The (unofficial) Tour de Fat

[mattybfat]

Let me tell you that returning to this heat is dreadful.

What were your temps up north. I know in July at gurney I was starting morning rides in the low 50s. It even hit 47 one morning. Got to love that.

The big guy @Reggie joined me this morning. Always good to have company especially this guy. We had a very sprited start on our ride. We hammered out a bunch of the lower section. It wasn't till the climb, sasquach that burke dropped me like a cheap suit. Somehow we got separated, well i know how. I fell too far back and still don't know these names. So what i thought was the a trail he mentioned turned out to be the real name for sasquach. Made the call that we were no more and we finished out our rides solo. It happens. I decided to take some non typical or reversal you could say. Funny how different a trail is in the opposite direction. I went back lower SSP and decided to throw a couple junk miles in doing the north/SSP connector loop in. Pretty messy over there with overgrowth and dead falls. Seems the 80 underpass concrete portion has been abandon in favor of the tech section on the water side. You need to know the exact line or its a fail. I had success. Rest of the ride was pretty uneventful.

I have new SS on my brain. This will end good but it will be at the sacrifice of the fatbike. I think i am finally over that trend. Dont get me wrong, I love that bike a ton. Its basically monster truck that smooths the gnar. Its cheating plain and simple and i was ok with that. It just doesn't fit into my scheme presently and I want to cut my mtb corral to 2. So right now if I am choosing 2 its the long travel ripmo and a sweet steel SS. The misfit has brought me a ton of joy, hell its my first SS and 29er, but thats just it its 2007 geometry. I am still undecided on the wheel size for a new SS, seems b+ is a favorite now but im still partial to 29. With that i am undecided on staying rigid or adding some squish. I have pretty much narrowed down the frame. As I mentioned I am shooting for an all USA made frame and components.

Now I've been happy lately
Thinking about the good things to come
And I believe it could be
Something good has begun
Oh, I've been smiling lately
Dreaming about the world as one
And I believe it could be
Someday it's going to come✌

 

[Norm]

What were your temps up north.

57-65 range in the morning. But more than that, very little humidity most days.

 

[Reggie]

You were killing it out there today @mattybfat I was pinned and barely hanging on to you in the Maze.

 

[serviceguy]

What were your temps up north. I know in July at gurney I was starting morning rides in the low 50s. It even hit 47 one morning. Got to love that.
View attachment 136819
The big guy @Reggie joined me this morning. Always good to have company especially this guy. We had a very sprited start on our ride. We hammered out a bunch of the lower section. It wasn't till the climb, sasquach that burke dropped me like a cheap suit. Somehow we got separated, well i know how. I fell too far back and still don't know these names. So what i thought was the a trail he mentioned turned out to be the real name for sasquach. Made the call that we were no more and we finished out our rides solo. It happens. I decided to take some non typical or reversal you could say. Funny how different a trail is in the opposite direction. I went back lower SSP and decided to throw a couple junk miles in doing the north/SSP connector loop in. Pretty messy over there with overgrowth and dead falls. Seems the 80 underpass concrete portion has been abandon in favor of the tech section on the water side. You need to know the exact line or its a fail. I had success. Rest of the ride was pretty uneventful.
View attachment 136820
I have new SS on my brain. This will end good but it will be at the sacrifice of the fatbike. I think i am finally over that trend. Dont get me wrong, I love that bike a ton. Its basically monster truck that smooths the gnar. Its cheating plain and simple and i was ok with that. It just doesn't fit into my scheme presently and I want to cut my mtb corral to 2. So right now if I am choosing 2 its the long travel ripmo and a sweet steel SS. The misfit has brought me a ton of joy, hell its my first SS and 29er, but thats just it its 2007 geometry. I am still undecided on the wheel size for a new SS, seems b+ is a favorite now but im still partial to 29. With that i am undecided on staying rigid or adding some squish. I have pretty much narrowed down the frame. As I mentioned I am shooting for an all USA made frame and components.
View attachment 136825
Now I've been happy lately
Thinking about the good things to come
And I believe it could be
Something good has begun
Oh, I've been smiling lately
Dreaming about the world as one
And I believe it could be
Someday it's going to come✌

Wait, what? You call the trails by name and if they don't answer you get lost? What wizardry is that...

 

[mattybfat]

Today was EBD (Enduro Bro Day)

After a couple solid SS mornings I decided to switch it up and take the ripmo today with a set plan to just do halley toe/tally hoe laps. Time was short so this made the most sense. I was able to get 4 laps in, I'm sure there're some of you who would say why would you ride up HT 4 times. Its all about getting to the party. Yes TH is short but with its shortness it packs the punch the ripmo wants to shred. I pretty much have it dialed in now to really let it go. Part of me still holds a touch back because I am out there solo but who am I kidding. The last 2 runs if a fell off line and clipped a tree, well let's just say it wouldn't have been pretty.
This is what laps of HT/TH look like, not very impressive

So it looks like my son Jason and I are heading to Thunder Mountain this weekend. It will be are first time here. We havent gone yet because we always do Highlands because its awesome and we are very familiar with it. We agreed we will get to highlands before the season ends but want to hit Thunder and Killington first. If we don't squeeze Highlands in its OK. We plan to go Vamping hopefully in the parking lot. This is another reason why not highlands as they made it clear no more lot camping to my disappointment. Anyone know what Thunders lot camping rules are? Any good eats? Anything? I gonna text young Rob as his farm is not too far away and see if by chance we can meet up. Miss that boy, he was like a son to me. So begins some gravity weekends, heres to keeping the rubberside down.

They were all in love with dyin'
They were drinking from a fountain
That was pouring like an avalanche
Coming down the mountain✌

 

[Zaskar]

Anyone know what Thunders lot camping rules are?

Lodging & Camping

The Warfield Inn is 500 acres of beautiful mountain top real-estate, offering a magnificent vista that will serve as a gorgeous backdrop for your overnight stay, event, wedding, or just an escape from the norm!

berkshireeast.com

CAMPING AT BERKSHIRE EAST MOUNTAIN RESORT
Our campground is CLOSED. Overnight parking is prohibited. If you need recommendations on where to stay, feel free to give us a call.

Also - thanks for posting those lyrics. Been a while since I've heard that one.

 

[Norm]

Hold on, let me get you the info where the boys camped with their dad when they went up there. They did both parks with a 30' RV so it wasn't too far from either.

 

[Soundguy]

Part of me still holds a touch back because I am out there solo

I rode it solo earlier this week and slid off a berm at Mach speed. Had to dial it back a few clicks lol. Those berms get pretty sketchy in the humidity.

 

[mattybfat]

Holy poop @JDurk love those indy frames. Like Seven's they do a hands down job with steel and ti. Very reputable company with a touch higher price tag for me. Looks like that frame is new geometry style. @woody And I used to throw down some epic SS with him on his Indy bike that always looked about 2 sizes too small for him. Pretty sure he picked it up second hand.

Stanhope Ken showed up this morning and we had a nice 11 mile ride. You would think by riding stephens daily would start to make this place a bore but you would be wrong. I can put so many variations together and styles of rides that it doesn't get old. With Deer Park completely left for dead, as anyone who has ridden there recently can contest its a complete shit show. Due in part that I personally have stayed away. Will leave that just sit right there. Its always nice to venture out to North and hit the classics. One of these days I am gonna pull a triple. The dog is holding me back at the moment so gonna have to leave her home one day for a big day.

As I said we are off to Thunder today. If things go well we will be out by noon but that would be waking sleeping beauty early. Maybe i will use the mtbnj air horn say at 11a.

Been suffering with the hand/wrist numbing at the beginning of every ride, it takes a good 30 minutes before it works its self out. IiRC I seemed to remember @graveyardman67 posting about a pre ride exercise to warm them up. Hopefully he sees this and can remind me what that was. If its the squeeze thingy then I got that but man I feel like with these labor working hands that shouldn't be necessary.

@soundz must be enjoying this very shroomy weather we have been having.

Everyone enjoy your weekend
Peace ✌

 

[JimN]

One of these days I am gonna pull a triple

If you can give me a heads-up, I'd love to join you!

 

[JDurk]

Holy poop @JDurk love those indy frames. Like Seven's they do a hands down job with steel and ti. Very reputable company with a touch higher price tag for me. Looks like that frame is new geometry style.

It was a 50th b-day present to myself. Geometry is close to the 2nd gen Niner SIR9 that I was very comfortable with, so wanted to have a similar ride, and was swapping most parts. For riding SJ, DE, MD and the Philly area trails it works great. Heading North or Central PA, I use the FS. If going new geometry, and not totally custom, I would probably go with a Vassago.

 

[serviceguy]

Holy poop @JDurk love those indy frames. Like Seven's they do a hands down job with steel and ti. Very reputable company with a touch higher price tag for me. Looks like that frame is new geometry style. @woody And I used to throw down some epic SS with him on his Indy bike that always looked about 2 sizes too small for him. Pretty sure he picked it up second hand.
View attachment 136994
Stanhope Ken showed up this morning and we had a nice 11 mile ride. You would think by riding stephens daily would start to make this place a bore but you would be wrong. I can put so many variations together and styles of rides that it doesn't get old. With Deer Park completely left for dead, as anyone who has ridden there recently can contest its a complete shit show. Due in part that I personally have stayed away. Will leave that just sit right there. Its always nice to venture out to North and hit the classics. One of these days I am gonna pull a triple. The dog is holding me back at the moment so gonna have to leave her home one day for a big day.

As I said we are off to Thunder today. If things go well we will be out by noon but that would be waking sleeping beauty early. Maybe i will use the mtbnj air horn say at 11a.

Been suffering with the hand/wrist numbing at the beginning of every ride, it takes a good 30 minutes before it works its self out. IiRC I seemed to remember @graveyardman67 posting about a pre ride exercise to warm them up. Hopefully he sees this and can remind me what that was. If its the squeeze thingy then I got that but man I feel like with these labor working hands that shouldn't be necessary.

@soundz must be enjoying this very shroomy weather we have been having.

Everyone enjoy your weekend
Peace ✌

Shame about Deer Park, I’ve been there only once on a MTBNJ group ride but did enjoy it, maybe it was just the good company!

 

[soundz]

@soundz must be enjoying this very shroomy weather we have been having.

We had a long dry spell followed by some thunderstorms, but it's still drought conditions. Hopefully conditions are good for maitake this fall. That's my favorite.

 

[mattybfat]

More weekends More weekends there are never enough!

Weekend recap
We made a last minute call to shoot up to Thunder Mountain, when i say last minute i was calling campgrounds at 10:45am on Friday. After about 8 calls, one of which I left a message and wasn't looking pretty. Sorry we are booked. Well I planned to go any way if it meant sleeping in the van which was looking like a reality. Then at 11:45 the one i left a message for returned the call. "Sorry no tent sites but we have an RV site with electric and water" i kindly said sold to the man with a mini camper van So we packed up with tent and set out for the Berkshire's.
Drive up went very well for a Friday and made it to Country Air Campground in just under 4 hrs. If there were a closer highway it may have taken even less. Many towns and country roads through western Massachusetts to get there but worth the scenery. Campgrounds were about 5 miles away from Thunder which was nice and a very clean camping facility to boot.

The Mountain
Our first time here as i said we normally just shoot up to Highlands. When i say "We" and "Our" i forgot to who which is my son Jason. If I am to ride bikes with him, this is the only form he will go up to this point. I might of turned him a bit to get back on the trails again. We both throughly enjoyed this mountain so much so we couldn't get enough. We probably spent more time and more runs then at any other park to date. Weather was outstanding both days and most of the trails were in great condition. Blacks and double blacks were labeled as predictable. Day one saw me eat shit on a Dbl black, steep as all hell and my front wheel got sucked into abyss after lip. Superman into a flip on my back. Did I mention I purposely left the body armor home so I would stay off blacks and dbl blacks 🙄. Earned the early purple thumb award. Did about 5 more runs till closing and they were painful. When i raced DH at minimum one of my hands would fall victim to this common injury always early in the season. Knew what to do, Ice and then Ice some more. Was not gonna let this ruin day 2.

Day 2
Mostly blues all day with an occasional black thrown in. We must of hit The Gronk 15x, this is a flow table trail that was absolutely the best I ever been on. I should of counted but at least 15 air moments with solid lips and perfect transitions.
Jason on Gronk

We had as many runs Sunday as we did on Saturday, twice the crowd Saturday then on Sunday which made for quick lifts. Lift is slow but moved the lines quite nicely.

Great weekend great Mountain, will be in the rotation!

Todays ride

Yup i am the dummy who forgot his bucket again. Took a super chill super easy route and practice my slow tech and climb tech skills. Doggo was happy I back home and back to the routine again. She basically attacked me with love when we got home yesterday. All this SSing and daily riding definitely paid off for my big mountain riding. Was able to put full top to bottom runs in and physically feel fresh for most of the day. Instead of me being the anchor it was my 19yr old who skipped laps
Also should note that the Ripmo was absolutely at home and never did i feel like i needed more bike. This was the perfect solution and made me a happy man. Oh and boy wonder was instantly satisfied with my old downhill bike, he absolutely loved it.

Sometimes I cannot take this place
Sometimes it's my life I can't taste
Sometimes I cannot feel my face
You'll never see me fall from grace✌

 

[Norm]

NIce.

When I texted you that I needed to get up there, I forgot you called the audible and I thought you were at Highland. We have tentative plans to go to Thunder in September.

 

[mattybfat]

@Frank News was startling to say the least. Just recently losing our close skiing friend to pancreatic cancer just makes you filled with every emotion. I know Frank well enough, that this fight he will pursue will be just like any he has done before, and come out a winner. Its part of your DNA, your a go getter.
You are in our prayers my man.

I forgot to set the alarm this morning so I was time crunched. 30 mins behind schedule where I almost said f it, but just tried to pull it together. Figured any ride is better then no ride. To my surprise it rained over night, in fact the wife told me we had violent lighting strikes last night. Never heard it once. Super happy i can sleep so soundly when so many seem to have sleeping disorders especially at our age.
I decided to just put as much climbimg in a short ride as I could. My short ride still got me 8 miles with just under 1k.

It occurred to me that I never posted a pic of the 25k chicken coop I built for my Hope client. Yup that $25,000 dollars, should ask @map111158 how many eggs you need to sell to make that money back

Yesterday
I swapped my front tire on the SS. Threw on one of maxxis ass-guys I pulled off the ripmo. Perfect tire as a front tire at 2.6 and very aggressive tread. Also installed a new brake cable and housing on the rear BB7 which made a huge difference in my hand numbness. It really occured to me i was dealing with a ton of drag on that old cable which now is buttery smooth. I also bought a new lid as I impacted the old one enough to retire. Let's see how long I can keep my head off the ground.

"Games people play,
You take take it or you leave it
Things that they say,
Just don't make it right
If I'm tellin' you the truth right now,
Do you believe it
Games people play in the middle of the night" ✌

 

[Juggernaut]

Where do we go from here?😁

 

[mattybfat]

Have to pay for that burger its Tuesday

To my surprise it rained again, as I stepped outside it was apparently just raining and ended as i woke. Grabbed the coffee to go and headed out. Most times I ride i don't have a plan i just where the front wheel takes me. Today it turned up Haley Toe 🤯
When I started this whole ride daily thing, all I said was if I can climb this damn trail daily I should be able to whip my ass into shape. Those first days trying to climb that trail it required no less then 4 stops to recover my heart rate. This is of course riding a bike with gears and the littlest gears as possible.
As you know if you been following along i been hitting this trail multiple times now for enduro bro days. The difference today was i climbed this bastard or should I say bitch on my SS hence the pic above at the top. Not the best day because of wetness. I didn't stop except for 3 dabs, I found that this was actually easier then the burger climbs, I think? As I said its like riding different trails when you loop backwards, so I was rewarded today. I forgot how tough upper maze is in the opposite direction, holy cow!

"Humility stands in stark contrast with the current state of things, offering us a way to engage ourselves and others with honesty, curiosity, and open-mindedness. The ability to present our ideas and views modestly, share praise and blame, and consider the needs of others, has been shown to increase happiness, strengthen relationships, and achieve professional success." ✌

 

[mattybfat]

lol just realized its Wednesday now I have to pay interest on that burger, Fffuggg...

 

[Norm]

Sadly, Wimpy quotes are understood by fewer and fewer people each time I use them.