The Great Outdoors

[HPIguy]

So I rode Chicopee Woods on Thursday. I was worried the whole way there, it was drizzling rain of course. I met and talked to really nice local guy, who mentioned that him and his buddy had headed back it was so wet up top (Copperhead Gap). But, he mentioned that the trails dry really well, I checked the radar, and gave it a half hour and headed out. By the time I got to the upper trails, it was nothing but hero dirt, I had such a good time.

Also, I just want to give a shout out to all the GA peeps, you folks are the best. I've yet to come down there to ride, and encounter nothing less than people that want to chat or give advice in the parking lot, ask if you're OK if you're taking a break on the trail ETC. Hell, I don't even get that kind of courtesty on my home trails.


You folks are the best I've encountered yet, until you're in a car on 985 that is. I keed, I keed, kinda.

 

[HPIguy]

So my buddy Mike came over from the Gap (Deals Gap, he's up here from FL riding motorcycles) today, and skipped a day of moto to come ride pedal bikes with me. Tough ride for me, it's my first big ride, and big climb this year. BUT, you get a 6 mile downhill run through some nice twisties as a reward, and as Mike said, it did NOT suck. I had a great time as always riding with friends you rarely get to hang out with.

Katie's Falls

About halfway up the 6 mile climb

At the top

Good times!

Strava deets

 

[HPIguy]

Been tinkering around with the squishy bike suspension a bit. Ordered the volume spacer kit for the shock, installed the largest one for a more exponential compression curve, dropped 10psi, and I'm in love. A lot more small bump compliance, yet not even close to bottoming out on some fairly technical stuff Sunday. Have the fork volume spacers on order also. We went and rode White Twister and Stonewall Falls in Tiger GA. I had no idea stuff like this existed close by. Not as technical as Pisgah, but a fair bit of techy stuff, and lots of steep climbing. We had a real adventure, two guys burped their tubeless setups running too low a pressure, and on the second one of the day the skies opened up and it fell a damn flood on us. The last five miles or so was a wet, slimy, slippery, mess. And the 2 mile downhill run back to the falls got a lot more interesting will off camber roots and rocks, and some fairly big falls if you got it wrong. It kicked my ass big time, but I had a freaking blast, and I'll definitely be back!

Shock torn down and the spacer on the left.

Stonewall Falls, no trail pics, sorry

Bike got a bit filthy, pics don't do it justice, first time it's stayed in the garage since I bought it. :lol:

Forgot to start my Garmin, as usual. :lol: Ride was just over 15 miles total.

So after that was done, I had decided not to do a whole lot on Monday, But Monday morning, I made a good breakfast and decided an easy recovery ride would make me feel better. And I wanted to tinker with my saddle position a bit anyway due to a recent back problem. So, off we went for the greenway for some HRM zone riding, and a little exploring too.

The Domane ain't scared of single track either

Hey, I actually remembered the Garmin this time

 

[HPIguy]

So I've been giving the supermoto some TLC for my ride coming up Saturday with a buddy of mine I promised to show around. Bike has close to 23,000 miles on it now. A good 18,000 of those miles have been HARD miles, chasing buddies on high HP exotic machinery. I am very good about maintenance, I don't go by the owners manual on oil changes, well, because oil is cheap and engines aren't (the shifter will tell you when it's time ), often, and use good oil and filters. All four of my valves are still in spec after around 8,000 miles since the last check with more aggressive cams (intake cam only now actually), and my cam chain is still good to go also. I figured I'd at least need to shim the valves. I LOVE this bike, it's the best motorcycle I have ever, ever owned, hands down.

Cams timed at TDC, and still a perfect 15 links between timing marks.

 

[HPIguy]

Getting back to what I should be doing a lot more of. Odd that I felt slow today, but I guess not.

 

[HPIguy]

I added 5psi to my fork, kept my shock at 245psi and rode DuPont on Sunday with our local group. Ran two runs on Hickory Mountain and the new Ridgeline trail. Ridgeline is awesome!! I aired out the Fuel EX probably about as much as it will ever see in it's lifetime, and still had a bit of travel left so I'm going to leave it alone for now, couldn't be happier. We did have one of our group go down hard on the second run down Ridgeline and had to get an elbow stitched up, but he was adamant about the fact he had a good time and it was all good.

 

[slowngreen]

On top of a butte yesterday.

 

[Non Crimen]

Got to slay some secret trails today

 

[ninnon]

On top of a butte yesterday.

What's that concrete thing in the ground?

 

[WoodiE]

What's that concrete thing in the ground?

Concrete.

 

[slowngreen]

Where an antenna tower was mounted. Its a butte with a bunch of antennas on it.

 

[ninnon]

Concrete.

What about those metal posts? They better not be metal posts- I've had enough of these things being too much of what they are...Pisses me off...

 

[GAJ]

Steel posts

 

[HPIguy]

Did Non Crimen just come out of hiding to bump his thread?

 

[Non Crimen]

Did Non Crimen just come out of hiding to bump his thread?

I think so..?

 

[HPIguy]

Ha ha, nice, digging the Deadwood also.

 

[HPIguy]

Why would you want a disc road bike? Because they work awesome on CX tires for gravel grinders and mild offroad.Do need some different gearing when the going gets steep though LOL. Here's a few pics from the rideIt was definitely different bombing back down a washboarded, rutted & really rough in places gravel road on the spindly road bike. Really struggling to get back in the groove after so much time away with injuries, getting older isn't fun, but it's better than the alternative.


The views were good

The trusty steed in CX trim

Mooney Falls was just a short hike

 

[HPIguy]

It was 71 degrees here yesterday, in the mountains, in January. The group wanted to go ride, but I really thought that all the snow and rain would have the trails in terrible shape, and it'd be a wasted trip. Luckily, the shop owners know better than me. Trails were perfect! Got my hitch installed on Saturday, and got to use my new 1up USA rack for the first time yesterday also. Hands down, best bike carrying system I've owned, and one of the nicest cycling accessories I've ever owned, period. Also of note, the single speeds outnumbered the geared bikes yesterday!

 

[HPIguy]

New bike came in yesterday. And my local shop let me come up and build it up. Which consisted of removing the drivetrain and shifters and putting my SS cog on there and figuring out my chainline. And of course, I always flip my brakes to moto style (front brake on the right), and installed my dropper post once I got it home. As usual when I buy a new bike, it's rained cats and dogs all day today LOL. Burly frame, 29+ wheels and tires, 120mm fork and dropper post should make this thing hella fun!

I present project SStache

 

[slowngreen]

Just saw this morning on the news there was a recall that had something to do with Treks, not sure what it was though.