okay, i am by no means a pro or anything, but there are some kickass trails near my apartment in laurel. the weather forecast is calling for rain through saturday, and clouds on sunday, the 25th.

so...i know there are tons of you in the college park area. anyone up for some semi technical stuff on the 25th? start sometime around noon and finish up with a bbq at my place?

contact me asap so i can set this up and make sure i've got enough food. email is best, but you can also reach me through the board and IM.

what you need to bring:

- you
- your bike + gear
- towel
- change of clothes
- competitive (read trashtalkin') attitude

what you'll get:

- muddy
- $*** eating grin on your face
- burgers, dogs, chicken, and a few steaks

if there's a huge response, i might ask for a few bucks just to help cover the costs of some of the food, etc (it's amazing what $5 each will get us). optional gear includes one of you fools bringing a camera.

this is extremely short notice, so let me know asap!!!

oh yeah, there may be a few ppl from the 2gnt board who may be able to make it. if you don't know, the 2gnt's are the 2nd gen non turbo dsm's. lotta turbo kits on that board!

 

I'd like to but thats a bit too short notice for me..

I've never gone mountain biking, but would like to. I have my old specialized Hardrock laying around. would that be good enough?

let me know for the next trip and i'll try to make it.

 

well, it's not really hardcore stuff. more along the lines of lots of muddy trails, a few streams, and lots of logs. you do have to get off the bike every now and then to cross obstacles.

suspensions aren't required, but a front does make a diff.

 

The 25th's to soon for me too...but let me know if you go again I'd love to try it out. Though maybe I should take an easy trail first to get started....

I've totally wanted to get into mountain biking for EVER and now that I have a job and can afford one, I'm all for it!!!

 

hey fastgirl (and everyone else, for that matter),

how about we shoot for a month from now? is that enough lead time for everyone? the trails aren't too difficult, but it's still fun and stuff. lemme know.

 

You talking like the 21/22 of June or the 28/29?

And I might need to ask some more questions about what I need to buy...

Maybe it would be good for some of the other people that want to get into it, but aren't sure what type of bike they need???

 

For those interested, I live off Gambrill Park Road in Frederick, MD. That's just between Gambrill State Park and Cunningham Falls State Park along the Catoctin mountain. The trails up here are unbelieveable! I think an EVO/Eclipse/whatever meet combined with a bike outing this summer would be very cool. If people are interested in making the trek (just 10 minutes outside Frederick, MD), I could definitely be talked into it. The trails are considered intermediate to advanced, depending on conditions. But if I can hit them, anybody can. I've never gone mountain biking before moving up here and I didn't have any problems other than basic fitness issues...which I'm working on. :-)

Thomas Dorris

 

i was originally thinking the wknd of the 21st and whatnot, but now i understand that our baby shower is that wknd (not sure of the date though). i can do it whatever day i'm available that wknd. i'll have more info tomorrow evening.

unfortunately, i can only do the wknd rides once a month because of my schedule at carmax (one wknd off a month). however, i am available most weeknights for any of you local ppl who are interested in riding.

as i mentioned before, it's just a way to get out and relax - typical rides are 1-2 hrs, but it's not riding at 10/10ths. my friend had one of those sports authority $200 specials and was able to survive out there - although his gear ratios left a little to be desired, and his shifter was temperamental.

i'm only riding a raleigh m60, so it's outdated and whatnot, but it gets the job done. all that matters.

 

As an update on the MD trail riding thing...I've hit the blue trail here in Frederick a couple more times. OMG what a blast! A few of the downhills are so fast and fun and slippery that it feels just like riding a Star Wars speeder through the woods. We went out yesterday during that nasty thunderstorm and had an absolute BLAST!

Keep in mind I'm a total newbie, but I love speed (used to rollerblade race). The guy I go with is a 15-year mountain biking veteran and even he says the trails are really advanced and technical, whatever that means. Guess I'm getting the babtism by fire then. A few bruises and such, but I can see someone really getting hooked on this. I just gotta stay outta the ruts and upright a little more often. :-)

Thomas Dorris

 

Well this is a pretty dead thread. I'll try once more to revive discussion. I took some shots while out on my ride earlier this week. These are pictures of a section my neighbor and I ride fairly regularly on the Blue Trail in the Catoctin mountain just north of Frederick. It's hard to show depth and slope with a 2D image, but this should give you guys an idea of what this trail looks like.

http://www.dsmlink.com/trails/trails-01.html

Anybody up for it?

Thomas Dorris

 

heh, i'd love to hit the trails, but i'm getting down to the wire with the first kid and all. eta is the end of this month, so i don't want to be out in the woods and miss a pretty important phone call. i'm sure the wife wouldn't like me being an hour or so out getting muddy and stuff when her contractions start. hehehehe.