This is from the old site, a couple of friends still check in here…
June 2009
Now trying to find a good morning ride in the Park City area during a quick SLC trip. A quick analysis of the rides in the area says the Town Loop Trail was the best combination of time/technical in the immediate SLC area.
1/19/09:
Planning a trip for a business tradeshow to the Southern Cal area -the good guy from RocknRoad has turned us on to some demo bikes and some good trails.
10/2/08
The Gooseberry Mesa trip is over – and what a great MTB trip. Perhaps the highlight was running into Morgan Harris at Little Creek Mesa. Morgan is THE MAN responsible for the trails at Gooseberry and Little Creek and spent 3 hours showing us around the place while we continually dealt with flats and a broken frame.
7/16/08
PMC training is in full swing. Thinking about trying to ride from our house to my folks. Looks like just under 100 miles – would be my longest training ride ever.
The mountain biking season has been pretty darn good thus far. New trail at FOMBA that is truly amazing – and some riding at Harold Parker that is new for us. Live, watch and learn.
We’ve got a big posse for our late September ride in Southern Utah. THat’s going to be HUGE fun.
7/14/08 Spencer takes the training wheels off!!!
First try! We went to Winnekini park in Haverhill down a gentle grass slope – and away he went. Pushed it back up and did it again.
4/1/08: New Look for Singletrackpub.com and new features
As part of learning Adobe’s Dreamweaver web development tool for business purposes, I’ve tested some techniques tools on a redesign of Singletrackpub.com. THe biggest improvement is the Photo section where a new tool called Jalbum makes quick work of putting together and updating slide shows. This is where I hope to store and log future ride photos. Video is still trickier to manage in higher quality than YouTube offers – we’ll work on that at some point…
11/13/07:
Chris Legere sends this link to an NPR story (4 minute audio clip) about mountain biking that frames up the state of access – and it’s generally good news.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6397280
10/29/07: Wicked Ride of the East at Harold Parker State Forest
Just when you think you’ve ridden a place, found all the goods, and decided you knew it cold, you experience something like Chris, Scary and Johnny P and I did yesterday at Harold Parker. The new West Side ride! This thing snaked all over the place and brought us to the fringe of rte 125 a few times. Overall it was easy, but it was fast, fun and enough little things here and there to keep you game for another try. Probably a 10 mile loop that was marked for the event. I just hope I can find it without the markers! GPS is on the fritz – oops.
Thanks to NEMBA and the North Shore chapter for putting together a great event on a beautiful day. NEMBA continues to pull together the MTB community through great trail building and good communication. Support NEMBA whenever you can! The SWAG (free multi tool) from Toyota was a nice bonus.
9/26/07: Post Moab/Fruita Recap
Finally a little time to write up the trip. I’ll be adding the ride data to the MTB Rides section along the way over the next few weeks as well.
THE BIKE: First off, the Yeti 575 was a GREAT BIKE! Almost 6″ of travel combined with a nicely balanced climbing machine led to a great riding experience. The biggest bene of the Yeti over my Trek Fuel ex8 was its technical downhill ability (for me). I was able to clean some down moves that would normally give me the heebie geebies and prompt a search for the ladies tees. Was it the 68 degree front end, or the 5.75 travel – or something else? Next time I go out there, I’m renting the same bike (or it’s descendant) from Poison Spyder. I’m sure the other shops in town are good, but Poison Spyder doesn’t give a reason to look anywhere else. At $45 first day and $35 later days, this was also the absolute best deal in town on a great bike that performed flawlessly. Gary is looking to buy the 575 he rented (he rode it like a champ!).
THE LODGING: The Kokopelli was a good call. Minimalist. Cheap. Close to the best part of town – yet off the main street. Didn’t feel like a predictable stay in middle america hotel franchisedom. $75 a night. No amenities. Kinda loud AC unit – but I brought earplugs as I do for all trips these days and slept well. This won’t be a place to impress your date/wife etc, but for two guys looking to ride and barely use the place, it was spot on.
MOAB vs. FRUITA: This is the “great taste, less filling”, “Mac or PC” debate of the Western MTB world. Like all those tired debates, they prompt comparison since both are so good that they merit discussion and ignite passions. Gary definitely was the Moab Man, but I’m still thinking that Fruita gets the vote for next trip. There are things in both places that I want to return to, and Moab certainly showed us a great time, but somehow the Fruita scene and its pioneering spirit is more my thing. I like new, I like small towns. I like the non-touristy feel. That being said, I’d have no problem returning to Moab and hitting Sovereign, Porcupine etc. I’ll probably skip Slickrock next time since that thing just kicks your arse.
9/6/07: Moab Nears and its’ decided:
Staying at the Kokopelli, $75/NIGHT – GOOD PRICE.
renting the Yeti 575s from Poison Spyder. $55/$45. Better deal, more travel. Cool guy at shop seemed knowledgeable about the differences between Intense etc.
Looked at Condos and guest houses – but not a good deal without more folks on the trip. This seems to be the best balance between economy and lack-o-big-chain-schlock.
8/30/07: Utah Prep…
Looking at links and rides for the upcoming SLC/Moab/Fruita Biz/Biking combo trip. May turn this into just Moab thanks to a connection at: http://www.moabmusicfest.org/. Classical music and hard-core mountain biking – hmmmm…..
www.utahmountainbiking.com/ – good info on UT classic rides. Tons of maps, gpx/gps data, good/reasonable reviews – not from a hardcore freerider’s bent perspective.
The perennially amusing, www.bikerag.com has some great reviews and skinny on the Moab scene, albeit from their more “advanced” point of view.
Trying to decide what to rent for the Moab part of the trip. Looking at:
http://www.poisonspiderbicycles.com/rentals.html – Yeti 575 special, or Intense 5.5?
http://www.moabcyclery.com/moab_bike_rentals.htm – Santa Cruz Blur LT -or 29er?
http://www.slickrockcycles.com/rent_a_bike.html – Turner 5 Spot?
Where to stay in Moab?
http://discovermoab.com/hotels.htm – a general listing w/ web links…
Candidates for our cheapie stay:
http://www.kokopellilodge.com/ – looks cool, cheaper than the Super 8.
http://www.adventureinnmoab.com/ – another cheapie, but goodie per Tripadvisor
8/29/07:
Incredible ride last night in the Essex/Manchester Super Tech zone. Chris L, John M and I rode for 4 hours between 5:30 and 9:30 and experienced more technical terrain than I would in 4 or 5 regular rides. This riding is so technical it even felled Scary. He was actually spooked.
8/22/07:
My Swingarm repair worked – but now my rear freehub failed during a ride in Harold Parker. When those things start failing – they keep failing. Word to the wise, if your freewheel starts to fail and spin, don’t hope it will fix or right itself. If you get a cog bite/hold, it probably will stay – so try biking like a fixie (always pedal tension) to get out. Taking to International tomorrow for service.
8/15/07:
Performing repairs to the loosened swing arm of my Trek Fuel EX8. The main pivot in the rear started developing noticeable play on a recent ride. I called Trek and they said that this special fluid (Loctite 680) that’s used to “fill” the space between bearings and the frame may not lasted long enough – or have enough compound in the first place.
The only tricky part to the repair was in figuring out that the aluminum main pivot need to be gently pounded out from the LH side of the bike using a longer screw for a leverage point.
7/19/07: Updating Trail Reviews:
Updating some data/reviews on key trails. It’s been a good summer for riding, with a very fun/successful Kingdom Trails trip and numerous rides in the region. NEMBA is doing a great job maintaining and adding terrain. With the PMC looming, the focus is turning to road riding and the century training ride planned for this wknd.
5/10/07: Adding Video Page
Through the power and convenience of Youtube – I’m adding a video page that will serve up videos I’ve posted to YouTube. I’ll post all MTB related videos there (or other occasional outdoors video, lie the Monadnock Prairie Dog sighting).
5/4/07: Nite riding returns
The fantastic weather and Chris Legere’s gift of a Niterider are prompting a return to the evening ride. Hampstead was the location – along with a bit of trail maintenance on the 2×8 board crossing.
Thinking that a shorter stem may help reduce the endo factor that caused my Fall fall. Additional riding skills might help too.
2/11/07:
Still dealing with the after effects of the accident at Westwoods during Thanksgiving. I’m going to post some of the facts at some point regarding the Rolando fracture I incurred – and some cautionary tales for those who might experience the same thing. It’s been tough to find specific info regarding this fracture type and the best course of treatment to get one back on the bike.
The Lifecycle is being returned to service to prepare for a spring return to riding. One resource encountered during this hiatus has been an orthopedist by the name of Dr. Nick Dinubile – who’s done an excellent program on general muscular-skeletal fitness called Framework. http://www.frameworkprogram.com.
11/24/06 The Westwoods Turkey Burner:
The Turkey burning Westwoods ride with Paul, Bob and Nat results in a broken thumb after a poor use of bike/weight on a granite “step”.
9/5/06:
See the New Bike Movie (moved to videos)- and shush up all you boutiquebikeophiles….
9/2/06:THE NEW BIKE REPORT!
In one of the most remarkable corporate benevolence moves in recent history – I traded in my broken Trek STP200 frame for a spankin’ new, Trek Fuel EX8completely built up, full suspension, disk brakin’, SWEET ride. I’m still in shock (no pun). Click <here> for the text of the love letter I sent. Not too bad of a suck up – but all the essential truth.
The only hitch, now I must devote every non-sleep moment to the promotion of Trek and International Bike. So, when you need a new ride or parts, consider: Trek and International Bike. In all frankness, this experience has sold me on the importance of a well-backed brand, and consistent dealings with a local shop. If I was some price-crazed ‘net shopper on my last bike purchase, I seriously doubt I would have gotten this excellent treatment.
Rode Harold Parker with Chris L yesterday after things dried out a bit. The new loop south of Salem pond has a “varsity” only piece/trail option that I declined yesterday. Big drop and funky rock funnel/drop downhill.
8/23/06: MTB Fest II Plans vs. Reality.
The trip was great. MRV riding is exceptional and there are serious goods to be found in them ‘thar hills. As mentioned in the Rides section – the only problem is finding them. We got hugely connected thanks to a local “Dude” named Lyle who took us to the A+ riding. Without him we would have either lost or putting around trying to find Cyclone etc. Despite the loss of two team members on Sunday in an apparent attempt to maintain marital harmony, we had a great time and got plenty of exercise riding (almost 6k’ of climbing). The rain on Sunday killed the NEK portion of the ride and rerouted us south to the Pub, with a ride at Bear Brook State Park on Monday.
Here’s what happened to Mr. Softy (my Trek STP 200) on Monday at Bear Brook:
I’m in the midst of discussing how to get this fixed / replaced with my LBS.
8/15/06: About to head out for the annual (hopefully) 4 day MTB fest II with the boys.
Plan:
Thursday 8/17/06″ Lowell Dracut State Forest with Scary and maybe Johnny P.
Friday: MRV
Saturday: Hinesburg
Sunday: NEK
Monday: NEK and home.