• Tag Archives mtb

  • High Summer Rides

    Posted on by Don

    I got out with Renee for a ride in Jim Thorpe on the 3rd. It was a bit disappointing (OK, that was an understatement — it was devastating) when we discovered that a lot of the area around the trailhead had been logged off. I wanted to do the Deer Path but it was literally gone, and we ended up doing the Uranium Road and the Pine Tar Trail. By and large the ride was fun, but it was hard to see what they’ve done to that place, especially right at the entrance. Some pictures:

    New Game Lands Parking
    Logging In The Game Lands
    Logging In The Game Lands
    Logged Off Game Lands
    Monarchs on Milkweed
    Monarchs On Milkweed
    Mountain Laurel
    Mountain Laurel
    Where The Deer Path Was

    I did get to see some mountain laurel blossoms before they passed, but I could tell the main part of the season was long over. Maybe next year…

    On the Fourth I went over to Greg & Judy’s to do their annual ride, a little mellower version than in previous years — which is good because I don’t think I could have handled one of those old-school rides… An awesome morning on the road bike through, with friends I just don’t see often enough. I didn’t stick around for the post-ride BBQ — I just came home, showered & napped, and then that night we watched the fireworks from our porch.

    Doug and I did Jacobsburg in the heat yesterday, about 15 miles including some new rail-trail:

    And Anne and I got out this morning and sneaked in a quick 25 miles before the rains came. Not a bad week!

    It’s pouring now, on and off as storm cells blow through, and we’re just hanging out listening to jazz. Emmi & Kyle are coming over for dinner tonight (with Iris of course). Tomorrow is more rain.


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  • Jacobsburg Ride

    Posted on by Don

    I got out for a mountain bike ride Saturday at Jacobsburg, just a chance to tool around and clear my head after some difficult days. It turned out to be one of the best things I’ve done in quite a while…

    The day was beautiful, sunny with blue skies and a few puffy clouds, and the trees were all greened up and the fields were full of flowers — mostly the pretty but invasive Dame’s Rocket, but I didn’t care.

    I parked at the main lot, which was only about a third full, and didn’t see too many people out on the trails (though I did run into Sean C walking his dog). I had the trails mostly to myself, except..

    Jacobsburg these days is pleasant enough, but it’s kind of tame compared to its old self. Much of it is smooth doubletrack over rolling hills, but there are a few places left with true singletrack, and even some rocky, rooty sections. One short rooty climb is a real challenge (it’s on the trail where we put in bridges, lo those 28 years ago), and I was looking forward to giving it a try when I came around the bend and saw two other cyclists resting at the top. Oh no, an audience! Well I gave it my all, and made it up pretty smartly I thought, and so did those other bikers, who were amazed that the little climb was even doable. The honest truth is that I’m not the mountain biker I once was, but in that moment — yeah, I still got it.

    I talked with those guys for a bit, then I went on my way, and in the end I probably rode for about two hours, getting in maybe fifteen miles.

    That evening we went to the Rose Garden, watched a couple of bands (we ran into Sarah & Marc there, and sat with them for a bit), then met up with Doug & Lori for some drinks downtown. Just what the doctor ordered!


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  • Kinda Sad Like the Autumn I Found, You See An Old Part Of Me’s Not Around

    Posted on by Don

    Happy Fall, everybody!

    I went out for a ride on Tuesday, heading west/north along the towpath but only going as far as the Taylor House brewpub in Catasauqua — I wanted to check out the new section of improved trail.

    This was one of the few sections of trail left that had been open but unimproved (there is/was another one immediately north of this section, between Catty and Northampton, that also got fixed up recently), passable but still fun on a mountain bike. Much of the Lehigh Towpath was like this when I first started riding it, lo those many years ago. The trail is a pleasure to ride now, sure, but I miss those old days and the rougher, more “singletrack-ey” towpath. I only started riding this section north of Allentown maybe two years ago, and really enjoyed the feeling of being on “real trails” again, but hey that’s progress, and the new sections are actually pretty sweet. I believe the official ribbon cutting is today.

    Meanwhile, same as it ever was: my bottom bracket developed a creak again (this is the Santa Cruz), and so I took a look and found that both the crank bolt and the right bearing housing had loosened. I cleaned and greased and tightened them down pretty hard yesterday and did another towpath ride (towards Easton this time), and I think I got it solved. For now.

    When Daniel Boone goes by, at night,

    The phantom deer arise

    And all lost, wild America

    Is burning in their eyes.

    Stephen Vincent Benét, “Daniel Boone”

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  • Lay Your Head On Summer’s Freckled Knee

    Posted on by Don

    Morning weigh-in: 171.5#, 11.5% BF (not great, not terrible)

    Today was the first weigh-in since we got back from vacation, and it’s also the first “fast day” since before Denver — who diets on vacation? But now I’m back, and back in the groove.

    I got in a towpath ride yesterday, my first bike ride in weeks. It was a beautiful warm sunny day, and Spring (which had just been starting to happen when we left), was in full bloom along the towpath. All sorts of flowers (phlox, king’s rocket) along the path, with fully greened-up trees all around, blooming with flowers of their own and filling the air with perfume, just perfect as I rode along the sun-dappled trail with the water sparkling next to me.

    Anne went out earlier on a road ride with Julie, and reported that she could feel a positive effect from our weeks at altitude. I noticed it too: my perceived effort and my heart rate were both lower than I expected, and I seemed to be cruising along at a good clip too. Then I reached my turnaround, and realized I’d had a tailwind on the way out… Still, I felt pretty good considering my time away from the bike, and had a good overall pace despite the wind.

    Today was the CAT/Bethlehem Bike To Work Day festivities and short ride, and in a few minutes I’m bicycling over to a doctor’s appointment. Bike bike bike…


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  • Anabasis 2021

    Posted on by Don

    So this weekend was our annual bike camping trip up the D&L to Jim Thorpe. A total of seven of us rode up, and our friend Predo, who was on “injured reserve,” drove to the campsite with our extra gear. It took us about six hours, with plenty of photo ops and snack breaks, and a few snafu’s…


    We (Bill M, Jared, Sara, Anna Z, Ed, and Anne and I) started at CAT, and took the roads until we got to Northampton, where we crossed the Lehigh and picked up the trail. Lunch was the “Diggity Dogs” food truck at the Slatington Trailhead, and then it was another fifteen miles to downtown Jim Thorpe. A trip to the supermarket, then the long climb from the river to our campsite, and we were done for the day. Predo met us at the campground, and Rick & Shari arrived not long after.

    • Concrete Phone Booth
    • Ed and Bill
    • Bill, Ed and Me

    Saturday we rode into town — which was a madhouse, the Fall Festival was in full swing — met Shari and Rick (they are NOT into camping) and continued north along the trail, picking up Matt & Diet at the Glen Onoko trailhead. We were now eleven strong…


    The trail was fairly quiet at the start, but it was a beautiful fall day if a bit drizzly, and things became pretty crowded after a while. We got to Rockport, which was another madhouse, with bicycle outfitters dropping off cyclists by the busload, and that’s where we ate lunch and did some very entertaining people-watching… Our goal and turn-around was Buttermilk Falls, just a half mile past lunch and always a good photo-op.

    • A View of the Rockport Tunnel
    • Buttermilk Falls
    • Group Shot
    • Anne and Me
    • Looking Upstream
    • Me at “The Photo Rock”
    • Jared at “The Photo Rock”
    • The Crew
    • Sara at “The Photo Rock”

    On the way back we met up with Ben and Candace, which brought our group up to our full strength — 13 riders! One more photo session at the usual spot, and our excursion began winding down; we said goodbye to Matt & Diet at Glen Onoko, and rode back up to camp. Dinner was basically a pizza party, and we had one final addition: Gary L who was joining us for the Sunday return ride.

    • At The Campfire
    • At The Campfire
    • Mauch Chunk Lake
    • Our Campsite

    Sunday was the return. Ben and Candace took off for Philly, and Rick and Shari had gone home the night before, so we were now down to eight. The ride was pretty uneventful, but we did switch things up by taking the Nor-Bath Trail from Northampton over to Bicentennial Park, before finishing on the road.


    …AND I finally got a photo of that spooky “house on the hill” at Lehigh Gap.

    • The House On The Hill
    • The House On The Hill
    • At Slatington

    And that was our trip up-country!


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  • This Old Video

    Posted on by Don

    Here’s the video I did of our memorial ride for Brian. I made this about eleven years ago and put it on Facebook, where it sort of languished ever since — FB “memories” just brought up some of that trip’s photos, and so I went rummaging for it. I just added it to my Youtube channel, where it will have a home — maybe a more accessible/discoverable one — with my other videos, if I ever actually make any.

    So anyway, there it is. I can’t say “enjoy;” it was a pretty somber moment but I sometimes like to look back at that day. I would love to know what happened to some of Brian’s own ride and vacation videos, he was a master at that sort of thing, and his videos were almost as much fun as the trips themselves.


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  • Twenty Eight Years Later

    Posted on by Don

    I visited my parents about three weeks ago, and before the visit I rode at Allaire State Park:

    The soil there is pebbly/sandy, and pretty smooth, and the trails are twisty but easy singletrack for the most part — though I was gratified to find a few more challenging sections. Here are a few photos from a trail near the entrance, a section I’ve ridden many times over the decades:

    A trailside selfie! The place has evolved a bit (new trails have been built, older trails have worn in), but it hasn’t changed all that much. What has changed is me.

    Allaire used to host a mountain bike race every year, an important one in the state race calendar — maybe even the NJ State Championship? — and it was an important part of my riding/racing life back in the day. My very first race was with Mike K, at the God’s Country MTB Classic (in Potter County, October of 1992), but here is a photo of me with Mike after our very second race, at Allaire that November:

    That’s me on the left, in my “lucky racing shirt.” I don’t look like that guy anymore, but sometimes I still feel like him.


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  • I Care About Nutrition, Part Infinity

    Posted on by Don

    I was supposed to go for a lunch-hour ride today with Greg H, but his office was shorthanded and he had to bail. I went out anyway, just for an easy towpath ride, but by about five miles I was sluggish and exhausted and couldn’t go on. I stopped at Farmersville Road, ate some shot blocks and two GU packs, sat for a while for them to take effect, and then moseyed my way home. I think I guessed right: whatever ailed me was nutritional, and I felt much better on the way back.

    I also think I lucked out, because with Greg I’m sure  we would have done either Lehigh or Sals, and I would have been dying. I still have no idea what could have made me so drained — I haven’t overdone the physical activity lately, and we’ve been eating much better, since our return, than we have in about a month.

     


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