mb – Page 49 – littlecircles

April 21, 2015

Spring Overnight

Took off with Wil to meet up with some usual suspects at Little River State Park. Dirt road, trail, pavement, mud road, some single track. A true S24O as I returned to the car 22 hours after I left.

Down Governor Chittenden Rd. and across Johnnie Brook:

Things got muddy along the Winooski:

Met up with Greg in Waterbury and climbed to Little River State Park:

The reservoir and some more climbing on snow and ice:

Camp:

Tested out the new 0dF down sleeping bag – my feet were steaming when I woke up in the morning. I am close to having a gear range to go from 60s summer nights to low teens, zero degree winter nights. Temps got into the 30s overnight. The lean to blocked the wind and everyone was cozy:

Rolling out in the morning – we split up, and made our way to home / second breakfast and some nice riding:

January 12, 2015

Ice and Night

Lake Champlain was a moonscape last night. The cold of last week and the wind of the last few days pushed the ice into cones and mounds of ice on North Beach.

I really like these impressions of my ride captured by the GoPro. Blurry trees, hints of the trail, and what feels like far more speed than I can maanage on the single track in the dark.

And, I’m still in love with the Jones Loop bars – the extra hand positions are great for climbing, and Depot St. is nearby to get a few reps in and get the heart rate up.

December 28, 2014

Winter Photos

Some of my favorite photos from the last few weekends.

Winter wonderland looking towards Huntington, VT

Waterbury Reservoir, Little River State Park, VT

Stevenson Brook, Little River State Park, VT

December 28, 2014December 28, 2014

Winter S24O to Little River

Quick, solo, sub 24 hour (S24O) bikepacking trip to Little River State Park. Dirt roads, a bit of pavement, and the park access road on day 1, then the access road and pavement on day 2.

Dinner, small fire, and a night in the woods.
Rain, muddy roads, soaking wet, cold, muddy.
Smiling from ear to ear.

~42 miles – ~6 were pushing the bike up and down the access road.

December 28, 2014

Silver Lake Day Trip

Started out on a dirt road ride (frozen, snow and ice covered) and decided to check out the access road to Silver Lake, from FR 32 in GMNF. The road in had recent truck tracks on it, and when I got to the gate the snowmobile groomer had been out – so I wandered down to the dam.

I brought the wrong bike for winter trail riding – the Nicotines with 2.35″ tires just don’t float well on semi-packed snow. I washed out the front once on the way down to the lake, and had to walk the last 1/4 mile to the dam due to the churned up snomo trail.

I enjoyed some coffee and the rest of my breakfast bagel, then started back out (and up!).

It was too much work keeping the bike on track and upright on the way out of the lake – so I pushed until I got to the turn in the access road. There is a VAST trail (snowmobile) that connects back to FR 32… so I decided to follow it. I was able to ride downhill to the bridge over Dutton Brook, but the trail was far too steep for riding climbing back out. Atop the ravine – just where the trail flattened out and I thought I could ride again – I had some sleds pass me (politely). The sleds churned up the trail, so I ended up walking about 3 miles to the road intersection, pushing the bike.

Beautiful, but tiring. When we get more snow the fat tired Pugsley will make the trip… lots to explore in Moosamaloo, even in winter…

December 16, 2014

Winter

Winter arrived here in VT over the last couple of weeks. Heavy, wet snow has blanketed the state. In BTV we have been spared the power outages and downed trees, some parts of the state went without power for 3-4-5 days. I’ve been rolling when I can between lots of travel for work and family. Put some studded tires on the Krampus after some sketchy riding in the GMNF. The 45Nrth 2.35″ Nicotines really grip – although you need to find the sweet spot of pressure – too much and the side knobs don’t grip the ruts on the dirt roads, too little, and it can be a real slog on pavement or hardpack.

November 30, 2014November 30, 2014

GMNF Winter Riding

I snuck out for some early winter riding in the Green Mountain National Forest. I had visions of a larger loop – but after sliding around on the hardpack / ice (primarily going downhill) from last nights sleet / rain I cut it short at about 15 miles. Steam Mill, Natural Turnpike, and a bit of exploring down the road to Spark’s Landing.

The Krampus is fast becoming my favorite bike… it just feels right in so many situations. I can’t wait to get my dyno light back from warranty, and if I had warmer gear I’d be planning some winter bikepacking trips. The Knards did admirable in the snow – but the frozen sort of iced hardpack was a bit unnerving. They wash out in deeper snow, but roll really well on hardpack and the snow that gets trampled on dirt roads. They can’t compare to a Nate on the Pugsley for grip, but the Nate cannot compare to the Knard for nice rolling. I’m hoping the Maxxis Chronicles become available in the spring stateside – they look like a good mud / slop / snow tire for 29+ and for general trail riding. The Knard would be a gt to for forest road / dirt road / tame single track bikepacking.

November 24, 2014

Late Fall Riding

On the beach with Greg and his new Mukluk

Exploring some dirt roads but getting turned around by ice with Wil

November 12, 2014

Cotton Brook and Little River

Greg, Wil and I did some exploring last weekend up to and through Cotton Brook. On our way into the park we met up with another Will, who I know from a MTB forum and through email chatter about gear and riding in VT. Will slept out the night before, and rode down to meet us at the park entrance. Greg was riding his new-to-him Mukluk – so he took every opportunity to ride up and over logs, rocks and roots.

Cotton Brook is a drainage east of Bolton and north of Little River State Park. Its all good fun – lots of terrain that I’ve explored on the bike and on skis. There is also alot of history here – old farmsteads, cemeteries, a sawmill, and lots of logging roads.

There was some snow on the ground up high, and we encountered some soggy sections of trail – but overall we had a good time exploring. Through some pre-planning on my GPS we found a few ‘missing link’ trails that might yield some Type 2 backcountry exploring / overnighting – its a goal of mine to link Nashville Rd, the trails at Libby’s Lookout, and Bolton Notch over to Cotton Brook / Little River. We added another small piece to the puzzle – and now need to confirm how gnarly the terrain gets, and see how we can tap into it from the Bolton side.

We covered about 16 miles and climbed 4100′. And I brought my stove, so we knocked out Coffeeneuring Ride #… 6 or 7. But I didn’t take any pictures of our rest stop – so it never happened.

November 4, 2014November 4, 2014

Bikepacking Mike

Photo of me, from Greg on our recent trip.