Monday, July 25, 2011

Kingston Death Enduro Part 4




Once at Cat Woosa it was road to Bayridge then a left. Taking Bayridge to Highway 2. Took highway 2 till the turn off near the BMX track. Cutting through the park to connect to Woodbine and road again the rest of the way to Taylor Kidd. At which point it was just over 5 hours of riding to this point. Though was having to make some mental calculations on ride time vs seting sun time.







Rode the up through the farmers fields heading towards the quarry. Then took Guinness that connected to BHRT's which popped me out on Taylor Kidd. Then into the other trails on the south side. After nearly1.5-2 hours decided to pull the plug. Which turned out to be the 6 hour mark. It was nearly 8 and didn't have a light for riding in the dark.



Headed home with a stop for a well earned Slushie and Doritos. By the time I got to the house it was about 6 hours and 42 minutes of riding not including the police stop.And standing in the Mac's lot I was distinctly recalling the last time I did anything this stupid was back in 2005 leading up to Peterborough.


And I still think it is fun.









Friday, July 22, 2011

Kingston Death Enduro Part 3

After leaving Timmies it was continuing down Dalton Ave to the hydro line entrance to the next section. Found that they have been busy in the last couple of years adding some path. As well as it looks like they will be finally adding a bridge on the K&P trail.









After entering at the hydroline it was a jarring ride through where they I guess hope to build houses in the future. Somewhere in this area was crash number 2, hard to see the ruts when they are covered with either overgrowth or the shrapnel from the cutting machines.


4 hours in.



There is a little creek crossing which thankfully the machines did not wreck. This is in the non summer months pretty deep. Had to check to make sure the bottom was still firm not mush because of quad riders gunning it.





After the crossing it was across another chopped field to another creek crossing that was wrecked but still rideable. Then a little hill climb to the area of the NIB Park. Which was thought to be on the bulldozed list almost 3 months ago. But it turns out not so. No play time as that might have been a bad idea at this point .








After the park it was a very short climb to the residential road. Then a left on Sydenham to take the hydroline Quad track. This section continued the flavour of the ride- Overgrown. With the usual mix of quad rut, quad hole, and brush bashing thrown in. At one point had to some heavy bush bashing to connect with Cataraqui Woods Drive.


















Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Kingston Death Enduro Part 2

After going through the base and hitting some of the trails on the base. It was down the hill past Fort Henry to cross the causeway. Then to head along the trails along Cataraqui Creek heading out towards the 401.






Enroute noticed this. A trials line. Return later to play on it.







Further along entered this trail. Not much as it's a old industrial site.






So after the above section hooked up with Montreal. Added a little extra pain to the ride by being mirror clipped by a driver. Then just as I hit Taylor Kidd was waved down at the Timmies by a KPD officer who had caught the woman driver. And made my statement to the officer. Oh... the added excitement. After was finished with my report wanted to take the trail option up but was way to overgrown. Then connected with a road that went along the tracks till it connects with Dalton Rd.


After reaching this point took a quick rest in this bit of shade.




After about 20 minutes came to the new Timmies on Sir John A. Definitely the most cooked customer they had all day. Interesting it was when after 3 hours how when I went to top up the Camelbak bladder there was still ice in it. So loaded up with a couple of bottles of Pepsi and a few cookies. As I knew the test was coming over the next few hours of the ride. The first 3 are the easy part really.












Tuesday, July 19, 2011

Kingston Death Enduro- Part 1

This idea came to be when I found out I had 7 weeks on my own. So came up with a plan to put as much bike mileage as possible in one day. The bad idea part was doing this after 3 years of mediocre training.

The very bad idea part was starting at 2pm on a hot July Sunday. But one has to work first.

Had all the stuff prepared... half camelbak and water bottle of water in freezer that would add water to for later, bug juice, sunscreen, tools and tube, money, and camera. So it was off. First destination being Roger's Trails. After about 45 minutes as it was hot and humid so kept that pace easier as it was going to be a long afternoon.


Road past the base to Roger's Trails. Nothing special other then a out and back ride section.




Bug juice... to keep the bug bites to a minimum. Especially since this year was so damp and the bugs where in large quantities.




Somewhere in Rogers still looking and feeling good.


Dry dry dry would be the general flavour of the day.


Some sections where way more overgrown then this and impassable when factor in time and effort. Which under the days heat and humidity would be a bad idea to try and basically drag a bke through.

After riding what was rideable at Roger's it was back down Highway 2 towards the base. To ride around Fort Henry on some trails there.

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

Cranium Cover

Today at Team NFI home office we recived this in the mail.



Nothing fancy. Just a new Buff... specifically from Singletrack Mag. Who are celebrating 10 years now.

Nothing special about it. Other then protects back of neck from sunburn and decreeases nasty helmet stink.

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Murphy's Laws of Mountain Biking

1. Every mountain biker is God’s gift to the trail, at least in his own mind.

2. If you can’t make it up the hill, it’s not because your bike sucks it’s because you’re fat & lazy.

3. Retrogrouches are pessimistic, stingy, and nostalgic.

4. Technoweenies are status grabbing, snobbish, yuppie wannabe squids.

5. Land developers are filthy, greedy, blood-sucking, no-good rotten son-of-a-bitchen-bastards.

6. Number of people who will show up for a ride = number of people who said they’d come -6.

7. Tube Math: tubes needed for any given ride = the number of tubes you have + one.

8. Helmets don’t protect collarbones or rear derailleurs.

9. Mail order catalogues undercut wholesale prices and drive local bike shops out of buisiness.

10. Local Bike shops charge a lot more than mail order for rear derailleurs.

11. How Shtickmano changes a light bulb: First, they redesign the light, then they design a new tool to install the redesigned bulb in the redesigned light, then they repeat the process over & over.

12. It doesn’t have to work better so long as it looks different and is incompatible with everything else.

13. Magazine product tests are all done in California.

14. Just because it costs more doesn’t mean it works better.

15. You get what you pay for.

16. The more you hear the term "freeride" the more it will cost you to ride.

17. That brand new top of the line bike you just bought is already obsolete.

18. You had just as much fun on your old beater bike as your new rig, maybe more.

19. Reason your bike broke; you were just riding along and …..

20. When not doing something stupid, bike mechanics are nearly gods.

21. Hydration packs take all the weight off your bike and put it on your back.

22. The amount of ride left to get home is inversely proportional to how hungry you are.

23. Cheese is a meal in and of itself.

24. After ride pizza math: 3 mountain bikers x 2 slices/rider = 2 trays.

25. After ride beer math: 5 mountain bikers x 3 beers per rider = 2 cases.

26. If you got hungry enough, you’d eat a puppy.

27. Easy rides can be hard.

28. Hard rides can be fun.

29. If the main trail looks like a dead end it probably is.

30. Whenever someone says the trail has got to come out somewhere, it doesn’t.

31. When the ride leader points vaguely at some distant peak as your destination, check your water.

32. When someone says the trail you’re on is a deer-path, remind them that deer don’t have wheels.

33. Trip math: Number of miles actually ridden +4 ½.

34. Murphy’s bike had Suntour components.

Just shut-up and ride.

Friday, July 1, 2011

The 6 Commandments of The Dirtbag

1.Never let your lack of cash get in the way of fun. Find a way.

2.Fun is the fiber of our lives. The more fun you get in life, the easier the shit will pass with regularity.

3.Hair is good. Leave the body shaving to women and porn stars.

4.Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's expensive gear. It starts a vicious cycle that ends with a loss of touch with the roots of your passion.

5.Buck the latest fashion trends in a big way. As rock climber Ron Kauk once said, "John Wayne never wore lycra."

6.Be happy with what you have. Humility is the path to true enlightenment.