Off-Road / Road Century (aka The "Mutant" Century)

[montclairbobbyb]

Mutant Century Update

Do you have any update on this ride? Is it still going to happen?

Mike (and fellow Mutants):

Yes!!! We are ON for Saturday June 13th. Start time at High Point: 6 AM!!!

The Historic, Epic, Mutant Century will combine awesome single and double track trails, dirt roads, and paved scenic roads, winding its way from the NJ Skylands down to the peaceful Piedmont plains of Central Jersey. The idea of this ride is simple... To get from point A to B by unconventional (yet still very practical) route, on bikes that can comfortably handle the variety of terrain and mixed surfaces... There are many unknown (or simply ignored) bike passages throughout NJ. The Mutant Century will be a celebration of the road less travelled...

(See my previous post for an overview of the route). I am putting together a basic cue sheet to follow. If you'd rather ride this a different day, or on your own, I hope the cue sheet will encourage you to do so. If you'd like to join us (the Mutancy) for the ride on the 13th, here is what you'll need:

- Transportation for you and your bike (to High Point). We'll work out the shuttling logistics; we'd appreciate your willingness to participate in carpooling and/or shuttling.
- A mutant bike (which can be anything from a mountain bike, 29er, cyclocross, or virtually any bike that can handle FAT tires and navigate over any kind of terrain, from singletrack to paved road). But the more "different" the bike, while still proving its capability to navigate a variety of terrain, the greater it's mutancy... (We LIKE that!!)
- Water and food for at least part of the distance. (After all, there will be QuikChecks, Wawas and Seven-Elevens along the way, where you can refill)
- Spare parts and tools. Although this ride will no doubt bring out the true mutant spirit of helping one another, most mutants have low tolerance for ill-preparedness, including comments like, "Oh shit, I left my CO2 and my cell phone with my Serotta... anyone have a spare????"
- The right "tude"... The goal of this ride is adventure.... To have fun, ride at a respectable, but manageable pace, and to truly enjoy the ride...
- Having said that, faster riders should feel free to ride ahead if so inclined... I'm a slower rider by nature (and by age/ability), so nobody will be offended by the formation of a "breakaway muton" (mutant peloton)...

This will be like no other experience... BTW, pizza and beer at the Chimney Rock Inn (Saturday evening) is our ultimate quest... We hope you'll join us for this historic, epic..... MUTANT mega ride!!!

Any questions, please contact me directly at MontclairBobbyB@gmail.com

Peace,
BB

 

[Norm]

June 13th? For sure? You originally said June 20th. But the 13th would work much better for me.

 

[RNG1]

Do you have a rough guesstimation of duration of this epic?

 

[kush]

Me and my cross bike are sure gonna try.

 

[Norm]

Me and my cross bike are sure gonna try.

Just took a look at the route Bob posted. I think the cross bike would be the best choice here. The brook trail in CR might be iffy and parts of Stephens as well. But that's all of 8 miles of the total, which shouldn't be too bad.

This actually matches exactly with my plans for the day. I was planning to ride 8+ hours on this day, and this would work out extremely well as an alternate to that.

Kush - you serious about trying this?

 

[kush]

I haven't spoken to the better half, but I do want to do it, yes. Plus Bob is a really funny guy.

 

[J-Dro]

June 13th? For sure? You originally said June 20th. But the 13th would work much better for me.

I can confirm the date change from the 20th to the 13th for BobbyB since a conflict came up on the 20th with a mutual friend's going away party.

Good to see the mutant army expanding.

 

[Norm]

I haven't spoken to the better half, but I do want to do it, yes. Plus Bob is a really funny guy.

Sweet! I'm on vacation for 3 days after the 13th, and I already told my wife I'd be out for 10 hours. So I'm a go, assuming I can work out the logistics of getting to HPSP by 6:00 am. I really can't leave a car there as we're taking off the next morning and won't have time to drive up and go get it.

 

[montclairbobbyb]

Mutant Epic - aka the Longerest, Funnerest Day...

Do you have a rough guesstimation of duration of this epic?

I can proudly predict: "It shall be longerer and funnerer than your usual 6-hour centrury ride".... Actually, based on my steady, non-racelike pace, it's 4 hours to Waterloo, then another 3 to High Bridge, then 2 to Chimney Rock, and another 2 for the final 20 mile push.... brinnging the total time to roughly 11-12 hours. (Of course, if Biskey has hot dogs and beer at his house, the final push will take 5 hours, will require lights, and may possibly require a call to the sag wagon (aka wifey)...

The mileage you get may vary, depending on how you drive.... I'll bet you can at least make it to Chimney Rock in 7-8 hours if you push... not this mutant... I'm going to enjoy my Seven Eleven Slurpee stops... yes indeed...

Norm, the terrain at High Point is rolling, with a few stream and minor obstacle/rock crossings... I personally wouldn't attempt it on skinnies, but you uber-mutant-psyclo-cross types might actually eat this up like candy... There's certainly nothing resembling Sourland on this trail...

Hope that helps.

Peace,
BB

 

[Norm]

Norm, the terrain at High Point is rolling, with a few stream and minor obstacle/rock crossings... I personally wouldn't attempt it on skinnies, but you uber-mutant-psyclo-cross types might actually eat this up like candy... There's certainly nothing resembling Sourland on this trail...

So not entirely snowmobile trail? I'm thinking long-haul here with the CX bike. I could bring the geared Niner instead. If there are no rock gardens I think it would be ok. The dirt roads and rail trails will be better on the CX bike though.

 

[MikeG]

Great! I'm in. Thanks to Norm for pointing out the date change. I just swapped the dates on my shared (with wifey) Google calendar, so she will not even notice the date change of this ride.

 

[montclairbobbyb]

Yeah, sorry about the date confusion... (It seems to be happening more frequently)....

As it turns out the Mutant Century will be starting at approximately the same start time as the (official) Longest Day Ride... in fact, we may potentially converge in Branchville, our first chance of an encounter between mutant and roadie... ARRGH!!! And we, with our brightly painted and smiling faces in stark contrast to the menacing grimaces of the LDRers as they shatter the local Branchville speed limit (25 mph.... yeah, nice try....), may only comment amidst the blur of the passing peloton... "OUR ride is definitely funnerer... we may not be fast, but today we're perfect"....

No disrespect to Brian and Fran Sanchez, the fine promoters of the LDR, but just look at the route they've laid out.... Route 206 from Montague to Bridgewater.... Aghhh... That's downright fugly!!! We will merely oversee portions of their route from the shady, elevated vista of the scenic Sussex Branch Trail... yes, not all routes are created equal, I'm afraid...

Peace,
BB

 

[liong71er]

wow,this is gonna be an awesome mutant century ride ever.i would love to joining your rides bob,.to bad i must work on saturday.

have fun and be save everyone!!

 

[montclairbobbyb]

I would prioritize the most important mutant characteristics as follows (left to right, most important to least important):

FAT tires > Smooth tires > Long-haul riding comfort > Rigid frame/fork > Lockable shocks >

If your ride possesses 2 or fewer of these characteristics... I would estimate it to have a low mutant rating...

 

[warcricket]

:hmmm:

 

[montclairbobbyb]

Adam, what seems to be the dilemma? ... choosing between your fixie or your bamboo bike? (BOTH... are equally mutant)...

 

[THATmanMANNY]

:hmmm:

 

[J-Dro]

:hmmm:

This is code for "Damn, I really want to make this but I don't have a ride to get to High Point."

:hmmm:

This is code for "Sure Adam you can ride with me. But wait. Did you say it's wheels down at 6AM????

 

[Steve Vai]

This ride sounds like tons of fun!! It's nearly impossible for me to get off work on a Saturday, otherwise I'd be in like Flynn

-Jim.

 

[Glancing Aft]

I've had my eyes on this ride form some time, however I get in from vacation the night before (really late) so I wont be able to make it. Have a great time and someone please upload the ride on to motionbased, I'd love to see it!