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Yesterday's MTB ride w/ pics


TrentonMakes

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Yesterday I loaded the bike in the car and drove to Clayton Park near Imlaystown NJ - I used to ride here all the time, but it was a lot easier when I only lived 15 minutes away.  Now it's about 35, too far to be a regular thing when I have other places closer to home.  Hadn't ridden here in at least 5 years but I still managed to remember most of it.  One of my favorite sections has been posted with "pedestrian traffic only" signs, a bummer, but the detour isn't so bad.

 

I remember this as mostly fast, smooth singletrack but the years haven't been too kind - a whole lot of earth has worn away and there are roots everywhere, many that have become big bumps.  Of course two hurricanes have come through since the last time I was here so it's not too surprising that it looks different.  There's a whole lot of loose sandy material that looks like someone's effort to smooth things out (this is a County park), but for now that's like an obstacle in itself, trying to hold the wheel straight.

 

Honestly, I had forgotten how much more aerobic MTBing is.  standing, negotiating the bumps on the downhill, then spinspinspin like hell to make it up the next little climb.  Off-on-off-on, the whole time.  My roadie has a double with a 39T small ring so spinning in the 32T got my heart moving faster than usual.

 

I've read that if you don't fall you're not trying hard enough - well, I didn't fall, but I had three "oh shit" moments and that's close enough.  There were a couple steeply banked curves that I don't remember and flying through those was awesome.

 

the blurry photo makes it look like I'm going fast!  The trail rides up and down these gullies cut by a couple creeks.  Looks like some storm carnage in the background.  Clearly the geometry of this bike [23"] doesn't do me any favors on technical descents.

 

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the perspective is lost in this photo but this is the one section that foiled me, twice - this is a steep bowl with a downed tree on the right acting as a curb, roots on the descent and a big tree on the left making a narrow path through at the bottom.  I chickened out (well, I rode it, but very slowly down the hill and that doesn't count)

 

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my favorite part - you cross the bridge and hit a wall with a few S-curves on the way up.  The line used to go to the right of the small tree on the other side but you can see the roots there.  The smoothest line now goes to the left of that tree but it's banked the wrong way.  Still, I managed to clear it [once] and was pretty happy about that.

 

20140817_112313_zpscd9a33f5.jpg

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dang, that's a picnic woods if I ever saw one

 

A "picnic woods" for you city slickers is a mature forest with no ground cover. Since there's no cover, you rarely find game animals in woods like that.  Its called "picnic woods" because its so open you could walk through it swinging a picnic basket.

 

 

but a picnic woods would be good MTB riding since you can pretty much ride everywhere

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Since there's no cover, you rarely find game animals in woods like that.  

 

I did see three deer including a several-point buck - I was trying to slow so I could take a picture, and my damn front brake chirped and sent them packing.

 

My friends and I have ridden in the Poconos and even those trails are more technical than I like.  Same for the Sourland Mountain preserve a little ways north of me.  Rocks!  My two favorite trails are in the mountain biking mecca of Delaware.  :D

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I did see three deer including a several-point buck - I was trying to slow so I could take a picture, and my damn front brake chirped and sent them packing.

 

My friends and I have ridden in the Poconos and even those trails are more technical than I like.  Same for the Sourland Mountain preserve a little ways north of me.  Rocks!  My two favorite trails are in the mountain biking mecca of Delaware.  :D

 in summertime you can see deer standing in the backyard of suburbia. Tell me how many you see out there during hunting season

 

and city boy, don't try and tell me anything about the woods

 

those are picnic woods. that's where you take women and children for a nice afternoon picnic

 

you want to see some real woods, come down this way

 

Archery season starts in October

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dang, that's a picnic woods if I ever saw one

 

A "picnic woods" for you city slickers is a mature forest with no ground cover. Since there's no cover, you rarely find game animals in woods like that.  Its called "picnic woods" because its so open you could walk through it swinging a picnic basket.

 

 

but a picnic woods would be good MTB riding since you can pretty much ride everywhere

Looks like prime squirrel territory to me.  Get a good pellet gun and in 4 hours you could take your limit easily in a place like that.

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well, it would be easy to get around to make your limit of squirrels, but when I'm talking hunting I'm always talking deer like I'm always talking English

 

open places like that won't hold deer unless you are somewhere that folks don't hunt them. Once the air gets crisp and guns start going off in the woods, the deer's patterns change. They move in near houses and become primarily nocturnal

 

which is why a city slicker seeing deer doesn't change the fact that those are picnic woods

 

I'd never plan on hunting woods like that because you'll walk all day and not see a thing. Anything out there will wind you, or see you, or hear you long before you see them

 

but it is good for riding bikes through, I'll give you that

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well, it would be easy to get around to make your limit of squirrels, but when I'm talking hunting I'm always talking deer like I'm always talking English

 

open places like that won't hold deer unless you are somewhere that folks don't hunt them. Once the air gets crisp and guns start going off in the woods, the deer's patterns change. They move in near houses and become primarily nocturnal

 

which is why a city slicker seeing deer doesn't change the fact that those are picnic woods

 

I'd never plan on hunting woods like that because you'll walk all day and not see a thing. Anything out there will wind you, or see you, or hear you long before you see them

 

but it is good for riding bikes through, I'll give you that

Only city slickers need a gun for deer. 

A 50lbs draw bow and good blades will take any deer within 30 yards, assuming you can hit a paper plate at that distance.  If you can't hit that paper plate, stick with your pansy thunder sticks.

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which is why a city slicker seeing deer doesn't change the fact that those are picnic woods

 

I wasn't trying to tell you you're wrong; I wouldn't have expected to see deer there either - minimal cover, yes, but also because I was far from the only one there.  Bikes, hikers, horses on the trails.

 

Whatever you call it, it's a nice place to be.

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 wasn't trying to tell you you're wrong; I wouldn't have expected to see deer there either - minimal cover, yes, but also because I was far from the only one there.  Bikes, hikers, horses on the trails.

 

Whatever you call it, it's a nice place to be.

 

 

 

Take it easy...I'm just giving you a hard time :P

 

Its neat how you can ride up on animals...deer, turkeys, pheasants, al sorts of things...with a bike because we're not making a lot of racket.

 

And that is a good place to go with a MTB

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I wasn't trying to tell you you're wrong; I wouldn't have expected to see deer there either - minimal cover, yes, but also because I was far from the only one there.  Bikes, hikers, horses on the trails.

 

Whatever you call it, it's a nice place to be.

 

Haters get very old to listen to.  It looks like a pretty place.  Enjoy!

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just cause I hated on your pump video, you gotta single me out? What's ChoppedLiver? ...chopped liver or something? He was doing this shit, too, you know!

 

I think you are being the hater. You're a Nate Hater!

 

but that's alright...

 

Haters gonna hate

 

And Naters gonna Nate

 

that's just how it goes :P

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just cause I hated on your pump video, you gotta single me out? What's ChoppedLiver? ...chopped liver or something? He was doing this shit, too, you know!

 

I think you are being the hater. You're a Nate Hater!

 

but that's alright...

 

Haters gonna hate

 

And Naters gonna Nate

 

that's just how it goes :P

yeah, but I hate everyone.....and everyone already knows this. :)

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just cause I hated on your pump video, you gotta single me out? What's ChoppedLiver? ...chopped liver or something? He was doing this shit, too, you know!

 

I think you are being the hater. You're a Nate Hater!

 

but that's alright...

 

Haters gonna hate

 

And Naters gonna Nate

 

that's just how it goes :P

 

I didn't single anyone out. You seemed happy for me to have fun in that thread.  We're cool.

 

I just wanted to prove that I don't just hold beer.  K just snapped a quick vid for me.  

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yeah, but I hate everyone.....and everyone already knows this. :)

 yea, but its still a very selective enforcement of hippy rules to hate on me and not even acknowledge your contributions to the general badgering of Trenton

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