The official Random MTB stoke thread - Page 12

That pic is very funny.

There is a load of northshore stuff in Megeve - not been on it yet, but I've seen it lurking in the trees. They built a great enduro course in Combloux this summer - looking forward to skiing it at twice the speed!

I did my first mountain bike orienteering event 3 weeks ago in the Vosges in France, near Colmar, and I finally got around to editing video of it. Not the most exciting of movies to watch, but it was quite fun. Was quite snowy and slidy, but nice and sunny.

Hey Finndog! I have a simple solution to your hunter problem. Ride at night. Ever tried it? It makes your old trails new again.

Also, this - http://www.mavic.com/en/product/apparel/outerwear/apparel/Vision-Jacket

Lots of friends have got into night riding lately. There's a bit of a brightness war going on in bike lights. You can get stupidly bright lights up to 2700 lumens (as much a good video projector, there are no brightness limits on bike lights (at least in UK) - it didn't occur to lawmakers that they'd ever get this bright), but it creates two problems: anyone coming towards you is completely blinded, including cars; anyone riding with you that has weaker lights can't see much either. It's also partly that these kind of lights are really very cheap, and very good.

LED lights used to be illegal in the UK (now repealed) since the law stipulated that bike lights had to use 'filament' light sources. This was a left-over from laws banning paraffin lamps due to their associated horrific injuries!

Yeah, bike lights are amazing now. I spent over $400 on a Hope HID light just a few years ago which puts out less power than a $150ish LED light.

that sounds great!  I would love to do that in the summer. I am fine with my hunter paranoia :)   I will get over it.  

Problem with night riding in the summer is that it gets dark so late. I can do a quickie night ride before dinner this time of year.

I rode after dinner last night and this morning before dawn.  My old L&M batteries don't hold a charge as long anymore, I'm lucky to get 1 1/2 hours.  I'm sure once it gets really cold, I'll be lucky to get an hour and I'll have to start looking at these new ones?

I prefer sunlight, but will take what I can get. 

Time to get this thread revived.  One thing about a low snow winter is that the high elevation MTB trails are in shape way ahead of schedule!

South Skyline trail in my hood is always the first to dry out:

Pineview on a cloudy day from South Skyline:

Snowbasin in the background from Sardine trail, part of the Xterra National Cahampionship course:

Pineview & Colleen from Sardine trail:

Got to Tahoe in the middle of May to find their trails in great shape as well.

From Angora ridge:

A trip to Santa Cruz found us entering the Ewok forest:

Shannon & Uncle Jim with the Pacific in the Background:

Back in Tahoe the snow had already melted from Armstrong Pass, 3000' of winding singletrack. 

Pat nearing the top of the Armstrong climb:

Robin completing the first half of the DH:

Just to the North of Armstrong lies Star Lake.  A new singletrack trail completed last Fall above High Meadows makes this once brutal ride a classic.

Natalie enjoying the view:

Dave negotiating some large granite boulders:

Group photo at Star Lake, just above 9000' with Jobs Sister above, just under 11000'. 

Another 13 mile, 3000' + singletrack DH awaits:

Big Meadow on our way to the Christmas Valley DH:

Colby & Tehama riding some more Sierra granite:

Valley View is a switchback singletrack close to town:

Part of the devastated area in the Angora fire area:

Back to Star Lake yesterday.  Robin on the last part of the climb with Freel Peak in the background:

There's a little piece of my rides this Spring, & summer is still a few days away!

Thanks,

JF

Very nice Jim.  

Those Tahoe trails look amazing. Is that Boulder section actually ridable by people who are not Hans Rey?

Quote:

Originally Posted by epic 

Those Tahoe trails look amazing. Is that Boulder section actually ridable by people who are not Hans Rey?

Not for me, but right now it actually leads right into a creek crossing.  I think once the creek dries someone between Hans & I would be riding it ;)

The best things about the Tahoe trails for me is the continuous length of the DH's & even though there are technical sections, most of them have super long stretches of smooth flowiness along with some spectacular scenery.  For instance, both the Armstrong Pass & Star Lake rides reward your climb with over 13 miles of singletrack DH over 3000' vert.

This picture from a couple weeks ago looks up toward where those 2 trails are:

JF

Quote:

Originally Posted by epic 

Those Tahoe trails look amazing. Is that Boulder section actually ridable by people who are not Hans Rey?

Why?  You thinking about coming to visit us, finally?   

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trekchick 

Why?  You thinking about coming to visit us, finally?   

Yeah Epic, "Just do it!"

Quote:

Originally Posted by 4ster 

 

The best things about the Tahoe trails for me is the continuous length of the DH's & even though there are technical sections, most of them have super long stretches of smooth flowiness along with some spectacular scenery.  For instance, both the Armstrong Pass & Star Lake rides reward your climb with over 13 miles of singletrack DH over 3000' vert.

 

This picture from a couple weeks ago looks up toward where those 2 trails are:

 

 

JF

uhmmm... road trip Epic?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Whiteroom 

uhmmm... road trip Epic?

I think we've had this discussion with you......just saying. 

I've been riding my bike at Duthie Hill, which is an awesome set of trails pretty close to where I live.

They have a nice mix of XC trails that are tighter and more technical but still with some banked turns and optional features like ladders, jumps and log rides.  Then, you have the freeride/downhill trails and the flowpark, which are all jumps - ladder drops, step ups, tables, gaps, ect.  Additionally, there are a bunch of really short trails and individual features that you can hit over and over again, like pump tracks, lines of drops that increase in height, step-ups and skinnies, all of which are great for improving your skills.  There has been a ton of volunteer work done along with some pretty good city funding and donations so it's turned out to be a really incredible place to ride.All trails are 1-directional which is great for not having to worry about people coming from the other way.  The area is pretty small, only around 120 acres, but the trails are packed in everywhere:

I'm not that great, but I've been progressing well, and have been able to move on to most of the black freeride trails along with all of the XC trails. Unfortunately, I don't have a helmet cam so you can't see any of my runs (or my terrible K2 Zed 1.0 bike from 2006- who needs disk brakes to stop, pedal cranks that don't have stripped threads requiring them to be tightened every run or more than an 80 mm shock when landing, I really need to buy a new bike) but here is the website describing the trails along with a few good videos:

http://evergreenmtb.org/wiki/index.php?title=Trail:Duthie_Hill

http://duthiemtb.com/

A video of a recent competition, the parts before this are the amateur riders and some of the guy's own riding.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVGT8ZOc-5o&t=3m19s

One of my favorite trails, the trail is in a small gully, and you are riding up and down the sides of it, with optional drops and jumps along the way.  You hardly even have to pedal because the trail is angled downwards, and you swoop down one side of the gully and perfectly sail up the other without any pedaling, go around a short corner, than repeat.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWKPv88uyq0

Another one of my favorites, this one has some more difficult optional routes with gaps, big drops off of ladders, and three big jumps to finish it off.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tA7zmTz5Kdo

The beginner XC trail, the start has some fun stuff to do, the middle is pretty long and mostly uphill, than the finish is a series of smooth high speed banked turns, one after another.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNzn1O5LK7s

Some impressive freeride trails, I haven't attempted these yet, and it will take awhile before I do :P

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7zPu6L82Qw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07GernWKlak

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6w0Aqlf3hs

I don't know how directly mountain biking correlates to skiing, but it's definitely keeping my legs in pretty good shape and improving my confidence.  Skiing next season is going to be great, as falling on dirt hurts more than on snow and so hopefully I'll have the confidence to try some stuff that I previously wouldn't have.

I have been doing a lot of riding since I last checked in.  Here are some photos from the past month & a half:

Pre-riding my nieces race course near Truckee CA.  She is racing in a local X-country series.  First time in the Pro division this year.

The South Upper Truckee river before it feeds into Lake Tahoe, CA.

My friend Sue descending on Mr. Toads Wild Ride:

A log I didn't ride on the Armstrong connector trail.

Looking up at Flagpole Peak on the Gunmount ride near Meyers, CA.

On the 4th of July, I took Rusty & Shannon up & down the new trail to Star Lake. 9100' at the top & 6200' at the bottom for almost 30 miles of singletrack goodness.

A few days later we did the Bench Ride which follows a portion of the Tahoe Rim Trail beginning at Spooner Summit & traveling South to Stateline, NV.

Almost to the top.

This past weekend, Shannon drove up from Reno & we did a car shuttle from Incline Village, NV. to the top of Mt. Rose highway to do one of my favorite of all mountain bike tours.  This ride also utilizes a portion of the Rim trail just north of the Bench ride.

Mt. Rose to

Marlette Peak then

down to Marlette Lake (Mt. Rose in the background)

& out the Flume trail to Tunnel Creek Road & down to Incline.

On Sunday we made the drive north & west to Downieville. (Sierra Buttes from the east)

The Downieville DH begins at 7000' just outside of Sierra City in CA. (Sierra Buttes from the north where the ride begins)

The ride drops for 4000' of mostly rough singletrack to Downieville.

Much of the trail cuts above deep gorges above river canyons.

I have heard about this ride for years but this was my first time to this beautiful part of Northern California.  You definitely want full suspension & good brakes for this one.

Thanks,

JF

on the list.  beautiful.  my ibis is about to get new Xt's.... 

Jim, that looks spectacular.  If I wasn't assured of injuring myself, I might take up MTB.  So, for those 3k+ DH sections, do you ride up first or cheat?

Mike

Quote:

Originally Posted by habacomike 

Jim, that looks spectacular.  If I wasn't assured of injuring myself, I might take up MTB.  So, for those 3k+ DH sections, do you ride up first or cheat?

 

Mike

The Downieville DH was a total cheat, car shuttle to the top with very little climbing on the way down.  Still a good work out both mentally & physically.

We do a little cheat on the Rose to Flume ride, but still well over 1200' of climbing.  The rest are pretty legit, up as much as you go down.  the Star Lake & Armstrong Pass rides are both close to 3000' of climbing.

A decent workout then.  Good for you.

Mike

Stagecoach to Star Lake on the Tahoe Rim Trail last Saturday:

JF

Back in Utah the reds are popping:

JF

BEAUTIFUL!  we have a few more weeks in NJ before the colors hit.  Back to Steamboat next week and I hope some of the color is left.  Enjoy!

After a quick visit last year on my way home from Moab, I was determined to return to the Goodwater Rim area to camp this year.  Luckily out of the 8 or so designated campsites, I was fortunate to get the #1 site right on the rim of the canyon.

After setting up camp, it was time for dinner on the edge while the sun was getting ready to set

After the sun set, the moon rose

The next day it was time to ride

Unfortunately, a family emergency cut my trip short & my bike has been parked for the past 2 weeks.

Today I was back in the saddle :) !

JF

Wow Jim, you really have this figured out.

Quote:

Originally Posted by epic 

Wow Jim, you really have this figured out.

LOL, I just make it appear that way.  It is really all just smoke & mirrors.

JF

Quote:

Originally Posted by habacomike 

Jim, you seem to have the best of everything -- Tahoe and Utah. Spectacular.
Mike

I think I will retire in Maui, or some such tropical place.

JF