When I rolled out of bed Sunday morning and looked out the window I almost turned right around and headed back under the covers as the weather was down right dreary and the prospects of any good riding seemed slim to none! Thankfully I listened to that little voice in my head, headed downstairs for some coffee, packed up my gear, loaded the bike and headed over to Peekskill, NY and the Blue Mountain Reservation. Had a pleasant 1.5 hour drive and didn't really didn't have any expectations as I entered the parking lot around 10am.
I had originally planned to maybe check out the scene, get a quick solo ride in and head back to CT however that all changed as soon as I parked the car. I was able to meet up with a few folks from Crankfire/CT NEMBA and was quickly absorbed into a great group of riders! The Friar (Ryan) was our tour guide and did an amazing job leading us through the best of Blue Mountain in flowing order. None the less great to meet everyone (Cara,Dave, Heather and Jo from CT and Mike from NYC)
We basically split the day into two rides, a longer rip in the morning and a shorter one in the afternoon with a break in between to refuel and hydrate. Between the two rides managed to roll around 17.5 miles of trail and climb an impressive 4190 feet.
Here's the tracks...
Morning Ride
http:
//www.crankfire.com/gps/track/8843/fat_tire_festival_2010_-
Afternoon Ride
http://www.crankfire.com/gps/track/8844/fat_tire_festival_2010_-
The trails at Blue Mountain are nothing short of fantastic! Almost all of the trails in the park with the exception of the fire roads have been built by mountain bikers for mountain biking and are up to IMBA standards. In short it's some pretty technical riding with a ton of flow! I was amazed at the amount of rock there was to play on, thought I'd seen the mother load at Case Mountain here in CT a week or so ago but this place is definitely a few notches above. Can't wait to get back for another rip!
Here's a few pictures....
I had originally planned to maybe check out the scene, get a quick solo ride in and head back to CT however that all changed as soon as I parked the car. I was able to meet up with a few folks from Crankfire/CT NEMBA and was quickly absorbed into a great group of riders! The Friar (Ryan) was our tour guide and did an amazing job leading us through the best of Blue Mountain in flowing order. None the less great to meet everyone (Cara,Dave, Heather and Jo from CT and Mike from NYC)
We basically split the day into two rides, a longer rip in the morning and a shorter one in the afternoon with a break in between to refuel and hydrate. Between the two rides managed to roll around 17.5 miles of trail and climb an impressive 4190 feet.
Here's the tracks...
Morning Ride
http:
//www.crankfire.com/gps/track/8843/fat_tire_festival_2010_-
Afternoon Ride
http://www.crankfire.com/gps/track/8844/fat_tire_festival_2010_-
The trails at Blue Mountain are nothing short of fantastic! Almost all of the trails in the park with the exception of the fire roads have been built by mountain bikers for mountain biking and are up to IMBA standards. In short it's some pretty technical riding with a ton of flow! I was amazed at the amount of rock there was to play on, thought I'd seen the mother load at Case Mountain here in CT a week or so ago but this place is definitely a few notches above. Can't wait to get back for another rip!
Here's a few pictures....
