art see's his doctor in a week and we are hoping to get a time line on the healing process and what he can do and when. We still want to head out to AZ in November, but not sure if that can happen just yet.

Being through a somewhat stressful few weeks, I am really appreciating living in my NY home. I can jump on a mountain bike and ride from house and get in a quick ride any time. The new trails at Sterling are fantastic! I love the pond behind my house and the wood ducks, blue heron, mink, otter and now 2 beavers. I have some great neighbors. Even the drive through Harriman to visit Art in the hospital was a welcomed time of day that reminded me how lucky I am to live where I do.

The mural below was in the lobby at Helen Hayes rehab center. Art liked it and went to visit it daily.

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UtahJoe

Team Workhorse
Team MTBNJ Halter's
Ug, I hate seeing Art like that....Hes like the iron man. Best wishes for a speedy recovery!
 

huffster

Well-Known Member
Wow! Never expected to read that when I "tuned it to this channel". Best wishes to Art for a speedy recovery!
 

pixychick

JORBA: Ringwood
JORBA.ORG
The past few days of warm weather were a real treat. I know it is fall, but I sure love hanging on to summer. The leaves have been awesome and I love being a part of the changing season. I used to get depressed in fall because I knew winter was coming, but now I look forward to fall, knowing that I can escape from the cold before it gets too bad. I also used to dread the first week of leaves on the trail because it would throw me off a bit. The past week has been awesome with the leaves down. I love riding over the blankets of colors. Pedaling down a yellow trail and then it turns red and so on. Perhaps I am just so stoked to be back on Pivot, after six weeks in the shop. It came back just in time for me to enjoy the great time of year.

I made sure to get Art out of the house and encouraged him to walk around the pond down the street. He has been doing a mile or two a day and even parked him self on the trainer to pedal for 10 minutes. Today he came out to trail build to help supervise. It was great to see him out of the house and being where he wants to be. I got so into working today that I forgot to take pictures. I plan to go back to work in a few days and will take pictures. I have some pictures from our walk this past week.


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pixychick

JORBA: Ringwood
JORBA.ORG
Art went back to the doctor for his first follow up after surgery, and unfortunately, he must stay in his collar for at least another 3 weeks. This means no driving and no going to Az until at least his next follow up and scans in 3 more weeks. I am hoping that day brings us a little closer to heading out west, but we get what we get. Yesterday I had to wear my winter jersey when riding and today it was snowing in Warwick where I had to get my blood work done this morning. I guess winter is only around the corner and starting to show itself. My puffy coat is officially out for the season.

I am signed up for Erie80 this Saturday. I signed up for 25 not 50 miles since I have not been riding for any real long rides these days. I have done zero prep or even thought about the race much, since I have had so much other stuff on my mind these days. If I feel ok Friday night and it is not raining on Saturday, I guess I will go and give it a shot. These are new trails for me, so I am looking forward to riding somewhere new. I know that is not too enthusiastic of an attitude, but that seems to be all I got with racing these days.

Never did make it back out to work on the new trail this week. I was actually pretty sore for a few days after last Sundays work day. My strength and stamina is not what it used to be. I suppose I need to get out and do trail work on a regular basis so I get used to it.

This may seem kind of random and not related to bikes, but is something I have not shared much with other people, and is worthy of mention. A few months ago my friend was visiting and gave me a hard time about using and throwing away plastic bags. Many of us recycle plastic bottles and sometimes plastic bags, but many of us do not recycle or eliminate use enough. I was guilty of this for sure. I gave it some thought and made a few changes. I not only started reusing grocery bags, but started reusing produce bags. Whole foods gives 10c for every bag reused, and I get a few $ off every shop now. That was not not my goal but a surprise when the cashier noticed all my old produce bags and crumpled paper bags and asked how many I used for a credit. I am guessing that I went from 20 to 1 bag per week. It may not be enough to save a whale, but if more people did this, it might make a difference in the planet.
 

pixychick

JORBA: Ringwood
JORBA.ORG
Erie 4o race report: First off, I went to ride it not race it. I just have not been doing much more than 1.5 hour rides, so I thought it wise to just do the 40K instead of the 80K. That was a wise choice. No names, but a few people told it was not technical and I assumed it ok to do on a hard tail. I show up with my steel HT and everyone has their full suspension bikes and thinks I'm crazy. Well, I made the most of what I had and have no complaints. I just call it riding!

It was like 35 degrees at the start, which I will complain about, because I hate being cold. That was the worst part of the day. I wore everything I had including winter gloves that I finished in. I passed a bunch of flat tires on course and the many sharp small shale like rocks kept my focus the entire ride. "Don't flat" was my mantra. At about 8 miles in, my team mate Marianne and I were stopping to to donate a tube to some guy we did not know. Now we had one between the two of us, so we sort stuck together which meant Marianne would have to wait for me a few times. My other teammate Stef was out there too , but on a SS. This was not a course I would want to ride a SS. She totally kicked butt today winning her class.

It was a tough race for me today. I did finish but everything was hurting, and my legs were toast by the end. I never really thought about it as a race, just wanted to complete it today. Turns out I came in 2nd. The course was not super technical but the sharp rocks and lumpy course made for a slow tough day on the bike. My time was close to 3:45 which is really slow for 27 miles. Not sure if I could have gone faster and not flatted, not to mention my legs surviving. It was a little bit humbling, as I have done 50 mile races before. I just do not have that in my fitness right now. I am glad I did the race, and it felt good to end my season with a race finish, since my last race was 909 and I did not finish due to my iron deficiency.

Not sure if I will have enough energy to do trail work tomorrow, but that was my plan. Art is starting to get antsy. I may need to come up with some jobs for him that will not compromise his neck.
 

Santapez

Well-Known Member
Team MTBNJ Halter's
Sad to see Art like that, glad he's moving forward.

Does he know how to juggle? Perfect time to learn.

We covet the plastic bags from grocery stores as those are our trash bags. 100% re-used and removes the need for buying/manufacturing garbage bags. Whole Foods and Trader Joes give out paper bags which all our paper recycling goes into.
 

pixychick

JORBA: Ringwood
JORBA.ORG
I was really sore after the Erie40, and did not do trail work the following day. However, I did get up in to the woods to work one afternoon last week. Art came along and did some flagging which was just enough exercise for him. He also found the lost rock bar that somehow had gotten left behind somewhere before the leaves fell. That was a good score on his part. We did not get much trail building done, but finding the rock bar was worth it.

I have been pretty flat on the bike all week, probably a result from my effort in the race last weekend. I find that the older I get, the longer it takes me to recover from an effort. I am not sure if I should take smaller steps in increasing rides, or longer rest periods. I really just want to ride on nice days and not think about it too much. Hopefully the good weather will stay around for a few more days.

Today at Sterling I found a few patches that were still green. This one hill side was brown except one section that faced southeast. The ferns were still green in that exposure. Almost everywhere else the ferns have been flat and brown for at least 2 weeks. The other section of green was under some hemlock trees. The lighting was really nice today traveling south on the trail, sun in my face and the pricker bush leaves were all glowing pink/orange being back lit from the sun. I am glad to enjoy the season before winter grey comes.

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pixychick

JORBA: Ringwood
JORBA.ORG
Been taking some time off the bike this week, so I was able to put a half day in on the new trail up at Ringwood. It was pretty nice out there today, and with many of the leaves down, I could see Mill pond glittering below as I walked in. Also the understory which may be some sort of invasive is all pink right now. It was magical walking out late in the day with the sun dipping low, all glowing pink. No matter how bad your day may start, it can turn around in an instant by just walking in the woods.

I was able to deduff and start to bench a stretch. Unable to get out some big rocks that were not in a good alignment, I opted to declare a truce, abandon rock moving and save my back. Then Art just showed up. He actually walked to the trail from home as his daily walk. I guess he could not stand not being a part of trail work ;). Anyway, he gave me some tips, and we got the rocks out together without too much trouble or stressing his neck. I can tell already that it will be hard to slow him down. He wants to get going. Anyway, it was a good day on the trail.

On the homestead, Beaver problems continue: Our neighbor unclogs the pond spillway each day and the beavers pack it with mud at night. Apparently there are 3 or more of them. I wish I could get them to come to trail building. Imagine going to bed at night and waking up to miles of new trail! These little critters are pretty awesome in some ways, I just hope they do not flood my house. We are working on finding them a new beaver friendly home.

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pixychick

JORBA: Ringwood
JORBA.ORG
Art got off his neck brace today, so we are making plans to head out to AZ in a few weeks. He hopes to get in some PT before we leave. He is happy to move his neck and head a bit more. The brace was getting to be a major pain in the neck, literally.

The weather has been pretty nice for riding. Waway was spectacular last weekend. Riding with all the fluffy leaves made me feel like a beginner. That being said, I still enjoyed being out there. I am not sure how many times I will get up to Waway before I head west, and it is one of my favorite places to ride. So glad to have such a nice day.

I have been off Iron supplements for over a week and my energy has been very good. Unfortunately my neck has still been bothering me, but compared to Art, I guess it is not that bad. I'm sure the trail work aggravates my neck too, but not enough to stop working, so life goes on as is for now. Sometimes doing nothing is just as bad or worse. The thing about aging that I have experienced so far, is to keep moving. Once you stop moving, things get worse.

Check out my tangerine tree in AZ. It has fruit!

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pixychick

JORBA: Ringwood
JORBA.ORG
There is no doubt that I had been enjoying the never ending warm fall weather, but that finally came to an end on Sunday. It was an official snowbird alert day in the NY metro area, urging old people to get the F out, and head south. Too cold to face the idea of riding a bicycle today, I dressed in "full metal jacket" and went for a walk with Art (see selfie). I will try to get on a bike tomorrow.

After going to watch Super Cross yesterday, I had a few thoughts:

1. I have no business pretending to race cross. ...I hate the cold.
2. I hate the cold.
3. I may be done racing.

That being said, I really enjoyed seeing friends out racing. I just had no desire to be out there myself. I think I am at the age where I can say that I am a fair weather rider.

Last Saturday was trail build, and I was really stoked to see how many people came out to work and how much got done. Team Town Cycle joined, and some of the Sterling workers came out to help. We finished the first section which reroutes traffic to another bridge at the manor. while this section does not currently tie in with any popular trails, it is the first step in reviving an underused part of the park. It also will be a part of several connectors to trails at Sterling. It was a good day for Art to be back out there working again, although on a lighter capacity. A good day indeed.

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pixychick

JORBA: Ringwood
JORBA.ORG
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I put on all my winter stuff, including winter shoes and got myself out on the trails. I was surprised to see how much snow was up in the woods behind my house. It started out as nothing and went up to a few inches up top behind the ridge. There were also tons of branches down, enough to have to constantly be stopping and packing my shoes up with giant slush globs. Cold never seems as bad when you get to play in snow. It was really fun, especially coming back down hill. I may try to grab some more tomorrow before it all melts.

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pixychick

JORBA: Ringwood
JORBA.ORG
Frosty leaves and ice on the pond remind me that my departure for Arizona should happen soon. I have been enjoying the local rides and all that is part of riding in the woods of northern NJ and some of NY now too. On my way home from every ride I encounter a pileated woodpecker or hawk overhead, as if they want to say goodbye. With the leaves all off the trees and down on the ground, I notice so much more. And while I like what I see, winter gray eventually becomes gloomy for what seems like way too long in these parts. I am hoping to get to Az while there still is some green. ...One of the reasons I like to get out there in November. They are expecting a heavy frost tomorrow. Hoping my tangerines survive. My neighbor may cover it with frost cloth for me.

Art's PT is going well. He had some major strength loss in his left tricep from the accident. They are trying to engage the nerve to muscle again to get it up and working. It is still too soon for him to push his range of motion. Since the brace is off, a bit more range has come back on it's own. He has been doing some light trail work and has set aside several bikes to bring to AZ, so he is aiming to get back on a bike in January.

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