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| Ride to live, live to ride.. |
My wife always tells me that I back up 5 miles to tell a one-mile story. As you move along you will probably understand this a little more, but as in Mountain Biking, it is never about the destination. The journey and those that you meet along the way are what it is all about. I hope you enjoy the journey as seen by my eyes.
As I shared before, I was about 3 1/2 when I got my first bicycle and started to ride. It was in modern terms a single speed fixie, which means there was no coaster. If you wanted to slow down, you either pedaled slower or locked your legs up to break into a skid. By 4 1/2, I was able to venture to the bottom of my Street and turn right until the end of the block and turn back around. This was quite a routine until this young boy (about the same age as me) appeared with a very similar bike, only his bike was in much worse shape. We will call him Tom Petty, as he had long blonde hair, and a very similar dental structure as the late Tom Petty. Seriously, he looks like Tom Petty! The handlebars on his bike were completely broken off, it just had the little piece of a 90 degree bar that the handlebars had previously welded to, only turned around like a handle, this is how he rode. Like a Cowboy on a bull, he rode one-handed, and rode with total reckless abandoned. On his side he had much more of a block than I did, but this is where the friendship began. We would start at the furthest point of our boundaries and drag race until I got to the next block. He had more to go so he would always go the end of his block, turn around and come back, and do it over until one of us were called to his mother. At one point we would yell across the street, "hey come over here", and both of our responses were, "I am not allowed to cross the street!" I don't think I ever won any of those drag races, as I always was mesmerized by the fact that he could ride that thing with holding on to so little, meanwhile babbling off in 4 1/2-year-old tongue. He was literally saying something to me the whole way down “Hee Hay Hee Hah, Hee Hay Hee Hah!!! “, and usually laughing too.
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| The essence of "cool" back in the day; the Schwin Stringray! |
It was several years later “Tom Petty” and I met back up, now about 10 years old, coincidentally, it was the same summer both of us got our very first Schwinn Stingrays, with the infamous “Banana Seat”. This began a brotherhood that lasted the summer long, if it was not raining the two of us were riding from early am ‘til supper time. “Tom Petty” was a very high-strung young man. I would hear him in the morning as jumped his bicycle off his porch. He would yell out "Tommy Baby", pronounced TAAAWW-MEEE-BAHH-
Bike riding has bonded us together and has given us a friendship that spanned nearly 5 decades. We still to this day talk about those bikes and the ones we have now. We discuss our next project and the rides we will take. Oh, yes, moving on to the “rest of the story” … sorry about that while I reminisce.
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| Sprague Brook Park Bike Trail |
This past Monday I finally got to Sprague Brook Park, in Colden NY, for the first time this year. In proximity to my home, it is my favorite place to ride, as it has many options. From the main parking lot, you can ride the Main Loop, which can range from 6-8 miles depending on which way you want to go. You finish up around 6 miles, and then add on accordingly depending on how much daylight is left or how much energy you have left in the tank. In the past, I have ridden a down and back, which can amount to 10-12 miles depending on the starting point. There are many different combinations given the time you have, and again how much you feel like doing, but it is nice to have options. Sprague Brook can accommodate many skill levels too, making it is very rider friendly. I would call it beginner, and even wife friendly too. Today, I opted to do my favorite loop, which was a loop once used for their Wednesday Night racing series and is somewhere around 3,5 miles with varied terrain. It has some fun long climbs mixed with some nice, cool, flowy downhills and towards the end has one of my favorite pin it (wide opened) to the bottom downhills that you can reach 30 mph if you manage to miss all the trees along the way. I had my dog with me this time, so when I do this I will walk about a 2-mile loop first to observe the trail. It allows me to look for different lines that I can’t as I am speeding by. It also a good way to observe the beautiful forest and take some pictures along the way. Me and my pup, Maddy, took the usual path, everything looked the same, the mud was at a minimum for this time of the year, which is a good thing. I must admit, it has been a while since this I walked this loop, so it was good to see it was in good shape. As we progressed on our journey, things were not quite the same, but I pushed on to try to get my bearings. Not lost, feeling as though I missed a turn along the way, I pushed on for a bit, realizing I was not on the loop I wanted, and we turned around. As we started back I heard some bikes coming our way and thought this would be a great photo opportunity. As they got closer I could see that this would indeed be a great photo, as it was a father with his young son (Matt and his son Gavin) cruising along the trail. Too cool!!! As they approached I slowed them up and asked if I could get a pic, which they were totally opened too. We chatted briefly as I did not want to interrupt this awesome Father and son time. Matt shared with me that his son Gavin had some brand-new tires and was going to miss one opportunity to try them out on the next patch of mud. You could see the excitement in Matt's eyes as he shared with me that as a young boy, he was on his bike all the time. Hmm, now where have we heard that before??? LOL. Now Matt and his son are sharing the experience together that could last a lifetime. So cool!!!
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| My favorite trail to ride. |
Maddy (my Mini Aussie Pom mix) and I made our way back to the truck, she had a little bonus, as my detour got her some extra time in the woods. The rest of the loop looked dry for April until we got to the high-speed downhill. Pretty much the entire length of it had wet slippery stuff, especially the spot where you could be going close to 30 mph.
We kicked up a nice doe along the way, but now it was time for me.
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| My Fat Bike |
Today my weapon of choice was my Fat Bike. I like the Fat Bike all the time, but especially in the Spring, as the larger wider tires, tend to be less evasive on the terrain. If you do happen to get in the softer stuff, you can usually ease your way through as the big tires tend to not spin so much. I have an assortment of bikes because it always good to have the right bike for the terrain. My Fat Bike is fairly custom. It is a Framed Minnesota, which is a really inexpensive Fat Bike, but mine is like no other. It is converted to a 1X9, which refers to no front derailleur, and a slightly larger front cog than the stock small one, and a rear 9 speed cassettes that has a much larger low gear to give a wider range for steeps. I updated the rims also, that is much narrower than stock to give a narrower print which is a little more versatile for snow, mud and hard packed, along with light weight inner tubes to reduce rotating.. weight. I updated the bars with some Renthal Gold Fat Bars, for a Fat Bike, LOL. The brakes are updated to Shimano Hydraulic, and a much shorter Race Face stem to make the rider position more upright. I find that this also helps to keep weight on the rear tire in tricky, technical situations.
As I began, the first climb was as I remembered. Not too long, but enough to remind me of what was to come. You get a quick break and then a fun little downhill semi switchback and you begin to climb again. And climb. And climb. Not severe but steady. You get a short break, and then a quick little steep and now I know why I missed my turn on foot. When you get to the top of the climb, you can turn right, or turn left and get a break on some flowy semi flat switchbacks. Today, on the bike, I am looking forward to a break. Easy to just keep going up on foot, not so much on the bike. The trail is very narrow, with a narrow path of trees on either side. You have enough room for your bars to get through on either side and get airborne and jump over some roots if you decide, which brings to a tree that gives you just enough room on either side with your bars to fit through (for a visual, this tree is a V, and there is enough room to ride through). You are climbing already and need to give an extra shot of leg boost to negotiate up through and a quick left. The trail flattens out a bit and leads to a squirrely downhill with mud, wet, and rocks at the bottom, which has a very narrow escape way, followed by a not so bad climb, into a semi-flat traverse, which leads to a very fun downhill. Today it is just way to wet to hit it with any speed, but still fun to blast over rocks and roots, and try to keep momentum through challenging terrain. On to a creek crossing and long uphill with a fun downhill with a switchback and down to a flat, followed by a short steep off camber with a little twist. On a good day I can make this lap in around 18 minutes. Today, not so much, my legs are still in Ski Mode, and my lungs are in hibernation. Fun ride and hike, can’t wait to get back again and workout those legs and lungs, and maybe even pin it down the downhill fun!!!
Get out and ride!!!
Tom
