Norcross Scurry Trails in Ashford

Riders:  Maria, Garth, Mike S., Dave F., Jill
I shot over to Bolton to pick up Maria and we impatiently drove over to Garth’s house after being traumatized by the vision of an almost naked beerbellied road rider on route 44 in Coventry.  Sadly no munchkins to play with at the Bean house so Garth made a few last minute adjustments to Maria’s bike and we rode through Joshua’s Trust over to the Boy Scout Camp.  It’s a good thing I didn’t try to come out and find the trail that Garth cut last week on my own, I never would have found it!  Today was the first day in many that we had some sunshine and the trails were actually in pretty good shape despite all the rain lately.  We hopped onto the new Boy Scout trail that leads to the gravel pit then headed up to the entrance to meet up with Dave and Mike.  This was Mike’s first mountain bike ride and he was borrowing Dave’s old K2 hardtail.  At the very least I’d say this course is extremely challenging but I was guessing that he would take to mountain biking as quickly as he did to road biking.  And he did.  This time we started at what will be the Root 66 race start and rode the entire course.  It’s a 4.7 mile loop but feels much longer with all the technical challenges and climbing.  The new section still needs a little work and the racers are going to be challenged right away as the fast start gives way to a windy climb.  It was a great brainstorming session and ride and we discussed what flows well, what doesn’t, which logs and trees still need to be removed and also decided on a rerouting of one of the hills on the North Woods section.  I’d say we are in pretty good shape, the entire course is cut and rideable and we still have 2 whole months to make improvements before the race.  Good job folks! -Jill