# Nassahegan RAW - 10/8/08



## Greg (Oct 8, 2008)

Man, I don't know what it was but I had an awesome ride this afternoon. Perfect weather - cool and clear, trails in perfect shape; a bit leafy but nothing that impacted travel, I felt strong, and I had a bike that was shifting beautifully. Everything was clicking.

Met up with migs 01, o3jeff, MR. evil and Grassi21. Sorry I rolled in right at 4:30 vs. being ready to ride at 4:30. Taking 6 West to 69 north is a sucky way to go IMO. I'll stick with 118 to 4 and south on 69. Anyway, I tried to get ready quickly and we headed out.

Rode the swamp twisties and found the stunts in there - an A frame, a small ladder ramp drop thing, and a flat ladder drop. I skipped the last one. The boulders on either side were messing with my head. Saving it for another day. After some brief sessioning there, we were off to hit the rest of the route.

Finished the rest of the swamp warm-up, crossed Scoville to the mudhole which rode beautifully, crossed E. Chippens, down B street to the logging area, back up to the blue, and straight back to the lot. Jeff and I pressed on after saying bye to the others and hit the cemetery twisties to the fire road and back. Less leaves on the trees really makes it easier to push fading daylight. 6.49 miles. *Crankfire trail record*.

I gotta say that Grassi21 really kept up really well. Really cool of migs 01 to hang back a bit and ride his rear most of the ride. I think it kept Chris moving and challenging himself. He looked pretty shot at a few points, but I think he liked the ride. In typical Grasssi fashion, he didn't need/want long breaks. Anyway, nice job pushing yourself! That was a moderately quick pace. Our overall was 4.4 MPH. Moving average was probably well over 6 MPH. More mileage than I expected. Awesome ride.


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## bvibert (Oct 8, 2008)

Glad you guys had a good ride, the weather was certainly nice enough.



Greg said:


> Taking 6 West to 69 north is a sucky way to go IMO. I'll stick with 118 to 4 and south on 69. Anyway, I tried to get ready quickly and we headed out.



I told you not to take 6 all the way to 69, that way _does_ suck, and takes way longer.  You gotta turn off of 6 in Terryville, like I said in an earlier post.  Geesh, some people never listen... :roll:  Go ahead, keep wasting time going on your silly 118 to 4 to 69 route...


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## o3jeff (Oct 8, 2008)

I knew if I waited long enough someone would get a TR up:lol:

Was perfect weather for riding and thanks to Greg and Tim(migs and grassi too?) for yelling back to me to finally ride through the B street rock without stopping, and that other rocky drop(the one after where Red took his spill). I also impressed myself and made it all the way through that muddy area and over the rock wall right before you get to E Chippens on the way back.

Good riding with all you again and I think the final cemetery twisties wore me out.


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## Greg (Oct 8, 2008)

bvibert said:


> I told you not to take 6 all the way to 69, that way _does_ suck, and takes way longer.  You gotta turn off of 6 in Terryville, like I said in an earlier post.  Geesh, some people never listen... :roll:  Go ahead, keep wasting time going on your silly 118 to 4 to 69 route...



Actually I took 6 to Hill street to JP Casey to Peacedale to 69. Still uber sucky. Sorry.


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## Greg (Oct 8, 2008)

o3jeff said:


> Was perfect weather for riding and thanks to Greg and Tim(migs and grassi too?) for yelling back to me to finally ride through the B street rock without stopping, and that other rocky drop(the one after where Red took his spill). I also impressed myself and made it all the way through that muddy area and over the rock wall right before you get to E Chippens on the way back.



Yes, yes. Props indeed for overcoming those silly mental blocks. Now we won't need to keep waiting up for you... :razz:


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## MR. evil (Oct 8, 2008)

My legs are really killing me from the ride. The involentary single speed due to my rear der. issues really did a number on me. Got to give credit to Greg for hitting that ladder drop / jump after the A frame. I am still PO'd at myself for wussing out on that thing. I guess I will be building something similar in the back yard to practice on.

I am going to drop the bike off at the LBS tommorrow to have the sifting issues looked at.


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## o3jeff (Oct 8, 2008)

Almost forgot, great job grassi for pushing yourself tonight, your riding has really come a long way in the past month and also great job on riding the A-frame without hesitation.


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## Greg (Oct 8, 2008)

MR. evil said:


> My legs are really killing me from the ride. The involentary single speed due to my rear der. issues really did a number on me. Got to give credit to Greg for hitting that ladder drop / jump after the A frame. I am still PO'd at myself for wussing out on that thing. I guess I will be building something similar in the back yard to practice on.
> 
> I am going to drop the bike off at the LBS tommorrow to have the sifting issues looked at.



Thanks and I knew you would be pissed at yourself. You were carrying plenty of speed the 2 or 3 times you braked into that ladder. I can't wait to sack up for the 3rd one. Those are going to be three fun ladders to tie together, migs makes it look smoooooooth.

I was feeling for you and that rear der. Sounded like the chain gang was following me each time you tried to shift.... :lol:


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## bvibert (Oct 8, 2008)

Greg said:


> Actually I took 6 to Hill street to JP Casey to Peacedale to 69. Still uber sucky. Sorry.



Going all the way to Hill st would have worked ok, except you made one crucial mistake, turning onto JP Casey.  Had you stayed on Hill that would have turned into W Chippens Hill rd, which then would have turned into Scoville...

An even better route is 6 to N Main to E Plymouth to Mathews to Minor to JP Casey to Hill to etc etc..

But you've already made up your mind and that's cool, whatever...


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## MR. evil (Oct 8, 2008)

Greg said:


> Thanks and I knew you would be pissed at yourself. You were carrying plenty of speed the 2 or 3 times you braked into that ladder. I can't wait to sack up for the 3rd one. Those are going to be three fun ladders to tie together, migs makes it look smoooooooth.
> 
> I was feeling for you and that rear der. Sounded like the chain gang was following me each time you tried to shift.... :lol:



What freaked me out about the drop is how is a sloped up like a jump. I got it into my head that is was going to throw me upwards even though I knew it wouldn't. Had it been flat It would not have been an issue onlt being about 24". The 2nd drop looks very do-able, but the rocks near the landing area looked sketchy. I WILL hit all 3 of those stunts in a row before the end of the seaon. Tommorrow I am going to re-arrange the ladders in the backyard to something similar to that first drop.


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## Greg (Oct 8, 2008)

bvibert said:


> Going all the way to Hill st would have worked ok, except you made one crucial mistake, turning onto JP Casey.  Had you stayed on Hill that would have turned into W Chippens Hill rd, which then would have turned into Scoville...
> 
> An even better route is 6 to N Main to E Plymouth to Mathews to Minor to JP Casey to Hill to etc etc..
> 
> But you've already made up your mind and that's cool, whatever...



I rode today. Did you?


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## bvibert (Oct 8, 2008)

Greg said:


> I rode today. Did you?



No, I rode yesterday, did you?  Oh yeah I rode farther and faster too... :roll:


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## Grassi21 (Oct 8, 2008)

Thanks for the kind words guys.  My legs are cooked right now.  On a couple of those breaks I really had to catch my wind.  migs, thanks for the peer pressure.  It certainly did make me pick up my pace.  

I don't know the names of the areas like you guys do, but there were a couple of fast downhill sections were I was flying.  Jeff, it was that section were we talked about the little rock hits that we flew over.  To me that felt like mountain biking.  Very fun.  That A frame was cake.  I should have tried it a few more times but didn't want to press my luck.  

Now if I could only get on my bike more than once a week I would be in sick shape for ski season.  I have definitely caught the bug.


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## Grassi21 (Oct 8, 2008)

Greg said:


> I rode today. Did you?





bvibert said:


> No, I rode yesterday, did you?  Oh yeah I rode farther and faster too... :roll:



ok, boys put away your johnsons and stop the pissing contest.  geez, maybe i should start being a mod around here?  ;-)


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## o3jeff (Oct 8, 2008)

What was migs heckling you back there the whole ride?:lol:

That fast section was at the end of B street. You were also moving along pretty good when I got sucked into the muddy stream and you almost blasted me with a good shower.


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## Grassi21 (Oct 8, 2008)

o3jeff said:


> What was migs heckling you back there the whole ride?:lol:
> 
> That fast section was at the end of B street. You were also moving along pretty good when I got sucked into the muddy stream and you almost blasted me with a good shower.



no heckling.  every time i encouraged him to go ahead of me he declined.  

blasted from behind, we didn't ride tyler mill today did we?  :lol:


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## Greg (Oct 8, 2008)

Grassi21 said:


> I don't know the names of the areas like you guys do, but there were a couple of fast downhill sections were I was flying.  Jeff, it was that section were we talked about the little rock hits that we flew over.  To me that felt like mountain biking.  Very fun.  That A frame was cake.  I should have tried it a few more times but didn't want to press my luck.



The stretch leading down towards the logging area is a fun downhill. Not steep but consistently down. If you liked that, we gotta get you to the Devil's Kitchen by-pass. That's a fun smooth downhill. Or better yet the Cornwall to 69 downhill on the big loop. But sorry, brotha, to be rewarded with those DHs you gotta do the climbs. They will come easier and easier. I love climbing now. You're definitely ready for the big loop.

Oh and that's right!!! Major props on the A frame. I forgot you rode that without even hesitating. You got one up on Brian and Jeff now.
:beer:



Grassi21 said:


> I have definitely caught the bug.



Friggin' sweet! I *told *you. Big loop is next for you. Earmark a weekend morning for us. My job is done now.


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## Greg (Oct 8, 2008)

Grassi21 said:


> no heckling.  every time i encouraged him to go ahead of me he declined.



*Very *cool. I knew _exactly _what he was doing. migs is good people.



Grassi21 said:


> blasted from behind, we didn't ride tyler mill today did we?  :lol:



If that dude wasn't walking his dog, I might have thought he was in search of some pickle park action.


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## Grassi21 (Oct 8, 2008)

Greg said:


> Friggin' sweet! I *told *you. Big loop is next for you. Earmark a weekend morning for us. My job is done now.



I think my wife is starting to hate you. ;-)  Actually she looks at it as me getting out and exercising which is a good thing.


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## Greg (Oct 8, 2008)

Grassi21 said:


> Actually she looks at it as me getting out and exercising which is a good thing.



That's my angle too. :lol: I can do this or hit the gym. :smash: Riding is waaaay more fun. Just don't let on exactly how techy it is. Perhaps she thinks you're riding rail trails or something... :lol:


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## migs 01 (Oct 8, 2008)

Excellent ride tonight.  Good to see everyone again and nice to meet Tim.  Good times were had by all....I think.


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## bvibert (Oct 8, 2008)

Greg said:


> You got one up on Brian and Jeff now.
> :beer:



The only time I've ever even seen that a-frame was in the dark.  I guarantee that none of you suckas would have rode it for the first time in the dark... :roll:  I _will _be going back in the daylight to hit it...


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## rueler (Oct 8, 2008)

bvibert said:


> The only time I've ever even seen that a-frame was in the dark.  I guarantee that none of you suckas would have rode it for the first time in the dark... :roll:  I _will _be going back in the daylight to hit it...



Brian,  I was surprised that you had never seen that section of trail!! If it was something that piqued your interest, we can revisit it early in a ride to make sure that daylight is not a factor!  

As I have said before, and will say again, the 3 stunts in that section are more technical than the bigger drop across the street!! You can call me crazy, but I'm being dead serious. The bigger drop requires way less skill...just commitment!


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## rueler (Oct 8, 2008)

bvibert said:


> No, I rode yesterday, did you?  Oh yeah I rode farther and faster too... :roll:



Be nice!! We only rode fast because you were riding on my tail...It's your fault! and let's be honest...we're both liars...there's no way that we can ride that fast?:razz:


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## bvibert (Oct 9, 2008)

rueler said:


> Brian,  I was surprised that you had never seen that section of trail!! If it was something that piqued your interest, we can revisit it early in a ride to make sure that daylight is not a factor!
> 
> As I have said before, and will say again, the 3 stunts in that section are more technical than the bigger drop across the street!! You can call me crazy, but I'm being dead serious. The bigger drop requires way less skill...just commitment!



What can I say, I'm a creature of habit.  I found a route I liked through there and stuck with it.  Actually, I knew there was more stuff, but the opportunity to try it out hasn't presented itself.  I don't know if I'd try either of the second two stunts, but I really want to try out the A frame.

I'm definitely not ready for the drop across the street, no matter how easy it is...


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## bvibert (Oct 9, 2008)

rueler said:


> Be nice!! We only rode fast because you were riding on my tail...It's your fault! and let's be honest...we're both liars...there's no way that we can ride that fast?:razz:



I'll take the blame for pushing a faster pace. 

Greg knows I'm just busting his stones.  You didn't have to tell them that we're liars though.  I was perfectly content with letting them think we did a 9.5 mile loop at 7MPH, instead of the one leisurely loop around the sessions gravel loop we really did. :dunce:


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## Greg (Oct 9, 2008)

bvibert said:


> I'll take the blame for pushing a faster pace.
> 
> Greg knows I'm just busting his stones.  You didn't have to tell them that we're liars though.  I was perfectly content with letting them think we did a 9.5 mile loop at 7MPH, instead of the one leisurely loop around the sessions gravel loop we really did. :dunce:



Considering you normally ride about as fast as a dead snail trough glue, I didn't thinking you really had a moving average of 7 MPH... 

:razz:


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## bvibert (Oct 9, 2008)

Greg said:


> Considering you normally ride about as fast as a dead snail trough glue, I didn't thinking you really had a moving average of 7 MPH...
> 
> :razz:



I ride slow with you so I don't hurt your frail ego... 

:lol:


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## Greg (Oct 9, 2008)

BTW, here's a pic of the ladder ramp right after the A frame:







We definitely didn't come across this one:











It's supposed to be in the swamp twisties too.


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## migs 01 (Oct 9, 2008)

Greg said:


> BTW, here's a pic of the ladder ramp right after the A frame:
> 
> 
> 
> ...



This other ramp looks much bigger.  Gotta find it!!!


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## rueler (Oct 9, 2008)

you guys actually did come across that really big one in the swamp twisties...it just underwent a transformation since that picture....That big one is actually the first A-frame now...the creator of the stunt added the backside ramp because when it was just a jump the take off angle shot you almost directly towards a large tree on the right side of the trail. 

Further north towards the river crossing there is another rock roller trail and another skinnier a-frame to play on.


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## Greg (Oct 9, 2008)

rueler said:


> you guys actually did come across that really big one in the swamp twisties...it just underwent a transformation since that picture....That big one is actually the first A-frame now...the creator of the stunt added the backside ramp because when it was just a jump the take off angle shot you almost directly towards a large tree on the right side of the trail.



It's so great to have you here as the resident Nassahegan historian! Thanks!



rueler said:


> Further north towards the river crossing there is another rock roller trail and another skinnier a-frame to play on.



Is that the little loop that heads west over the stone walls and then links back up with the main Cornwall/69 loop? I've only been in there once too and recall a few ladder drops, I think.


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## migs 01 (Oct 9, 2008)

rueler said:


> you guys actually did come across that really big one in the swamp twisties...it just underwent a transformation since that picture....That big one is actually the first A-frame now...the creator of the stunt added the backside ramp because when it was just a jump the take off angle shot you almost directly towards a large tree on the right side of the trail.
> 
> Further north towards the river crossing there is another rock roller trail and another skinnier a-frame to play on.



lol!  I totally see it now.  Stooopid migs.


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## rueler (Oct 9, 2008)

Greg said:


> It's so great to have you here as the resident Nassahegan historian! Thanks!
> 
> 
> 
> Is that the little loop that heads west over the stone walls and then links back up with the main Cornwall/69 loop? I've only been in there once too and recall a few ladder drops, I think.



Yeah, that's the trail!! I haven't been on it since early summer. It's a short little horshoe route that rolls west and loops back east...it exits you back on the main route that runs parallel with 69...right by the river. It's fun and there's a couple of nice challenges in there.


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