DAR (Daughters of the American Revolution) State Forest Nemba ride

Riders: John Stockford, Rick, Doug, Michael, Jill

Ok, John has complained about not riding with Rick for months now so he must have been happy because they drove up together AND rode together. Doug decided to drive up solo in case he got called for work and Michael and I drove up in my car. We met at Starbucks in Enfield and it took us about an hour to get to DAR. Immediately after getting out of the car the mosquitoes attacked. Holy crap, we can’t do anything else but run for the bug spray, run to sign up for the ride, run back to get our gear together and hop on our bikes to try to outrun the bugs. Of course there is the customary bathroom trip that stretches out forever, I’m not saying who but you all know… So, on the trail, it starts off with about a mile of piney, mega rooty trail by the water. John immediately crashes, I go over the handle bars and we’re off to a good start! Doug just watches us and I’m sure he’s laughing to himself. After this section the rest of the ride flows very nicely. We don’t do much stopping because of the bugs but we rode almost non-stop for 3 hours and about 14 miles on some seriously great trail. Lots of climbing but with the exception of one sick rocky climb it was all rideable. Really, really nice. The terrain was challenging but not discouraging, and you had to pay attention at all times. There was a lot of everything, roots, rocks, ascents, not too many descents, bridges, board rides and not too many stretches where you could just mindlessly cruise. In fact I don’t think there were any sections like that. We would all go back there to ride in a heartbeat but maybe when it’s cooler and there aren’t so many bugs. Great ride folks, I would definitely recommend this area. – Jill

Beginner Ride at Mansfield Hollow

Riders: Nicky, Mark, Natasha, Andy, Jill

Ok, I received a request for this story so here goes. It was the 2nd beginner ride of the year after 2 already got cancelled due to rain. We had a more manageable crew this time with 4 repeat riders and one new rider – my buddy Mark from LL Bean who is a kayak instructor there and who I get all my kayak advice from. I decided on a figure 8 loop that starts down the road and goes into the woods near the transfer station. This is a good plan if somebody has a mechanical or needs to bail because it pops us right back at the parking lot. I sent Andy out front and I tagged along in the back. The trails at Mansfield once again are in perfect condition and we have a smooth ride. Mark has ridden at Mansfield before but had never been on the trails we were riding and Nicky and Natasha had been on the first ride although Natasha had not ridden the transfer section the first time. We got back to the parking lot and everyone wanted to ride more so we headed down the road again to complete our figure 8 and popped into the woods on the right. These guys cruised right along and I promised them that next time I would take them over to the lollipop if they wanted more of a challenge. They are all riding hardtails too which is more challenging especially with all the roots at Mansfield. Mark was psyched that he got to ride new trails, Nicky was cruising along like an expert and Natasha climbed all the hills that she had a hard time climbing last time now that she is getting better at choosing her gears. All in all a very pleasant, laid back, no stress ride with a happy crew. A+. – Jill

Arcadia Fun Ride

Riders: Dave H. Andy C., Andy M., Sean, Glenn, Jim, Mickey and 2 friends, John Stockford, Doug M., Rick, Michael, Jill

Ok this ride was so long ago it’s hard to remember details. What I do remember is 1. It was my birthday, 2. We went to Buttonwoods for ice cream after the ride, 3. The weather was absolutely stunning, 4. The ride was a blast, 5. I had cookies and cream ice cream, 6. The ice cream was really good…7. It didn’t start raining until we got home then we had ice cream cake. 8. The cake was really good… 9. The best thing I can think of to do on my birthday. Ice cream and cake and riding … – Jill

Mansfield Hollow Ride

Riders:  Andy M., Jill
Where was everyone on this perfect night for a ride???  I don’t know but we had another great ride at Mansfield, conditions are super there right now.  We headed around the lake (skipped the lollipop), and did the whole transfer station trail and found a new bridge where there has been a muddy, deep crossing which was great.  Then we headed over to Schoolhouse and on up to Wolf Rock.  Made it down the other side of Wolf Rock with no problem but kept a little too much speed on the downhill after and my tires slipped on the leaves, the bike turned sideways and the bike and I skidded down the hill horizontally about 10 to 15 feet before coming to a stop still clipped in.  What a spectacular crash, the kind where you get up laughing because it could have been ugly but ended up kind of smooth and graceful.  Can a crash be graceful?  I say yes!  Andy was climbing like crazy tonight and I was having a hard time matching his speed on the climbs.  That Enduro Andy has makes everything look so smooth so if you are following you think the trail ahead is easy but it’s really the way the bike floats over everything.   It’s all about the bike, right?  That’s not really true, you gotta have some skills too.  – Jill

Vernon Cycle Ride

Riders: Nicky, Mark, Keith, Matt, Michael, Jill
Cold, raw, windy, dim are all apt descriptors for this ride. We got about 24 miles in tonight. This was Nicky’s first time this year riding with the group and she did an excellent job staying with the crew. It’s great having another girl on the ride and hopefully after a few more we can drive Keith crazy by passing him and making him chase us! – Jill

Mansfield Hollow Ride

Riders: John Stockford, Doug, Michael, Jill
After going to the Brialee race in the morning to cheer for our racers we headed over to Mansfield to meet John and Doug for an early afternoon ride. You really could not have asked for a more perfect day. Bright sunshine and not too warm, the trails were dry and fast. We did the lollipop first, then around the lake over to the transfer station and Michael had another trail in mind to cut out a portion of the transfer station trail but we ended up in a big dirt bowl with no trails so we backtracked a bit and Michael found the trail he wanted and we headed in. How does he know about this I ask myself because I’ve been riding here just as long as he has but never knew about it. I guess that is why he is the navigator on the AR team and I am not… So we head over to Wolf Rock, over the bridge that neither Doug or John have seen before although it’s been there since late last summer. Can it really be that long since they ridden here???? Wow. Anyway, over the bridge, up the hill, and onto my favorite stretch. We make sure John doesn’t impale himself again through the rock/water crossing that he loves to crash in then a fast exit out to the road. Fantastic ride. – Jill

Brialee Mountain Bike Race – Root 66 Race Series

Pictures from the Brialee MTB Race Race Results

Dave Hildebrand posted a bunch of pictures too!

And even more…

Natasha

Rachel and Andy

Jonathan

Brialee Pre-ride

Riders:  Sue, Natasha, Nicky, Doug, Jill

The Brialee race is on Sunday so we decided to do a pre-ride so people who were thinking about racing could check out the course.  This course is tough in the best of circumstances and super challenging for beginners but everyone really did a great job.  Some of the conditions deep in the course were tricky for even experienced riders.  Deep ruts and deep running water were abundant.  I was impressed with the tenacity of these riders because this course is rough!  Good job folks.  – Jill

Grayville

Riders:  Mike Coleman, Glenn, Andy M., Michael, Jill

Switched things up a bit tonight, still a bit on the muddy side at Grayville but the new bridges are running rampant and you sort of have to try to ride them or get stuck walking through some serious mud and nasty smelling puddles.  Had a few mishaps in the group tonight, couple crashes, couple bridge slip-offs, a rock tumble, a tree and helmet bashing.  Sort of a hazardous ride, more so than usual but then again I think everyone really liked this ride. – Jill

Vernon Cycle Road Ride

Riders:  Mark, Keith, Will, Dave, Tom, Michael, Jill

Vernon Cycle was packed and poor Tom was running around like crazy trying to help everyone and get ready for the ride at the same time.  We ended up leaving closer to 6p m than the 5:45pm start time but we couldn’t leave without Tom and his snazzy new haircut.  A fairly flat and moderate route.  Nice, mellow ride with a 17mph average.  This is a good ride for people looking for a recovery ride or people who are just starting to road ride now that the weather is warm. – Jill