Despite being out in Minneapolis for two weeks, October riding was again record-setting. For the third straight month I have set combined mileage records for all bikes, this time at 350 miles. Mostly road riding, but now that the weather has turned in November I have tuned-up the Lemond Propad and will work my 21-mile, 5-Hill, 30% dirt circuit ride as a way to stay in descent shape. The "5-Hill" ride never takes me more than 5 miles from home and provides at least 6 or 7 opportunities to get the heart rate above 150 bpm. Being that close to home gives me the confidence to go out in nasty weather - I could bale at any time and get home in a hurry.
The ride is a challenge to get done in less than 1:20. I start up Louse Hill, then down to 74, turnaround and go back up the other side of Louse Hill. That gets the heart started after a 10 minute warm-up. Then a pretty long cruise on pavement down Hogsback. I always head to the Battenkill damn at the Paper Plant and then turn around and go back up Hogsback. Down the dirt cork-screw called Old Schylerville Road, and turn around and go back up. I then head for the Fairgrounds for off-road soft grass riding which gets the heart rate up using different, non-climbing muscles. Three of the 5 hills are on dirt; the last hill is up the river past Booth's farm and then across Hand's flat field -- and head for home.
I was hoping that Art G would lead a ride on the trails around Lake Desolation again this year. Last year we did the ride in late November and it was a killer. We had some real hammerheads pushing the pace the whole time and I was totally exhausted by the time we finished. When I got the email notice, I was relieved to see that "no hammer sh#t this year" in the ride description. I tried to get Donna to go, but she had a hockey game that evening and did not want to waste her legs before hand. The best part was the ride was on my birthday! As I packed up to leave I looked at the temperature and it was 18 degrees! This ride is notorious for its deep, mud infested, ATV-made water holes. No matter how cautious you are, you WILL get wet. So, I packed the SealSkin waterproof socks and headed out the door.
Seven riders showed up at the Stewart's in Middle Grove. We parked at the cemetery to gear up and headed off to run into ATV-powered hunters within the first mile. No problems, but it was a reminder why we did not wear any white clothing. My all-white Epic bike hopefully would not draw any rifle fire. This ride has lots of long climbs with baby-head and larger rocks - also long descents with the same obstacles. The leaves are all down, hiding the dangers below, but allowing you take chances you probably would not ordinarily make.
The first stop after a heart-pounding series of climbs is an old abandoned graphite mine. The office building now only is a skeleton of formed concrete with trees growing out at all angles. Art gave us some of the history of the mine and some local that invented the bomb site for the first A-bomb. This RPI person perished in an off-road accident that his buddy survived but was trapped for 48 hours. We continued negotiating the rocks and mud holes for the next 3 hours. On the way out Art located the mine shaft and
we were able to enter the mouth. The shaft goes flat into the side of a hill for over 1500 feet, but we only were able to get in a few feet before the water inside was too deep.Finally we came back to rest at the cars parked by the cemetery. As the picture indicates "rest for the weary!"
A good start to winter riding season. Today Mount Snow had its earliest opening day ever with top to bottom skiing and riding. Killington will open next week. We have had some snow at higher elevations, but plenty of cold weather for snow making. Maybe the next post will include the first snowboard session of the season.
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