Thursday, July 29, 2010

RECAP: Jim's Epic Journey!

Jim Hartman took it to the next level last night. He took us out on the trails virtually right out his front door. They were nothing short of awesome! The weather was perfect, the crew was great & other than forgetting to unlock my front fork, I couldn't have asked for a better ride.

Here's the recap:

Thanks a ton, Jim! You rule!

-Scott

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

MOUNTAIN BIKE GROUP RIDE: July 28th 2010

All right! This Wednesday, July 28th, we'll be heading out to Jim Hartman's house in Westfield to ride some of his trails. They are a great combination of everything...climbs, descents, fast single track & technical rocky sections.

We are going to be meeting at Jim's house around 5:30PM and rolling into the woods at 6PM on the dot.

Here is where we are going to meet:
38 Deer Path Ln. Westfield, MA

It's going to be awesome!!! See you all there!

-Scott

RIDE RECAP: July 26th 2010

Well, it was the first Monday night in a while that wasn't blazin' hot with the chance of severe thunderstorms. THANK GOD! The temperature was perfect and with the exception of the ridiculous winds, you couldn't have asked for a better night to ride.

We pedaled down into Enfield and over the 190 bridge as one group. After we crossed the bridge, we split into the 2 groups. Steve W. took out the B GROUP and I took out the A GROUP.  We went our separate ways and like it was fate, we ended up back at the bridge at the same time.  We then pedaled the rest of the way home as one group. It was perfect!

The B GROUP ended up with 39 miles with about a 17.5 mph average.  Great riding guys!  As for the A GROUP, here's the recap:

Awesome riding from both groups! Thanks to everyone that came out and we'll see you all next week!

-Scott

Monday, July 26, 2010

GROUP RIDE: Monday July 26th 2010

Good Morning Everyone!

Not only are we going to have some amazing weather tonight for the ride, but we are going to be venturing into some uncharted territory and crossing the Connecticutt River!  The bike/walking path is finally finished on the 190 bridge, which means that we can cross the river safely!

Both groups are going to be leaving the shop together, promptly at 5:30.  We will ride as one big group to the bridge and split up after we cross the river.  There is a good chance that both groups will meet up again at the bridge on the way home.  If we do meet up, we will ride as one group from the bridge back to the shop.  Get psyched, because this is going to be a super fun ride!

Here are the routes:

A GROUP
• 43.5 mile loop
• 19-21 mph average


B GROUP
• 37 mile loop
• 17-18 mph average


See everyone at the shop!

-Scott

Thursday, July 22, 2010

RIDE RECAP: July 21st 2010 - SHENIPSIT

Hat's off to Jeff Landry for taking us out to his local trails at Shenipsit for a pretty epic ride! Thanks, Jeff!

The trails were (to quote Jeff) "climby" and "boney". Or in other words, super technical. Despite being a little wet and slippery, the trails were in great shape with tons of different little lines and climbs over the rocks and roots. It was great to get out to a different spot to ride that offered a completely different type of riding.

Here's the recap:


We ended the ride with a quick little sprint up to the top of the Soapstone access road and climbed up the fire tower for a view that was nothing short of breathtaking.

Here are a couple pics from the top of the firetower:

Thanks again to everyone that made it out for the ride! And a super thanks to Jeff for leading us out.

-Scott

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

THIS WEEKS MOUNTAIN BIKE RIDE!!!

Hi everyone!

The polls are closed and it looks like Shenipsit State Forest is the winner!

So, this Wednesday, July 21st, we are going to be heading out to Shenipsit to ride some different terrain. Compared to Robinson, Shenipsit is much rockier and way more technical.

We are going to be meeting at the parking lot at the entrance to the park around 5:30PM and rolling into the woods at 6PM on the dot.

Here is where we are going to meet:
370 Gulf Road, Somers, CT

It's going to be a blast, so hopefully we'll see you all there!

-Scott

RIDE RECAP: July 19th 2010

Good Morning Everyone!

We had a great ride last night. The heat and the chance of thunderstorms must have scared off some of you, because we only ended up having enough for one group. Either way, it was awesome!

We did an abridged version of the B GROUP route adding a couple hills and bringing the pace up a little.

Here's the recap:


Thanks again to everyone that showed up & we'll see you all next week.

-Scott

Sunday, July 18, 2010

GROUP RIDE: Monday July 19th 2010

I hope you all had a great weekend!  I'm really excited for week's rides!

We had a couple really great groups go out last week, so I'm hoping that this week will be the same.  The weather looks really good, minus a small amount of scattered thunderstorms(I doubt we'll see any of that).  Here's the weather:

WEATHER • Monday, July 19th 2010

This week's A GROUP route is coming to us courtesy of Steve Wallbridge!  It's a 50 mile loop out to Belchertown, looping through wilbraham and Hampden and finally coming back to the shop.  We should have no problem making it back to the shop before the sun goes down(8:22PM).  But, that means that the A GROUP pace is going to have to be quick.

As for the B GROUP, this is going to be a little bit more challenging of a ride than we have done in the past.  There are going to be a couple short steep climbs, a couple longer slow climbs and some fun and fast rolling hills. But, the bottom line is that the ride is going to be FUN!  

HERE ARE THE ROUTES:

A GROUP
• 50.2 mile loop
• 20-22 mph average


B GROUP
• 34.3 mile loop
• 17-18 mph average


SEE EVERYONE AT THE SHOP!

Thursday, July 15, 2010

RIDE RECAP: Robinson - July 14th 2010

Well...i'm just going to get right into it!  It was wet, muddy, and AWESOME!!  We had a couple test Stumpjumpers, so Steve Wallbridge and Dan Walker hopped on those.  Dan rode great! After taking his freshman beatdown last week, he came out and slayed the trails.  And then there was Steve...


This was Steve's first ride on a mountain bike and his first ride in the woods.  Now, we all know that Steve is an animal on the road. Well...he is definitely an animal in the woods.  That rang true when he ripped both chainrings in half and completely off the bike!


We managed to push and tow Steve out of the woods, smiling the whole time.  Either way, it was a blast!  Thanks to everyone who came out & we can't wait till next week!

Oh yeah...here's the recap:


We're also going to be heading to a different spot to pedal in the woods starting next week. Stay tuned to the blog for the details!

-Scott

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

RIDE RECAP: July 12th 2010

AWESOME NIGHT! AWESOME RIDES!

I'm going to start with the B GROUP. Led out by Steve Wallbridge (thanks, Steve!) the group ended up with a little more than 35 miles with a 17.5mph average. I think that Tommy A. said it best in his email...

"once again on the B ride the ladies put the screws to the boys. Great to see. Great ride great course led by Steve W....seriously, great ride and I hope we can do that again. Season is still young as the best rides are in the fall."
-Tom

As for the A GROUP, I couldn't have asked for a better crew to ride with. We all looked out for each other in the head winds and on the hills. Fast climbs and faster descents! Great job, guys!

Here's the A GROUP recap:


Thanks again to everyone that came out and we'll see you all next week!

Monday, July 12, 2010

GROUP RIDE: Monday July 12th 2010

I hope everyone had a good week off. But now we're back on the regular schedule. We've got a couple really great rides planned. The sun isn't going to set until 8:30, so we are going to take advantage and head out for a nice long ride.

HERE ARE THE ROUTES:
A GROUP
• 41.5 mile loop
• 18-20 mph average (decided by group)
• very hilly

B GROUP
• 35 mile loop
• 16-18 mph average (decided by the group)

As usual, we're going to leave the shop promptly at 5:30.  So, please be there are ready to ride out for that time.  We will split the groups at the shop, letting the A GROUP pedal out first and the B GROUP shortly after.

SEE YOU AT THE SHOP!

Thursday, July 8, 2010

VOTE NOW!

All right...we're looking to see where else we should go to ride our mountain bikes.  Check out the poll on the right & VOTE NOW!!!  Which ever place comes out on top is where we will head next!

RIDE RECAP: July 7th 2010 - ROBINSON!

Hot, hot & hot!  And in case you hadn't heard...yesterday was HOT!  But despite the heat and humidity, we went into Robinson like a bat out of hell(excuse the Meatloaf reference)!  We had an awesome group with a good mix of 29ers, the old school 26ers and some cross bikes.  But, the hero of the night was Dan Walker!  This was his first time up to Robinson, first time on his cross bike and really his first time in the woods at all...HE KILLED IT!  He took his fair share of bumps and bruises, but I've never seen anyone with as much determination as he had last night.  Look out everyone! A couple more times in the woods and Dan is going to make us look like a bunch of clowns.  Nice job, Dan & great seeing everyone else out there. See you all next week.

And here's the ride recap:

Sunday, July 4, 2010

HAPPY 4th of JULY!

However you decide to celebrate, we hope that you have a happy and safe holiday weekend.  And, in keeping with the theme of the 4th, we are celebrating our freedom and taking Monday off.  We'll get everyone back together next Monday.  Stay tuned to the blog for next week's routes.  See you all soon.

-Scott

Saturday, July 3, 2010

IT'S TOUR TIME!


So it's time for the the Tour de France once again! I'm sure that everyone already knows, but just in case, here is where your up to date info on the tour is:

VERSUS.COM and LETOUR.FR

And, here's the television schedule on Versus:


Enjoy the race! And see you out on the road!