February 2008 Ride Log
Ride style this year will be easy going since I need to nurse the rotator cuff.
Tuesday February 26
Pequonnock River Valley - Trumbull, Connecticut
The night before I got the idea to get up early and ride the trail. The morning temperatures were a cool 26 degrees F and cloudy. The forecast was for snow and rain for most of the day. I was able to get to the Daniels Farm Road commuter lot by 6:45AM with dry conditions. While most people were getting ready for work, I entered the trail system at the end of the road. There was still quite a bit of snow left from the previous Friday's snow storm. The snow was about 2-3 inches deep and had a crust like texture.
As soon as I got to the trail, I took the loop to the right. By the time I got to the bottom near the stream, I was quite tired. It took a lot of work to get through the icy snow. The bike was carried across the stream and I started riding along the white trail. The snow pack made it difficult to get the bike moving forward. Ground that was level was ok but anything uphill was just about impossible while using the middle chainring. I ended up hiking the bike up the hill and rode downhill to the bottom. I stopped by the side of the river and took some pictures of my bike by the stream.
After a short rest I rode the bike toward the old dam and walked the rest of way. The night before I read up on taking pictures with snow and had adjusted the exposure on my Canon 30D. I spent most of the time taking pictures in and around the spillway.
Once I had finished taking pictures, I walked the bike up the short roller on the south side and onto the top of the dam. It was getting cold but couldn't resist riding down the north side. After pedaling in the snow a short while I hit a muddy stretch and stopped.
I had enough of that and had a to get back as I had to get to work. The north side of the dam was snow covered and it wasn't lilely that I could ride it up so I hiked the bike up and on the dam. Once on the flat, I rode over to the roller and took it down to the ledge. There was snow and ice on the the roller and took it anyway without getting on the brakes. Did it with no problem although there was a little slip at the bottom but it didn't affect the ride. The rest of the ledge was hiked and I rode the trail to the river edge. The hill up wasn't ridable but I tried with the chainring in the small gear. I was able to get more distance and it made me think a 2x9 might be a better idea over my planned 1x9. It still got tiring and I hiked the bike to the top. It was an easier ride down the other side and I rode over to the stream crossing. The stream was looking nice so I took a few pictures of the scenery.
I got back to the car around 8AM and after stopping at the house to drop the bike and some gear, was off to work.
Thursday February 21
Pequonnock River Valley - Trumbull, Connecticut
Forecast is sunny with temperatures in the lower 30's. Should make for a nice ride and I took the day off from work. The ride started after I parked the car at the commuter lot off Daniels Farm Road. After crossing the stream, I dropped down to the blue trail and took that to the old dam. Part of my mission was to clear some of the limbs that were encroaching over the old spillway. The pocket chainsaw came in handy to cut down some small branches and trees. This will permit bikers to ride along the top of the spillway. There was some bottles and other trash in the area so I bagged it up and put it aside.
Rode the top of the spillway and around the north side of the dam and out into the old lake bed. The yellow trail is a little more challenging and I took that over to the lower section of the fire road. I crossed over the road and into the trails on the other side. The path splits to the left (towards the lake bed) and to the right (up hill to the town property). I took the trail to the right and climbed the hill and went on the to the "picnic tables" on the other side. It didn't long to reach the yellow trail where I went on the white trail to Indian ledge Park. On the way back, I took the blue trail almost exclusively.
On the way back towards the north side of the old dam. I rode through sections of ice that were on the trail. Not much risk and had some fun as I broke through the ice as I rode. Rode along the dam and over the spillway. My trash was still there so I packed it in my backback and rode out to the car.
Sunday February 17
Pequonnock River Valley - Trumbull, Connecticut
Rain is forecast for later in the day and into Monday (Presidents Day), so Sunday morning was the best chance to get out. Temperatures overnight were in the teens and helped to freeze the trails. I arrived at the Daniels Farm Road commuter lot at about 10:45 AM with a temperature of 38 degress F. Soon after I got to the trail at the end of the road. I crossed the stream and took the blue trail to the left towards the river. Followed the blue trail along the eastern side of the river and stopped by a rock formation to the west of the hill. I rested for a little while and took some pictures.
Continued on from there until I got to the white trail at the base of the downhill. Rode to the southern side of the old dam and went over to the old spillway. I took a few pictures while I rested.
Headed over to the northern side of the dam where I found a tree limb partially into one of the slopes. Got out the pocket saw and cut it down since it had small branches at eye and face level. Continued on the northern white trail and went off to the right onto the yellow trail. Followed that until I exited onto the fire road about two thirds the way up. With the chainring in the middle gear, I was able to grind it up to the stream crossing. Rested there a moment and took a few more pictures.
Rode the hill down to the stream crossing and up the other side. Took the right up the hill towards the town storage area and over to the yellow trail. Stayed on that for quite a while until I stopped at the "picnic table" area to rest. Look carefully at the pictures below and you will see who was keeping an eye on me.
Needing to move on, I rode down the yellow trail into the white trail near the southern side of Indian Ledge Park. I followed the white trail north to the end and took the left at the stream and following the trail with the stream at my right.
This trail will take you to the bridge crossing (seen left) but I continued on to the blue trail along the east side of the river. After some distance, I met up with the white trail and took that to the northern edge of the old lake bed. There was fair amount of water and mud at the bottom of the "rock and root" trail so I took the hill up to the other side. Then I rode the trail along the northern side of the old lake bed and over to the top of old dam.
I set the front fork to the highest setting then rode down the south side rock roller onto the rock ledge and continued on without stopping. That was the first time I ever did that. It felt great since it is somewhat difficult to do. I rode up the hill and down the other side to the stream crossing. I got to the car a little after 1 PM giving me a ride time of more than two hours. It had to be about eight miles of riding.
Tuesday February 12
Pequonnock River Valley - Trumbull, Connecticut
I had wanted to take the bike out this past weekend but the temperatures were too warm and the trails would be muddy. I also had to work so that cut out some free time. Late Sunday the temperatures fell as a blast of cold air from Siberia made it's way into New England. By Monday morning it was 9 degrees F. I knew that would freeze the trail so I planned to take a day off Tuesday. In addition, the weather man was calling for snow late Tuesday. By 12:45 PM, I had the bike heading for the railroad bed entrance at Tait Road.
At 24 degrees F (-4.4 C), it was very cold. I dressed fairly well for it but my full fingered gloves didn't keep my hands warm as well as I would have liked. With the open railroad bed, the wind made staying warm a little harder. After I crossed the wooden bridge and rode up to the white trail, I stopped for a while to get my hands warmed up.
I had a physical therapy appointment later in the afternoon, so I had to keep pressing on if I wanted to get some miles behind me. The trails were as hard as concrete and helped make the ride a little faster but not as smooth. On this ride I took no chances over ice and walked those sections. The thought of getting my socks wet or worse if I fell in a stream kept my feet on the ground over streams. I continued on the white trail to the northern edge of the old lake bed. On the last ride in January, I lost a small plastic cap off my tire pump. It may have come off whenever I took my camera backpack off since the strap dragged across the pump head. No big deal put maybe I could find it where I took pictures. It was a small needle in a big haystack and didn't have high hopes of really finding it. Riders on the MTBR forum have recommended the Topeak Mini Morph Pump so now I have an excuse to get one. I stopped by the stunt that I checked out a few rides ago and soon headed over to the trail along the northern edge of the lake bed.
By now I was warmed up nicely since the speed had slowed down and the work required went up. As I progressed into the old lake bed, I crossed a stream thinking the ice would break at the edges. It was solid but I made it anyway. It didn't take long before I had to stop with a section of trail completely covered in ice. It was so long and wide that even walking was difficult. I got back on the bike after walking past that section and continued on to the old dam.
I'm considering converting my bike from 3x9 to 1x9. Before I commit to that, I've been spending as much time using the middle chainring for all my riding. Some of the climbs are going to be harder but will rewarding when I can do it. As I approached the northern side of the dam, I checked to make sure I was in the middle ring and was able to make it up the steeper side without too much trouble. The fast downhill to the right of the steel tube was fun and with that done, headed over to the short roller to the rock ledge which I also did. Stopped there to take a rest and took a few pictures of my bike.
Wrapped up the picture taking and got back on the bike and continued down the white trail and took the climb to the top of the hill. That was my turn around point and so I headed back. Once I got past the dam, instead of walking the long icy section that I had found before, I took the yellow trail to the right. There is a stream that flows down in the hills that was covered in ice. Taking no chances, I walked that as well. I got back on the bike for another climb only to be stopped by a large tree that was blocking the path. By large, the tree may be three feet wide. No way my pocket saw going to cut that. I had to walk around it and continued to the lower end of the fire trail. Took a left and followed my way back down the white trail, over the bridge and on to the railroad bed. I got to the car around 2:45 PM making a nice ride of two hours long and about seven miles in distance.
Sunday February 3
Pequonnock River Valley - Trumbull, Connecticut
We seem to be having a January thaw with temperatures during the day between 40 and 50 degrees F. The forecast for the work week was rain and more warm temperatures. These are not the ideal riding conditions since the ground is still frozen about an inch or more below the rain soaked dirt. In areas of poor drainage, this mix produces a muddy mess and will make it difficult to pedal but more importantly, damages the trail and creates conditions that promote future erosion.
Expecting more mud than I'd like, I parked on Tait Road in Trumbull and rode the old railroad bed. After about 3 miles, I took the steep trail down to the bridge over the Pequonnock River. The trail was wet and in the areas of shade, still frozen as I headed south on the white trail. Took the root and rock descent to the area north of the old lake bed. With so much water at the bottom, I decided to take the hill on the other side and stay high. At the top was a section of trail that was in full sun most of the day. This created quite a bit of mud so I got off the bike and walked to get past it. Got over to the spot where I crashed to find a guy in his late 40's doing the jump that I did. He had a Specialized moutain bike and did the jump but only to the tranny after the rock. I continued on to take a left into lots of rocks. I normally come down this way from the fire road but this time I climbed up. Eventually came out to the middle of the fire trail.
Instead of continuing south I steered the bike up the fire trail almost to the top. Took the steep short downhill to the stream and crossed over and made the climb up the other side. Another first since the accident. Took the right and made the short climb toward the picnic table area. Just before entering the narrow trails there is a roller that Mark did a few weeks ago. In fact, I took his picture going down the roller and it is his avator over at Crankfire. Anyway, feeling good about some of the other rollers I've done recently, I felt like this little roller was worth doing. Up and over without incident, I continued on. I came across a guy who was doing some steep downhill stuff and stopped to watch. We chatted for a little while once he got to the bottom. Then we rode together for a short time and soon parted ways.
Somehow I missed the trail and ended up rolling through the woods without a clue where I was going. At one point I made a sharp right turn going very slow and lost my balance. My left side seems to always be the side to take the fall. Fortunately the ground was soft, covered with leaves, and I was almost stopped. My shoulder was fine and I got myself back together and continued on with my trail blazing.
Finally made it to the white trail and headed north toward Indian Ledge Park. Crossed over the bridge and started the ascent but stopped when I could see nothing but mud up the hill. I walked the bike from there up to the railroad bed. Straight shot down the trail to my car at the end on Tait Road where I started. I estimate the ride was about 8 miles.