new bike at the Knob

It's been a long, cold, and snowy winter.  No winter Knob rides for Ryan and I due to sloppy wet or snow, but we made it out after church for a season opener today.  Not that it was warm, it was below 30, but finally the trail was open.  Even so, there were more muddy spots than I expected.

Ryan was riding sharp on his new Trek Superfly!  After a lap we went back out for some pictures.

MTB with the guys

It's my birthday weekend and I wanted to get out for a mountain bike ride with the guys: Ryan, Daniel, and I. We headed to the Knob and rode some trail.  Daniel was having great fun on his second ever mountain bike ride at the Knob.  (I was going to say second ever bike ride, but that's not true.  He rode with me in Michigan a couple years ago on his Strider bike when he was only three.)

The fellas, and our little cheering lady. 

We rode around the pine tree areas near the pavillion like Daniel and I had done several weeks ago.  This time we ventured further out.  Daniel was responding very well to shouts of "power up bud!"  He was grunting and pushing to ride more of the slight uphills than the last time.  Must've been trying to impress Ryan.

Back to the woods for some more riding.

Once again, I was amused to see little Daniel and bike out there on the trail among the big woods. I look forward to more mountain bike rides with the guys!  I have visions of the three of us packing it up for a riding amd camping trip at Raystown someday.  What fun it will be.

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.

New Knob Fun

They have been busy over the winter at the Knob.  I'm not sure why I never thought to check for work days taking place, I guess I didn't think frozen ground allowed trail work.  Ryan and I met at the Knob this morning for a ride.  Lorson arrived just as we were about to roll out, so we waited a few minutes to roll with him.

Lots of leaf cover at the bottom of Junk Hill.

He was in the know about the new opening section of trail and gave us a guided tour.  The first half mile is the same as last year, then the new stuff comes into play.  Lots of fast downhill, some jumps, tabletops, and doubles contribute to the fun, as well as some berms.  Eventually it's back on the "same 'ol" trail when you drop down the ravine towards the Cradle, which is currently closed.

Ryan snagged this picture as I

came out of the Over/Under.

We rode the first lap and found some mud along the way.  At the end of the first lap we met up with Lorson again and he gave us another guided tour, this time of the new double enduro loop.  We did a couple laps before John had to take off.  This was some fun riding.

Another ride, another muddy bike.

Ryan and I headed back out for a second lap, bypassing the Over/Under and Junk Hill for the sake of time.  It was a fun day at the Knob, the first time there this year for me.

Mid-week at the Knob

Ryan and I made plans to meet up for a Wednesday night right at the Knob.  We were eager to sample the repaired and new trail we worked this past weekend.  Unfortunately it rained in the past couple days and the trails were not prime but still very rideable without undue wear and tear.

The trail work done leading up to the Cradle was very nice, no more ruts to skirt.  The switchbacks were much more rideable, though I continue to botch the first left hander.  The Over Under and Junk Hill were also much more rideable.  I was excited to cleanly ride both in succession on our second lap.

Go left and duck.

The new slalom line on Cheater's Hill will be a fun addition to the course, once it's ridden in and established.  We dropped into it on both laps but the wet conditions and unpacked trail increased the pucker factor.

Go right and drop it.

The days are surely getting shorter as it was getting difficult to see at the tail end of our second lap.  A couple of those woodsy sections felt creepy in the lack of light.  In the final 500 yards of trail a rabbit made it interesting as it darted across the trail right in front of me, contact barely avoided, only to pull a u-turn and dart back in front of me, I think I grazed it.  Back to back panic brakes always kills momentum on the run in to the finish!

A nice gut pile two feet of the trail.  A sure

sign it's fall in deer country.

Trail Work at the Knob

From reading Rody's blog I found out there was a trail day at the Knob this afternoon.  I've always wanted to help out with some donated labor but have not been able to attend in the past.

Rody and Ryan working the dirt.

Many others had the same idea as there were at least 25 or maybe 30 people on scene to get some trail work done.

A crew attacks the Over Under.

We raked, groomed, and even cut some new trail.  On Cheater's Hill we did a reroute which should add some more excitement to this downhill section.  The trail was routed back and forth between the banks to make a kind of half pipe run down to the corner at the bottom.  A berm was built at the bottom as well.

The work gets done in a hurry when an

armed mob descends on the task.

Several guys gave the new section a test ride.  Looks like it will be a bit of a challenge to control speed, find the line, and make it through the final corner in one piece.

Dropping in at the top.  I helped with a lot of

work here, placing and supporting the log

and cutting in the trail.

Hitting the new berm at the bottom.

It was a great afternoon of work, a lot was accomplished.  I look forward to helping out more in the future.  Daniel would probably like to come out and play in the dirt too!

Knob with Patrick

After being rained out yesterday afternoon, which has not happened very often this year, Patrick and I went to the Knob after work today.  We enjoyed a nice ride.  I asked Patrick of his first memory of the Knob and he said his first visit was about 1995 just after the official opening.  It was interesting to hear his comments about different sections of the course and how they had changed over the years.

Towards the end of the course.

Ricardo at the Knob

Ricardo, a friend from work, wanted to hit the Knob before transferring to a new job out of state.  He is headed to South Carolina where I'm sure he will be able to find some good trails to ride.

Arriving at the Knob after work I watched lightning and dark clouds moving in.  Is it really going to rain?  I guess it's been so seldom to have rain this summer it's surprising when the skies actually let down some water.  Ricardo and I set out on a lap and rain it did.

Weather moving in.

At the first crossing of an access road I led us back to the pavilion.  Soaked to the core, we stood in the pavilion and watched the show.  Torrential down pour, lighting, and nearby thunder was frequent.  About 20 minutes later the storm had passed by and two guys rolled into the pavilion having experienced the storm out on the course.  It sounded pretty sketchy.

 Our mounts picked up some mud.

Already geared up, and muddy from our short ride, we decided to head back out and see what we would find.  Puddles were frequent but it seemed much of the rain had run off.  We had a fun, slightly sloppy time riding.  Ricardo's bike handling skill was impressive, the conditions did not seem to affect him.  I'm sure Ricardo will be able to find some off road, two-wheeled fun in his new neighborhood!

Back to the vehicles, sporting some wet dirt.

I enjoyed riding the Karate Monkey for the first time at the Knob.  The handling once again felt natural, which made mazeville fun.  The rigid front end did not beat me up to much, which was a little surprise.  Good ride and display of weather this afternoon!

Guess it's time to wash the shoes.

Dodged the weather at the Knob

It seems everyone else head back to work after the Easter weekend, but I seized the opportunity to extend the weekend another day.  This morning we went for a family hike at Wooster Memorial beneath sunny skies.  The Trillium were on display.

After lunch I decided to head to the Knob.  Driving north the clouds on the horizon had me wondering if I should call KT and ask for a lookup on the weather forecast and radar status.  I declined to do so and pulled into the parking lot, the only car there on a Monday afternoon.

Two days ago I got in a lap and found the rearranged beginning a bit of a surprise.  Ryan had told me about it, but it took me a little bit of head turning to understand what had been done.  I think I liked it better before but I'm sure the old route will be forgotten before long.

The overpass is now in play.

A couple days ago I felt really good and thought I was handling the bike well.  It seems I had a slower start today but I got the feel back.  I'm still liking the new tire on the rear, though I did had one chain drop with the new Jump Stop today.

They don't call it Junk Hill for nothin'.

I came out of the woods into the Furnace and was greeted by some threatening skies.  Back to the car?  No, I'll ride until it rains.  I finished out the lap dry.  Try for another?  Oh yeah.  The second time around I was feeling good and the view up the Furnace was starkly calmer.  Nice day for a ride.

Lap 1... not looking good.

 Lap 2... no worries.

On the way home I called KT.  "How wet are you?" was her first question.  Apparently there was a torrential downpour or two at home.  She had looked at the radar map and was certain I was drenched.  Thankfully not!  At least not this time.

Knob by night and day

Tuesday this past week Noah and I went for a night hike at the Knob.  There were no bikes involved but it was a fun adventure in the dark.  Well, it was not as dark as it could have been due to the nearly full moon.  At times we turned our light off because the moonlight was sufficient to see.

Noah had a new Fenix flashlight that put out some very usable light.  I had my Cygolite bike light strapped to my helmet, which I've never done before, and a smaller Fenix flashlight.  It took us 2 hours to hike the trail from start to the top of the Furnace.  It made me realize a night ride on a mountain bike, with the right light, would not be as deathly as I had thought.  I'd want to know the trail for sure, but a bright night and bright head mounted light made riding look fun.



All that hiking in the dark made me want to ride, a not-so-suprising result of walking a mountain bike trail I suppose.  This afternoon I went to the knob again, this time with bike.  Yet another Saturday of perfect weather.  It was 54 degrees when I was driving, very nice for mid November.

I had a very enjoyable ride, taking my time, scanning the scenery, and breathing the fresh air.  Towards the end of the first lap I thought the bike was handling funny.  Is that wind pushing me around?  (It was gusty, especially outside the protection of the woods.)  No, that would be a front tire with about 0.75 psi in it.  I stopped to change out the tube.  I really did not spend much time trying to identify what kind of flat it was.

 I really do not do this often enough to

think about tubeless, but I'm thinking

about tubeless.

Back to the car after the first lap I pumped so more air into the front tire.  A single 12g CO2 cartridge lets you inflate and ride but it leaves you babying it until you can get more air.  Hmmm... ride more?  I'd like to, but no spare tube to carry.  Note to self: I should keep a couple spare tubes in the car.

I started a second lap hoping to not experience a second flat or I'd be walking or using a patch kit trailside.  The day was getting late and I still wanted to do yard work at home, so I figured I'd bail out at an access road crossing.  Well, I was having too much fun so I kept riding.

 The Cradle.

About 25 pedal strokes before emerging from the wood onto the furnace I once again wondered why the bike was handling funny.  Wow, the front tire is really noisy on the trail.  Yeah, it was flat again.  At the last tire change I had swept the inside of the tire looking for debris but never found it. 

So, I finished my ride the same way Noah and I finished our night hike, with a walk up the Furnace and back to the car.

Man Down

For the last several weeks I've been taking my mountain bike to work with me in the back of the car.  Beginning on Tuesday I have bike and gear with me in hopes of getting out at a decent time and making it to the Knob.  I'm not sure that I ever made it over there on Tuesday, but I kept my stuff in the car and was able to ride either Wednesday or Thursday as my work schedule allowed.

After riding the Knob several weeks in a row I was starting to feel better connected with the course and felt like I was riding pretty good today.  As the lap went on I felt progressively faster.  After the Furnace and before getting back into the heavier woods I looked ahead and saw a banked corner.  I thought to myself "oh, I'm gonna rip that corner".  Problem is there was a little turn just before getting to the banker and I leaned too hard and lost the front wheel on some dusty trail.  Wham!  I was skidding down the trail head first in the ol' superman position.  I jumped up and looked at myself to find a bloody elbow, no ripped clothing, and not much else.  But, the elbow was leaking pretty good and was full of dirt.

Without much more than a pause I jumped back on the bike and followed the course, a bit slower, to get back to my car.  Oh man, brand new car and I'm dripping dirty blood.  I asked a guy in the parking lot if he had any first aid supplies, but all he had was a roll of paper towels.  After packing my bike up I was about to mummify my arm with paper towels when I looked in my front seat and remembered the stop I had made on the way to the Knob.  KT had asked me to pick up diapers for Ellen... perfect!  I strapped on an infant size 0 diaper on my elbow and drove home without concern over staining my new interior.

 In addition to a first aid kit, I'm going to keep several diapers

in the car for such situations.  It worked well!

 Ouch.

 Gross.

Solo Knob

Rode at the knob after work today.  Given the warm and finally dry weather of the past week or more I was surprised how wet the course was.  Maizeville was a mess and I bypassed it on the second lap.

 Another sun setting vulture picture.

It was within 20 or 30 minutes of sunset when I got back to the car.  I took a couple pictures of what I have to believe is an often photographed sign and packed my stuff back into the car.  About this time a couple "kids" showed up in a truck and jumped on their Mongoose bikes.  I was trying to figure out how they were going to get in a ride before dark.  I hope they had fun.

Ride complete, ready to head home.

Muddy Knob

Friday is a good day of the week, and knowing all day long my bike and gear were in truck and I was meeting Ryan for a ride at the Knob after work made it even better.  There were a handful of vehicles there when I pulled.  I guess we were not the only ones glad to get out after another week of wet weather.  We hoped the last couple days of no rain had been enough to dry the course.

We talked to the Soupcan guys before rolling out.  The first portion of the course was in good shape, a few puddles but nothing too wet.  Later in the ride we encountered some really wet sections with lots of standing water.

 Ryan coming up the access rode at the end of our ride.

After finishing a lap we decided to head out for another half lap.  I enjoyed riding the Cradle for the first time but didn't fair so well on the switchbacks.  Once again we squished our way through the wet sections and bailed at the top of the Furnace to get back to our vehicles.

It was a great way to spend a Friday evening!  And I'll be spending tomorrow morning washing this filthy bike.

Dried on mud.