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The Studs vs. Studdless Plains Ride 12-17-09 |
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Written by Bob Perry
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Saturday, 19 December 2009 |
I will never reveal to my dying day who the less studley riders are so that they will not be the subject of gossip or ridicule by readers of this report. We have not been able to get out on any rides for the last
couple of weeks due to the snow and then the rain, but with the cold temps of
the last few days, the ride was set for Thursday night. With the cold weather I pretty much knew that the rain that had fallen last weekend was
most likely frozen solid on the trails. So with that in mind I equipped my bike
with studded tires inflated to 50 psi. It was a brisk 12
degrees when I left the shop to head over to the Montague Plains in the RRRR.
When I arrived at the Bookmill parking
spot I was greeted by Curt who was getting his bike ready and who also had
studded tires. Mark Newton and Matt Ballard were also getting their bikes ready
and both of them were riding “stud less” 29’ER’s. Curt was struggling to get
his rear wheel into the dropouts so I offered to help. I got the wheel into the
bike and Curt turned the pedals to see if all was working properly. To everyone’s
amazement, when Curt spun the pedal, the wheel turned backwards. A quick look
at the drivetrain revealed that the chain was twisted in a loop and that caused
the reverse. I took the wheel out and straightened the chain and we were good
to go. I led the boys over to the Telephone Pole Trail and began the climb. I
purposely set a very mellow pace on this hill because I wanted to warm up
slowly and not break a sweat. Mark, Matt and Curt rode on several yards ahead
of me and then stopped at the fire pit. The trail was pretty rutted up by four
wheeled vehicles and that made for a somewhat difficult time if you got stuck
in one of the wheel ruts. Curt crashed when he tried to drive out of an icy rut
so I knew that finding smoother trails that hadn’t been driven on would be the key
to our success. When I stopped at the fire pit I noticed that the trail to the
left was pretty heavily rutted but the Telephone Pole Trail was less rutted so
I decided to continue on the Telephone Pole Trail. But before we left the fire
pit area Curt had let some air out of his tires to give him better grip on the
icy trails and he was last in line. I set a pretty reasonable pace down the
trail but before I got too far both Mark and Matt passed me and were soon
nearly out of sight. I kept my pace and with Curt on my wheel we rode down to
the bend in the trail where Mark and Matt were waiting for us. When we caught
up to our two companions they were standing out in the wind and were anxious to
get going as it was really cold. Curt and I stopped to adjust the air pressure
in our tires; Curt needed to put some air in and I needed to let some air out
of my tires. Once Curt and I were ready we all headed out on the power lines
trail. This trail was pretty icy and rutted which was no problem for me and
Curt but Mark and Matt did have some slipping and sliding. We headed over to
the Second First Left which had a bit of snowmobile traffic and we hoped to
take the Snowshoe Trail over to the Banked Trails. But when we got to the turn onto
the trail our lights showed that no one had traveled the trail and it was
impossible to ride so we continued on the trail we were on. As we rode along I
noticed that Mark was having trouble with his hand. I asked if he was OK and he
said that his hands were cold. We rode down the trail and since there were no
other options we ended up on the paved County Road. We rode down that road to Ramblers Road and I
had Mark pull over and stop. Mark’s hands were frozen and I was worried that he
might get frostbite so I gave him my gloves and I put on my spare pair. (I always
carry a spare pair of gloves and socks when we go out in the bitter cold…you
never know when they might be needed!) I then put on my Gavia gloves and we
headed out to the Banked Trails. We rode the Banked Trails, which were in
pretty good condition, over to the power lines which were not. We got down to Plains Road where I
again took the lead and headed the group over to the Water Tank Trail. I stayed
in the lead on the Water Tank Trail for about thirty seconds before Mark and
Matt passed me. At that point Curt and I settled into a nice pace as the other
two riders disappeared into the night. When we caught up to them they were
waiting at the bottom of Willis
Hill Road and poor ole Mark was still having
difficulties with his hands. At this point I took off my Gavia gloves and had
Mark put them on and then the lobster gloves over them. I took out Mark’s
gloves, which were wet, and put them on. I then headed off down the trail with
hopes of taking Big Pine Tree Trail over to Red Rock. When I got to BPT it too
was un-traveled and we were now faced with the climb up Willis Hill. I pretty
much knew that I was not going to ride up that hill due to the steepness so I
pulled aside and let those who wanted to ride up the hill do so. You guessed it….Mark
and Matt headed up the hill and they actually made it most of the way before
they dismounted. Curt and I on the other hand hoofed it up the hill and
re-mounted at the top. We joined Mark and Matt at the descent and we all headed
for the Swamp Trail. Curt and I rode across the large pond at the bottom of the
hill while Matt and Mark went through the swamp. I arrived at the Swamp Trail
first and I stopped to let Mark and Matt pass. After they left Curt and I rode
up the Swamp Trail and met up with the boys at the bottom of Red Rock. We
paused briefly to discuss the route and everyone pretty much agreed that we
should head back to the cars. The shortest route back was to take the power
lines and I warned the boys that it was surely going to be icy before heading
off. Well icy would hardly cover what we encountered once we got to the power
lines. We found that it was mostly an ice pond with large sections of jagged
ice that had refrozen after the four wheelers had busted through the surface
ice. Mark and I had no trouble riding down the trail but both Curt and Matt
crashed at least once each on their way to Old Northfield Road where Mark and I were
waiting. When they arrived we quickly set off on the Telephone Pole Trail to
head back to the parking spot. Mark and Matt sped off down the road ahead of
Curt and myself and were warming their cars as we arrived at the Bookmill. I
ended the ride with just a slight chill on my toes but otherwise I was dressed
perfectly for the conditions. My comfort was also aided by the fact that I was
not sweating at any point during the ride. This is important because if you sweat
and your clothing gets wet you are at much more risk of hyperthermia or
frostbite, something I studiously avoid. I had a great ride and except for Mark’s
hands being cold and a few crashes, I think everyone else had a good ride as
well. Here is a photo that Curt took of the temperature display in his car...brrrrr!!! 
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Last Updated ( Saturday, 19 December 2009 )
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