December 2002 Ride Report Page

Here you will find the reports of our exploits for the month December 2002 more or less as they happened. I will publish any ride reports that I receive. Please send them to  bikebob@crocker.com and you too can get yourself published on the web!

Sunday 12/08: Doug Hillman, Mark C., and I went out to the camp and did some work. Mark did a lot of trail work on the connector to the river, while Doug and I mapped out the route around the end of the ridge. Doug and I found an awesome trail that connects a snowmobile trail with our Ridge Trail. This will be a truly awesome loop when it gets done. (I would expect that this will give us one of the nicest trail systems that could be found anywhere.) I slipped and slid along the embankment as I tried to follow Doug. My boots were not the best for the conditions (2 inches of snow on top of leaves.). Doug and I followed an old road that took us up to the Ridge Trail where we hooked up with Mark. We all then headed down to give Mark a hand with the section that he was working on.  I was working on the down hill side of the trail, using our new McLeod tool, when I slipped and went flying down the embankment all the way to the bottom. I smacked into a tree at the bottom and got a painful reminder of how important it is to have the right shoes before heading out on the trail. After a couple of minutes to do a check of the body parts, I tried to hike up the hill. This was impossible with the boots that I had, so I ended up using the McLeod as a climbing pick and pulled myself back up the hill. At this point it was getting late and Mark had to leave soon, so we decided to try to walk the route along the bottom of the hill and see if we could get to the road that cuts back up to the top of the ridge. We hacked and crawled along the contour of the hill for quite a while. Mark said that he had to get going and since we hadn't gotten to the road that maybe we should try to climb up the hill to the trail. I said that we were only a hundred yards or less from the road and if we pushed on we would be there shortly. Mark didn't believe that and said that he wanted to get up the hill the shortest way possible, so we headed up the steep incline. When we finally arrived at the trail, Mark noted that we were about one hundred feet from the road. Less distance than even I had thought. This was good news, as it means that we will be able to work the trail from both ends and then complete the route in half the time. After a brief discussion on how to find his way out, Mark headed back to his car, while Doug and I headed off to walk the rest of the loop that we finished last time. Doug really liked the trail and we hiked around to the old roadway which we took to head back to the cars. We looped back off the road onto the trail and followed that back to the starting point just as it started to get dark out. It was a nice walk and I enjoyed the day in the woods. Many thanks to Joe for working at the shop for me today!!

Wednesday 12/18: Today I took a ride over to the Coke Plant. I left the shop at 2:00 under sunny skies and cold (28 degree) temps. The snow that has fallen in the last few weeks has mostly been washed away by recent rain. We are now left with some bare ground in the open areas and some snow in the wooded areas. I rode across the highway and into the woods where I encountered some deep snow, but I mostly was able to ride on the crust. I made my way over to the Mud Road where I found the ice to be very slippery. I slid across the first section of ice and then decided to walk the rest of the way. I got to Five Points where I rode up the Ridge Trail to Luke. I was able to ride for a short way up Luke, but the snow was too tiring and I had to get off and walk a couple of times. A stronger rider would have been able to ride up to the top, but I had to hoof it. After I got to the power lines I rode down the trail to Red Rock. I managed to keep upright as I traveled down the hill to the Mud Road and I took the Mud Road back over to Five Points. From there I rode out behind the Coke Plant to the trails behind Lillian Street. I rode the short way back to Lillian Street and from there I took Bernardston Road back to the shop. It was nice to get out and ride after so many rainy days.

Thursday 12/19: We have not had the best weather this fall and most of November and December's rides have been washed out, but tonight I decided to give it another try. Along for the ride tonight was Joe, Homer, Mark C., Jack, Kip and me. We left the shop at 6:30 and rode the trails behind Stop&Shop to the RT. 2 crossover. Jack had a problem with his bike and dropped back to help him. W After some minor adjustments we headed off to catch up with the rest of the riders. We made it over to the water hole which was frozen over pretty solid. I did not want to take any chances so I got off and walked over the bridge and then hopped back on the bike and started up the hill. I rode most of the way up the hill behind Jack but when we got to the dirt pile Jack stopped in front of me so I got off and walked up to the truck turnaround where the rest of the group was waiting. We decided to go around the Mud Road due to the ice, so we headed over to the swamp. We walked across the bridge over the brook and headed off to Five Points. When we arrived at Five Points Jack said that he was not feeling all that well and he was going to head back to the shop. After Jack left, we rode down the Mud Road to the muddy section where we all had to dismount to get over the ice and fallen logs. After we got going again we rode out to the old Streambed Trail. Everyone wanted to go up that trial while I wanted to do the Red Rock Road which I had ridden yesterday and was mostly snow free. I was outvoted and we headed up the trail. Joe, Kip and Mark rode up part way but I had to dismount several times. Homer did pretty well, but she too had to walk up that trail. When we got to Red Rock we paused for a couple of minutes before climbing the hill to the top where we regrouped again. After we all got to the top of the hill we headed over to Luke. I was able to ride down the hill without too much difficulty, although I had to peddle the whole way down. The group was waiting at the Ridge Trail and when I got there I suggested that we take the swamp trails out. We headed down to the trails and we found them to be in the best condition of all the trails we rode tonight. We were able to ride all the way to the last steep hill leading to the Lillian Street trails. I had to walk up the hill because it was kind of slippery, but once I got to the top I hopped back on and rode off to catch up with the rest of the riders. I rode all the way back to the RT. 2 behind Joe, Kip and Mark, but Homer and I turned off at the short cut and met up with the group as they came down the hill to the mud hole. We all crossed the highway together and then we rode back to the shop. It really was a pretty nice night to be out on the bike, I hope that we will get more of these.

Monday 12/23: I went out for the night ride by myself tonight. It seems that most people were busy with their holiday preparations so no one came by for the ride. It was  nice night with temperatures in the mid thirties and no wind. I did the same loop that we did last Thursday. I managed to ride over to the trails without having to dismount, because most of the snow has melted. I followed the same route up to the Streambed, but I took the Red Rock Road instead. I was stoked that I was able to ride up the entire hill to Red Rock, but just after going over the top of the rock I encountered a sheet of ice and I slid down the hill sideways. It seems that sometime over the last few days some four wheelers have gone up the hill and packed it down. With the recent rain that we got, it made the tracks sheer ice and therefore unrideable. I slipped and slid all the way up to the top of the hill where I was able to cut across the field to the water tank. I rode from there all the way down Luke to the Ridge Trail. I was then able to ride back out through the swamp to the Lillian Street Trails. I still did not make it up the steep hill, but I was able to ride all the way back to the highway without difficulty. After crossing the highway, I rode easily back to the shop.

Sunday 12/28: After the snowstorm of last week, we have not been able to get out on any of our usual rides, but I thought that I would give it a try today and see how it went. I called Mark Coutermanche and he went out this morning to check on the trails. He called me back to say that the snowmobiles had been out on the trails and he thought that we could do a ride, so I drove over to his house and we set out for the trails. It was fairly warm out and I only needed to wear a long sleeve shirt and a wind jacket. Mark and I headed out from his house and rode up Old Northfield Road to the trail head. We were able to ride along for a little way on the snowmobile trail, but we hit some soft snow which quickly bogged us down. We hopped off our bikes and walked a few yards to where the snow firmed up enough to ride on. We rode about a half a mile to the Toilet Bowl Trail which was snow covered and un-ridable, so we continued out to the power lines. When we got to the power lines we decided to take the Banked Trail, because we thought that the trees would keep the snow firmer. We rode along the trail for a good distance but I started to bog down in the soft snow and I had to dismount and walk a short way to the firmer snow. This continued for most of the way out to the end of the Banked Trail. When we got out to the Red Rock Road, the snow was too soft to ride on and we had to walk most of the way to the cement blocks. When we got to the road again we took a right and headed off to the Club Road. We were able to ride this section without any difficulty, in fact, the snow was perfect. We made it out to the BPT and headed back toward Red Rock. The trail was in good condition and we rode up to the fallen tree, where we had to dismount due to the deep snow. The snowmobiles had stopped several yards from the tree and turned around, which left the snow too deep to ride in. After hopping over the log we rode across the brook and then back onto the trail. We followed the Brook Trail out to the 180 degree turn onto the Sandy Trail. We took Sandy Trail out to Plain Road where we took a right and rode back to the power lines. We turned left onto the power line and took the far left side trail and we found it to be in great shape. The snowmobiles had ridden most of the snow off the trail so that we were able to ride it all the way back to Old Northfield Road. It was a great ride for us even though we had to walk a bit. We made it back to Mark's house at 3 o'clock having been out on the trails for two hours. We didn't cover all that much distance, but we had fun and got a great workout!