Annual Memorial Day Old Fart Tour de Blue Marsh

Saturday, May 23, 2009 - the Second Annual Old Fart Tour de Blue Marsh! Luckily the weather forecast a week out was for rain. That actually meant the weather would be beautiful... and it was. What a great day for a ride! Sonny-boy Spence, bro Roger (aka Crud), great friend George and I departed my house by 8 AM. A stop to tank up the old bod at Pattie's Place got our bellies off to a good start!

State Hill Boat Ramp. Crud on the left, Spence on the right, George hiding.

By 10 AM we were dropping Uncle Crud and Spence off at the State Hill Boat Ramp. They were going to ride from there and head counterclockwise to the Church Road parking lot. This would reverse the shorter route from last year (which ran from Church Road to the Visitor Center) as well as add 3 easy miles, making their total distance about 11 miles. They took off at about 10:15.

Church Road parking lot - George is ready to roll.

After dropping them off, George and I drove to Church Road. By the time we drove over and got ready, it was 10:45 AM. Our plan was to ride the entire 23 mile loop, ending up where we started at Church Road. I was hoping to catch up to Crud and Spence, but hmmm... we got twice the miles or more and are starting a half hour behind? Right...

Pretty sure this is near mile marker (MM) 12, 2.5 miles into our ride.

George was riding a nice Gary Fisher Cake 1. Sweet 26" XC bike with plenty of carbon fiber, right from the factory. And it has a funky, pricey XTR derailleur which we had to fiddle with the night before. George had some brand new Bontrager ACX tires as well. Both he and I have been thru other tires and we still list the ACXs as our favorite all-around tires.

George's VholdR helmet cam and a real sweet floral accent.

My GF rigid resting.

For this year's tour I'm riding my new (to me) rigid. 29" wheels and carbon fiber in the fork, stem, and bar all help to smooth the ride, but the 40 psi in the tires don't. I could've dropped the pressure but the trail is dry and fast... no desire to slow myself down with fewer psi.

George on break 'tween MMs 9 and 10 circa Justa Rd.

George descending from the rocky overlook between MMs 8 and 9 at Sterner's Hill Road (west). Note the new side trail bypassing the root mess.

Somewhere between MMs 5 and 8.

Chillin' at the Stillin' Basin... watching the perch jerkers...

George climbing near MM 28, about 16 miles into our ride. "It's all downhill from here, George!" OK, so I lied.

Crud gives a two thumbs up. Hmmm - he's suspiciously far off the trail... wonder how he got there...

Spence took some pictures of his ride with Uncle Crud, so thank you Spence for the pictures above and below. Crud got a lot of video of his ride... using a handheld cam! Crud's video is priceless... maybe I can get it on here someday, or at least a link. My favorite scene from Crud's Vid: picture a bouncy descent, screeching brakes, a lot of "whoa - whoa - WHOA!" and then green leaves fill the screen. Crud says, in a matter-of-fact tone: "I'm down."

Crud trying to convince his leg muscles to carry on...

Done! Spence, Crud, and George resting "apres ride" at Church Road. Great ride guys!

Crud and Spence got back to Church Road about an hour ahead of me. We never did catch them... maybe next year we'll go opposite directions so we're sure to meet up during the ride!

On the way home, a stop at Rita's was mandated. Wow... a large mango/vanilla gelati never tasted so good!

Blue Marsh - April 18

What a beautiful day - temps in the 70s, blue sky... what a great day for a cruise through the woods.

Started at the Visitor Center and hopped on the trail heading counter-clockwise. Never went this direction before on this segment. The neat thing about doing this is the trail seems totally different.

Tired? Was setting up for a pic up a long uphill (as usual you can't really tell that in 2D) and another rider came gliding downhill. What timing. Surprisingly there weren't too many riders out today.

Nice downhill lakeside sweeper.

An "over the bar" shot.

I think this bridge is new since the last time I was on this stretch (June '08).

Stopped here for a lunch break. Wish every lunch was like this one.

Heading uphill.

This looks steep and is steeper. Just down the hill to the right the trail has been rerouted slightly to bypass an eroded set of roots. Over the last couple years the roots went from fun to challenging to WTF.

Parting shot... getting closer to the end of an awesome 23 mile ride. Luckily the evening's plans include another visit to Victory Brewing with some friends... that's good, as I need some carbs!

Blue Marsh & John's First Ride

Saturday was bike assembly day. John is relatively new to mtbing and he bought a Motobecane Fantom 29er. These require some assembly, which went well. While it's no lightweight, the Motobecane makes for a solid entry level bike. One change we made was purely a visual thing - the stock stem is a 10 pound clump of ugly. I had a Bontrager Sport stem laying around, so I swapped that onto the bike just so I didn't have to look at that stock stem. Yeesh. The one functional change we made was to swap in a new SRAM PG-950 11-34 cassette for the stock 11-32. It's the same quality, but obviously the 34t low gear will help offset the larger diameter wheels on climbs. That was Saturday, so Sunday was Ride Day. We went to Blue Marsh and hit the flat-ish stretch from the Visitor Center to State Hill Boat Ramp. You see, not only is the bike new to John, but so are clipless pedals. We all remember our first day on clipless pedals, so surely John didn't need any additional challenges on Day One. Weather was nice - partly sunny, temps in the 40s when we started, pushing 60 at the end. Trail conditions were muddier than hoped for probably thanks to the sub-freezing temps in the early morning and BM's inherent wetness (oh, that doesn't sound right...).

Here comes newbie John on his new 29er. ...and here comes son-e-boy Spence jra.

3 miles and all smiles!

Closer look at John's Moto 9er.

... here's my new ride, also on its maiden voyage. Rigid, Fisher-framed 29er.

This was the most challenging hill on our brief ride... the water bars at Mile Post 3. I'll let John tell you why he's laughing in the picture!

No wind, warm sun... wow was it nice here. Great place for a nap.

Done! No falls, a little mud. Nothing a cheese steak at the Blue Marsh Canteen couldn't cure!

Blue Marsh Trail Map

Updated May 2, 2011

The first time I rode Blue Marsh I got lost a half dozen times... sometimes for only a few feet, sometimes for a half mile. Yes, there are trail markers - white markings on brown fiberglass posts - but some are hard to spot and some just plain vanish from time to time. Some of the markers are cryptic... "hmm, is the arrow pointing that way or - that way?" Not the end of the world, but a better map sure would help. So I tweaked the existing BM map to add some detail about the little things... you know, where to turn, where to find water... little things that are nice to know.

The trail is a diverse mix of everything from old roadbeds to dirt farm lanes to forest singletrack. There are really no technical features on the trail, but there are roots and shale-covered descents which you'll need to pay attention to or suffer a little off-trail excursion.

An important note: this is a multi-use trail. Hikers and horses abound, so think twice about railing blind turns. Scared hikers aren't good for our image, and scared horses are downright dangerous. Remember, bikers should yield to all others. In practice, it's usually the hikers who step off the trail to let you by. A little trail courtesy and a nice "thanks" will go a long way to keep all the users happy on this trail, and ensure mountain bikers access to this great trail system for years to come.

Trail miles are marked by mile markers. Mile 0 is at the Stilling Basin (the dam outlet). The mile markers run clockwise from Mile 0 to Mile 29. There is no mile marker 30 because it's not quite a mile from mile marker 29 back to the Stilling Basin. Thus, the "big loop" at Blue Marsh is about 30 miles and is said to include 4400' of climbing. I have no reason to doubt that number and no one would call you crazy if you rounded up to 5000'. Luckily, that also means there is 4400' - or 5000'! - of downhill fun too.

Most riders will ride the shorter loop which is created by shortcutting over the Old Church Road (aka just Church Road) bridge between miles ~14 and ~21. This leaves out the old ski area and the highest point on the trail at ~558' above sea level. Note that normal summer water level is ~290'.

This shorter loop (which is also the original loop) is about 23 miles. Riders in good shape can do the loop in 3 hours or less. Plan on taking more than 3 hours if you're riding in a group and/or stopping to smell the roses every once in a while. There are some really nice rest spots along the way - everything from grassy spots to lake overlooks. Small groups will usually take about 4 hours including a lunch break. Big groups can easily hit the 5 hour mark with all the requisite regrouping, mechanical issues, etc.

Preparation is critical to enjoying your ride here. Despite the proximity to the lake, there is no drinkable water on the trail except for the Visitor Center, Dry Brooks Day Use Area (rest rooms) and Dry Brook boat ramp (behind the rest rooms). There are some soda machines at State Hill and Dry Brook boat ramps, as well as a concession stand at Dry Brook DayUse Area, but don't count on these being available when you want them to be... you know what they say about "assume".

Depending on fitness level and weather and ride duration, you will probably need about 2-4 liters of water for the 23 mile loop and an additional liter for the big 30 miler. You will also need to fuel your body before and during the ride. Some energy bars and bananas seems to do the trick for most, but bring whatever works for you. We typically stop about every hour or so to eat something - even if we're not really hungry. The constant barrage of hills can really deplete the old muscles, so keeping them as happy as possible will help insure miles of smiles.

If anyone sees any errors in the map, holler. There's a lot of trail and I'm not always coherent when I finish riding there. Some might say they couldn't tell the difference... but never mind that. Just go out and ride.

Blue Marsh January 2009

Yeah it was cold and windy but what the hey. Trail was 2-3" of ice and snow mix... real pleasure to ride on... but this is what you have to do if you wanna get off the trainer! I didn't have tons of time today so my goal was to ride the ski area loop - a little over 7 miles. NBD, but those of you that know Blue Marsh know that the trail's highest elevation is in this loop - about 558', or 270' over the frozen lake. Tires were aired down to pseudo-flat and did a better job than I on the hills... but neither the tires nor the rider could handle the really steep stuff. I was doing this loop CCW (mile markers decreasing) so the steepest segment is an up, not a down, for me today.

This shot is past the high point and heading downhill to a bridge crossing between mile markers 16 and 17. Pretty sight with all the snow cover. Luckily the trail was never as slick as it looked... no face plants or impromptu snow angels today.

Onto the doubletrack near Sheidy Rd. between mile markers 15 and 16. "Travel at Your Own Risk" sign seems appropriate. Did see another set of bike tracks here, but they dwindled away at mile marker 15. So for most of the ride I was the only idiot out here on a bike over the last few days.

Ride is winding down... down the bank, across the frozen lake, and just past the bridge is my truck. This section is a real nice ridge run just before the descent to Church Rd. Once on Church Rd., it's only 1/3 mile back to the parking lot.

All in all a nice, quiet ride. I was way warmer than I thought I would be, but that beats the opposite feeling. The only thing that was a little cold were the toes, but they've been colder.

Old Farts Fall Foliage Tour de Blue Marsh

Yes - the First Annual Old Farts Fall Foliage Tour de Blue Marsh. OK, so Spence isn't an old fart, but he will be. Someday.

We started at the State Hill Boat Ramp and head clockwide around the BM trail (mile markers increasing). We rode to ~MM 3, then scooched down a farm lane to Highland Rd. The above picture was taken where we turned left off of Highland Rd. and hopped on yet another farm lane to get to Justa Rd. where we picked up the trail and looped back (now with mile markers decreasing).

Here we are near MM 7 taking a breather. Look at those happy faces!

A few miles later at another rest break, and waddya know… Unlce Mark farted. Poor Spencer unknowingly coasted to a stop in the ensuing gas cloud and was seen gasping for air. Shortly after this shot was taken, Spence maintained this same pose and showed Uncle Mark how to use his bike seat as a butt plug. Later reports were that this also failed to keep the air clean.

Hal felt so bad that he was riding while others on the trail were stuck jogging that he kindly got off his bike and jogged with one of them, eventually letting him pass. What a gentleman!

We're back! 'Twas a nice 10+ mile ride. Hal is seen here striking his best GQ pose as he winds down from his manly ride at Blue Marsh. But wait, is that a purse I see?

We later replenished the lost calories at the Blue Marsh Canteen to round out the most excellent day. Nice ride guys!