Pittsfield Forest (MA) Aug 4/5

[airgary]

sarah, i have room in my truck if you needed a ride. and i live on the west springfield side of the mountain, never had any trouble in the "watershed" area. there are some parts that are ok to ride in, the epo's/cop dont want people IN the res areas.

the ice cream place in southampton on rt 10 ?




i know there is a whole slew of power lines out there, not sure about legal though.



also i think it came up last year about the pipeline in otis area not being legal.
epo's in pittsfield said it is ok to be there. (no complaints come in so not enforcement is done) paul on the other hand got his one day riding pass that day.

[typeone]

i've been looking for my PSF map too, only found Oxford so far but still looking. too bad they dont have PDFs online so you could print hi-res.

i'm wondering if maps are avail anywhere else, like bicycle shops (?) i need to head to one in a few, i'll ask them but i doubt they keep stuff like that.

[typeone]

FYI. i just talked to a ranger out there, he said the mailbox at the hut has plenty of maps, if for some odd reason they are gone, plenty more at the main station. he said someone will be around tomorrow if we need more.

[TTD]

Sounds good!

I'm off to move some stoves for some tenants... then it's time to find all my dirtbike gear, charge up the batteries, check tire pressures, get fuel, fill the water bottles...

geesh... I've got a lot to do... what the hell am I doing sitting here!

[s a x m a n]

bike and gear is loaded up ... just need to buy a new battery for the bike which i'll be doing shortly

should be fun

[typeone]

mostly packed up too, load bike in AM and jet. 2hr+ for me so i'm hoping to roll in right before 10.

black pickup, white/red Husky. see ya then!

[Paul_E_D]

Lucky for you all, I finally washed all my dirt gear Bike is gassed up and everything's organized for tomorrow. I'm psyched, but a little nervous as I haven't ridden over a single rock yet this season...

[s a x m a n]

i couldn't find a battery for the bike today ... hopefully some place will be open in the morning

)=

[TTD]

Sears Automotive centers usually have them.

I can't believe you waited until today to start looking though.



Do you have a battery tender? If so, bring the cable hookups. We just need 2 of these.
http://www.powerlet.net/products/imgs/pics/pkt001.jpg

Put one on your bike and one on a bike with a good battery. Any time you need a start, plug the two SAE ends together and you have an instant "jump"

[s a x m a n]

I'm just going to see if I can find one in the morning

if not, then I'll have to catch the next ride ...

[ChR1s]

I'm just going to see if I can find one in the morning

if not, then I'll have to catch the next ride ...

I've got some motorcycle-type jumper cables that I'll bring.

Looks like we'll be meeting up @ exit 3 for the ride out.

[Paul_E_D]

Sears Automotive centers usually have them.

I can't believe you waited until today to start looking though.



Do you have a battery tender? If so, bring the cable hookups. We just need 2 of these.
http://www.powerlet.net/products/imgs/pics/pkt001.jpg

Put one on your bike and one on a bike with a good battery. Any time you need a start, plug the two SAE ends together and you have an instant "jump"

If you do that you'll be tethered to Jamie all day! (JK jamie )

[s a x m a n]

well, I did alot of driving this morning, but no riding. The battery for this bike is a special order at every place that I went too.

I tried to go to the forest to let everyone know not to wait, but I couldn't even find the ORV parking lot


i'm going to crack open a beer and watch the sox game ... its been a hell of a weekend

[TTD]

Yeah, I tried to call your cell phone. They closed the usual parking area for offroad vehicles... we ended up parking at BALANCE ROCK area.

The ride was good. We had 7 riders. We stayed together for most of the day, and then split up for the end.

Good first ride for me... no crashes, and I'm sore as hell.

Renee had a little tougher time, but finished strong. She had 4 or 5 getoffs on the way out, but kept going each time. We turned around and went all the way back with no crashes.

[Paul_E_D]

I had a blast! Gary, Clinton, Chris and I finished the skyline loop after we split. The pace was pretty hot at times. At one point we were about to pass a couple of locals (t-shirt and jeans) but they took it as a challenge and upped the pace. I chased for a little bit, but they clearly knew the trails a lot better than I, so I backed it down again.

Overall, I think riding MX style has really helped a lot. My approach was totally different than last year. I found there were only a few spots the whole day where I even considered sitting, whereas last year I would sit 30-40 percent of the time.

I only had one or two moments and my upper body was super relaxed. I almost felt I could take my hands of the bars a lot and not fall. Zero arm pump. I guess the heavy whoops just make trail obstacles seem small...

Gary was cooking for a first ride of the season. Especially on downhills. I did clearly read the displacement on his side panels at one point though!

Getting berated by a horseback rider at the end was just icing on the cake (not)

[typeone]

had a great time today! thanks for leading Tony + Paul. weather couldn't have been better. i had a few get-offs, cracked a little plastic, twisted the forks in the triples, goodTimes!

ChR1s, great to see another Husky on the trail, apologies for parts of that end loop, hope i wasn't dragging you down too bad. i started fixating on everything you shouldn't, like that special boulder and those roots that stopped me flat. i was TOAST. hahaa. shoulda fueled up on some eats before we continued.

nice to finally put some faces to names, looking forward to hooking up again some time. Gary, Paul... always great to see you.. .

[airgary]

good riding with you all...again. i had my ass parked on the seat for a very long time. (whenever my legs got tired) and no downs for me so i get a cookie i don't think i will be too sore but i know at times my legs were shaking pretty good from being tired.

can't wait to get out there again, i need to get in shape.

[derrickhackman]

did I see 2 of you guys on churchill street looking over a map?? 2 dudes on hondas and they looked like out-of-towners...

[typeone]

nope, only one Honda in our group today, wasn't us but we did run into Fabio on a quad though. shirtless and mirror shades to boot!

[derrickhackman]

yeah, it is pretty crazy how the locals are clearly a different rider than proper out-of-towners

i was riding down Churchill St. on my roadbike and I saw 2 dude stopped and studying over a map. I yelled out to them ... 'lost?' to offer some help and they pretty much said 'nope'...

you guys had perfect weather ...

[tbonehedge]

... we ended up parking at BALANCE ROCK area.

Damn! Missed you guys. I got there about 10:20 (that'll teach me for stopping for a cup of coffee) and by the time I figured out that everyone was parking at Balance Rock it was like 11. Oh well, maybe next time. Had a good time anyway, nice place to ride.

[TTD]

So you unloaded and rode, Tbone?

Did you park at Balance Rock? We went through there a few times checking for you and Jamie.

[tbonehedge]

Yep, I rode from 11 to about 2. I rode the DRZ there that morning so I did unload from a truck or trailer. I was at Balance Rock at 11 (once I finally found it) and then cruised thru again about 12:15 -12:30 hoping to catch you guys eating luch. No luck. I talked to a guy on a KTM at the Balance Rock parking area from Connecticut who said he saw a pack of 6-7 bikes so I knew you guys were there, just couldn't meet up

[Paul_E_D]

If you got on the trail by 11, you beat us out there. I was in the lot with typeone at 11 hangin around waiting for Tony and the late show. We were in the small lot at the top, but Tony and co parked across the road from the access road. We rode from about 11:30 to 2:30.

[ChR1s]

Good time riding with you guys. There were hardly any rocks, that I could see anyway. Cool thing about rocks/ledge -- almost any tire will do, no matter how trashed it is. I was much happy to have the Husky with me and not the YZ yesterday.