MTB: West Hartford Reservoir, CT - 6/22/08

[bvibert]

Sounds like the 7:30's have it, sorry Marc.

7:30 at the main lot off of Farmington Ave. I usually park along the back edge. Anyone can PM me for my cell number in case they have any trouble getting there...

 

[Marc]

Thanks guy (and girls) but I think I'm all set. The last thing I want to do is break someone else's nice bike. My bike on other hand, I would be perfectly content with breaking. As long as we stay on hilly terrain and singles paths I'll be fine since both gears I have are low. (2 biggest ring in back, and granny gear and middle ring in front) Anyway, I'm completely dependent on whether Marc goes since driving one hour by myself isn't a big deal, but 2 hours by myself there's no way.

Alright, I can swing this if you can Austin. You should be at my house a little before 6:30 so we can be out the door at 6:30.

 

[Greg]

7:30 sounds like the best time.

Greg,
This ride is really not to easy to cut short once you get out there. It is one big loop, not like the mess of intersecting trails at Nepaug. But if we meet at 7:30 and are off and riding before 8:00 we should be done before 11:00 with time to spare.

Well, if I do actually get there early, I could just do a quick out and back. That said, we are hosting a party at my house on Saturday so the number of beers I throw down may impact my early morning motivation.

 

[awf170]

Alright, I can swing this if you can Austin. You should be at my house a little before 6:30 so we can be out the door at 6:30.

Sweet... PM me your address.

 

[Greg]

So I guess with Fric and Frac heading down from Mass, I should bring the video camera along again?

 

[awf170]

So I guess with Fric and Frac heading down from Mass, I should bring the video camera along again?

Oh yes you should. Sunday will be my one week anniversary from when I started riding. :dunce:

 

[MR. evil]

Alright, I can swing this if you can Austin. You should be at my house a little before 6:30 so we can be out the door at 6:30.

Marc,
Seeing how your willing to drive a good distance to ride. We will have to hook up some time to ride Batchlor St. in MA. It is about 20 minutes north of Springfield. It is a really sick ride! One non-stop kick to the balls. Loads of short but steep technical up and downs. Huge rock gardens and large rock features. Do a search in the MA forum on MTBR or check out Crankfire for info. I have a riding buddy that know the place like the back of his hand and I am sure I can get him to lead a ride some weekend. He is there every weekend as it is.

Anyone else intrested sometime this summer?

 

[Greg]

Oh yes you should. Sunday will be my one week anniversary from when I started riding. :dunce:

Knowing your energy level and lack of concern for personal safety, I'm sure you'll have no trouble keeping up.

 

[MR. evil]

Knowing your energy level and lack of concern for personal safety, I'm sure you'll have no trouble keeping up.

and with me leading the ride it should be a pretty easy pace. I am not exactly the fastest guy up the hills

 

[Greg]

and with me leading the ride it should be a pretty easy pace. I am not exactly the fastest guy up the hills

Thank you.

 

[bvibert]

Well, if I do actually get there early, I could just do a quick out and back. That said, we are hosting a party at my house on Saturday so the number of beers I throw down may impact my early morning motivation.

There's not really any out and backs, at least none that follow the rules they have for biking. The main loop, which is the only way out of the parking lot has a dedicated bike lane that's only supposed to be ridden in one direction. Also, so that everyone knows, they require the use of helmets there. I've been told if they catch you without one they'll throw you out.

SAFETY EQUIPMENT
ï Bicyclists, rollerbladers, scooter
users, and skateboarders of all ages
are required to wear protective
helmets. Rollerbladers and
skateboarders also must wear knee,
elbow and wrist pads.

THEBIKELANE
ï To keep bicyclists and pedestrians a
safe distance apart, a bicycle lane is
marked on the most travelled road
that loops around the West
Hartford Reservoirs. Bicyclists must
stay in this lane and ride in a
clockwise direction. Walkers should
go counterclockwise on the road.

http://www.themdc.com/talcottregs.pdf
http://www.themdc.com/images/talcmap.pdf

 

[Greg]

Alright, I can swing this if you can Austin. You should be at my house a little before 6:30 so we can be out the door at 6:30.

Sweet... PM me your address.

Powhunter
Jonnypoach
bvibert
o3jeff
Mr.evil
Greg
awf170
Marc

 

[awf170]

Powhunter
Jonnypoach
bvibert
o3jeff
Mr.evil
Greg
awf170
Marc

Oh man, an 8 person ride with few people riding on complete pieces of crap. This is going be a shit show. Nice...

On the way up there was a large rock formation with some tricky switch backs we rode up and then a few 2 to 3 foot drops once back into the woods.

I'm counting on JohnnyPoach to make me proud on this section. This is not going to end well...

 

[Greg]

I'm counting on JohnnyPoach to make me proud of this section. This is not going to end well...

Ironically, it seems like Steve is the guy we can talk into things like launching into a reservoir or hitting 2 1/2 foot ramps:

 

[awf170]

Ironically, it seems like Steve is the guy we can talk into things like launching into a reservoir or hitting 2 1/2 foot ramps:

Oops, I knew it was one of them, but for some reason thought it was Johnny. So they both ride $100 caldor bikes?

 

[bvibert]

Oops, I knew it was one of them, but for some reason thought it was Johnny. So they both ride $100 caldor bikes?

Johnny is the crazy one and the one on the cheap bike (not sure on the cost, but he got it for free from the dump). Johnny was afraid (probably rightly so) that his bike would fall apart going off of the jump that Steve (powhunter) took. Steve has a nice full suspension bike, but that doesn't stop him from jumping it into the water...

 

[Marc]

Oh man, an 8 person ride with few people riding on complete pieces of crap. This is going be a shit show. Nice...




I'm counting on JohnnyPoach to make me proud on this section. This is not going to end well...

Yeah... I'll pack my tools and bike stand just in case. We should also make sure we have a mix of presta and schrader tubes because I'm certain some people (Austin) probably don't ride with spares.

 

[bvibert]

An adequate supply of presta tubes will do the job as they can be used in schrader rims if needed. I usually carry two (for myself.. )

 

[Marc]

An adequate supply of presta tubes will do the job as they can be used in schrader rims if needed. I usually carry two (for myself.. )

I've had both good and bad experiences doing that. If we're not light years from the cars though, we have enough people it wouldn't be a big deal.

 

[MR. evil]

I'm counting on JohnnyPoach to make me proud on this section. This is not going to end well...

the rock feature with the switch backs is a real pain in the ass to make it up. It is almost like a giant set of stairs carved in rock. It took me about a year of trying once a week before I even made it all the way up. And that was on my old HT that was feather light & really nimble. I am not sure how I will fare on my FS rig that easily weight 10lbs more. If i remember all of the drops can by ridden around. They are not really jumps that launch you, more like small cliffs you ride off. I used to make them with easy. Then again I also used to be able to hit small jumps with no problems and look how that worked out for me last weekend.