Nepaug - 11/2/2008

[gmcunni]

I'll get this started but need Brian and Jeff to fill in details.

Arrived at a jam packed parking lot just before 7:30. O3Jeff was already there and bvibert rolled in a few minutes later. There were also 10 guys there who went out a few minutes ahead of us. It was a bit chilly when we started but we all dressed appropriately.

Jeff had loaded a track on his GPS and we did our best to follow that. I have no idea where we went but looking back at the GPS track we basically did a counter-clockwise loop through the forest. Jeff and Brian hit some jumps early on in the ride. Towards the end of the ride I worked up some nerve to try a few of the jumps and managed to do the ladder running over the volkswagon. Brian also did the VW and some more jumps towards the end of the ride. Jeff shot a few video clips, hopefully they came out well so we can see how much (or little) air we got on the jumps. Brian's last attempt of the big jump was great, he got lots of air.

Great ridge this morning. That was just first time @ Nepaug and i wasn't disappointed.

Here's the GPS track http://www.crankfire.com/trails/data.php?dataid=509

 

[2knees]

NICE. cant wait to see the video. that place is wild with all the kickers and gap jumps.

 

[o3jeff]

It was pretty much the same route we did a few weeks back. I was pretty happy with my riding today, got down some techy rocky drops that I walked last time, hit a couple jumps/lips. Overall a great ride with Gary and Brian.

 

[bvibert]

Good ride, we got a little lost at times and may have missed some of the intended route, but we still had lots of fun. I have a better idea of where stuff is now thanks to this ride to tie a bunch of stuff that I already knew together. The first jumps we hit were the deli slicer, which I'd ridden (sans jumps) a bunch of times but didn't know that's what it was called (I even took AZ group through there earlier in the summer). Jeff and I each hit the 3rd jump a couple of times. I almost got up the courage to hit the second one, but wussed out. I'm thinking I probably would have if someone else did. From there we did a bit of meandering before finding the trail that Jeff had been on before. Real fun trail with lots of rocks and stuff to play on. We got a little mixed up on the return portion of the loop, but still managed to hit some good stuff, including a bunch of the trail that I led the group on earlier in the year. Where the large roller with the gap jump to table top drop is. We saw a guy do the roller, but he skipped the jump portion.

From there we found our way to the bobsled trail. We followed that out to the power lines where we watched some people in the large group that we kept running into hit the big (for me) jump. Gary had to go down and give it a shot for himself, I was impressed as it looked pretty big to me. Then we doubled back just a bit to the trail down to the VW bug ladder bridge ride. Gary hit it and cleaned it the first try with no problem. After that I went up for a try, but was in the wrong gear and couldn't pedal up the ramp, I stepped out right on top of the bug. The second attempt went effortlessly. It's a really cool feature that's way easier than it looks. We went back out to the power lines from there. I realized that we came out close to the jump that the guys had been hitting. I decided to roll up to it and check it out. I ended up rolling over it and realizing that it was actually pretty easy, so I went back up for a full speed run. That went fine, nothing really big, but fun. I hit another smaller jump right near there after Gary found too. Then I decided that since I had brought my camera out that we may as well get some vid. Jeff setup with the camera and Gary and I went to do the big jump again. My next attempt was even bigger than before and felt pretty good, unfortunately Jeff had camera issues, so I was forced to hit it again. Gary made a nice hit as I was riding back up. My third try was the biggest, landing on the slight uphill just after the jump. I landed it clean but kinda veered into the brush after landing. I stayed on the bike though, so I call it all good. Gary and I each hit the smaller jump again for the camera before heading back to the cars.

All in all a great ride! I was proud of myself for hitting some air for once. 8) It was a little cold at times, especially in the beginning, but overall I managed just fine temperature wise.

I'll post up the short amount of video later, don't get too excited there's less than a minute of footage and it was shot with my point and shoot camera...

 

[MR. evil]

My next attempt was even bigger than before and felt pretty good, unfortunately Jeff had camera issues, so I was forced to hit it again. Gary made a nice hit as I was riding back up. My third try was the biggest, landing on the slight uphill just after the jump. I landed it clean but kinda veered into the brush after landing. I stayed on the bike though, so I call it all good. ...

Thats the same jump I crashed on a couple of weeks ago. :grin:My first attempt was nice an easy and I landed no problem. The next time I really went for it but started to close and didn't have enough speed. My front tire hit that uphill about 10 feet past the jump. Then Pat nailed that same jump seconds later jumping high enough to clear a person standing. The VW is a cool stunt. Its very easy to do starting on the ramp near the bug. But from the other direction it was very hard. Something about making that turn from that direction I couldnt pull off

The 2nd & 3rd hits on deli slicer are pretty much the same. The first one is also much easier than it looks. You don't even need to pedal. Just start about 1/2 way up the hill and let gravity do the rest. #1 was by far my favorite hit on that trail. But that 4th one is not so easy. the approach really sucks and the landing wasn't so great either. It took me about 6 tried before i finally had the right line to actually hit the ramp and I almost wiped on the landing.

I still want to get back there one time before the end of the season. Maybe I can convince Pat for one last trip next weekend.

 

[bvibert]

I'd definitely be up for heading up there again with the more crazy crowd.

 

[bvibert]

Here's the quick video:



Higher res

 

[WoodCore]

Nice job gentleman, looks like fun!

 

[powhunter]

way cool !!!


steve

 

[Greg]

The first jumps we hit were the deli slicer, which I'd ridden (sans jumps) a bunch of times but didn't know that's what it was called (I even took AZ group through there earlier in the summer). Jeff and I each hit the 3rd jump a couple of times. I almost got up the courage to hit the second one, but wussed out. I'm thinking I probably would have if someone else did.

Like Tim said, the first three jumps on the deli sllicer are all pretty similar. The 4th looks to be the trickiest. Haven't tried that one yet.

Here's the quick video:



Higher res

Looks like some legit air Brian at 0:08 - 0:12. Nice job!

 

[bvibert]

Like Tim said, the first three jumps on the deli sllicer are all pretty similar. The 4th looks to be the trickiest. Haven't tried that one yet.

The second one looked a bit taller and cocked slightly to one side. I was pretty sure I could handle it just fine, but just couldn't convince myself to go off it. Like I said if I saw someone else do it I probably would have too. On the first one, aside from not wanting to hike back up the hill, the landing looked like there were some roots and stuff right there.

Do you guys remember when I took you down there the first time we went and even JP wouldn't touch the jumps, though he thought about it??

Looks like some legit air Brian at 0:08 - 0:12. Nice job!

Thanks! It felt bigger than it looks on video, but I'm proud of myself none the less. 8)

 

[MR. evil]

The second one looked a bit taller and cocked slightly to one side. I was pretty sure I could handle it just fine, but just couldn't convince myself to go off it. Like I said if I saw someone else do it I probably would have too. On the first one, aside from not wanting to hike back up the hill, the landing looked like there were some roots and stuff right there.

The first jump just plays with your head. If definatly throws you up much higher than #2 & #3 due to the steep approach and it also lands on flat while the next two have a nice DH landing. When I first looked at #1 the roots gave me pause, but then I said WTF and followed Pat and Greg. I think I must have hit #1 4 or 5 times. That is just a very fun jump.

Actually,with your size, the height you get off that first jump and the flat landing, that hit might take a toll on your bike and wheels. The ones with DH landings are much smoother and easier on a bike.