RAW - Brooksvale 2009-09-21

[WoodCore]

Met up with Greg at the Lock 12 parking lot around 4:45 this afternoon and promptly headed south on the rail trail towards Brooksvale Park.

Greg had never been to Brooksvale before this evening and I've only taken two rides here, both being back in the spring, so being "the guide" for the first time ever I was desperately trying to remember the layout of the trails and not get us completely lost. Anyway, I think I did a pretty good job and other than one turn around, hopefully managed to lead a decent ride and give a good sample of what this place has to offer.

The true MTB trail riding portion was roughly 6.35 miles with around 950 feet of climbing, and the whole ride including the rail trail came in at 9.06 miles.

Here's the track info.....


http://crankfire.com/trails/data.php?dataid=628

http://crankfire.com/map/index.php?tid=31&t=628&w=0


Brooksvale does have a ton of climbing right off the bat but once you get up on the hill the fun begins!! Tons of stunts, jumps and other stuff to roll! Greg and I even managed to put together a nice teater-totter at the end of the ride that we successfully rolled a few times. All in all, it was in IMHO a great rip!! :beer:

 

[bvibert]

Sounds like a good ride, wish I could have been there!

 

[Greg]

If Brian can count White Memorial in his totals, I'm including the 3 miles of rail trail. :lol:

Thanks for the tour WoodCore! I think you did a fine job and am thoroughly satisfied with this afternoon's ride. Brooksvale has some really great wooded singletrack trails, some loose rocky psuedo-DT, some fun descents, a few areas of former logging with prickly overgrowth, and a few areas of small to medium sized stuntry (most small gaps). The off camber trail just up from the river was the highlight for me. Techy goodness in there through some nice woods. Brooksvale is reminiscent of a lot of the terrain in southern CT. Some of it like Tyler Mill, and some areas of that reddish clay-like soil like at West Rock and Hubbard Park.

I felt like I rode a bit better than last week's RAW, but that initial climb was a real shock to the system despite the rail trail warm-up. Woodcore was cranking right along hardly showing any signs of fatigue. The man is an animal on a bike now and was pulling away from me more often than not. I think I could have taken him on the downhills though despite my gasps for air... :razz:

 

[bvibert]

If Brian can count White Memorial in his totals, I'm including the 3 miles of rail trail. :lol:

Bite me.

Woodcore was cranking right along hardly showing any signs of fatigue. The man is an animal on a bike now and was pulling away from me more often than not. I think I could have taken him on the downhills though despite my gasps for air... :razz:

He's been getting faster on the DHs lately too. Pretty soon there will be no catching him. He regularly gets so far ahead of me that I can't see or hear him anymore. When I happen to be in front of him it's all I can do to stay ahead of him, I can always hear his squeaky bike not far behind...

 

[Greg]

I can always hear his squeaky bike not far behind...

Sounded like we had a squawky bird following us the entire ride.... :lol:

 

[WoodCore]

I really need to fix that! It's even starting to annoy me but on the flip side it seems to scare away the bears.

 

[bvibert]

I really need to fix that! It's even starting to annoy me but on the flip side it seems to scare away the bears.

I'm used to it now and kinda like it, like I said at least I can tell where you are even if I can't see you. It does seem like it's gotten louder recently though.

I'd personally be worried about whatever is making the squeaking noise, I don't think it's rotor rub. Maybe one of the jockey pulleys on the rear derailleur? Or a suspension pivot?

 

[WoodCore]

I think it's in the crank or the bottom bracket.

 

[bvibert]

I think it's in the crank or the bottom bracket.

I had that thought too, but I usually go after the easier and cheaper possibilities first.

 

[MR. evil]

I would check out the pivots first. Pivots need routine maintananace and you have alot of miles on that bike this season. Alot of bike Mfrs will say service or replace pivots every X miles, you many have surpassed that number. I also seem to recall reading that the pivots that came stock on the IH bikes didn't last that long.

It could also just be a matter of removing your cranks / BB and giving them a good cleaning and re-grease. I do that about once every other month, more often if I have been riding in wet weather.

 

[o3jeff]

It could also just be a matter of removing your cranks / BB and giving them a good cleaning and re-grease. I do that about once every other month, more often if I have been riding in wet weather.

I'm lucky to oil the chain once a month, nevermind taking things apart looking for problems.

Hopefully this winter I will strip the bike to the fame to see how it all works.

 

[MR. evil]

I'm lucky to oil the chain once a month, nevermind taking things apart looking for problems.

Hopefully this winter I will strip the bike to the fame to see how it all works.

Only takes about 30 minutes to tear down the crank & BB, clean, grease and re-assemble. I also lube my pivots every couple of weeks, but I also have zerk fittings so I don't need to take anything apart. Takes all of 5 minutes to hit all 5 ot 6 of them