Mountain Biking - Fish Pond Truck Trail

I was up at my parents' lakehouse last weekend (well, I guess I should just start calling it their "house" because they're up there full time now), and I wanted to check out a new mountain bike spot. The New York State DEC has a bunch of Google Earth maps that are really useful, and the "Mountain Bike Trails" map contains something called the Fish Pond Truck Trail. I must have passed the entrance to this place 1,000 times on the way to my parents' place, but I never noticed the truck tracks going into the woods near the road to the Saranac Inn. Here's the route I took:

"Truck trails" in the Adirondacks vary from trails that a truck could actually navigate, to tight twisting singletrack that disappears intermittently. So I didn't really know what to expect from the trail.  I rode about 5 miles from the house to the trailhead, and dove in.

It was definitely a truck trail.

I came to Rat Pond first, not a bad little spot for a break.  I'm in training mode for SSUSA, though, so I didn't stop for too long.

I crossed the railroad between Saranac Lake and Tupper Lake on the way. Once again, I would love for this stretch to be converted into a rail trail. It would be so nice to be able to ride to all of these places on a mellow trail instead of a busy road with a tiny shoulder.

I was surprised to see the entrance to the truck trail proper had an actual gate. And even a registry: 

The trail continued on as a pretty mellow doubletrack (and sometimes tripletrack):

I was a little worried about the stream crossings, thinking they'd be wet or washed out, but they were great - nice grass over sturdy bridges.

There's a big (300') climb in the middle that has a lot of false tops (so it's pretty demoralizing). It was pretty difficult on the single speed.  Then there's a shorter (200') climb further down the trail that seemed a little easier. Really good for strength building - great for training. The trail eventually ends in a cul de sac.  

At Fish Pond:

I've paddled here before, and I remembered there were two lean-tos. Here's one of them:

View from the inside. Lots of litter (sad).

On the way back, I could have taken this other trail and checked out St. Regis Lake, but I had to get back because it was definitely time to drink beer on a boat. Overall, I got about 20 miles of riding in, a lot of good training for SSUSA, and a new route to ride near the house.  While the trail isn't technical at all (I barely even used my brakes), it's good for beginners, families, or anyone wanting to get a good morning spin in before an afternoon on the lake.

New Bike - SE Stout 29er Singlespeed

I needed something with one gear because I signed up for the Singlespeed USA Championships up in Stowe (if you want to read a funny article on the 2009 version of the race by the incomparable BikeSnobNYC, click here).  I gave a brief thought to just buying a few spacers and a chain tensioner for my Full Suspension 29er, but as we all know, the correct number of bikes to own is n + 1, with n being the number of bikes you currently own.

So I bought frame, fork, headset, stem, handlebars, grips, seatpost, saddle, and clamp off of Ebay for $111. Then I got it stripped and painted by Anatoly at Hard Knox Customs in Burnt Hills:

It came out fantastic. After that, I had to assemble the remaining components. I made a Jenson order for the freewheel, chain, cables, pedals, and tubeless specific tires; got the crankset, brakes, and brake levers for my birthday (Thanks again, Mom and Aunt Roz!); and ordered the handbuilt wheels from Universal Cycles.

Building the bike wasn't bad at all. I had CK Cycles in Albany install the headset because I didn't have a headset press and I didn't feel like messing with a DIY solution. The only tool I had to buy was a $20 bottom bracket tool (figured I should probably do some cleaning and maintenance with my other bikes anyway). Other than that, I just installed everything with an allen wrench set (didn't use a torque wrench, but with no carbon parts, I wasn't worried about breaking anything).  I was really happy with myself after I finished it:

Here's the full build spec:

Frame & Fork: 2010 SE Stout

Headset: FSA The Pig
Crank: Truvativ Stylo 1.1 180mm crankarms
Brakes: Avid BB7
Levers: Speed Dial 7s
Cables: Jagwire
Rims: WTB Frequency i23
Front Hub: Shimano XT (silver)
Rear Hub: Paul Components WORD Disc (silver)
Front Tire: WTB Weirwolf TCS 2.5
Rear Tire: WTB Wolverine TCS 2.2
Freewheel: White Industries Trials Freewheel 18T (for now)

How does it ride? Pretty great. I love the simplicity and smoothness on non-technical trails. The rigid fork is pretty jarring on the rooty, rocky stuff and I might swap it out for the suspension fork before Stowe (depending on how the trails look on youtube videos).  Here's a little tour of the bike:

I love the rear wheel. The Paul Components hub, combined with the White Industries Trials Freewheel, makes for a smooth, bombproof setup.

That's the obligatory singlespeed chainline picture. I don't know why people do this, but I didn't want to rock the boat and not put it in.

The front tire (WTB Weirwolf) is listed at 2.5". I'm not the only one who's a little disappointed in the actual width. I haven't measured, but it doesn't seem much bigger than the 2.2" tire I have on the back. I'm hoping it spreads out a little as I ride. On the plus side, the tubeless system was easy to set up, and the 20-25 psi pressure that I run really helps cushion the rigidity of the front end. 

All in all, it's exactly what I wanted in a bike. It's got significantly better components than the Redline Monocog Flight that I was looking at buying new, and it was significantly lower in price (like, half). Consider me stoked.

And if you're wondering where these pics were taken, there's a bunch of ATV trails bordering my neighborhood, and they're great for a quick spin after work if I can't make it out to some of the other trails in the area.  I can roll around for about 30 minutes and get a pretty good workout.  Which is good, because I think I'm going to need all the help I can get at Stowe.

Basement Renovation - Bike Room/Ski Room

The weather has been pretty crappy lately (excluding today), so I committed myself to a small project last weekend. My basement was a bit of a mess:

After a thorough cleanup, I tried to figure out what I really wanted down there. I've got lots of skis and bikes, and they end up scattered around the house. They needed a home. Also, my tools were haphazardly tossed somewhere in the vicinity of where I last used them. They needed a home too.  The solution was a ski/bike room similar to the basement workshops in this thread. I needed a man space.

I rented a power sprayer to paint the ceiling black (did you know there's free tool rental from Lowe's if you spend more than $50?). Then I painted the walls, put up new electrical fixtures, built a little pegboard, hung up some storage hooks, and laid down some of those interlocking rubber tiles over the old crappy flooring.  The finished room came out pretty nice:

I still have to take the tools from the workbench and toolbox and put them up on the pegboard. And I'd love to get a bike stand to do repairs a little more easily. But they're freaking expensive. And I don't know if I really need one. I mean, I built my single speed myself in my living room. Oh, I didn't tell you about my new bike?

That'll have to wait for another post. And as for house projects, I'm probably done for a while.  Unless I get another stretch of rainy weather, then I'll tackle the adjoining room in the basement:

I'm thinking of a big screen TV, some comfy seating, and a kegerator. Hmmm . . . sounds expensive. Maybe I should work on saving the money to buy that bike stand first.  

Trip Report - Green Mountain Trails, Pittsfield, Vermont

We rode the Green Mountain Trails a couple of weeks ago (May 13th?). I haven't put up a trip report because I've been busy biking the local places (SMBA, Spier Falls, and Luther Forest - I'll report on these soon) and generally just relaxing. We had a guy who was familiar with the trails showing us around, and it's a good thing, too, because I probably would've given up halfway through the opening climb. Here's the map of the place:

We started up "Noodles Revenge" which was a relentless uphill, but it was nice singletrack, so it wasn't as soul crushing as a fire road climb.  Then we took "Lovin' it" to the Green Trail to the top, continuing with the theme of switchbacky, seemingly endless climbs.  Once we reached the top, though, the views were pretty sweet:

We lost ourselves on the top for a little bit on "Warman" and "Zebedee" before we headed towards "Fuster's" for our descent.  The top of Fuster's was just a fast ATV trail that we probably should have skipped (should've taken the cool banked turns of Lovin' It until Fuster's branches off to the north about halfway down - there is a connector). Still, though, the single track was pretty good (despite my non plussed expression in this photo):

After Fuster's, we took a quick uphill on "Escalator" towards Noodle's Revenge so we could head down. Noodle's Revenge, while grueling uphill, was really, really fun on the down.  It wasn't all coasting (there were a couple of times I had to pedal), and it wasn't all buffed smooth (there were some technical sections, tight turns, and stream crossings), but it was fast, flowy, and fun. Then, when we made it back to the parking lot, the best part of the day:

My new favorite beer.  We went into town and got a few more beers, along with some sandwiches, and ate them in a random Gazebo:

All in all, it was a solid day and it was good to explore a new place. I don't know if I'd recommend this place (unless you LOVE climbing), but it's definitely a good trail network to build strength, ride hard, and work out.  There's a road that goes nearly to the top, so there is a possibility for shuttle runs if you're into that sort of thing. I am glad that this network is here and pretty close because I love having options and once a year, it'll be a nice change from my usual flat xc riding.

SMBA Shenanigans

I haven't been posting much, but I've been riding SMBA twice a week or so. I guess I don't post trip reports every time for the same reason that I don't post trip reports from Gore every time I go - it might get a little boring. On the other hand, I always enjoy reading the Gore Reports from the NY Ski Blog or the Saratoga Skier. So maybe I should post more TRs. Maybe if there was something called the NY MTB Blog with a bunch of different contributors, I would post on there.

For now, though, I'll just stick to riding around and making videos every once in a while. Here's a video from yesterday on the "Here to There" trail:

Mountain Biking - Oneonta, NY

It's May 1st, so that means it's time for my completely arbitrary switch to summer mode for the blog.  Time to talk mountain biking.

In my quest to broaden my mountain biking horizons, I try to go to a few new places every year. Last year, I rode in a bunch of spots from Maine to Vermont to New York to Arizona.  I'm hoping to get a lot more new places this year.  First on the list is Oneonta, NY, close to Cooperstown and the Baseball Hall of Fame. The mtbr forums mentioned a lot of trail work being done in recent years in a spot near the Oneonta High School.  I really didn't know exactly where I was going because I couldn't find a map online.  Luckily, I made my own:

I'm sure that will be very helpful for everybody.  

The trails were pretty sweet, actually.  The guys at the Oneonta Mountain Bike Club have done a great job of getting the trails together.  They're flowy, with nice ups and downs, stream crossings, wall rollovers and wooden bridge features.  There's also a few jumps and banked turns to encourage some high speed stuff.  It rides like a mini version of Pine Hill Park without all that terrain.

I made a video of my ride, using the GoPro chest harness.  It creates a cool look, but when I was climbing and trying to apply some pressure to the front wheel, the camera just pointed straight down.  And when I was on a downhill out of the saddle, I was kind of bent over, so the camera just pointed straight down.  In fact, the only time you can see the trail in front of me is when I'm sitting and spinning on flat ground. I guess I'll have to go with a helmet mount when I do the Single Speed USA Race at Stowe in July.

Anyway, here's the video:

5 Thoughts on Alaska and Alaska Video

So, I finally finished my Alaska Ski Video (embedded below), and I wanted to give a few final thoughts on Alaska.

Thought 1: This place rules. For somebody who loves adventure, this place is as good as it gets. Just the stuff I turned down or didn't have the money for (ski tour down a frozen creek to a remote ice climbing destination, heli drop at a remote backcountry yurt for week of touring) would be incredible. Me living in Alaska would be like a gambling addict living in Las Vegas.  I'd have an amazing time, but I'd almost definitely get myself into trouble.  Which leads me to . . .

Thought 2: I need more training. I definitely need more knowledge - snow safety, wilderness first aid, mountaineering, etc.  I didn't feel grossly unprepared, but I definitely wasn't the most educated person there. In fact, my complete ignorance of avalanche knowledge was kind of embarrassing.  I might take the PSIA Backcountry Accreditation next year, which would put me in a good place to take a AIARE Level 2 Course the following year. That, combined with a lot more backcountry trips and maybe a few ice climbing adventures will make me a lot more comfortable when I get into winter shenanigans.

Thought 3: I did it all wrong. If I was trying to have a pure ski vacation, I screwed up royally.  I really only got one resort day at Alyeska and 5 backcountry ski days. I guess 6 "skiing" days in a 10 day vacation is pretty good, but a lot of those touring days consisted of a long hike up, followed by 1 run down.  A couple of times, I'd hike halfway up again and get another run out of it, but it was definitely more of a "hike" day than a "ski" day.  Next time, it's going to be more like this guy:

Pickup truck. Camper on pickup truck. Ski rack on camper on pickup truck. Trailer on pickup truck. 2 Snowmobiles in trailer.  Not a bad way to access all of that powder in the background. Of course, having a snowmobile (or 2) would really have been no good for me because . . . 

Thought 4: Travelling alone sucks. I was visiting a college friend that was only available for adventures on the weekends (which were awesome). The problem was, she works all week, and I had to find my own adventures Monday - Friday (which is a lot more difficult by myself).  At the resort, skiing by yourself is never really the best time, and in the backcountry, skiing by yourself is never really the best idea. So, I ended up having to ski in a lot of heavily trafficked snowmobile skiing areas, when I would have much rather been out in the middle of nowhere. And not to sound vain, but it's nice to get pictures and videos of yourself shot by a buddy (like that Tug Hill Trip). I'm not really satisfied with the below video for this reason (too much first person GoPro-ing without another person in the frame).

Thought 5: I'm not sure if I'd want to live here. The mountains and adventure opportunities are fantastic. The skiing is great. The mountain biking is supposed to be phenomenal (how could it not be?). I could seriously have an amazing adventure every weekend and, for at least 6 months of the year, every day after work. The problem is, I think I caught it at the best time. Right now, Alaska is going through "breakup", a season of flooding, ice jams, mud, grime, and unfrozen dog shit. In the summer, the entire state is apparently overrun with mosquitoes (35 different kinds?). And after summer, it starts getting real dark, real quick.  In December, Anchorage only gets around 5.5 hours of daylight (and it isn't really "daylight" as it's supposedly pretty dreary). I found out that Alaska has a pretty transient population - people who are there for a couple of years and then move somewhere else. I could see doing that. It seems like just the kind of place that would be the perfect "change of scenery." 

So, I'm not moving to Alaska just yet. I need to go back for a more pure skiing vacation to make a final decision. Anyone want to come with? If you need a little more convincing, here's the video:

Trip Report - Thompson Pass, Alaska 3/30/12

I'm working on the Alaska video (trying to edit the entire vacation down to 6 minutes, so a lot of stuff is getting left on the cutting room floor), but I figured I should finish my story about Thompson Pass.

So, after a day of really tiring touring (damn, those hills were steep), I had made plans with the snowmobile shuttle guy to get a ride to the top.  Then, in theory, I would have toured around the top of the mountain with a bunch of short laps, and then skied one big lap down at the end of the day. The drive back to the pass was pretty scenic:

I was scheduled to meet the guy "between 9:00 and 10:00".  At around 9:15, I pulled into the parking area where he had set up shop the previous day and waited.  And waited.  And waited . . .  until about 10:45.  The whole time, this was the view through my windshield:

That would be the Worthington Glacier (summer picture here).  It looked absolutely perfect for skiing (and was one of the places that the snowmobile shuttle guy offered to take me).  Only problem was, I was alone. Glacier travel (what with crevasses, ice flows, hidden hazards, etc.), is not the best undertaking for a random dude with no winter mountaineering experience.  I was wishing that the guys in this helicopter would pick me up:

Since that didn't happen, I decided to make a go of it anyway.  I drove across the street to the parking lot and looked around.  Snowmobile tracks straight up the glacier.  That was good.  I could follow those, and hopefully, they would lead me to powder nirvana instead of icy megadeath. Looking around more, I saw some tents, some RVs, and 2 guys applying skins.  Nice! First time I saw anyone else opting for the hard way (granted, I was only skiing the well trafficked areas because, again, I was all by myself).

I formulated a plan to stalk them, and thereby keep myself somewhat safe (I realize this is not good backcountry etiquette, but if they weren't friendly about it, I would have just skinned up and skied down the snowmobile tracks). Here's what the hike up looked like:

Those are some buildings for the Worthington Glacier State Recreation Site.  I just realized that website says to stay off the ice.  Oops.  Here's one of the two guys hiking up:

Note the ridiculously large crevasse, visible on the right.  Of course, I was more concerned about the stuff I couldn't see, which would become an issue later.  Skin track stoke (?):

So, once again, I was on a road made out of snowmobile tracks, so I felt pretty safe.  Damn skin trak was steep as hell again, though.  Nevertheless, I caught up to the two guys (who turned out to be from Salt Lake City), and hiked up with them for a while for a little added protection.  Why? The weather was turning:

We had hiked about 3,000 vertical feet in about 4 hours, and those guys wanted to go higher.  My legs didn't have much left, so I ate a Snickers bar and thought about going down.  On one hand, going down a glacier in low visibility was a questionable activity, and even more ridiculous by myself.  On the other hand, I was tired, and going down now meant I was that much closer to beer and fried food.  Beer and fried food won out.

I told the two guys that I was going to head down right next to the skin track, and if they saw my car in the parking lot when they got down later, they should turn their beacons to "search" because I was stuck in a crevasse somewhere.  The skiing turned out to be not so good.  Besides not being able to see anything, the snow was pretty crusty, and I had to stick really close to the skin track for safety.  You'll see what it looked like in the forthcoming video (or, really, you won't see what it looked like).

I made it down safe, though. and I stashed my gear in the car and took off back to Anchorage.  Pretty good views on the way back:

When I made it back to town, I ate fried halibut and drank tasty, tasty Chuli Stout.  Excellent decision by me. In fact, I made a lot of good decisions that day.  So, I'm no longer a random dude with no winter mountaineering experience.  Now I'm a random dude with very little winter mountaineering experience.

In my next post, I'll premiere my video, Alaska in Six Minutes, and give my final thoughts on "The Last Frontier", including my ideas for how to do a pure Alaska skiing vacation (not that the state tour thing wasn't fun. I'm just going to attack this place completely differently next time).  I'm also going to do something outrageous this weekend (either skiing or mountain biking), so look for a report on that as well.