Monday, March 18, 2013
Munson Monday
My jersey is soaked and I am stoked HA. Here is the second part of the ride chasing Dan Percy around.
Sunday, March 17, 2013
Tom Brown Kwik Stats
Got a couple good tours of the Tom Brown/Cadillac trail system in Tallahassee Florida. Thanks guys and gals
I was actually glad to have some moisture in the air. It has been dry a little to long. I never thought I would say that. I complained about it quit a bit in New Jersey!
I was actually glad to have some moisture in the air. It has been dry a little to long. I never thought I would say that. I complained about it quit a bit in New Jersey!
Thursday, March 14, 2013
Monday, March 11, 2013
In The Beginning
I get asked a lot of questions. Here is a brief history to let folks know where I am coming from.
I rode the Berryman trail near Potosi Missouri. It was one trail that made a 25-35 mile loop around the foot hills of the Ozarks in Mark Twain national forest. It was reminiscent of Tsali near Bryson North Carolina. I had raced Tsali once long ago, before I even dared dream of this Quest. Then the spark that rekindled my interest in my Quest, Super Storm Sandy caused a slow down at work, for me, and my wife Tammy, mostly was telecommuting, mostly, as she went on a work reduction plan due to health concerns. I will not be a Debbie Downer with the details, but we have had Bucket list discussions, including her childhood dream of visiting every state, in a meaningful way, not just driving through!
So Sandy made it hard to telecommute and I was jonesing to ride more than a quarter mile with out having to move, cut out or crawl over blow downs! We mapped out 5 IMBA Epics all within a few hours of each other where North Carolina, Georgia and Tennessee meet up. I manged to ride:
Dupont State Forest, near Brevard, North Carolina
Jake/Bull Mountain near Dahlonega, Georgia
Tanasi Trail near Ocoee, Tennessee
On our way back from Tennessee to North Carolina, it dawned on me that this is one of those "The time is right"-"Do it before it is too late" situations. Rewind 10 years and Tammy could not sit through the 2 hour 25 mile per hour switch back through mountains and many waterfalls. But watching cry tears of joy at each new majesty that nature presented us, made it very poignant for me. A couple years back, after she came out of remission, I told her that we could sell the house, cash everything in and drive an RV around the country. I meant it, but she still had an incessant need to work. No cold turkey for her. Now that she has been weened back a bit, I am making good on that promise. Tammy is still so concerned with my happiness. After all it was while on a trip to Minnesota for her daughters Birthday, with a stop at the Rock-n-Roll hall of fame in Cleveland Ohio on the way and a stop at Mark Twains home town on the way back, that Tammy asked me what I wanted to do. She thought we were doing too much "Just" for her. I insisted that it was fine, but she insisted back. That is when I remembered that old bike magazine with several IMBA epics that I saved all these years.
Every thing is on line now and we found the Berryman trail. So there it is in circular fashion, I do admit, that is just how I roll.
I rode the Berryman trail near Potosi Missouri. It was one trail that made a 25-35 mile loop around the foot hills of the Ozarks in Mark Twain national forest. It was reminiscent of Tsali near Bryson North Carolina. I had raced Tsali once long ago, before I even dared dream of this Quest. Then the spark that rekindled my interest in my Quest, Super Storm Sandy caused a slow down at work, for me, and my wife Tammy, mostly was telecommuting, mostly, as she went on a work reduction plan due to health concerns. I will not be a Debbie Downer with the details, but we have had Bucket list discussions, including her childhood dream of visiting every state, in a meaningful way, not just driving through!
So Sandy made it hard to telecommute and I was jonesing to ride more than a quarter mile with out having to move, cut out or crawl over blow downs! We mapped out 5 IMBA Epics all within a few hours of each other where North Carolina, Georgia and Tennessee meet up. I manged to ride:
Dupont State Forest, near Brevard, North Carolina
Jake/Bull Mountain near Dahlonega, Georgia
Tanasi Trail near Ocoee, Tennessee
On our way back from Tennessee to North Carolina, it dawned on me that this is one of those "The time is right"-"Do it before it is too late" situations. Rewind 10 years and Tammy could not sit through the 2 hour 25 mile per hour switch back through mountains and many waterfalls. But watching cry tears of joy at each new majesty that nature presented us, made it very poignant for me. A couple years back, after she came out of remission, I told her that we could sell the house, cash everything in and drive an RV around the country. I meant it, but she still had an incessant need to work. No cold turkey for her. Now that she has been weened back a bit, I am making good on that promise. Tammy is still so concerned with my happiness. After all it was while on a trip to Minnesota for her daughters Birthday, with a stop at the Rock-n-Roll hall of fame in Cleveland Ohio on the way and a stop at Mark Twains home town on the way back, that Tammy asked me what I wanted to do. She thought we were doing too much "Just" for her. I insisted that it was fine, but she insisted back. That is when I remembered that old bike magazine with several IMBA epics that I saved all these years.
Every thing is on line now and we found the Berryman trail. So there it is in circular fashion, I do admit, that is just how I roll.
Friday, March 8, 2013
Alafia River State Park Run Down
Alafia River State Park is on the IMBA epic list.
ARSP is less than an hour from Tampa.
The riding here is the polar opposite of my usual stomping grounds in northwest New Jersey!
One of the trails is called Rock Garden, but the only rocks to be seen are gravel.
I thought the climbs at home were short compared to the mountains, but ARSP has super short steep climbs, left over from the phosphate mining in the area.
I have to give the local club SWAMP, a ton of credit for this and the Balm Boyette trails systems.
There is plenty of fast flow trails through the sand, pine and palm trees. Then progresses to the blue trails that start to have some more up and down as they generally follow the contours of the terrain, with more twists, hairpins and roots. The black diamond trials step it up a notch and take advantage of the ridges by twisting in, out up and straight down them. My favorite being Moonscape, with all the extra advanced sections.
The south east section of the River Loop, a green or easy trail, was closed, but I put together a fairly full loop, that hit all the blue and black trails,intermediate and advanced respectively, and most of the green.
If you are in the area you have to check out Balm/Boyette as well!
See the Strava file and TWO videos below:
ARSP is less than an hour from Tampa.
The riding here is the polar opposite of my usual stomping grounds in northwest New Jersey!
One of the trails is called Rock Garden, but the only rocks to be seen are gravel.
I thought the climbs at home were short compared to the mountains, but ARSP has super short steep climbs, left over from the phosphate mining in the area.
I have to give the local club SWAMP, a ton of credit for this and the Balm Boyette trails systems.
There is plenty of fast flow trails through the sand, pine and palm trees. Then progresses to the blue trails that start to have some more up and down as they generally follow the contours of the terrain, with more twists, hairpins and roots. The black diamond trials step it up a notch and take advantage of the ridges by twisting in, out up and straight down them. My favorite being Moonscape, with all the extra advanced sections.
The south east section of the River Loop, a green or easy trail, was closed, but I put together a fairly full loop, that hit all the blue and black trails,intermediate and advanced respectively, and most of the green.
If you are in the area you have to check out Balm/Boyette as well!
See the Strava file and TWO videos below:
Tuesday, February 26, 2013
San-Lee Video
I can't get over San-Lee! Donn has truly poured his heart and soul into this trail system.It is super well marked, with some of the gnarliest technical rock garden sections. Calling them rock gardens does not do them justice.The map is very well laid out and color coded. I foolishly thought I was going to be disappointed, but then I came upon sections such as, Bouldergeist, Gauntlet, Free Fall and Rocknest Monster. That is when that evil little grin emerged my face. The camera breaks the video into half hour chunks and even with my short attention span, the second chunk of 30 minute kept me interested enough to watch the whole thing raw. Then before it finishes off you hit Mega Jump. Don Said he remolded them until they flowed well on the ground or in the air. There are a couple in a row that I am sure could be doubled, I would need a long session to work up that nerve though.
Here is a long one that I did not know what to cut! I will get some more video up, it is a long process!
Here is a long one that I did not know what to cut! I will get some more video up, it is a long process!
Monday, February 25, 2013
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