Tight trails & tacky dirt - '16 NE thread

[HankScorpio]

So WIllowdale is pretty fucking awesome. I followed your directions for the most part, Biggins, and we found some primo twisty, flowy single track. We got a little mixed up on some fire roads but ended up doing 12 miles with plenty of single track. No pics, but my new Hightower just killed it. Not to mention, its a pretty painless drive up there so I'll be going back as soon as possible.

[JayPowHound]

Ya, willowdale is great! Once it warms up outside park on the south side and across the street from the parking area there's a rope swing into the Ipswich river for a nice post -ride cool down

[biggins]

Ya, willowdale is great! Once it warms up outside park on the south side and across the street from the parking area there's a rope swing into the Ipswich river for a nice post -ride cool down

Not to mention fried clams from heaven right down the road. Glad you liked it- the discovery of Willowdale made me love mtbing like a drug again.

[Rontele]

Not to mention fried clams from heaven right down the road. Glad you liked it- the discovery of Willowdale made me love mtbing like a drug again.

Best part of Woodman's is that their batter is gluten free.

[Rontele]

What about the riding in the Lennox area?

[radam]

Lennox puts you real close to Beebee Hill State Forest in Austerlitz, NY. Not much mileage, but what's there is fun and the local group is always busy working on stuff there. I seem to remember lemmycaution moving to that area so he might have some additional info.

[scrublover]

What about the riding in the Lennox area?

October Mountain SF and Pittsfield SF are close, seems like there would be other stuff close by as well. Been on my to-do list to get up there and check stuff out. NEMBA site and mtbproject have some info listed.

Have seen a couple bike shops and outdoor gear shops while driving through - they'd probably have good beta if you don't get much here.

Spousal unit and I have our favorite MassMOCA routine down now. Up for a day there, staying at Porches, eating somewhere (a few decent options within waling of Porches or many more options a quick trip down the road in Williamstown) and over to Thunder Mountain the next day before heading home. I get to ride the lifts, she goes trail running.

Since I'm apparently a dick from CT though, you should probably discount any of that.

[strawjack]

No pics, but my new Hightower just killed it.

I'm close to pulling the trigger on one of those, but still not too sure. Maybe a 5010 instead. My local shop just got a hightower in (sold) that they're building, so I'm going to swing by and spin it on pavement.

I'm just not sure if the hightower is too similar to my 29er stumpy that I want to get away from...to a more playful ride. Maybe just the shorter chainstay will make all the difference. IDK

[Rontele]

October Mountain SF and Pittsfield SF are close, seems like there would be other stuff close by as well. Been on my to-do list to get up there and check stuff out. NEMBA site and mtbproject have some info listed.

Have seen a couple bike shops and outdoor gear shops while driving through - they'd probably have good beta if you don't get much here.

Spousal unit and I have our favorite MassMOCA routine down now. Up for a day there, staying at Porches, eating somewhere (a few decent options within waling of Porches or many more options a quick trip down the road in Williamstown) and over to Thunder Mountain the next day before heading home. I get to ride the lifts, she goes trail running.

Since I'm apparently a dick from CT though, you should probably discount any of that.

This is helpful since my better halves will likely be hiking while I am riding.

[BC_ski_BC]

This is helpful since my better halves will likely be hiking while I am riding.

Kennedy Park in Lenox behind the Arcadian Shop is fun to poke around in. Aspinwall is a fun downhill.

Pittsfield State Forest is fun but I usually ride all the way up the road and then there is a downhill lookers right thats pretty rugged.

[HankScorpio]

I'm close to pulling the trigger on one of those, but still not too sure. Maybe a 5010 instead. My local shop just got a hightower in (sold) that they're building, so I'm going to swing by and spin it on pavement.

I'm just not sure if the hightower is too similar to my 29er stumpy that I want to get away from...to a more playful ride. Maybe just the shorter chainstay will make all the difference. IDK

I'd say definitely test ride one if you can. I'm partial to 29ers because I'm tall with long legs and the Hightower might be as playful as 29ers get. I can't attest to the Stumpy but I demoed a Tallboy LT last year and the Hightower is much more of an enduro/all mountain bike with its long, low and slack geo. It's worth a test ride before you buy.

[strawjack]

^yeah, I don't think I'll be able to get a 'real' test ride in, but I think I'll be riding it in the parking lot today. The option of throwing a 650b wheelset on is appealing. The shop guy rides a Bronson and said he would buy a Hightower if he was buying new today. I thought that was interesting considering his age and current ride. He did elaborate by saying he'd ride 29 for general purposes and the throw the 650 wheelset for Highland days. His current Bronson is pretty sick...about 8k into it!

[Gman]

The Greater Boston chapter of Nemba is having a movie night at the scoreboard bar and grill I'm Woburn tomorrow starting at 7, going to try and make it after work. Let me know if anyone wants to join.

[JerseyDave]

Kennedy Park in Lenox behind the Arcadian Shop is fun to poke around in..

This place is fun for a quick fix. Nice view from the top and really quality single track back down. Not a ton but lots of fun.

[ticketchecker]

^yeah, I don't think I'll be able to get a 'real' test ride in, but I think I'll be riding it in the parking lot today. The option of throwing a 650b wheelset on is appealing.

Allspeed in Portland has Hightower 29 to rent or demo and will have a 27+ soon.

[strawjack]

^nice! Rode the Hightower 29...8k version! and a 5010 in just a parking lot. The hightower was an xl so that was an added headgame to the useless test. So coming out of that the 5010 seemed better for me. But being told to throw a 650 wheelset and having a quick easy cheap option of swapping the air to the 150 ff on the hightower has me still wondering what to do. I need a dirt test ride with both bikes in a large.

[biggins]

Bump. Don't lose the spirit folks. I went for a ~5 mile dirt road ride yesterday, was freezing in shorts, cranked my quad trying to keep up with my wife on climbs, crawled home to wash the sand out of my... while she rode another 10 miles. But, it was rad. And the trails, I imagine, will be none the worse-for-wear after this bitch-ass gasp of winter pulls out. So buck up campers.

I hear things in S VT are starting to pop dirt wise. Guess there's DH to be had in NY as well. I'm almost allowed to buy a Kton pass to boot. Almost. [/blog]

[HankScorpio]

Any southern Mainers have info if any trails between Portland and Augusta are ready to go? More specifically Bradbury State Park. I gotta put in some in law time in this week and bring the bike is best way to disappear for a few hours.

[east or bust]

this bitch-ass gasp of winter

…is seriously killing my vibe.

Just give me spring already god dammit.

[MaineSkiAddict1]

Any southern Mainers have info if any trails between Portland and Augusta are ready to go? More specifically Bradbury State Park. I gotta put in some in law time in this week and bring the bike is best way to disappear for a few hours.

Bradbury is "open" but a bit of a muck fest. No rain to speak of in the past 48 hours and a ton of wind should have dried a few things up. The mountain side is probably your best bet. (The connector to Tryon is probably swampy and I'd avoid it)

Falmouth and Yarmouth are closed. Probably won't be good to go for at least a week.

I've heard Cape Elizabeth is open and riding well but I've never been there.

If you're in the mood, the riding in Bath is pretty dry. It drains super well. If you want more info, shoot me a message.

[strawjack]

I thought a week and half ago was the last snow ride for me

[Anospa]

For some reason, we decided it was a great idea to go do an XC time trial yesterday:



Haven't had a chance to build up my bike for the season yet, so went full XC goon and rode a 26" singlespeed. Mile for mile, most rocks on a trail i think I've dealt with.

[gravitylover]

I saw a few pics from that. Looked rough! And cold...

[Whiteroom_Guardian]

Anyone ever ridden Diamond Hill in Cumberland, RI??

First stop of the ESC Enduro Series is on 4/17. Is it the super gnar where you wish you had the full DH bike the whole time?

[Anospa]

Diamond Hill! It is fun as fuq! Tons o fun sized features, and they all flow pretty damn well. There are a few techy spots here and there that require some thought but nothing that demands a DH bike. Most of the doubles are about 6' long-ish and can a few you can short without dying (there are some you don't want to short though).

Last Nov's enduro there managed to pull out an awesome DH-ey track with some really steep chutes and sustained rock gardens on the other side of the street from the normal trails.