Monday Dues

Oh man I was itching to ride Monday, I waited most the day and got the go ahead to head out about 5:30 and I was changed and out the door in minutes! I was extremely anxious to hit trail, I picked Case as some wet weather departed a few days ago leaving other places more sensitive. I could feel the pent up energy in my legs as I drove to the trail head, feeling like this could be a fast one. After the first climb I decided to back off the gas cause I might doom myself, I just picked up speed as I went. It was nice out, no blue skies or anything, the front of a storm was filling the sky with clouds but I had no worries I was on my bike and had 2 hours to ride. A standard ride off the side of blue on the new single track that is town line licker/smooth/smookey. Love those trails, they're nice and new and I think leaf blown. The up fern and down Tinti and then the sucky gravel climb up the power lines and down Shank Juice. Shank Juice still has a few trouble spots to walk around, I am not sure when they will ever be dry but it certainly gets use. Feeling good after that I was heading back up the hill between me and home still not ready to end the ride. But as all good things must come to and end I mixed it up at the end and pointed it at the car. By the way the tubeless i fixed, turned out the rim tape was off center enough to allow air to seep by and make its way to that spoke hole. Hope the new tape works and I can be trouble free.

Case goooood

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Double flat tire ride, still great ride

Hale hoez

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Monday Afternoon

Monday was absolutely beautiful, what a night to ride the bike. I headed to Mansfield Hollow to hit the MTB trail and link up back up with Schoolhouse Brook. Man was that a ride, I ran into some newly rakd trail which took away from the normal route but since I know it's the original trail builder raking he must want that to be the route. So it was kind of soft but it needs tires right. Then it linked back up to the old trail and I wondered why the new route? But kept on riding, things got real real leafy, these trails don;t see too much traffic at all so last years fall is still heavily coated on the trail. It was getting real hard to make out the trail, so much that I ended up lost. Lots of downed trees from recent winds were not helping at all! I just took a turn down the hill and made my way towards the road and caught the normal trail which worked just fine until I was on blue trail. I took the fastest route back to Schoolhouse so I could ride the outermost loop. Once I neared the power lines I was in for another surprise, the power company mowed down the forest leaving shreds of wood and me losing the trail. I was in and out of finding the trail as I walked all the tree carcasses. Eventually the trail leaves the power lines and I was on my merry way. In the meantime this ride I was sucking up twigs left and right into the Belltown that was really pissing me off. Again, these are very little ridden trails so I had to suck it up and pull them out of wheels, drive train, and wherever else they mangled. I was stoked heading back up Wolf Rock running on time and not out of gas. It was a tricky ride up blue as normal but it was a breeze from then on out. Really good stuff, got one in before the weather coming for Tuesday.

Hollow w leaf n sticks

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Sunny Side up @ Crandy's

Another morning ride to get the job done, solid ride as usual, kept it chill and stress free, another great morning to be on the trail. I had 90 minutes to ride and enjoyed every second of it. Looped it just a little different but used all of crandalls to get it done. I wish I had more time to get new less ridden ride locations but I can't complain with 5 riding spots 20 minutes from my house.

Sunny up crandy

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Sun up @ Case

Well the schedule as the normal calls for me to get up real early to ride, and if that is what i have to do to get trail time then so be it. I set the alarm for 5:15 and set off to Case hoping for it to not be wet from all the rain Tuesday. Turns out case was perfect, nice and frosty too since it was 28F when I started. This was a mellow ride, I have been kinda riding die hard lately and just naturally took it nice and easy. It was slightly chilly in my short and long sleeve shirt but it changed pretty quick and was plenty comfortable the rest of the ride. I was so happy to be out pedaling as usual. The Belltown was firing on all cylinders and I set off on a little different loop. I had 90 minutes to ride but stretched it out a little coming in under 2 hours. Looks like an order to get those 3 rides a week tomorrow will be another early morning since LuAnn has class and my parents are coming over to hang out.

Sun up @ case

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Sun Down @ Hale

Well just like I hoped I found an hour before darkness and got out on a ride to hale at 6:50. I was feeling pretty good, I took the climbing route and went up to the ridge, was kind of missing suspension on that descent as usual, but got it done. I was feeling pretty strong on this ride, the bike is still bugging me since the drive train is just not as smooth and but I think all is well. I could have easily added another hour to this ride but I didn't since I am not a fan of riding in the dark. Got hit with a ton of rain and even some snow Tuesday, I hope a ride pans out for Thursday or Friday, let's hope.

Sun down @ hale

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Sun up @ Crandy's

Well after still not being able to fill my cup Saturday I found myself setting a 5:15am Sunday night. I can't find time between Landon and LuAnn's schedule. So whats a crazy bike guy like me to do, well go out before either one of them wake up. I hit Crandalls and loved it, I wish I had more than an hour but I think I can get out tonight for an hour to make up for it. As usual morning rides do not disappoint! I got the job done and got home and handled business and all was well.

Sun up @ crandalls

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Saturday Night

I went on a ride Saturday, it was great. I always like getting back to the Mansfield Hollow area and ride. I threw down a new loop, a fast easy loop I suppose, my legs were still feeling Wednesday's ride but they put out just fine thankfully. I had to finish the ride in the dark but only just about 10 minutes of headlamp, I was trying to put in the hours of 3 rides worth into two rides. Noticing some noise in the hub, I hope it's related to chain line related since I am finding that the dropouts are not perfect and the tire gets close to the frame when it's center aligned. Hope to get it to the shop Tuesday to have them check it out. It's a simple problem that I might resolve myself but I am going to leave this to the professionals.

Fast rip hollow

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Wednesday Night @ Case

After letting things dry up from a wet beginning to the week it was time for some dirt. I managed to get out of the house by 5:25 and was on trail by 5:40. I was really stoked to ride as usual and fueled it well the entire ride. I decided to do something different today and took the old way over to the reservoir. I have a lot of memories on that route, mostly it is ridden in the other direction but still the stream crossings and remembering the days of my lack of fitness but plenty of mighty fine rides. I went up the hillside and made my way out to John's downhill. I took a pic as i saw the reservoir from above which was a pretty sight and then dropped into the Dh where I actually got to put my Zee brakes to work. Still not that impressed by them really but they do work good. Then I made my way to climb up the Tinti trail and then Shank juice, always longer and more brutal than I remember and I was riding in the easy direction! Then climb up the ol fern trail I believe and then down Graveyard. Another new trail that I learned to ride in a different direction to ease suffering and more fun factor. This trail loop I had going was panning out to be a spectacular idea of mine. Only problem was I misjudged by time, I am usually very good at negotiating time but Graveyard was way longer than I remember. As I began to climb smookie I hit the light and rode into darkness. Caught a really beautiful view of the city with a glowing backdrop, but I was in a hurry to get down the hill so it was short lived. The last bit of Dh I was losing air in my tire, SAY WHAAAAAT tublesss problems after 15 rides? I guess they are not foolproof after all, I was hoping to not have an issue this soon in my tubeless career. I limped home on a barely ride able tire but did make it to the care before completely deflating. That was a mega solid ride, I never wanted to stop riding after 2.5 hrs but it has to end sometime right. Getting home I found air leaking thru a spoke, must be a hole in the rim tape, how the heck did I do that?

Solid @case

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Saturday gift

well I got lucky, the schedule was clear and I got the green light to ride Saturday at 6pm, that gave me 90 minutes of light to do my thing. I was beyond stoked, I was probably frothing at the mouth until 6pm came. When it did come I geared up and asked my bud Bentley if he wanted to come, seeing it was early spring maybe the ticks would not be out yet so I asked him if he wanted to go and for the first time he actually showed interest. Off we went on Landon's connector, Bentley prancing in joy of being outside, we were both feeling pretty good. It was great to have my Buddy back on the trail with me, the ticks are atrocious out here for those who don't know that's why he does not ride with me anymore. Over the years he has come home at times loaded with them and I just can't stand them, I also can't afford for them to be roaming my house trying to latch onto my toddler. Anyway having a ripping good time, it was nice to be riding at the end of the day vs the beginning of the day. I was feeling good, apparently my legs strengthened as the days went on after weds/thurs, which is still a magical figure I am constantly trying to figure out, when my legs will be strongest, not that it matters all too much. Anyway, the sun shown bright on Al's trail, I love taking pics here since they cleared the forest last year it beams light onto the trail from the west at the end of the day. We rode trails as fast as we could, dog tight at my side, he was in good shape unlike last year, I wonder what was different, maybe the horrid haircut I gave him. Oh it was a good ride, it's a shame darkness had to come, but I was actually feeling guilty and looking to get home at the 90 minute mark to spend some time with my lady. She's extremely busy and we are going through a very very rough time with everything that is going on trying to keep our heads up but we are holding strong. Well when I got home and decided to just check Bentley for ticks, I found 1 then 2 and ended up with like 7 ticks, not cool at all. I squashed every one of those pieces of garbage, I found pleasure as I ended their disease carrying bodies, I guess I have severe hatred for them always but now more than ever since they got me sick last October. I got 2 more months to get thru this crap hole without getting one digging in and then I won't have to worry about that in Utah. Hope to ride soon, standard desperation is set in, going to have to wait for trails to dry again with the rain we are receiving tonight. Hale gift at EveryTrail
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Thursday Morning Goods @ Crandlls

Another sunrise session. I love Crandalls, the only thing is part of me gets not so excited to go and ride there. I guess the trails are tight and your always climbing one of two hillsides, there are not much trails like some other ride locations and that is ok since that comes with a small riding location. The trails they do have are fantastic and I love them but I guess I get spoiled by nearby huge riding locations. With that said Crandalls was a good ride, It was in good shape despite a few standing puddles of water. There are a lot of trails in a tight area so you must have a decent plan to hit all four Climbs and descents on the First hill, the scond hill behind it it a straigh forward loop out and back. Then you have Zig and Zag on the top of the 1st hill which I absolutely love, there is nowhere else I have found in CT that is so smooth and twisty and level. I guess thats why I lvoe it so much, it's just a easy pedal which I feel is rare compared to most trails in CT. I hopped my way onto the log rides as usual and found myself having extraordinary balance on the Belltown. Most of them have easy on ramps but when you ride them in both directions its adds more skill. It also probably helps that they are so grippy and new, either way I wish I rode more logs but there are not many near me. My legwork was still diminished but I just kept moving on. I did two laps on Zig Zag to add some mileage and fun as I do now to fill a good 2 hours of riding. Rain and schedule conflict has set in yet again, we shall see what happens next week. Crandalls monin at EveryTrail
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Wednesday @ Case

After a weekend full of rain and no riding, I had to wait until Wednesday for things to get better. It was a patient wait as I was anxious to get out as much as possible to fill that desire to ride. Another sunrise ride was on the menu, it looks like these morning rides are coming to an end possibly since even they don;t work with the scehdule but trying to figure that out soon. So I got to Case, it was more light that last week thankfully so I needed no light. Still a slight bit of spook in the air but light came quick and I focused on climbing. I took the new trails at the top of the hill, town line licker, smooth and smookie and maybe more in between I don't know. I am pretty stoked someone made these trails since they are a nice change, there is still a ton of room for more trail all over Case and apparently someone is still cutting new stuff. I decided to take the haul out on blue trail, I took it against the grain for who knows why but it was a tough slow ride. My Spring legs are still lacking a lot of what is desired but I walk a few spots and push hard on others. At the top of Dragons back, the sun had just hit the top and I took a minute and took in the sun rise and said my thanks and snapped a few pictures and off I went. Pretty good showing from then on out, I made my way back slowly but surely. I mixed this ride up a bit overall, it was not the fast speedy route, it was the climbing route. Good fun all around and happy to be out on the bike. Case at EveryTrail
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