2013 Spring Trip to Raystown 3

After a solid meal at Kelly's Korner last night we enjoyed soft beds.  I slept like a rock.  With the damp conditions and satisfied from yesterday's ride we decided to head for home.  Before leaving town we stopped into the local coffee shop for some food and drink.

We had Aeropress coffee which

was quite tasty.

For the trip home we headed north to I-80.  No Pittsburgh road construction detour on the return trip.  I think this northern route is the better way to go.  The drive home was nice and uneventful with some rain along the way.

Ready to roll out.

The kids were excited to see me and especially liked playing in the tent while I had it setup in the driveway to dry.  Before long I had the gear back in it's place and another satisfying road trip completed.  It was nice to have some time to chill out before getting to bed for work tomorrow.

My little campers.

Ellen found her own door.

2013 Spring Trip to Raystown 2

Sunday morning we woke up to some nice sunshine, but something was up.  As we ate breakfast there was an occasional gust of wind and then still again.  It seemed like a weather change was moving in.  I talked to KT and got a wet forecast for the afternoon and overnight.

Sunrise wakeup.

We heated up some porridge, made some coffee, and enjoyed breakfast before gearing up for today's long ride.  I tended to a squeaky rear brake and Ryan checked his crank arm bolt before we rolled out.

Breakfast is on.

Morning in camp.

The penalty for camping closer to the water is an uphill road climb to start the ride.  Last year we were right alongside the trail but had no view of the lake.  I would say the lakeside view is worth a small warm-up climb.  We were to the trailhead by the visitor's center in 7 minutes.

Heading out on the trails.

Today we would ride the east side trails, as many as we could and some more than once.  The flowing singletrack was great fun and the trails were in perfect shape.  Dirtfest was in a couple weeks and there were some crews out blowing leaves early in our ride.

Corners everywhere.

Some rocks to be found.

We found some mud too, but not much.

There was no route plan for the day, we just made it up as we went.  A couple hours into the ride and a rainy drizzle started to fall. We donned rain jackets, as much to stay warm as dry.  Ryan had an unexpected rear flat but his Stans sealant clogged the leak.  Some CO2 was needed to get back to pressure.

Redbuds were here and there.

Picture while stopped.

Some nice roots to look at while

Ryan is fixing a flat.

After about 4.5 hours of riding we were heading back to the start but decided to do one last loop.  On the outbound part of the loop I started having some unexpected handling issues, I thought it was slippery terrain from the rain.  On the inbound part of the loop I was really all over the place but still thought it was me.  A little further down the trail I realized my front tire was flat.  At least there was an explanation for my sudden inability to corner!

My turn to fix a flat.

No recurring tire issues and we arrived back to camp about 6 hours after leaving.  We were tired but not wrecked.  Hot showers felt good.  About this time we made the decision to pack up camp given the wet forecast.  Before leaving I had scoped out a couple cheap mom and pop hotels and we decided to visit one. Good to know there is a bailout option nearby if the weather does not cooperate.

The royal treatment tonight for the bikes...

and bikers.

2013 Spring Trip to Raystown 1

We loaded up the car and pulled out of Ryan's driveway with the sun in our eyes.  As we drove into Pittsburgh I made the statement that I liked the city, based on our view from the highway on this trip and our trip to Raystown last fall.  I was forced to change my mind, however, after an hour long detour through winding neighborhood streets and the ghetto.  There were cops at every intersection in the run down section of town.  First we thought they were there to assist the detouring traffic, but soon realized they were there to protect the detouring traffic.

Anyhow, we made it to Hudington, PA about an hour later than expected but had no worries because the day was ours.  We picked out a campsite at the Army Corps of Engineers campgrounds, this time down by the lake for some scenery.  Like our first day of arrival last year, we headed out for a couple hours of riding.

Ready to ride, until Ryan aptly pointed out I

had forgotten to put on mountain bike shoes.

Riding the west side side trails.

A view to our campsite on the opposite

side of the lake.  Note the red cliffs.

Enjoying the ride.

U turn.

Strange tree trail side.

Uphill U turn.

Back at the campsite we changed bikes for cooking gear and heated some beef barley stew I had made at home.  No real cooking this trip, we had prepared food to heat.

Back to our campsite.

With bowls of hot stew in hand we scrambled down to the aforementioned red rocky cliffs and ate our dinner at water's edge.  The sun was going down in front of us and made a nice sight.  Ryan busted out his loon call after we heard and spotted one floating out on the lake.  He was doing good and getting responses to his calls!

Eat and phone home.

Sunset on Raystown Lake.

Loon calling after sunset.

Cradle Complete

After church Daniel and I headed straight to the Knob.  We started the Cradle rebuild project and wanted to be part of finishing it.  Operation complete... it's open again!

All hands on the deck.

Daniel got some hammer time.

Kevin stapling the chicken wire.

Just about ready to ride.

Smoothie

After today's bike ride I decided to make myself a "power smoothie" to "aid recovery", or something like that.  Daniel was eager to help when he saw the blender and numerous ingredients being accumulated on the counter.

He was particularly amused by

bananas floating in water.

We added bananas, blueberries, prunes, flax seed, protein powder, chia seeds, and other stuff I cannot remember.  Pretty much whatever I could find in the pantry.  A flip of the switch and we had an oddly colored pitcher of drink.  Daniel got out the glasses, one for me and one for him.  We poured some smoothie sludge and sat down to drink.

The tasting did not go so well for Daniel.  Here he

has just taken a drink, exclaimed "nasty!", and

is in the process of attempting to wipe

the taste of his tongue.

Gravel & Hills Around Loudonville

I always like making plans for a weekend ride mid-week.  Then, the last few days of the week there is some fun to anticipate.  Ryan and I made plans to head down to Loudonville and do a gravel road ride, the same one we did last spring.

Cross bikes this year.

We left the mountain bike parking lot and headed north on SR3 to Wally Road.  Much like last year I started out a little cold, but we remembered a good hill off Wally Road that would warm us up soon.

Bouncing down a gravel road.

The day was overcast and breezy.  It didn't feel like spring, more like a warmish winter day.  There was little vehicle traffic to be encountered on the roads we pedaled.

Going up.

The rain of the previous week founds its way to the rivers around Loudonville.  We had a couple bridge crossings and the brown water was churning away, high on the banks.

Bikes on a bridge.

After some good riding we ended up down by the Mohican Wilderness course.  We started up the gravel road climb past the Tree Frog Canopy place.  I'm not sure how I didn't remember this climb from our ride of this route last year.  Perhaps it was not too big of a deal on a low gear mountain bike, but this year on my not-geared-for-climbing cross bike it was a grunt fest.  As Ryan later described it, "each pedal stroke was a one rep max effort."  I was proud to make it up without walking, without falling over due to low speed, and without cramping up or exploding.

Last sight before chuggin' up a hill... slowly.

The last effort of the day was a punchy but short climb past Landoll's Castle and we were soon back to the parking lot, satisfied with the climbing we put in our legs.

Cradle Construction with DNL

Since riding at the Knob last Saturday, Ryan and I met up for a Wednesday night Knob ride as well.  What a difference four days made, the mud was gone and it was nearly dusty.  I went out and rode some laps of the new opening section before Ryan arrived and I bumped into Dustin of 331.  He said a work day was scheduled for Sunday to work on the Cradle.

I decided a little construction project in the woods would be great fun for Daniel.  He was also eager for an adventure.  We hiked out to the Cradle with gloves and shovel in hand.

A stripped off cradle.

We jumped in on the work and began stripping off the old planks.  It didn't take long with several guys working together.  The next task was to reinforce the beams or stretchers that run the length of the bridge.

Re-decking underway.  Jason, Dennis, John, and Ray

sizing up the new stretchers.

Daniel and I got to business setting and nailing new deck planks.  Daniel helped hand the planks over after Jason cut them, and I nailed them down.  Daniel was also my nail supply man.

Six nails per plank, about 52 planks...

we did a lot of nailing!

Unfortunately we ran out of decking before making it to the other side.  The hard work is done with the stretchers, now it's just smacking some more nails to finish it off once more decking is available.  Of course hiking the deck boards out to the Cradle is the other effort required.

Part way across.

Daniel and I hit Subway on the way home as we had worked up a hunger.  It was a fun time out in the woods.  Daniel brought quite a bit of Knob dirt home with him from exploring the creek and hill sides.  It will be easier to throw him in the bath tub than a mountain bike!

Agent P joined us for lunch.