More Bacon’s Wicked Ride of the East Ride Report

While sipping the last of my Taylor Fladgate 10 Year Tawny Porto at 1:30 am last night and listening to the rain slap the side of my building silly, I had every intention of emailing Flying Donut to let him know that my bike is still suffering mechanical issues and I won’t be able to attend the ride in the wet morning.

However, I was internally conflicted.  The guru at Big Bikes highly recommended the Wicked Ride of the East, and I was interested in discovering new terrain, especially when it’s only 35 minutes from my front door.

When I awoke Sunday morning to the glorious sunshine, perfect Norman Rockwellian New England fall day, I figured “hell, I can just walk around the mud puddles and still enjoy the ride, keeping my bike safe as I’m not racing anyone….”  This is the kind of self-talk that gets me out of bed in the mornings.

I’ve been starting to burn out a bit on the bike racing (I’m still writing my race report for the 2009 Battenkill from last April), and haven’t been on my cushy mountain bike since the Vermont 50 as some of you might have read about here.  Last night, I took my beautiful BMC (read my VT 50 report on all the abuse it too) over to El Presidente’s house for a little lesson in proper bike care.  We replaced the derailleur cables, brake cables, lubed it, replaced four brake pads, but left the derailleur in a state of not spinning well, and called it a night.  I was at least rolling.

We were limited on the camera we brought today, as we were more interested in riding.  However, we tried catching a couple shots of the great terrain.

Here’s some kick-ass photographic timing and sharp focus.  I understand the photographer had difficulty because I was going so damn fast:

Here’s Flying Donut on one of the many built-up bridges.  Lost of fun and great trails:

Another of me on the same fun bridge – yes, we rode this backwards because the sun was in our faces – in case you’re keeping track:

Finally, one last one of Flying Donut:

Actually, all the photos just semi-suck because we’re not used to using point-and-shoot technology that can be stuffed in a Camel Back.

The Pros about riding at Harold Parker:

1. No hills, just pimply undulations.  Perfect single speeding spot for mortals.
2. Good mix of flowy dirt and technical rocks and roots
3. Minimal time spent on pavement
4. Beautiful scenery, especially enhanced by fall colors, sunshine, and lots of pond overlooks.
5. Location, location, location…close to town.

Flying Donut and myself joined NEMBA, so you might see us around more at some of these organized fun rides.

And to further boot, Fling Donut got a sweet new single speed Spot Longboard with a belt drive.

We learned a lesson riding this new terrain (for us): we need to venture out from the same two or three trails we ride for training rides.  There’s so much great riding within an hour of Boston and Harold Parker didn’t disappoint.  Great event put on my Nemba, and I’m definitely going to try and do some more of their organized rides next year.

I’m sad the days left on the mountain bike are so few this year.  Better get the backcountry ski gear warmed up.

Technorati Tags: mountain biking,new england,harold parker state park,wicked ride of the east,nemba,mtb