Meriden Mountain - 7/5/10

Met up with powhunter and o3jeff this morning for a ride out of Hubbard park. I was surprised to see Steve giving his old bike the once over when I pulled in. At first I thought he had brought it along for Johnny Poach, which would have definitely made things interesting, but it turns out that his new bike had two flats and he was fresh out of new tubes so he grabbed his trusted steed instead. After I got my ass in gear we got rolling a bit after 8. Shortly after starting Steveo tried to make friends with a small snake, who didn't seem nearly as interested in friendship when he tried to nip at Steve's hand. The courtship ended before any cameras could capture it...

After getting that out of the way we started on the ride for real. I'd done this ride once before, so I had an idea of what to expect, but I somehow forgot about how long the fire road climb up to the gazebo thing was. After that was the relentless hike-a-bike up to the top, which was just as I had remembered. After a short break on the top we headed down the road to get to the start of the DH, the reason we were there. I had forgotten just how rocky and fun most of that DH was, definitely worth some work to get there.

The ride was pretty uneventful, aside from a few tumbles and a self disconnecting power-link on my chain. Just a fun ride and a nice change of pace for me. We were done before 11, and it was hot enough by then, I'm glad we didn't start any later!

Thanks for the tour Steve! This makes, I think, 4 rides in a row with Jeff, nice to be putting some miles in with you again Jeff!

They call the gazebo the 'halfway house'...

Another route up that I have taken, is the paved road right to the trail entrance at the top by the radio towers. No bike carrying, though the uphill is rough...

Steve likes the hike-a-bike. I like it, too--levels the playing field if everyone is walking uphill like I would be.

Sounds like you guys had a great rip! I was out a tad bit late last night so making the 8am tee time was not going to happen. Regardless I still haven't ridden @ Meriden Mtn. so at some point I'll need to make a stop and check it off the list.

Any idea how many miles you did?

Trev said:

They call the gazebo the 'halfway house'...

Another route up that I have taken, is the paved road right to the trail entrance at the top by the radio towers. No bike carrying, though the uphill is rough...

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Yea but that route is reserved for the curly bar riders :beer: Glad to get out with you guys!! Brian had a good variety of beers for post ride, I had an ice cold hooker watermelon ale, which capped off a great morning

steveo

WoodCore said:

Any idea how many miles you did?

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I think Jeff said around 8.5??

This is always a fun ride with Steveo that everyone should have to do once a year, only thing better is if JonnyPoach is in attendance for it!

Post ride whoopie pies where great(the choco chip ones are now my new favorite!)

bvibert said:

I think Jeff said around 8.5??

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Somewhere around there, I'll check the bike computer tonight. My short term memory is shot!

o3jeff said:

This is always a fun ride with Steveo that everyone should have to do once a year, only thing better is if JonnyPoach is in attendance for it!

Post ride whoopie pies where great(the choco chip ones are now my new favorite!)

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Definitely a fun ride. I'm in no shape for it now so maybe nearer to the end of the summer.

Good to know on the whoopie pies. Need to know which recipes are liked and which I can skip over next time.

severine said:

Definitely a fun ride. I'm in no shape for it now so maybe nearer to the end of the summer.

Good to know on the whoopie pies. Need to know which recipes are liked and which I can skip over next time.

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That hike a bike will kick your butt if you are in shape or not, I don't think you can prepare for it.

Also noticed that the pies were "bite sized", I assumed due to cut backs in the kitchen!

o3jeff said:

That hike a bike will kick your butt if you are in shape or not, I don't think you can prepare for it.

Also noticed that the pies were "bite sized", I assumed due to cut backs in the kitchen!

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Yes, it will. But right now, I'd by lying on the rocks left for the vultures while you all laugh your way to the top.

Same sized scoop for the whoopie pies but different base recipe. They're definitely smaller than standard whoopie pies but I prefer it that way. More to go around. As it is, I end up doubling to tripling the recipes each time I make them. Friday was double of 2 different recipes, plus double of 2 different fillings, and a ganache. But it was fun.