The Pennsylvania Trail Hands will be working at French Creek Park in Elverson, Pa.
Visit the PaTH website for more info
Monthly Archives: June 2008
5 posts
Sometimes it’s quality, not quantity, that can make a ride great. My “BMX friends,” Warren and Chad, are always fun to ride with. Even if we don’t do an all-day 30 mile ride, we still have tons of fun – without the post-ride cramping.
Here are some highlights:
- As we started toward the trails on Spring Mountain a red tail hawk was taking off with a rat in its talons.
- Chad was kind enough to be the boulder-jumpin’ guinea pig as he showed us some new trails and stuff to jump off of.
- Chad was also kind enough to bring a bag of carrots on the ride. Not for us, but for Avie (Avalanche), the goat that lives at the top of Spring Mt.
- I bailed after a rock drop and sent one of my shoes floundering into the woods.
- There’s a decent jump-to-flat at the bottom of the mountain to play on. We battled each other going for the longest distance.
- Even at almost 43 years-old I’m still innovating jump variations. I pulled a perfect one-shoe-er when my foot pulled out of my shoe which was still clipped into my Crank Brothers Mallet C pedal. Extreme.
- Warren went for a big boost over my bike seat and rode a killer nose wheelie to g-turn. His bike should be out of the shop soon.
- Props to Noah and the guys who have been maintaining trails at Spring Mt. Good stuff.
The Pennsylvania Trail Hands will be working in Evansburg Park in Collegeville, Pa.
Visit the PaTH website for more info
My friend Brett, who works for SE Racing, hooked me and some friends up with passes to the Fuji tent – near the top of the Manayunk Wall. Brett sponsored us some bagels, drinks, t-shirts, and access to port-a-potties, a HUGE upgrade from last year’s experience (long story).
We made our traditional stop on Lemon Hill to watch the racers climb, and admire the variety of bikes and bike people.
After watching a few laps along East Reservoir Drive, a completely uninhabited section of the course where we collected the racers’ (free) water bottles, we made our way to the Art Museum and found a vendor giving away water ice – free. We also acquired some samples of Kraft “Begalfulls” which were awesome. And free.
We hung around the finish line area for the final laps then made our way back to the parking lot in Manayunk. This was a fun, steady spin down car-free Kelly Drive. We looked for large, fit people to draft as long as possible. A few years ago we got DROPPED by some long-haired dude on a Sears FreeSpirit in cut-off jean shorts and sandals. We eventually caught him when he stopped at Starbucks. Damn those “DUI fit” guys.
A few more pics from the day…
I finally got to ride my new Fisher HiFi on some decent trails and drew first mud. It was just like going back to grade school after summer vacation. You know, when you get that new pair of Chuck Taylor All Stars and you swear you can run faster.
I was cleaning obstacles on the first try; climbing as if a magnet was at the crest of the hill, drawing me up. I was zipping through singletrack like Luke Skywalker on a speeder bike in the Happy Grove1 on the Forest Moon of Endor.
1Star Wars reference found on Wookieepedia
I only wish I was nerd-enough to know that off of the top of my head.