4

Quote :

"Tsali"

That's over by Lake Fontana, isn't it? I've done some hiking up in that area.

7/8/2007 3:38:45 PM

Yes, the trails offer some good views of the lake... but you'd better stop if you going to look around. The lake is really low right now and I would glance over and see docks sitting on the dry lake bottom. I almost rode off the trail (down the mountain) a few times because I wasn't paying enough attention to the trail. There are some pretty tough sections (mostly because you are riding up a mountain) but the ride down is fast and well worth the climb. My only complaint is that they have a "suggested" direction instead of a mandatory direction. I was going down the mountain at 20mph and passed a few people coming up... luckily they were stopped on the side of the trail because there isn't really any room to avoid a collision.

Where did you hike?

[Edited on July 8, 2007 at 5:07 PM. Reason : .]

7/8/2007 5:06:17 PM

This Sunday. Rain or shine!

They shortened the laps so beginner men’s will have to do 2 laps of 4.75 each.

7/12/2007 12:07:48 PM

5.75 miles total or is each lap 5.75?

What are the prizes?


I placed an order for an '08 Specialized Rockhopper today. It inherited last year's Stumpjumper M4 frame so it should be sweet. woot woot woot

7/12/2007 10:32:17 PM

Yea so I went with the Felt.

7/12/2007 10:35:38 PM

sweet, i looked at those too. Seem to be nice bikes.

7/12/2007 11:13:05 PM

Yeah I like everything on it, but want to upgrade the fork to a Reba or SID - the no damper on the Dart isnt all that great

7/12/2007 11:16:52 PM

is yours a Dart 2 or 3?

The rockhopper comes w/ a Dart 3 w/ adjustable rebound damping. idunno how good it is.

I have a Reba SL now actually and its awesome. except i cut the steerer tube for my last bike and its now too short for this one. gah

7/12/2007 11:49:42 PM

Its a Dart 2, about as basic and heavy as you can get. Whats your Reba SL cut at?

7/13/2007 7:51:05 AM

i can't find a damn ruler, but its just about exactly a DVD case tallwise long.

It is light as hell. It literally feels like half of the fork i replaced it with for selling my current bike.

7/13/2007 8:56:07 AM

Quote :

"5.75 miles total or is each lap 5.75?"

that's each lap. they've shortened it to ~4.75 this year, though. here are the lap times for last year's beginner men’s 19-29 when it was 5.75 miles: Fastest: 30:45 Average: 35:45 Slowest: 42:15

there are always people that are hauling ass and people much slower. it’s a really laid back race, so the slower people will make way for the faster ones. people are out there to have a good time and to push themselves a little bit.

Quote :

"What are the prizes?"

i think for first place in beginner class they have a helmet, a nice camelback and some other fine prizes. they're going to try and have prizes for the first 5 places in every class.

7/13/2007 8:57:00 AM

I bought clipless pedals yesterday, as well as shoes. Man it takes some getting used to, tipped over a few times. You can definately tell the difference when you can both push and pull.

7/13/2007 10:29:40 AM

headed out to Crabtree tomorrow if it's not raining....get to test out my new brakes and pedals

7/13/2007 4:36:54 PM

I just got back from Legend Park in Clayton and it was great. 8.5 miles of trail including "Hucksville" where there are some big drops. I'm not at that level yet, but I'd love to see someone do it. There was also a nice skills section at the parking lot. 10 x better than Crabtree.

7/15/2007 1:55:20 PM

I don't know much about bikes, but my g/f and I are looking at purchasing a couple hybrid bikes up in the DC area. We rode the 2007 GT Nomad LTD around today and it was really nice. We'll do most of our biking on the road/sidewalk and every now and then maybe go on an easy trail. Any suggestions? is this a good bike for around our $500 price range?

Here's the link - http://www.performancebike.com/shop/Profile.cfm?SKU=24114&item=30-9599&slitrk=search&slisearch=true

7/15/2007 8:53:03 PM

^go to as many local shops as you can and ride, ride, ride.



i got my new rockhopper today! woot. i took 'er around the neighborhood a few times and got everything all tweaked and adjusted and i'm about to hit up crabtree.

i feel as light and free as a bird compared to my old heavy as crap, too small, iron horse FS

7/17/2007 3:38:03 PM

^ This guy, myself, and another wolfwebber + some guys we work with are going to meet at Harris at 10am on Sunday. The other wolfwebber and I are going to do 60 on the road bike tomorrow so we'll probably be looking to keep the pace down to a fun level on Sunday. If you haven't been to Harris yet, you definitely need to come check it out. IMNSHO, it's a ton more fun than Crabtree with some skinny 'creek' crossings, some whoops de whoops, a few very small jumps (and one 3 footer if you roll like that), and a neat little area I like to call the "terrain park" that has a lot of different ways you can ride the area and 2 pretty knarly drops (whoops?).

The weather is going to be unusually pleasant for July, so don't be a lazy ass. We can show you around if you want.

7/20/2007 9:06:20 PM

btw, the rockhopper rules. well i guess any bike that fits and feels good rules.

i did however just sort of realize that the components on the bike are now of lower level than my old '05 rockhopper which had standard Deore stuff. I guess they skimped on the components w/ the new better frame and fork.

i did some more crabtree today and conquered every obstacle there except the zigzaggy skinny where i ate it twice. that rock garden is pretty easy now that i see the clear path down it.

Chance, three more guys are coming w/ me. We'll get to be those cool guys who travel in herds through the trails.

7/20/2007 11:29:20 PM

I am selling my 02 Fuel full suspension if anyone is interested. I live in Greenville SC, but I could get it back to Cary in a week or so...
http://greenville.craigslist.org/bik/353988815.html


[Edited on July 21, 2007 at 8:42 AM. Reason : pic]

7/21/2007 8:41:34 AM

^^ Dunno if Joe and I make it out today, the 60 we did was worse than I was expecting. I actually think I would have been fine but I stopped for 20 seconds with 10 miles to go to fix my computer sensor thinking I get get back onto the back, and I was dead wrong. Ended up riding for 20 minutes trying to give chase and went from feeling tired but not too bad to cracked. Near the end of the ride I got to within 1/4 mile of Joe after he must have come off the back of the pack after a short climb. And I think he is going out downtown tonight. But I'm gonna get up in time and make a decision in the morning about how my legs feel.

7/21/2007 6:52:06 PM

just a heads up if anyone is interested in racing, there's a 6 hour race coming up at at the International Horse Park in Conyers, GA. This is where the mtb Olympic events were held back in 1996, except the 6 hour race will only cover the easier half of the trail. I did a 12 hour race put on by the same people back in may, and have only ridden a handful of times since then, so i'm not in shape to do this race.

full details here http://www.active.com/event_detail.cfm?event_id=1466511

7/21/2007 7:48:19 PM

i'm rolling out. i got home from downtown at 3am last night

since you guys probably wont come, i'm gonna bring my dog

7/22/2007 9:25:43 AM

So I went to Umstead today for the first time. Wow. That kicked my butt but it was fun. Next time I am totally bringing water.

7/28/2007 12:08:18 PM

anyone know the condition of crabtree?

7/28/2007 12:24:03 PM

Riding 13 miles (Umstead big loop) w/o water in this heat is insane, dude.

^ shows its open: http://www.trianglemtb.com/


Here's my spiffy new '08 Rockhopper plus all crap i've accumulated w/ upgrade-itus over the past few years. I also just upgraded the crappy Acera/Alivio shifters/RD (downgraded for '08, wtf) with some SRAM X9 stuff i found a great deal on. Theyre real nice.

7/28/2007 1:10:05 PM

In winston-salem earlier i thought i would ride my brothers bike down a steep hill that we go 4 wheeling on and i about went over the handlebars.

[Edited on July 28, 2007 at 1:22 PM. Reason : .]

7/28/2007 1:17:03 PM

here was the progression of the ride i did with dannydigtl last weekend at Harris

7/28/2007 2:09:18 PM

What was the stock fork on the '08 rockhopper?

7/28/2007 2:19:13 PM

^^ No pain, no gain.

7/28/2007 3:57:02 PM

^^nope, it came w/ a Rockshox Dart3. not too bad really, better than the Judys that went on the earlier rockhoppers. adjustable rebound and magnesium lowers so it isnt super heavy. coil spring. its going on my gf's bike when i get a new spring for it. She has a GF Wahoo w/ a Judy J1 which is basically a glorified pogo stick. doesnt even have any oil or damping!

Thats an '05 Reba SL. 115mm, air spring, adj rebound and compression, lock out, gate, 32mm stanchions, pretty darn light. Everything i need to win the Cary Greenway races and rides like a caddy.


Me and some folks are gonna ride Crabtree tomorrow at 1pm if its open if anyone wants to join.

7/28/2007 4:57:36 PM

ah, yeah i wish i had enough money for a reba, the dart 2 thats on my felt is okay but not great

i literally work directly across the street from old reedy creek on Weston, so i ride over there after work 3-4 times a week if anyone is up for it

was headed over there yesterday when the rain came down

7/28/2007 5:46:23 PM

We (dan, agentlion, and I) work down Weston from you.

7/28/2007 10:04:08 PM

just did a 20mile loop from my house, down the green way, big umstead loop, and back home.

i'm about to die. *caughs up lung*

7/31/2007 7:56:02 PM

When you going to ride again? I think I may do a store road ride tomorrow, and perhaps a mountain ride on Thursday. But its farkin hot out there. Road rides aren't bad because the air is constant, but mountain biking can be stifling.

Any interest in hitting the trails Thursday morning before work before the heat hits? Maybe from like 7-8:15 or so? We could leave from the office, etc?

7/31/2007 9:28:09 PM

we were out at crabtree again after work today, and supposed to be hitting it again tomorrow after work

7/31/2007 9:33:40 PM

Well me and two other guys are trying to make a schedule and make each other ride Umstead every tue and thur at 6. Then do a fun/trail ride on the weekend. Kinda boring i guess, but i gotta get that endurance base up. Anyone can come if they want.

So w/ that, i dunno when i'd fit in more riding after work. But i'm sure once in awhile we'll change it up and ride crabtree or something during the week. Or i guess i can do an additional day.

As for Thursday morning.. eh.. i probably wouldnt make it

7/31/2007 9:40:42 PM

Yea, Joe and I are gonna ride mountain tomorrow, assuming the lab doesn't swallow him whole in the evening.

7/31/2007 9:58:01 PM

good ride today at Crabtree...

my buddy was telling me about a place in Carrboro with some singletrack and a bunch of raised bridges and obstacles and shit like that. Anybody ever been out there?

8/1/2007 4:08:33 PM

my chain broke on the way to crabtree. yea that was me with my bike turned over in the middle of old reedy creek

8/2/2007 1:43:48 AM

I love legend. I am moving in a few days, so I probably won't go out there again. I did an ~18ft hill with just a hint of vert yesterday(that photo is from the top). It's little more than a roll-in, but still kind of fucking scary. Oh, and I finally got down the rocky side of the 'ravine'. I swear, one day, I am going to go up it. I also found a video of the skill section and 'hucksville' (no rick roll):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzA82YWqZFU

8/2/2007 9:03:13 AM

^ive done that drop before. it is pretty damn scary

8/2/2007 11:33:57 AM

rode out in Carrboro yesterday. Holy Shit. there were some CRAZY built obstacles out there. like 7 feet off the ground wooden bridges that led to huge jumps that dropped off some 15 feet or more. ridiculous.

Other than that, there were some really good single tracks and drop-ins. Had a really good time, but I would have never been able to find that place without the help of my friend who is from Chapel Hill.

8/3/2007 11:46:55 AM

^

Quote :

"anyone know if the chapel hill trails, aka bolin creek or estes trails are still there? I moved away from NC a couple of years ago, but these were some of the best trails in the area."

i see these are still around.

8/3/2007 10:22:04 PM

Going to BeaverDam in about 30 minutes.

8/4/2007 7:26:04 AM

This heat sucks. I couldn't have gotten any wetter had I jumped into a pool after my ride. One of the guys we rode with could squash sweat out of his shoes at the end of the ride. I drank 128 oz of water over a 2 hr ride and my piss was still dark yellow.

8/5/2007 1:52:36 PM

yeah, f this heat. I just did a quick 5 miles along the Black Creek Greenway here in Cary and I'm soaked. I though about stopping by the pool and jumping in to cool down, but I didn't want to get chlorine on my bike shorts. I need to run by the bike shop and get a chain cleaning kit so I can really clean my bike, but I stink too badly to go out in public.

8/5/2007 2:01:15 PM

i've given up on cycling until the weather gets a little more tolerable. getting the heat chills during a ride is scary.

8/5/2007 5:57:19 PM

Where are you riding and how hard that you get heat chills? It was really warm yesterday even as we finished around noon, but I've ridden when it was much hotter and felt much worse. Just drink tons of liquid.

8/5/2007 8:19:04 PM

did a ride up in the mountains this morning that kicked my ass.
http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/3565655
map view - http://tinyurl.com/yweytp

it started with 4 miles straight up on highway 181 between Morganton and Linville, going from 1650 to 2900ft. That was all on the highway so at least the road was smooth, but i was sucking wind hard. Then we dropped into the single track headed back down the mountain and went down for 1.5 miles, back down to 2000ft. Then there was 4 miles of moderate climbing. But then we descended 1300ft in 1 mile on the gnarliest downhill single track I've ever seen. It was nuts - i was off and on the bike several times and managed not to crash, but anybody going down this mountain with any kind of speed is crazy. i wish i could find pictures of it somewhere.....
after that there was a reprieve of riding beside a river for a few miles, before climbing back out of the valley to the cars.

8/5/2007 11:17:32 PM

^^area trails near Atlanta. in these temperatures, i go through a full 70oz camelback during a 12mile ride. fighting the heat and humidity just isn't fun to me.

8/6/2007 11:10:48 PM