Case Mountain

Pictures

Nathan Hale

Riders: Jay, Arch, Christina, Don, Jill

I finally made it to the Nathan Hale ride after many failed attempts. Not the most promising night for a ride, the rain started about halfway to the ride and I decided to still ride if anyone was there when I showed up. Arch was already there, then Jay, then a crazy old man with a severe hack of a cough and 2 dogs (he was just walking by, not riding), then Christina and Don from Willington. The trail starts off gently, mostly flat and windy, great intro and warm-up. There were some great natural rock gardens. Everything was pretty slick from the rain but it still didn’t take anything away from the ride. After you’ve had plenty of time to warm up the trail starts sloping up and there were plenty of rocks to play on (or go around!) and there’s enough climbing to keep your heart rate up. There are about 6.5 miles of trails although when we finished it felt like closer to 10 or 12. I love the way it flows, it’s challenging and fun. I can’t wait to get back there in daylight and dry weather!

Mansfield Hollow

Pictures

Riders: John, John and Kyle, Andy, Arch, Jill, Pierre, Mark, Scott, Rob

Cccccold start to this ride, it’s sub-freezing at 8am. We wait in our cars until everyone arrives and gets ready then we head out. Head out over the dam, down the whoops and over to the lollipop which we scream through, Andy takes a head shot over the tree at the end, he’s ok so we keep riding. Cross the street and head around the lake and pop out at the bridge. Quick pace, we catch our breaths and scoot back in to finish the other side of the lake. Pop out across from the transfer station, cross 89 and catch the new single track. Not the easiest stretch of trail, lot’s of climbing but I know John will love it. So many leaves it’s hard to find the trail. Quick snack stop and we cross the bridge and take a right to head over to the lookout we found a couple weeks ago. We say Hi to a Dad and his 2 boys and head down the rocky descent. Very bumpy! Comes out at the road and we roadie it over to 195 and head toward Schoolhouse. This is when the fun starts, lot’s of rocks to launch off, logs to play on, and just really fast singletrack with enough rocks to make it fun but not too painful. We split up here due to some time constraints and Arch takes Pierre, Scott, and Rob to finish up the stunty trail and the rest of us head over to Wolf Rock. Nice ride back, this is my favorite part of the trail. Mark likes the descent after Wolf Rock, it’s all pretty much down hill or flat from here so we pop out to the road and head back to 195 the dam and the cars. 20.5 miles today and it felt good. The sun came out and it warmed up to high 40’s, perfect riding weather. -Jill