Category: Mountain Biking

Riding at 5 am

I can say from personal experience that meeting friends for a 5 am trail ride doesn’t save much in humidity, but it does save you from about 15 or so degrees in heat. It’s also quite invigorating to wake up early and ride at dawn. Do what you can to stay cool friends!

First Time Riding an Eeeb

Today I went riding in the mountains of Appalachian country in NJ. I had just ridden up a long, steep hill and was taking quick break before I rode up another even steeper hill where the terrain was much gnarlier. As I was resting, a family (mother, father, son) were riding down the hill that I was about to go up. When they reached the bottom of the hill, they stopped to say hello and we wound up chatting for a little bit. I remarked that their bikes were cool looking and asked if they were E-bikes. They said yes and asked me if I had ever ridden one. I replied “Not yet.” They asked if I would like to try theirs. I said, “Sure!”

Going up that hill that had given me so much trouble to ride up in the past, was like slicing butter with a hot knife!!! It was so much fun!!!

I’m halfway tempted to buy an eeb. I don’t think I really will do it anytime soon though. The price is more than what my bike cost and my current bike is in great shape. A good eeeb that comes with the components that I like; they start out at $5500 and go up. But I gotta say that it was a lot of fun!!!

That and the MTB community that I meet on the trials – such good people.

MoochBucks

I was enticed to ride Allamuchy under the promise that when we got to the top of the mountain, there would be a food court where could pick up quick snacks and chill out under the canopy of umbrella’s for a bit, in order that we could recharge. Gullible as I am, I thought that sounded great and went along with the ruse. As I endured several miles of relentless bone shaking and traversing through trails disturbingly named after facets of human suffering (Cardiac Ditch), I kept a firm vision in my mind of what this food pavilion would look like. It’s wonderful smells flashed through my imagination and sparked my motivation to press forward. However, there were no restaurants, no umbrellas, no relaxing music, no place to put our feet up and unwind. The ride felt like a descent through all of Dante’s concentric circles of torment. Instead of MoochBucks, we got a giant, unrelenting pile of rocks. Keep pressing forward folks and together we will find the great food court on the trails.

 

There’s that jump.

We got to Stephens early and stuck around for a bit until after the snow started. Just wanted to hear the sound of snow falling on the leaves. What can I say, it just brings back good memories of winter magic. LOL.

Side note – I’ve been trying to teach a friend of mine into riding the jump at top of Trestle for months. I show him how I jump it. He watches and listens to my pointers, but he’s just not ready to take the jump for himself. I don’t push. People need to decide for themselves when they are ready. So today as we got close to it, I said, “There’s that jump”. Then he pulls ahead, says “What jump?” and just went for it! It was glorious to see him finally send it! A minor victory and I’m happy I got to witness that.

Unleashing The Spirit of Temperance Wick’s Horse

The first ride of 2024 for me was at Lewis Morris, because I woke up and felt the spirit of Temperance Wick’s horse calling me. Legend has it that Wick was accosted by mutineers of the Continental Army who tried to steal her horse in December of 1780. She made a cunning escape, then hid the horse inside of a room in her family’s house. Talk about a house smelling like a barn! Anywho, so the mutineers left the Jockey Hollow area for Princeton on January 1st 1781, and that is when Wick freed the horse from the confines of the house.

Between that and having a lot of wonderful chefs and bakers in my family and having to burn off all of the holiday food and desserts they’ve been generously feeding me over the past few weeks; a ride at Lew Mo was much needed. Not the best photo, but I think it captures the spirit of a horse who has been cooped up indoors and is finally free to do what it was born to do. Ride free in 2024 friends!