Riding in DE...

[seburkhardt]

Well, i've been in DE for over a week now and i have managed to get out for a ride at the local spot. "Brandywine" is about 3.5 miles up the road from me, and is touted as one of the best Wilmington-area riding spots. The locals claim it has ~28miles of trails.

My latest ride is charted in the pasted pic, GoogleEarth kml available at request. I met up with a local and we did about 9.5 miles in 1.5hours. The ride was mostly hardpack/loose-over-hard but we did hit "the most technical trail" which consisted of a few rock gardens with rocks about watermelon sized. The local walked these, i rode right over them There were (surprisingly) some long climbs there, and some extended, super fun downhills. The trails are pretty open and the rocks/roots are far enough apart that cheap airs are easy and abundant. Lastly, the terrain changes alot, and some of the wide open "sound of music" settings were pretty freakin' sweet. Also note that a lot of the ride follows along the Brandywine Creek, which is pretty nice.

Over the weekend i headed up to Albany to meet some friends. We rode SMBA trails in Saratoga, NY on Friday night, Yokun Ridge in Lenox, MA on Saturday (epic ride!), then we hit up "Jungle Habitat" in NJ on the way back South (relentless baby head sized rocks). Big riding weekend.

I also demo'd a Yelli Screamy for Saturday and i will soon be a 29er HT convert.

Tonight i am heading out to "Middle Run/White Clay", which has been described as "a giant pumptrack". I'm sure a 29er HT would be a better bike than my 5.5" Turner Spot, but i will make do. I'll try to get better pics/updates for the future.

[Intyme]

It's about time you recognize the power of an ht 29......

Sounds like some good riding! I read about that place in jersey in my dirt rag magazine, you can get it at any local bookstore.....

[BrendaSmith]

I also demo'd a Yelli Screamy for Saturday and i will soon be a 29er HT convert.

Whaaaaa?????????? Dost mine eyes deceive me??? Says the man who gave me so much cr@p for riding "wagon wheels"???

Sorry, but you knew I'd have to give you a hard time about that. It sounds like you're getting a lot of great riding in! Hope everything is going well for you down there!

[StinkyRAD]

I live just outside Philly, If you want a tour of the more technical terrain you'll probably need to drive North about an hour. I'll be glad to show you some spots. My name is Dan, and I used to live in Ithaca. Steve and Adam know me if you need references. Send me a PM if your interested.

White clay is smooth sailing and fun, don't miss the skills section sound like you'll have no problem with the features. White clay does have some skinnies, nothing like statistics, but fun nonetheless. For the best map of White Clay goto Kencox.net. Later

[seburkhardt]

I live just outside Philly, If you want a tour of the more technical terrain you'll probably need to drive North about an hour. I'll be glad to show you some spots. My name is Dan, and I used to live in Ithaca. Steve and Adam know me if you need references.

Thanks! I am definitely interested and will get in touch with you.

White Clay/Middle Run was, as promised, a giant pumptrack. It was awesome. Dusty hardpack trails with tons of little pumpers thrown in. The trails have great flow We covered over 15 miles in 1.5 hours, and i rode the entire time with my shock's propedal on. We did hit the skills section, which was overall pretty easy. They have some big teeter-totters there! There are other various skinnies thrown in all around the trail system, most of which are of decent length and include some curves.

I was going to bring my GPS and track the ride, but when i got there i realized that i was riding with some racer-types, and i barely even wanted to bring my camelbak. I gotta ditch this 32lb bike!

[seburkhardt]

Says the man who gave me so much cr@p for riding "wagon wheels"???

Well...see, the original 29er geos were way off. Long wheelbases, long chainstays, etc. Those bikes don't handle in our woods. BUT, some of the new school geos are great -- Canfield Yellie, Banshee Paradox, Transition TransAM 29, Kona Honzo. All those HTs hit the mark with shorter wheelbase and chainstays, low BB, etc. They can be manuevered around our trails much more easily.

Of course, i am just making excuses. Now i have seen the light and all that. Actually, it happened when i rode my 26" rigid at HH. I rediscovered the joys of riding the rear wheel, low BB, short CS, short WB. It was a freaking joy to ride that bike. I think i might put a suspension fork on it and move over to that while i sort out the next bike. I just haven't figured out how to make it seamless, because i don't have the fork. Maybe i need to buy a 26" AM hardtail as a transition bike? Dunno. I'm working on it.

Perhaps i should just ditch the 29er all together, then pick up an aggressive 26" HT frame and fork and call it done for a bit. I still need The Spot, i think...in case i want to get a little crazy.

[Intyme]

Dude! They still make a 26 ht? Welcome to the 90's I guess just bite the bullet and get a 29er you will enjoy it

[seburkhardt]

Dude! They still make a 26 ht? Welcome to the 90's I guess just bite the bullet and get a 29er you will enjoy it

Sure, just send me a check to cover the wheels and fork and i will be all set. On the other hand, i can just buy a 26" frame and swap my current wheels and fork over...then save for the hefty pricetag of a 29" frame+fork+wheels. Out here, 29" will still be nice, but i can definitely get away with 26" and they will flow a little better on the jumpy/pumpy stuff.

In fact, i think i will be getting a graduation gift soon. I am hoping it will cover a used Transition TransAM or Chromag Stylus. Looking for a steel frame that i will keep for a while. I'll keep everyone updated...

[seburkhardt]

Thought i'd post some pics from a little family hike today. We went to my usual riding area, was out there yesterday for a brisk 10 miles. It's a pretty stellar landscape, IMO. The terrain at this place kind of winds through woods, a state park, and out into this pretty open area. The trail wraps out in the background for quite a ways and then comes down from that hill, alongside the house in the background. Then you can climb back up and head into the woods on the right hand side of the panorama shot. This place has ~30miles of trails supposedly, but i think i have only manged to get to know a max of 20. There are still spurs i haven't checked out, and connections i haven't made. Once spring rolls around i am hoping i can get close to a 20mile loop with a little exploring.

Terrain is typically very dry and dusty in the summer -- hardpack or loose over. Very XC. No real drops or features to speak of, but there are a few steep and technical downhills and some super chunky rocky gardens.

If anyone is heading down I-95, stop off in Wilmington and give me a shout... These trails are only about 5-10minutes off the interstate and 5 minutes from my house.

[seburkhardt]

Here are some pics of Asher and I getting radical at the same trail system...this time mostly up on a ridge that is ~1mile from the previous pics... then we hike back down to the river. You can see where we parked ight behind Asher in the first pic.

[StinkyRAD]

Are you at white clay?

[seburkhardt]

Nay. Brandywine. White Clay is like 20 minutes south, and, while fun, does not offer any variety of terrain -- flat, fast hardpack is pretty much all there is at WC (you probably know this?). They have a fun little feature section with teeter-totters and stuff, but it still doesn't really get the adrenaline pumping...

Brandywine at least has a few rock gardens that compare to the Norther NJ and PA stuff. And there is elevation too. Not so much at WC. Brandywine is the most technical spot around without driving to Wiss.