Marc
New member
Just a quick rundown of another group ride last Sunday.
The weather was perfect, we got out about 2:00 pm, a little later than I wanted, but no matter. When we arrived at the park we neglected to look at a trail map... which was dumb.
Two of us had ridden there several times two summers ago, but hadn't been much this summer. After forgetting where our normal trail head was, we kinda said "fuggit" and found the nearest one. That went ok, and we found our normal loop but then somehow scewed of it again. We ended up riding a hiking trail, or actualy... hiking a hiking trail, on the ridge betwee Breakneck Pond and Mashpaug pond. It was a nice few and scenic, great for hiking... not so much for riding.
We found our way back to our normal loop wich goes around Breakneck, and somehow skewed off it again. We found another hiking trail that follows the water edge, while the trail we should have been on was running parallel to ours away from the water.
We did experiment with a handheld GPS so we knew mostly where we were and rode.
The trails that were rideable were very good. A lot of log crossings, most of them rideable, but there could be some maintenance done. This is a good time to visit the park while it is still relatively dry. The loops around Breakneck and out to Mashpaug get very soggy later in the spring and summer as all the water from the surrounding forests drain into the Hollow.
I'd highly recommend visiting this park, although make sure you look at a trail map first. The trails are well marked for those who aren't idiots (not us, apparenlty). The loop we take around Breakneck is about 8 miles half fairly technical double track, and the other half single track, all rideable. Just stay off the hiking trails (marked as such) when you're on your bike.
Next time we'll bring a camera.
The weather was perfect, we got out about 2:00 pm, a little later than I wanted, but no matter. When we arrived at the park we neglected to look at a trail map... which was dumb.
Two of us had ridden there several times two summers ago, but hadn't been much this summer. After forgetting where our normal trail head was, we kinda said "fuggit" and found the nearest one. That went ok, and we found our normal loop but then somehow scewed of it again. We ended up riding a hiking trail, or actualy... hiking a hiking trail, on the ridge betwee Breakneck Pond and Mashpaug pond. It was a nice few and scenic, great for hiking... not so much for riding.
We found our way back to our normal loop wich goes around Breakneck, and somehow skewed off it again. We found another hiking trail that follows the water edge, while the trail we should have been on was running parallel to ours away from the water.
We did experiment with a handheld GPS so we knew mostly where we were and rode.
The trails that were rideable were very good. A lot of log crossings, most of them rideable, but there could be some maintenance done. This is a good time to visit the park while it is still relatively dry. The loops around Breakneck and out to Mashpaug get very soggy later in the spring and summer as all the water from the surrounding forests drain into the Hollow.
I'd highly recommend visiting this park, although make sure you look at a trail map first. The trails are well marked for those who aren't idiots (not us, apparenlty). The loop we take around Breakneck is about 8 miles half fairly technical double track, and the other half single track, all rideable. Just stay off the hiking trails (marked as such) when you're on your bike.
Next time we'll bring a camera.
