# Nassahegan / Stone Rd. - 9/20



## Greg (Sep 20, 2008)

Great ride today. Met up with o3jeff for a quick 2 hour ride. We met at Stone Road at 7 am. On the drive in, I was greeted with frost in a few areas! Woohoo! We got started shortly after 7 am with temps in the low 40's.

We took the usual route in and then crossed the Tunxis and rode fire road pretty much to the dentist twisties. We did the south loop first and then made our way further south to some very rarely ridden terrain up on the hill. After a few backtracks, we put together a nice loop. We then headed north back to the Tunxis and rode the twisties including the newly raked section Brian mentioned from yesterday's ride.

Great loop in there. One nice roller and one very sick drop which we just looked at. Probably close to a 4 footer. We then finished out the northern twisties and hit the Tunxis back East. That rock garden in there is very tricky. My goal is to clear that someday. Great fun.

We then made our way to the free ride area. I tried the rock roller with the two ramps. Lots of fun. I also played around on the jumps for a bit while Jeff tweaks his brakes. I managed probably 2 credit cards worth of air this time.

Great ride. I'll have some pics and a short vid up later.


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## Greg (Sep 20, 2008)

*Some pics*

A few log rides I tried (didn't ride them that far):












o3jeff:






A nice little roller in the newly raked area:






Small stunt I tried:


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## GrilledSteezeSandwich (Sep 20, 2008)

wow long sleeves...nice pictures!!!


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## Greg (Sep 20, 2008)

Vid of said stunt:


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## GrilledSteezeSandwich (Sep 20, 2008)

i was hoping to hear a woo=hoo


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## o3jeff (Sep 20, 2008)

Nice brisk ride this morning and carried a good pace without much stopping other than to debate which way to go and to session some stuff. The Crankfire guys are doing a great job reviving these trails.

We dressed pretty good and didn't have any problem with the cooler temps and at the end of the ride(53 degree) I was sweating. Great morning to ride.


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## Greg (Sep 20, 2008)

Here's the *trail record* and *map* from this morning's ride from Jeff's GPS. Almost 5.8 miles.


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## bvibert (Sep 20, 2008)

Looks a good ride, you guys covered a lot of the same stuff that I rode yesterday.



Greg said:


> Small stunt I tried:



I was pretty proud of myself for making it on that rock on the first try, but I chickened out of the going down part since I was by myself.


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## Gremf (Sep 20, 2008)

Nice!  Long sleeves and tights.


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## severine (Sep 20, 2008)

Very cool, guys!  (In more ways than 1 )  Just think of how far you've come this season!


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## Greg (Sep 20, 2008)

severine said:


> Very cool, guys!  (In more ways than 1 )  Just think of how far you've come this season!



Thanks Carrie. Yeah, the early learning curve is steep which is why I love MTB so much. There were so many things earlier this season that I thought I'd never even attempt, much less clear. I was actually commenting on this to Jeff this morning. I guess you just start to go bigger and bigger. Not sure if that's a good thing or not. :lol:

Anyway, I think there are similar mentalities between MTB and skiing. Mostly - just not overthinking things and psyching yourself out so you don't even try them.. As far as the coolness in temps, I was very comfortable this morning. It was very enjoyable seeing my breath!


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## bvibert (Sep 20, 2008)

I was happy to be able to see my breath at the end of my ride last night...


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## Greg (Sep 20, 2008)

bvibert said:


> I was pretty proud of myself for making it on that rock on the first try, but I chickened out of the going down part since I was by myself.



As you know, it's not as simple as it looks. The descent ramp requires a turn on the rock and if you ride to the right and miss it, you're F'd. Not difficult, but scoping it out first is a good move. I did:






Here's another pic of Jeff which better demonstrates the size and pitch of that roller:






I wanted to wheelie drop it, but I chickened out. No excuse really. The landing is so newly raked and soft, I should have just sacked up and went for it. Bigger than the MR evil OTB hug-a-tree roller, but similar.


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## bvibert (Sep 20, 2008)

Greg said:


> As you know, it's not as simple as it looks. The descent ramp requires a turn on the rock and if you ride to the right and miss it, you're F'd. Not difficult, but scoping it out first is a good move. I did:



I'm pretty sure I would have attempted to ride down it if I were with someone else to help get my mangled body out of the woods if I were to eff it up.


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## MR. evil (Sep 21, 2008)

bvibert said:


> I'm pretty sure I would have attempted to ride down it if I were with someone else to help get my mangled body out of the woods if I were to eff it up.



Good call.

After Red's accident I have really changed my attitude on riding alone. I try to avoid it, but when I do, I take it much easier................but I still would have ridden down that alone or not....You wuss!;-)


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## Greg (Sep 22, 2008)

Greg said:


> We did the south loop first and then made our way further south to some very rarely ridden terrain up on the hill. After a few backtracks, we put together a nice loop.





Greg said:


> *map*



The Crankfire guys cleaned up that little loop near the Wildcat Mtn label on the topo. Get out there and ride it and the refreshed looped to the north. The Stone Road network is turning into something really special.


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## bvibert (Sep 22, 2008)

Greg said:


> The Crankfire guys cleaned up that little loop near the Wildcat Mtn label on the topo. Get out there and ride it and the refreshed looped to the north. The Stone Road network is turning into something really special.



I read that.  I'm bummed that I missed that section on my ride.  I'll have to be sure to hit it next time.


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## Grassi21 (Sep 22, 2008)

maybe we can sess on something next time i ride with you guys?  i like the stunts and its easy to keep up with you guys if we are just jamming in one spot.  tough to keep the pace with you guys at times.  ;-)


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