Sunday Morning Mass 4-2-00

Sunday

Morning

Mass

April 4, 2004

Text, Photos and Layout

Eli Madden

A group of riders meets every Sunday at one of our favorite spots for Sunday Morning Mass. This was the second mass of the season. It's about 7 miles out of town, so I bummed a ride from Pete, and we left my house around 8:45. We arrived in the parking lot to find Greg, Herbie, and Brian getting ready for the morning's ride.

Herbie was going to unveil his latest trail creation - "Triple XXX". Herbie lives and grew up in this area, and knows it well. He has been creating some incredible trails over the last couple years.

We geared up, exchanged a little small talk, then began the grind up the hill.

The "road" up the mountain is a rough dirt road/trail that gets a fair amount of ATV traffic. It's a good pitch, but not too rutted considering how wet it can be. A stone/gravel base keeps the ruts from forming. There are frequent water bars, some a few feet tall. These are especially fun coming back down.

The climb continued, and I regretted eating a huge diner breakfast less than an hour before. Eggs, ham, toast, and clam chowder combined with the early season to slow my progress up the hill.

We made our way past "The Saddle", then turned onto the trail past the beaver dam. We were unable to cross the pond in the middle, so we had to balance on the dam itself. We made our way across, then cut through the woods back to the trail. Another small bit of climbing, then we turned onto "Sticks and Stones", one of Herbie's more challenging trails.

We slowly proceeded down Sticks and Stones, taking a fairly slow, early season pace. The beginning has some nice tight climbs up ledges, squeezing between trees. I had to do the old side to side maneuver with my riser bars several times when I slipped through a gap.

The trail was surprisingly clear for the early season. Herbie's care was very evident. These tough trails get very little use, and our tracks in the damp soil and thick leaves had little impact. Occasionally someone would spin a tire and leave a mark for future riders to follow.

We soon came to the biggest drop on "Sticks and Stones". It's a nice ledge, with the trail going across the top, then hooking back left just below the top. Another 12 feet later is a steep right hand corner leading into a nice stone and dirt chute dodging through trees. Brian was in the lead and pulled it, with just a slight slide at the top. My tires got a bit wet just before the hard right, and I slid and had to dab on the top of the drop. I took the walk, then got in position for a few pics.

Pete was next and pulled it cleanly. He's really enjoying his new Marzocchi QR20. On the shot to the right he's about to turn into the drop.

Go Petey Go!

Greg followed Pete, with about the same results as me. The ground is still quite wet, and puddles are everyhere to make things nice and slick.

After another rocky climb we made the hard uphill left turn onto "Triple XXX". This was the first time that Herbie has taken a group on this trail.

We slipped past the tress, climbing ledges, ride over logs, descended ledges. Herbie had done a lot of work. Many logs had cleanly placed smaller logs on either side, allowing people to roll over the top.

The picture on the right shows Gregg about to ride across some logs that have been placed in the hole left by a tree that was blown over.

The trail went down a bit and we went through a more wooded area. Some more ledges, then a beautiful section with a launch off the top of a rock, followed 15 feet later by a left turn leading down a rock onto a few logs for an angled descent.

On the right is Pete launching off the top of the first rock. He was riding very well today!

Below is a pic of me rolling over the launch rock, and trying to figure out what lies beyond the drop that's up ahead. I rode it, staying nice and far back as I rolled over the logs at the bottom.

Down and to the right is Pete riding down the rock onto the logs.

We paused for a brief break, then continued on our way. This area has such a nice combination of woods and ledges, with very nice grippy soil. The trail was very new, and it would have been hard to follow without Herbie's guidance. A few skuff marks in the leaves were the only clue to follow when someone fell behind the group.

On the right is Brian heading for a nice descent between some rocks.

"Triple XXX" dumped us out onto the old road /trail that heads down the mountain on the east side.

We turned onto the trail and went left, up the mountain. It was very wet and as the pitch increased, so did our effort, until we were all left pushing our bikes. In the few areas that you could ride, your tires would sink an inch or two into the wet gravel/dirt.

We paused to let a young woman ride past, heading down. She endoed nicely while crossing a stream, laughed, then continued on.

We all stood there with stupid grins.

Soon the pitch lessened enough to allow us to pedal through the muck. We climbed some more, then crossed back over the beaver dam. A last bit of snow was hiding in the shadows.

When we reached the "main trail" we turned right and climbed. We said hi to some people we knew who were hiking, then went up the first rock garden. My breakfast was fully processed by now and I was able to power right up, picking nice lines between the rocks, past Pete and Herbie. I didn't get any pics of this area, but they'll be in other reports from this mountain.

We labored up the main trail, and reached the top after passing through some more rock gardens and large switchbacks.

We enjoyed the view across the farmland of Lake Champlain to the west. The Adirondacks were visible through a hazy sky. Brian discovered that his rear hub was in bad shape. The axle appeared broken, and the freehub was not freewheeling properly. It was still rideable so he left it alone.

We headed down the north end of the mountain, on "The Chutes". This is a nice double track that serves as a snowmobile trail in the winter. It can be fairly fast, and some corners are nicely bermed.

We sped down the trail, then Herbie slowed and came to a stop. He pulled aside a pine tree on the left side of the trail and led us up "The Altar".

This was my first time on this trail. Herbie had created it last fall, and I had missed the few rides that had gone on it.

We wound through the woods. It was another ledge and woods trail, with some woods fairly open from recent logging. We looped back across the west side of the mountain, through some more thin woods.

The pic to the right is Herbie riding on "The Altar".

A few rock drops of a few feet each offered a nice break from the tree-slalom. After a while we came back out onto exposed rock and stopped for a break. It started to lightly drizzle.

We then continued back towards the top of the mountain. Soon we were back on "The Chutes" and finished the climb back to the top.

We went past the view this time and headed back down the main trail. A short ways from the top we turned on "People's" trail.

This trail runs down the mountain from the top, roughly parallel to the main trail. A small pond is at the top, separated from the edge of the mountain by approximately 25 feet of rock. The rock has a nice light purple moss on it. The group was moving fast or I would have taken a panorama shot of it.

We bombed down "People's". The other riders were well ahead of me by now, and I let it rip, wishing for discs as my rear pads wore further into the rim with every pull of the lever. The rear brake was not doing much beyond grinding the rim, and I had to ride the front break hard. I kept it in control and blasted through the rock fields and between the trees. A nice log offerered a good jump. It was nice to have the corners not concealed by trees, and I wasn't worried about surprising hikers. It's still a bit early in the season, and we had only seen the one group. During the summer this area can have quite a few people on the trails, at least by Vermont standards. We always take care not to scare the soccer moms.

We were soon back on the main trail, and zipped the rest of the way down, catching air off the waterbars.

We stood around the vehicles for a bit, recounting the day's ride. We had been on the mountain for 4 hours. We all agreed that Brian won the body damage award for the day with his bloody shins. Brad was in the parking lot when we returned. He had missed us due to not setting his clock ahead, but had ridden around by himself for a while. He came back to the parking lot around the same time we came back. We all chatted a bit, then went our ways.

	Sunday Morning Mass April 4, 2004	Text, Photos and Layout by Eli Madden
	A group of riders meets every Sunday at one of our favorite spots for Sunday Morning Mass. This was the second mass of the season. It's about 7 miles out of town, so I bummed a ride from Pete, and we left my house around 8:45. We arrived in the parking lot to find Greg, Herbie, and Brian getting ready for the morning's ride. Herbie was going to unveil his latest trail creation - "Triple XXX". Herbie lives and grew up in this area, and knows it well. He has been creating some incredible trails over the last couple years. We geared up, exchanged a little small talk, then began the grind up the hill. The "road" up the mountain is a rough dirt road/trail that gets a fair amount of ATV traffic. It's a good pitch, but not too rutted considering how wet it can be. A stone/gravel base keeps the ruts from forming. There are frequent water bars, some a few feet tall. These are especially fun coming back down. The climb continued, and I regretted eating a huge diner breakfast less than an hour before. Eggs, ham, toast, and clam chowder combined with the early season to slow my progress up the hill. We made our way past "The Saddle", then turned onto the trail past the beaver dam. We were unable to cross the pond in the middle, so we had to balance on the dam itself. We made our way across, then cut through the woods back to the trail. Another small bit of climbing, then we turned onto "Sticks and Stones", one of Herbie's more challenging trails. We slowly proceeded down Sticks and Stones, taking a fairly slow, early season pace. The beginning has some nice tight climbs up ledges, squeezing between trees. I had to do the old side to side maneuver with my riser bars several times when I slipped through a gap. The trail was surprisingly clear for the early season. Herbie's care was very evident. These tough trails get very little use, and our tracks in the damp soil and thick leaves had little impact. Occasionally someone would spin a tire and leave a mark for future riders to follow. We soon came to the biggest drop on "Sticks and Stones". It's a nice ledge, with the trail going across the top, then hooking back left just below the top. Another 12 feet later is a steep right hand corner leading into a nice stone and dirt chute dodging through trees. Brian was in the lead and pulled it, with just a slight slide at the top. My tires got a bit wet just before the hard right, and I slid and had to dab on the top of the drop. I took the walk, then got in position for a few pics. Pete was next and pulled it cleanly. He's really enjoying his new Marzocchi QR20. On the shot to the right he's about to turn into the drop. Go Petey Go! Greg followed Pete, with about the same results as me. The ground is still quite wet, and puddles are everyhere to make things nice and slick. After another rocky climb we made the hard uphill left turn onto "Triple XXX". This was the first time that Herbie has taken a group on this trail. We slipped past the tress, climbing ledges, ride over logs, descended ledges. Herbie had done a lot of work. Many logs had cleanly placed smaller logs on either side, allowing people to roll over the top. The picture on the right shows Gregg about to ride across some logs that have been placed in the hole left by a tree that was blown over. The trail went down a bit and we went through a more wooded area. Some more ledges, then a beautiful section with a launch off the top of a rock, followed 15 feet later by a left turn leading down a rock onto a few logs for an angled descent. On the right is Pete launching off the top of the first rock. He was riding very well today! Below is a pic of me rolling over the launch rock, and trying to figure out what lies beyond the drop that's up ahead. I rode it, staying nice and far back as I rolled over the logs at the bottom. Down and to the right is Pete riding down the rock onto the logs.

	We paused for a brief break, then continued on our way. This area has such a nice combination of woods and ledges, with very nice grippy soil. The trail was very new, and it would have been hard to follow without Herbie's guidance. A few skuff marks in the leaves were the only clue to follow when someone fell behind the group. On the right is Brian heading for a nice descent between some rocks. "Triple XXX" dumped us out onto the old road /trail that heads down the mountain on the east side. We turned onto the trail and went left, up the mountain. It was very wet and as the pitch increased, so did our effort, until we were all left pushing our bikes. In the few areas that you could ride, your tires would sink an inch or two into the wet gravel/dirt. We paused to let a young woman ride past, heading down. She endoed nicely while crossing a stream, laughed, then continued on. We all stood there with stupid grins. Soon the pitch lessened enough to allow us to pedal through the muck. We climbed some more, then crossed back over the beaver dam. A last bit of snow was hiding in the shadows. When we reached the "main trail" we turned right and climbed. We said hi to some people we knew who were hiking, then went up the first rock garden. My breakfast was fully processed by now and I was able to power right up, picking nice lines between the rocks, past Pete and Herbie. I didn't get any pics of this area, but they'll be in other reports from this mountain. We labored up the main trail, and reached the top after passing through some more rock gardens and large switchbacks. We enjoyed the view across the farmland of Lake Champlain to the west. The Adirondacks were visible through a hazy sky. Brian discovered that his rear hub was in bad shape. The axle appeared broken, and the freehub was not freewheeling properly. It was still rideable so he left it alone. We headed down the north end of the mountain, on "The Chutes". This is a nice double track that serves as a snowmobile trail in the winter. It can be fairly fast, and some corners are nicely bermed. We sped down the trail, then Herbie slowed and came to a stop. He pulled aside a pine tree on the left side of the trail and led us up "The Altar". This was my first time on this trail. Herbie had created it last fall, and I had missed the few rides that had gone on it. We wound through the woods. It was another ledge and woods trail, with some woods fairly open from recent logging. We looped back across the west side of the mountain, through some more thin woods. The pic to the right is Herbie riding on "The Altar". A few rock drops of a few feet each offered a nice break from the tree-slalom. After a while we came back out onto exposed rock and stopped for a break. It started to lightly drizzle. We then continued back towards the top of the mountain. Soon we were back on "The Chutes" and finished the climb back to the top. We went past the view this time and headed back down the main trail. A short ways from the top we turned on "People's" trail. This trail runs down the mountain from the top, roughly parallel to the main trail. A small pond is at the top, separated from the edge of the mountain by approximately 25 feet of rock. The rock has a nice light purple moss on it. The group was moving fast or I would have taken a panorama shot of it. We bombed down "People's". The other riders were well ahead of me by now, and I let it rip, wishing for discs as my rear pads wore further into the rim with every pull of the lever. The rear brake was not doing much beyond grinding the rim, and I had to ride the front break hard. I kept it in control and blasted through the rock fields and between the trees. A nice log offerered a good jump. It was nice to have the corners not concealed by trees, and I wasn't worried about surprising hikers. It's still a bit early in the season, and we had only seen the one group. During the summer this area can have quite a few people on the trails, at least by Vermont standards. We always take care not to scare the soccer moms. We were soon back on the main trail, and zipped the rest of the way down, catching air off the waterbars. We stood around the vehicles for a bit, recounting the day's ride. We had been on the mountain for 4 hours. We all agreed that Brian won the body damage award for the day with his bloody shins. Brad was in the parking lot when we returned. He had missed us due to not setting his clock ahead, but had ridden around by himself for a while. He came back to the parking lot around the same time we came back. We all chatted a bit, then went our ways.