kaos joe

Thanks for lesson 1. I suspect I'll be picking your brains until you block me......

Really what I want this for is turn by turn in unfamiliar or infrequently visited places, for example loading the Blooming' Metric course, etc. I care not a whit about Strava and segments and recording stats and heart rates and all that stuff. I'd delete those features permanently if I could just to keep them out of my face.

I downloaded a couple of local routes just to get a feel for operation on familiar ground from Garmin Connect. Tomorrow I'll try loading from RideWithGPS.

kaos joe

This time of year afternoon rides are the thing. Caumsett again, 47 miles. My first ride following the prompts of that white thing. It has its limitations but did OK, using the "where to?' option routing to a dropped pin. I'm still learning.



photographing the beech tree everyone photographs

kaos joe

Where is everyone?

33 miles under mostly somber skies.

Very nice sculpture in brushed aluminum in Sweet Hollow Park (former site of Meyers Farms) on Old Country Rd.

Steve B.

I think the cold weather put all the occasional roadies into hibernation.

Weathers been perfect for mt. biking, excepting I took a very hard fall 2 weeks ago at Calverton. I forget there’s a lot of stumps, hidden by leaves this time of year. Caught one at speed, got knocked into a tree and onto the ground. Possibly a cracked rib (very painful whatever it is) and a major and not healing quickly bruise on my L thigh. Maybe I’ll get put this weekend.

kaos joe

Oh boy, sorry to hear about your fall. About 6 years ago I took a fall of about 8 feet in Harriman (hiking) and was absolutely convinced I had cracked a rib if not my sternum. Fell right onto solid rock. Hurt terribly for weeks, finally I went down to X-ray on a slow night at work just to satisfy my curiosity, and was shocked that nothing showed up broken. Feel better.

Trails were in great shape over the weekend, hopefully things dry out some this week.

GlennR

Got out today for 40 miles. Decided it was time to switch from the lightweight road bike to the CX bike. I headed out it was 44* and was 38* by the time i got home.

Sure glad i have enough cloths to mix-n-match to stay warm.

Winter's coming so get ready.

Steve B.

Agree was chilly. And damp. I passed on a road ride and headed to Bethpage for a really nice hour on the Mt. Bike. It was a very nice day. It’s so much easier to motivate for mountain biking in the cold than a road bike.

Glen, don’t know if you keep off road tires on the CX, but there’s a good 5 mile flat dirt loop at Edgewood Preserve in Commack that would be perfect for that bike. Do it twice, or 3 times ?

GlennR

I atually have 2 sets of wheels. The bike came with a set of wheels with 35mm knobby and I purchased a set of Zipp 30 Course and have Bontrager AWS 32mm tubeless for the street.

kaos joe

+1. We started at Bethpage at 830 and it was really pleasant. I'd have liked a bit colder, as once we left the relatively dry park trails and went north, there were mud wallows in some of the usual spots. Thin skins of ice on some of them were not enough to prevent breaking through.

One of the guys, a very proficient rider just back from a solo ride to Arizona, used his 'cross bike and took a couple of spectacular falls. YMMV but having tried it a few times I never ride my DoubleCross on single track. It's great on dirt roads and I find it a fantastic every day non-racy road bike on the same 32mm road tires Glen uses, but put mud and especially roots into the mix and it's MTB for me.

Steve B.

I think this is completely correct. Cross/Gravel bikes have a tough time on the tight and twisty ST we ride, with roots, stumps, etc.... and is why I have no intent of using a Gravel bike that way. Struggle is to find "gravel" on L.I. Seems its sand often as not. It's my current mission to seek out the good stuff. First up will be Edgewood and when I rode there in April I noted the flat and wide roads cross-crossing the property. Now to put a route together. Then maybe Rocky Point, which also has a lot of "roads" that need to be explored. There are other area's I'm sure.

kaos joe

Not much in the way of non sand trap dirt roads down here. Rocky Point is closed to bikes for hunting season and subsequently closed through to April 1. There are dirt "fire roads" we cross when riding the MTB loop at Manorville Hills but some may be reserved for equestrian use. They appear to be in rougher condition than the actual trail however.

Definitely not LI but the Erie Canal Towpath is an enjoyable (to me) dead flat gravel route. I've done the westernmost 125 or so miles a couple of times before getting off and veering onto the roads of central NY. On the other extreme theD2R2 out of Old Deerfield MA is mostly gravel but butt kickingly hilly. I've done the 112 mile route split into a 2 day ride, ducking into Brattleboro VT at the mid-point.

Great day yesterday. When they come this late in the year, gotta grab them.

Steve B.

[QUOTE=kaos joe;21225163]Not much in the way of non sand trap dirt roads down here.

.[/QUOTE

Went exploring at Edgewood Preserve on the N1. Just enough dirt road and easy, straight and flat single track for the capabilities of a gravel bike. Got lost a few times, the preserve has less than adequate trail marking. BUT, there’s a boat load of other roads crisscrossing that are not marked or on any map - yet, so it was fun. That’s a Cannondale Topstone, 105 group, alum frame, nice ride

kaos joe

[/QUOTE.... That’s a Cannondale Topstone, 105 group, alum frame, nice ride...[/QUOTE]


Very nice, looks like a very capable rig. Tell me about them there tires, pressures.

Steve B.

Very nice, looks like a very capable rig. Tell me about them there tires, pressures.[/QUOTE]

WTB Riddler TCS Light, stock on bike, measure at 38mm at 60psi. I ran them at 60 on the dirt roads of Massapequa Preserve and on some easy ST and roads at BP. They will not go thru deep sand, but neither do my 2.4” mt. bike Nobby Nics.. I ran them at 50psi at Edgewood, they corner very well, saw no slippage. I like this tire so far, not too aggressive a tread, so roll pretty well on pavement. When I get on the gravel again I’ll try 40psi, see how that feels.

Good you see this AM, where did you guys go ?! I assumed north as we didn’t see you in BP. We did an abbreviated ride after my buddy took a hard fall, his ribs and shoulder will be very sore tonight.

kaos joe

We meandered around the park for a while, following Kenny who always steers well clear of the Brickyard. We then went north but only as far as Old Country. A couple of us had plans at home so we knocked off a bit early too, 12.5 miles.

Steve B.

My buddy Mark, the guy with the (maybe) broken rib and as he discovered last night, a cracked helmet, reminded me that he had ridden past Franks Bell on Pecks Path and had not rung the bell. I skipped it as well as Mark was hammering and I wanted to stay on. I then yelled out that “now something bad is going to happen”. Down he goes later in the ride.

Ring the bell or bad things will happen !

And as note, I haven’t been in the Brickyard for years.

kaos joe

As we went past it, I was the Lanterne Rouge, and Tommy S. yelled out "ring the bell!" I stopped, had to back up a few yards, gave it 3 tugs.........and they didn't even slow down, the swine! I had to work to catch up.

The Brickyard is nice and swoopy smooth fun, not risky as long as you don't do the BIG descent that brings you back down to the first hole from the adjoining high ground.

kaos joe

Perfect morning for the trails. BP quite dry, no mud at all. No night rides yet; am going to have to see how the lights work after another summer in storage.

Steve B.

Maybe a good time to learn how to enable Garmin Live Track. It will send an e-mail link to a family member with a location track. Insurance for when you ride alone at night in the woods.

kaos joe

Yes I intend to do that. Do you get false alarms?

GlennR

Rode to Sagamore... 36*. I took the wrong gloves and couldn't feel my finger tips.

Brrrrrrrr

Steve B.

Not on LiveTrack. That just sends an e-mail to whomever you pick, it's configured in the Garmin Mobile App, that shows them where you are. Means your wife can access the link to see the current location of your Garmin.

The Incident Detection function, also configures in the GCM app., sends a text message (AFAIK) to a recipient, that you've come to a sudden stop and are laying there in serious pain, in the cold. They can then (dependent on how cold it is out) choose to respond, call you, not respond hoping they can cash in on your life insurance policy, etc..... This is how my wife looked at this feature "so I can like, wait 2 hours or more ?". Incident detection is also something you have some control over, as in it can be set up to wait a bit so you can press the false alarm button on the device upon coming to a sudden and unexpected stop.

I've never configured Incident Detection. I use LiveTrack on every ride. Note it's been a source of angst among Garmin users for a while as it can be hit/miss if LT is working. Seems dependent on a good BT connection to the phone and it requires that the GCM app on the phone is running (something I would forget to turn on).

Steve B.

Did a CLIMB "intro to Edgewood" mt. bike ride this morning, the so-called beginner ride, led by Bob Mueller of CLIMB.

It was terrific. 5 of on the intro ride w/Bob, another 8 on the separate intermediate ride with Tom. We skipped all the Blue sections, did a few yellow. Had a lot of fun as Bob was stopping at most intersections and describing the trails, level of difficulty, etc.... really useful info. Conditions were perfect, 25 or so, all water frozen.

I can now say I need to keep exploring this area, it's got about 15 miles of single track and about 5 of easier dirt road/ST and is only a 10 minute further drive than BP and it was a nice change.

Russ Roth

Glad to find this thread, read through a lot of it and good to see some of the other available rides. My son and I did Trail View today heading north, he really enjoyed the switchbacks heading down, I just worried he'd slide down the side but he managed to ride the whole thing. We made it most of the way to the main loop in the Syosset park but between the cold and diminishing light decided not to push it further. Had someone watch us from the bottom near the tracks who seemed impressed a 7yo on a 20" bike could ride it and kinda sad he couldn't get his kid to join him on the same trip. Really need to pick up some lights and colder weather clothing with the sun setting so early but the lack of snow making riding more reasonable into the winter.

Steve B.

I wish somebody had started me mt. biking when I was 7. What a terrific opportunity.

The TrailForks link below has good maps of the assorted trail systems on Long Island, pretty much all created and maintained by CLIMB. The south end of Trailview, from Washington Ave. south and into the trails of Bethpage, are easier then the northern part of TV. Other easier trails for beginners to learn skills are Edgewood Preserve in Deer Park and Calverton DEC area next to the Nat'l Cemetery in Calverton. Both are on the TrailForks site. Both Edgewood and Calverton require DEC permits, which are free and easy to get on the DEC website. Note that Bethpage is "technically" closed at night, TV isn't, the DEC properties are but nobody checks.

https://www.trailforks.com/

https://climbonline.org