Book of Paul H

[Paul H]

To be honest, I should not be anywhere near a mountain. lol

This past weekend I just rode my bike around the neighborhood. I did 7 miles with one break on Saturday and 6.7 miles with no break on Sunday. Yeah... I know.... pretty pathetic but I guess gotta start somewhere right? My butt started hurting and I was pretty tired. I need to build strength and endurance before I go anywhere near a mountain. But the weird thing was, about 5 minutes after getting off the bike, I feel like I can go for another round. I guess the deceptive word here is "feel"..... not that I "can" lol

 

[Dusty the Whale]

Yeah yoy need to build a good base fitness level. I'm currently in the process of turning my SIL into a mtb warrior. I can get some good rides put of her at 6mr and Allaire. Gonna get her to Hartshorne once she finally learns to f'n shift. Then after that get her to The Tourne for some beginner rocks

 

[Paul H]

There is Couch to 5k for running.... anything like it for biking?

 

[jmtbiker]

Me and my buddy rode here yesterday, we met a guy hiking with his family at the bottom of the yellow and the switchbacks to the top & he started giving us s#!+ that we aren't supposed to be off the marked trails. He told us to tell the guy with the leaf blower he wants his trail camera back. He said to give it to Robert from the NY/NJ trail conference. I gotta say the leaf blowing might make things better in the short term but without leaves the trails become muddy frost heaved messes in the winter and rockier the rest of the year. Just remove the fallen branches and loose rocks and keep riding them they will be much better in the long run.

 

[njxcmtnbkr]

JMTBIKER,I am one of the people cleaning the leaves.. and I have hiked the trails with Robert from the trail conference.. I am a member of the trail conference with Robert. I never took any cameras but I do remember seeing a camera on the dear pen trail.. I am sure you do not know where that trail is.

Not sure who this guy is you spoke to BUT I would assume his camera is to see ATV's ,, dirtbikes, etc. Good idea to see them but will not do anything else.. Not like these guys have license plates you can see with your camera.. Only way is to follow there tracks out.. and that's easy,, I know two spots they come in at,, could have a park ranger hanging there. Already discussed that with Robert.

As for clearing leaves.. Please trust me,, I know what I am doing. I have been racing MTB since 1996,, and I live on the mountain in North Haledon.. I have been using these trails since I was 13 years old.

For future reference if anyone every tells you anything like this please disregard it. Unmarked trails is a personal opinion. Many of the trails these people say are unmarked were there before they were even born.

I am working closely with Wayne township and the trail conference on trail cleanups and such. To clean up those HIKERS Poland spring bottles,, etc.. .High Mountain is going to be the nicest hiking and biking spot in the area,, period..

 

[kidzach]

I have also cleaned up these bottles. How many miles of unmarked trail are there? Last time there I came across some new stuff coming down yellow and all of a sudden I was not on yellow any longer. I was heading back to the parking lot near WP and found this before finding red again. I also noticed some students doing some type of function in this area. I always seem to leave here wondering why I come back. I can drive a little longer and have so many more miles available. But this place has so much promise. I wish I could just leave my house and get on my bike and ( legally) hit my closest park. Ah, but I live in no fun Essex county so I have take my chances to do so.

 

[njxcmtnbkr]

Kidzach... tommorow night Wed night ride.. 6 PM leaves out of top of Vine Street in North Haledon... 9 plus miles singletrack is up there.. BUT,, FYI,, its techy, rocky, and has almost 2000 feet elevation.. If your game,, come ride.

 

[kidzach]

NJX, I thank you for the invite. I would hate to hold you up on terrain I may not be not be familiar with.

 

[kidzach]

Kidzach... tommorow night Wed night ride.. 6 PM leaves out of top of Vine Street in North Haledon... 9 plus miles singletrack is up there.. BUT,, FYI,, its techy, rocky, and has almost 2000 feet elevation.. If your game,, come ride.

I shot you a pm

 

[Paul H]

Bought another entry level bike, Giant Talon 27.5 and decided to hit HM again.
But this time, started out at the Blue trail entering from Foxboro Rd.
Blue trail was much easier than the Red trail but this was the most fun I had.

I realized a couple of things and would appreciate your input.
1. The bike makes a ton of difference. My prior bike was a Walgoose but you guys already told me about this but at that time I couldnt have imagined how much. Now I am left to imagine what a real proper MTB would ride like. Lol
2. Seems like 1 finger braking is a must for me as I currently lack the confidence menuvering in the techie trails and need to grip with as many fingers as possible.
3. One endurance cycling youtube I saw said to stay on the saddle as much as possible. Seems like this does not apply to mountain biking especially on the down hill. When I got off my a$$, I felt like I had better control of the bike and when the rear slid off rocks and etc... it did not startled me as much.

I wanted to ride much longer but my phone battery was getting low. Didnt want to get lost so I had to cut it short. But nonetheless, it was a 2hr ride and it was sòooo much fun!! I am really loving this.

One question... my bike feels like too much weight is at the front and my hands and not too balanced. What adjustment does the bike need?

 

[Juggernaut]

If you got the bike from a LBS (best way to buy one IMO) they should be more than willing to help you with a bike fit. It's normal that what feels fine in the shop, feels meh, when you spend some time on it. Do not feel embarrassed to go back to them for help. They really DO want you to be happy with the purchase. Bike fit by forum is, at its very best, like a blind squirrel finding a nut... Improved core strength is always a plus on bikes in general.... A weak core will force more of your upper body weight onto your hands. I'm not saying it isn't bike fit issue... Just that a weak core will exasperate any issues you may have.....

 

[Paul H]

Thanks... Will do.
Went to HM again today and hit blue to yellow to white. That place was a freakin swamp. Couldnt get much traction. I think my bike rode me more than i rode the bike lol

 

[Paul H]

ARGH!!! Very disappointed in myself.
Had some shoulder pains couple of weeks ago but fought thru it and kept riding on the weekends. The pain is now down to a minimum but I have some soreness at the neck/shoulders and to my disappointment some numbness at the thumb and index finger. Appears I have a pinched nerve at the neck. It's slowly getting better but I was hoping that I would recoup well enough to ride this weekend. No luck... it looks like I may have to skip this weekend and rest it.

 

[Juggernaut]

Hey, I totally get the disappointed part. Nothing worse than having to take time away from something you enjoy. But you are not the bad guy here.

You can't will your way to un pinching a nerve. Everyone gets dinged up, even the pros. Sometimes it's off some sick jump, other times it's taking the bike out of the car... Sh*t happens.

So, heal up, then go out and kick the trails a$$! Er...um....have fun out there.

Dan-

 

[Paul H]

^ Thanks for reading and sympathizing with my rants and ramblings.
It's especially disappointing when I feel that I have been making some progress in the last month. It has been that the trails were kicking my butt but inching towards reversing this

Perhaps its not necessarily a terrible terrible thing considering last week HM was a freakin swamp. Hopefully one more week will really dry up the place.

Maybe I will still take a short spin around the neighborhood.

 

[pat_the_cat]

Considering heading here this coming week. I've lived in Midland Park for a couple years and never knew about this place till this morning. I normally ride in Tranquillity, Deer Park, Mahlon, Mine Hill and have had the opportunity to ride at Ringwood once. How does this place compare to Tranquillity? I do 70-75% of my riding there. I ride a 31ish lb 26" Nomad and would consider myself a decent beginner to intermediate. Fitness level has gone down the last two months with sickness, weather, holidays. Looking for someplace close to home to ride. Hope this fits the bill.

 

[JimN]

It's rockier than Tranquility, but nothing super crazy. You should definitely be riding there since it is so close to you. Most people seem to love it or hate it; I personally love it. There is a lot of climbing, but if you are used to climbing white/purple/cardiac then you'll be fine. If you have a Garmin, grab the GPX file I posted previously and follow it, otherwise you will need a tour. If you don't know where you are going then you probably won't have a good time.

 

[pat_the_cat]

White/purple/cardiac is our standard fair. Or white all the way out to red. But yeah it's a good time. I like the upper section of where it's nothing but rock and techy section. I don't have a Garmin, just my phone. I normally use Strava. I'll look in the App Store and see if I can find something that I can import the files to for a turn by turn kind of tour lol

 

[JimN]

You'll be fine. I could give you a tour anytime next weekend if that works for you.

 

[pat_the_cat]

I plan on riding next Sunday morning. Right now weather looks ok. Thought about heading there this morning but my wife is vetoing that.