V3 - '15 NE thread

[gravitylover]

Time to ride!

Nope not yet

Looks like an extended mud season ahead if you're north of central NJ/Philly. I say we start with some fatty beach rides. Here's one from last year because I haven't been down there yet



Of course if you have some good snow shots we need to see them NOW before it's all gone. I just wish we had the crust like last year. Tried last weekend and it sucked.

[schuss]

About the only time we'll see a wish for crust on a ski site.

My full squish rig is all tuned up and ready for action for the first time in years, psyched about riding a ton this year with trails in my backyard.

Anyone have light recs? With the kiddo, many of my rides will likely be post-sunset after he goes to bed.

[gravitylover]

Yeah I wish I had "ride to" trails. They wouldn't even have to be great they would just have to be there. The closest dirt is a 15 minute drive.

I've had really good luck with the Light and Motion urban series stuff. I run the 350 on the bar and a 650 on the helmet. More than enough light on the low setting for most places and speeds but I do like more for fast descents so I turn it up. I find most of the really powerful stuff is too white and washes everything out at low speeds in tight forests around here.

[gravitylover]

Anybody need a top o' the line trunk rack? $200.

I got this and used it once

http://www.thule.com/en-us/us/produc...bike-_-1685475

Turns out the trunk lid on my car is way too thin and bendy to use it. I could see the thing flexing up in the rear view mirror! Brand new Curt hitch arrived UPS today.

[strawjack]

I used a hanging rack on a rental car once and man did it F up the metal. Trunks and such are made like they used to be...nice an light now.

If we're lucky we'll get a nice reef to ride on the next two days.

[WaistDeepGroomers]

I used a hanging rack on a rental car once and man did it F up the metal. Trunks and such are made like they used to be...nice an light now.

If we're lucky we'll get a nice reef to ride on the next two days.

Yeah. I ended up taking an old pair of bike gloves and cutting them up and using them as padding for the side-grips of the hanging rack. Stopped them from moving around and scratching and coming loose all the time. Then threw helicopter tape on the top and bottom of the hatchback to stop scratching there. No problems now!

Indeed looks like the season will be coming early to JH this year... probably will be riding sooner than most of the NE mags!

[PearlJam09]

I'm predicting a mud season of epic proportions. Hopefully they'll do something about the rail trails in CT sometime soon because with the amount of sand on the roads and the fact that the snowbanks are so huge, I'm super sketched about road riding for a while. Just finished building up a Santa Cruz Highball AL with a Reba, SLX, 1x10 with one up 42T, Hope hubs with Stans rims. Looking forward to getting it out on the trail and seeing what it can do. Should be a nice compliment to the 5010 that I picked up last year.

[biggins]

Still a few weeks away from riding the trainer. A couple few months away from mtb. Its a new day, wife says no more lifts 'till I'm fit enough to pedal up instead. She's smart. I am super stoked. Buttah, Anospa, powbmps et al, bring it! Also they got Hillies on tap at Worthy Kitchen now, so my hood becomes that much more appealing

[Whiteroom_Guardian]

Central NJ here. Waiting patiently for my '15 Knolly Warden XO build with Pike and CCDB-CS to arrive. Gonna enter a bunch of the MASS series enduro races and some ESC enduros.

Coming off of a bad couple months of sickness with 3 days in the hospital. Been on the road bike a couple times, but man did this winter kill my fitness. Got a long road ahead of me, but gonna train my balls off as much as my body allows.

Mud season or not you can always ride Allamuchy North. Thats where I will be as soon as my new bike gets here.

[Anospa]

Still a few weeks away from riding the trainer. A couple few months away from mtb. Its a new day, wife says no more lifts 'till I'm fit enough to pedal up instead. She's smart. I am super stoked. Buttah, Anospa, powbmps et al, bring it! Also they got Hillies on tap at Worthy Kitchen now, so my hood becomes that much more appealing

The summer of enduro, you don't need lifts! Glad to hear you've got a plan, can't wait to ride.

[schuss]

Hmmm, may have just bought a hardtail 29er frame.

[chatton18]

PSA mountain creek is doing their transition race again this year - combo bike and ride event that was a good time last year. They add up your place in skiing and riding for an overall score. The ski racing is not of very high quality. I'll probably be rocking some jean shorts and old volants if i can get my boots to fit in them, but will still be going for the win.

EDIT: Assuming they run the same course, you should be fine to run an enduro style bike on it. Depending on snow cover I might actually run my remedy vs my glory. All the mud last year made it a super pedally course.

[strawjack]

Work got in the way and I didn't make it out til 2:30 and the sun had baked enough to make it a 70-30 venture. 70% was meh...like riding in soft sand and I sunk to a stop only a few times, but the other 30% was pure fucking bliss! Riding on a reef of sandpaper is so damn fun! Just wish it was consistent for the entire ride. Not too many days left before our freeze cycles are over and the snow is deep. It's gonna be tough waiting for this to melt out.

Deer track troughs are deep. 4" tires are necessary to roll over those.

[JayPowHound]

I feel like I have looked into this before, but I'm gonna ask again...


Is there a decent dirt / pump track anywhere within an hour of Boston?

Please don't say Cutler...

[biggins]

I feel like I have looked into this before, but I'm gonna ask again...


Is there a decent dirt / pump track anywhere within an hour of Boston?

Please don't say Cutler...

Russell Mill in Chelmsford. <5 mins off Rt. 3:

http://www.nemba.org/trails/massachu...ill-chelmsford

[Anospa]

Yeah, Russell Mills is great! We added a second track last spring, which kinda sucked for most of the summer. After some reworking it flows super nice now.

Video from the build day a buddy put together. It was still fairly spongey, so speeds increased a lot as the dirt has packed in:

[JayPowHound]

Sweet, I will have to check it out.

Maybe this snow and the inevitable mud will be gone by June??

[gravitylover]

Hey Leo you out there?

I haven't been up to "the spot" since the fall and was wondering if it's crusty enough to ride now in the mornings. I think I'm gonna try tomorrow, 3/22, and maybe again Tuesday. Wanna meet? If you can on Tuesday I can bring an extra fatbike for ya if you don't have one yet.

[HankScorpio]

Sweet, I will have to check it out.

Maybe this snow and the inevitable mud will be gone by June??

I bet the trails will be ready in most spots by the end of April. Snow is melting fast if you look around and there looks to be some warm, rainy days next week.

As the snow melts and trails improve, it would be great it people could post what trails are ridable. I hear trails south of Boston are getting there.

[gravitylover]

Plans in place for Tuesday morning. Who's up for a sunrise party with Crusty the Clown? If it gets as cold as they're saying Monday night it should be good for about 3 hours before it softens up.

[Anospa]

If you're on facebook, people post conditions (more for fat biking but I think they follow into spring for what's not muddy) for Eastern MA and S NH areas, and beyond. Local Trail Conditions, I've been ignoring it all winter, but usually start checking in soon-ish to see what's rideable come spring.

[gravitylover]

Nah, places like this are as close as I get to social media.

Yo Leo or Scrubby (or anybody else for that matter) I'll be at Cranberry Mt in Patterson for what will most likely be the last great crust ride around here for this season around 7:30am tomorrow (3/24) morning.

[birdman829]

As the snow melts and trails improve, it would be great it people could post what trails are ridable. I hear trails south of Boston are getting there.

Is this true? Like how far south? Wompatuck? Or more like ToT on the cape? I've been wondering how far I'd have to go to find rideable dirt

I work about a mile from Willowdale and it's gonna be a while around here. Still 6-12 inches of very consolidated snow in the woods.

[schuss]

After this week and drying out from this week, I expect a bunch will be rideable as rain+warm temps = bye bye snow

[HankScorpio]

Is this true? Like how far south? Wompatuck? Or more like ToT on the cape? I've been wondering how far I'd have to go to find rideable dirt

I work about a mile from Willowdale and it's gonna be a while around here. Still 6-12 inches of very consolidated snow in the woods.

The guy who does NEMBA rides at Wompatuck posted on the Facebooks that he is organizing a ride for Saturday and the trails there were "ridable" with non fat bike tires. What that means, I don't know. Maybe some dirt and some crusty snow? I was hoping to head there and check it out tomorrow but the weather isn't looking too good.