Mike's "New" Bike

Mike's "New" Bike

Cobia frame... and nothing else.

I picked up a new / unridden '08 Gary Fisher recently. OK, it was already dismantled and didn't include the wheels and front fork. All the better, 'cause I didn't want those parts anyway... nor any of the other parts either. So what I got was a frame to keep and a whole bunch of parts to auction off at eBay.

I wanted a light frame with a short chainstay length (the distance from the center of the cranks to the center of the rear wheel). This aluminum 21" XL frame is said to weigh less than 4 pounds and the chainstay length is 17.3". Hard to find a frame more fitting. It also has a nice long ETT (effective top tube length, basically the horizontal length from the seat post to the head tube) which suits my long torso nicely. Really, ETT is way more important in sizing a bike than the long-used seat tube size. But never mind that.

The other thing I wanted was a rigid front fork, making the whole bike a "rigid". I won an auction for an On One Carbon Fiber fork, but weeks later it was a no-show, so I chickened out and ordered a Salsa Cromoto Grande steel fork. And wouldn't you know it... right after I got the steel fork mounted, the carbon fiber fork shows up. I guess I'll have to try that one of these days too... So you're probably wondering why anyone in their right mind would forego shocks on a mountain bike, especially in this day and age where if one shock is good, two are way better. There's several reasons really. One, they're lighter - like about 2 pounds lighter - than a suspension fork. Two, they're cheaper... like about a fraction of a Fox 29er fork. Three, they're retro... are there any riders under 30 who've ever ridden a bike sans shocks? Geez, our old Stingrays didn't have shocks. What we didn't know didn't hurt us. Much.

Another awesome mod on this bike - a set of Race Face Turbine cranks. Yeah, pretty much the same as Kelly's. These are running on an ISIS bottom bracket, but otherwise they're the same compact cranks that allow you to easily mount up a 20 tooth granny gear, a great thing for old farts on tall tires. The gearing changes afforded by these cranks compensate for the tall 29" wheels versus the common shorter 26" wheels. Sweet stuff.

Race Face compact cranks... too bad they're no longer made. Hey, see how small that 20t granny gear is?!?! George you'd love that.

Other additions... X.9 rear derailleur and X.7 everywhere else. To those of you out there contemplating a front derailleur on your GF Cobia/Mamba/X-Caliber/Paragon/Rig, know this: the short chainstays make any front derailleur a tight squeeze. The stock FD is a simple Shimano Deore - top pull / low clamp. Not knowing any better (yet), I ordered a low clamp X.9... and it didn't fit. The tire was kissing the thing. Not good. So then I tried to order a high clamp X.9 (like the higher end models use) but ended up getting an X.7 instead since it's essentially the last-gen X.9. Except... except it has a different arm to accommodate top and bottom pull cables. And of course the bottom pull part of the arm was kissing the tire. Have hacksaw, will travel... the saw and some sandpaper made for a nice circumcision of the offending appendage. So now the bike sports a one-off derailleur. But it looks clean and it works fine.

Seat is a WTB Pure V Pro... does anyone else make seats? The post is a 350mm Bonty piece - nuthin' fancy. Seat clamp is a stock Bonty. Brake levers are the ubiquitous Avids... oh yeah, these would be stock on a normal Cobia. Headset = FSA ZS3. Grips are ODI Rogue lockers - not light but thick - good for absorbing vibes.

The rims are stockers from my 293... not wide, but fairly light, and they rarely need truing. Dare I say never so far. The bar is a Titec carbon fiber number with a barely detectable inch of rise which puts it about where my 293 bar is when the front fork is sagged (translation - when my fat arss is sitting on it). Stem is a simple Bonty Select from the 293. Brakes are new BB7s pinching 180mm rotors. Rear cassette is a SRAM PG-990; it's purtier than the Shimano XT but not as robust. Oh well.

Salsa Cromoto Grande fork. Tire-flung pebbles make a retro "ting ting" sound on the True Temper OX chrome-moly steel.

OK, that's a lot of wind about the bike. I did have fun building it, but what about the ride? First impressions were "this feels weird". But because your riding position doesn't change - no shocks to sag - it quickly felt like the math said it should - like my other bike, only firmer. And lighter and more flickable too. It's probably 4 pounds lighter... maybe more?

Now, I'm not gonna kid you... rocky descents are hairier without shocks to take the edge off. But if you stay loose and let the bike do its thing, it does pretty well downhill on the rough stuff. The real test will be French Creek's rocks... not that I would prefer to ride it there all the time, but I'm looking forward to trying it at least once!

Now where's that carbon fiber fork...

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!

French Creek Family Ride

Today was family day at French Creek. Well, half the family. Son Spence and I rode around for a couple hours in the western side of the park. Temps were in the 40s but there was no wind. Occasional glimpses of the sun made it feel nice and warm. Of course going up and down hills and over FC's rocks works wonders as a body warmer no matter the weather.

Spence's old man getting his bike ready.

Spence assembling his ride - a Trek 4500. He's about due for another bike soon and I think watching his old man's 29" wheels roll over rocks might've convinced him to try them himself next time.

Let's roll!

Spence stares down a log.

Here he comes...

Breathe!

Descending a rocky section.

Spence tackles a few more of FC's finest.

Packing up. Spence says there's a cheese steak with his name on it somewhere. His old man says there's a Victory Donnybrook Stout with his name on it somewhere. Pack faster.

So it was a great ride. There was a fair amount of traffic on the trails but it wasn't too bad... always came right when we needed a break. Talked to one 30-something on a brand new Specialized Enduro - beautiful bike, great for bombing the rocky downhills here. Watched another guy tackle a steep rocky ascent on a rigid SS 29er... beautiful bike, carbon fiber fork and all. Trail conditions were awesome - tacky but not soft. Hmmm... cooperative temps, no wind, some sun, awesome trail... could almost smell summer. No wonder everyone had smiles plastered on their faces.

Kelly's "New" Bike

Sometimes you get lucky... the frame you see above was a lucky find on eBay. Steve, if you're reading this, thanks again! What you see above is Kelly's "new" ride. Two things came together to make this possible. One, my eBay notifies me when Gary Fisher Sugar 29ers come up for sale... I guess I'm curious to watch them come up on the auction block since I have one myself. So one day a clean Sugar 293 frame showed up and I started watching the auction. The second thing was that Kelly would probably prefer a full suspension bike, if only for the cushy ride compared to her hardtail. No, her old bike, silly - the Fisher Cobia she was riding for the last few years. Most of you out there in blogville know that new full suspension 29ers don't come cheap. So somehow I won the auction. The frame showed up packaged beautifully, and to be honest this bike is cleaner than my '06 293 even though it's older. It's an '04, but it must be a late '04 as it has the beefier rear shock mount gusseting. Kelly's Cobia went onto the workstand and off came all the donor parts - darn near everything. Components on Cobias aren't quite as high up the food chain as what would be on a 293 but everything just plain works.

• The RockShox Tora fork is solid, albeit a tad heftier than it's Reba big sister. On it went to the new frame, held in position by a new Cane Creek C1 headset. The C1 is not fancy but it's got the right lineage and at $10.50 was certainly the right price.
• Race X-Lite stem, Bontrager bar, and Ergons went right on.
• The Avid BB5 brakes went from Cobia to 293. They aren't as easily adjusted as the venerable BB7s, but I'm used to fiddling with them and when set up right they work as well as the BB7s.
• Oh yeah, the rear triangle needed a Trek 210648 disc brake adapter. Interestingly, adapters are sold on eBay for $38, but the real McCoys are available from your friendly Trek/Fisher LBS for half that. Go figure. Two bolts and you can remove the v-brake posts!
• A new Titec Pluto setback post went into the seat tube. The 293s employ a bigger tube than the Cobias, and the post I had in inventory didn't have the setback I was looking for. The seat was a carryover.
• The stock Shimano LX front derailleur from my 293 was mounted on this 293, and the stock rear derailleur from the Cobia found its way to the back of this 293.
• New brake and derailleur cables - SRAM Flak Jackets - were fitted.
• Wheels and tires are Cobia carryovers.
• The big change: a RaceFace Turbine compact crankset. The granny ring is a 20 tooth and the middle ring is a 30 tooth... very, very desirable gears for 29ers as it results in the same gear inches as a conventional 26er mountain bike. Another eBay score, of course. The Turbines (and other 58x94 compact cranksets) are no longer in production so when they show up on eBay they inevitably draw a lot of attention. Luckily you can still get chainrings for these things. At this point, the new SRAM 991 chain is not slipping on the rings, so new rings can wait. The only thing I'd change would be to install a 40 tooth or 42 tooth big ring.

So there you have it - Kelly's new ride. Now we've got a medium Cobia frame just waiting for our daughter to grow into it (grammar -5). She's got an X-small Trek right now but really should be on a small. Unfortunately, in no time she'll be ready for a medium...

Warwick Park

Went for a ride today at Warwick County Park in northern Chester County. Never rode here before, but we were here once before for a short hike. I knew there weren't many miles of trail here, but I was curious to see what the place looked like from a mtb saddle perspective. Also, the place is north of where I live and thus a little colder, and the hillside mostly faces north... gotta hope for frozen trails ya know. Mud ain't cool.

So with an air temp hovering around freezing, I hopped on the yellow trail (actually the Horseshoe Trail). Two miles later, I came to a bit of an obstacle... namely French Creek. No bridge, couple feet of water... nope. So I turned around and started snapping pix. Yes, whaddaya know, I brought a decent camera this time.

There's some purty spots along the trail. You can see the trail is mostly pretty easy. No, it's all pretty easy, especially the Horseshoe Trail portion... not much in the way of elevation change. Would be a good family ride spot, fer sher.

This was about the worst of the few soft spots I saw. Yeah, there's still some ice in them thar hills, but not much. Most of the trail was still crunchy, but low spots next to the creek were soft here and there. By the way, this spot was much easier at speed than crawling. I'm learning...

One of a couple bridges on the Horseshoe. No challenge here, but that's OK too... the rest of the family will appreciate a bridge that's actually more than 18" wide.

Another purty section of trail winding thru some tall trees. Unlike sections of trails I've hiked in other parts of the kuntry, there's no shortage of trail markers here. You could just about reach from one marker to the next. This kind of crap bugs me. And since this is a blog, I'll tell ya why. Now, do you think some landowner is trying to tell trail users that they aren't welcome on his land? Mr. Landowner, do you think an occasional sign would suffice? Two orange stakes and three yellow "No Trespassing" signs tells me more about the landowner than the land. Probably either an ex-city-slicker or some crotchety miserable old fart. Or some combination thereof. Off the yellow trail and up onto the white trail. There's over 200' of elevation gain from bottom to top in this park, so despite the lack of miles, you can surely get some interval workouts in by climbing the hills. The toughest grind was the new red trail segment from yellow to white. It's not shown on the online map. The climb is tough enough, but there's mulch on the trail which does a great job imitating a sponge soaked in Aunt Jemima... it just feels like it's suckin' you in and not lettin' go. One stint uphill on that trail was enough for me. So Warwick was a decent place to check out. Next time I'll bring the family and a picnic. Honestly, with French Creek State Park so close, it would be hard to rationalize riding here and not riding FC. But now I can say "bin dair, dun dat".

Ride from 'ell

Back in the day - back in high school - I was in Track. You know, where you run in circles 'til the cows come home. That used to bore the crap outta me. That's why I liked running Cross Country... you never saw the same cinder twice. Got to run thru the woods - sometimes fast, sometimes not so fast, but the scenery was better than any cinder I ever saw on a quarter mile track. Flash forward 30 years and 40 pounds (hey, stop laughing - I was a friggin' stick in high school and coulda used maybe 20 of those 40 pounds). Nowadays it's not cool to ride mountain bikes when the trails are sloppy... and of course the trails are often sloppy during the faux winters here in g-d southeast PA thanks to daily highs in the 30s and 40s. So what's a guy without a road bike to do? Well yer looking at it. Yeah, the picture above. Its my wife's 1988 Trek 820 "Antelope" hunkered down on a mag trainer. Yeah, it reminds me of track practice... whir whir whir friggin' whir and going NOWHERE. But it's gotta be done. Now you're saying to yourself, "I don't recall pipe clamps on the front of those old Treks?!" And you'd be dead nuts on. To take the edge off some of the boredom, I read while spinning my wheel. The bottom end of the pipe clamp is resting on the trainer's front wheel stand. A ball bungee holds the pipe to the bar. And the Pony clamp on the pipe is holding a clipboard, which is holding a book. Only problem is the plastic clipboard bounces a bit, so I need to find one of those fossilesque wooden clipboards. But it works pretty well. Now an hour on the trainer goes by in what seems like a mere 58 minutes. Now if I could figger out a way to keep sweat from dripping on the pages...

White Clay - Virgin Voyage

CIA File Footage

More CIA File Footage

Finally got to White Clay State Park and Middle Run last Sunday. Andrew had been telling me about this place for months, and he and Eric were kind enough to show me around. Since I've got more than a decade on these guys, and since they are stronger riders, I left the decent digital camera in the car - I needed to save every friggin' gram I could. So once again the pix are crappy cell phone images. Heck, the only decent picture we took - one of Eric cresting a big log pile - couldn't be saved because the camera was still full of crap pix from Marsh Creek. So not only are they crappy pix, they do no justice to White Clay. Next time... As it was, Eric and Drew were riding light - smart! I had a MULE on my back filled with about 2L of water, GPS, food, etc. Not to mention a seat pouch filled with some emergency goodies: tube, tools, first aid kit. Both Drew and Eric were riding rigids - Drew on a Moots YBB (26er) and Eric on a Niner SIR9 (obviously a 29er) set up for SSing. Way cool bikes. And of course I was on my Kenworth. I really, really want a rigid 29er with short chain stays. It would have to be geared thanks to my POS left knee. We hit the trails shortly before 10 AM. Temp was maybe 20 with little if any breeze - perfect, really. Trails were nice and frozen. Andrew was right - there isn't much technical about White Clay and sister park Middle Run. Alot of it is tight flowing twisty stuff, an admitted handful for my cautious self on a big long bike. But don't get me wrong, there are plenty of cool challenging spots - like riding thru an icy pipe (duck!), log piles, rock piles, and short steep dips. One very cool area was sorta like a half pipe where you swoosh back and forth the dirt walls as you descend. I think it might be the segment they call "The Corkscrew"? I was doing OK until some leaves led me astray and I missed a turn... but nbd, just clipped back in and kept on going. The "Logzilla" log pile section was also fun. I was too chicken to ride the biggest piles but Andrew and Eric polished 'em off. Actually the piles are pretty wide so as long as you stay straight you could jump out of the pedals at the top if you're tighty-whiteys bunch up. Another cool area was the skills area. Of course I told myself beforehand there was no friggin' way I was heading in there but Drew said "Oh yeah you are" so I did. You can watch YouTube vids about the White Clay skills area all day 'til the cows come home, but suffice it to say I did some of the stuff, not all of it. Just the easier stuff. Of course Drew nailed everything. And so did Eric after what I think was a brief pause to gather himself and reflect on his life before entering the elevated bridge and teeter-totter section. I bypassed the elevated segment, but it was cool to ride under the "el" while they were on it. Yeah, more photo opps totally blown, I know... but Ken Cox has a nice slide show of it here: http://www.kencox.net/?page_id=12&file=skills_trail_2007/ We rode 'til well after 1 PM. I sorta lost track of time. I was doing fine for probably the first 15 or so miles, but after that my "winter legs" were sagging. We did somewhere north of 20 miles and I had to granny ring a few hills just to keep from burning up. Eric kicked butt on his SS Niner and Drew was always right there. Me... well I had my GPS if I needed it! But in the end it all worked out - no cramping, no hallucinations, still breathing. All good. And after the ride we fixed everything that ailed us with some Guinness, some real B&Ts, and some lunch in Kennett Square. Man did that hit the spot! So, without further adieu, here's the only crappy pix I got:

Here's me showing Andrew how to work the camera on my Blackberry. With gloves, of course, those dam little buttons are impossible and thus this pic was taken. Uhm, like oh it just took a picture.

Random shot of the least interesting sections of trail. I was too busy navigating and catching up to "the kids" on the fun sections to take pix in those sections, despite Drew encouraging me to do so. My bad. Anyway, you can see the trail is fairly tight even where it's not twisty.

After a breather, Drew's tire decided to shed most if its air courtesy of a defiant thorn. So, what do friends do but take pictures of them changing tubes?

Many thanks to Andrew and Eric for taking this fossil out for a ride!

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.

Marsh Creek Ride

Got an opportunity to hit Marsh Creek for some playing around in the Bonus Loop on the eastern side of the park. I really don't get over to that side of the park much because, to be quite honest, my XL-sized full-squish 29er feels like a Kenworth there. The trails are sweet but tighter and twistier than most of the stuff on the western side of MC. I used my Blackberry Dingleberry to snap a few pix so you'll have to suffer with some low-res photos. Actually you're not missing much because I didn't take any real trail shots... I guess I was too preoccupied with staying upright on the snow-covered trails. Plus it wasn't exactly the balmy, picture-taking kind of day... temps in the upper teens and a good breeze were a constant reminder that summer is but a concept at this point. Speaking of snow, the trails were in pretty good shape. If you stayed on the packed snow, there was sufficient traction. Stray from that, however, and you were on your own. With a couple inches of loose snow over leaves, it was easy to see where others had lost the traction versus gravity battle and done a little impromptu body surfing on the snow. There'd always be the fanned stripe effect from a sliding knobby tire, then the chaotic clearing of snow as arms and legs must've flopped to the ground. Yeah, I was grinning every time I saw one of those brown leafy wipe-out spots until I made one of my own. Heck, it was only a little log I was approaching, and I slowed down to check out the other side... well I never saw the stick in the snow which chocked my front wheel on the other side of the log. And naturally my clip hung for an extra second in the pedal, and down I went. Of course the pedal unclipped just in time to clock my shin, but I earned it I suppose. Well enough of that - here are the crappy pix:

It's finally been cold enough to freeze the lake.

Saw some bike tire tracks on the lake but this was as far as I dared to venture onto the ice. In the good old days I never would've let common sense stop me from enjoying a little ride on the ice, but today... nah. Good old terra firma provides enough challenges.

Easy section of trail. From here it starts to get more interesting as you work your way toward the bridges near the horse farm and then enter the woods on the new lakeside trail that I helped cut in almost a year ago.

That was quick - I'm back. Told ya I didn't take any pictures of the good parts of the trail. Maybe next time. This is near the boat ramp on the south side of the lake.

Time for some hardware / documentary shots. This is my 2.55" WTB Weirwolf I was running on my front rim. I was using it to help "float" on the snow, but it was lacking in edge grip - no manly knobs on the side. Good in a straight line, not so good turning. Next time I'll put a Kenda Nevegal on the front - a little less float, a lot more bite. In theory.

...and here's the rear tire. At about 25-30 psi, it was doing a kick-butt job in the snow. Climbing traction was not a problem, and cornering was predictable - which is all you can ask for in this stuff. There was not one single hill where the tire let me down. As the center knobs have ramps on one side, the tire is mounted for max forward traction, not braking traction.

Parting shot. Yes, the once-hot water in the bottle was now freezing.

AAaaaahhhh! Geezis, that's scary. Hey, I told you it was cold, didn't I?

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.