Free to good home…

Because of some life changes, I’m not really posting to this site anymore. Anyone interested in taking it over? Email me at :jttrails@hotmail.com

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Hunting Season

Please be advised that it is now hunting season in Pa. Right now it is  archery season, and antlerless deer this weekend (Oct. 21-23). Please be extra careful if you are going in the woods and wear plenty of orange. We advise sticking to Sunday for riding and hiking in the woods this weekend. A complete list of hunting seasons is found in the sidebar.

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Raystown Lake!

On our way to my wife’s parents for the weekend I convinced her to make a little detour and stop by Raystown. We got in around 5:30 on Friday and pulled into the trailhead. I headed out on a clockwise loop towards Rays Revenge and immediately understood that this would not be typical east coast riding. No rocks or roots in sight, hard packed trails through mostly pine forest. This felt like west coast riding. The rest of the ride confirmed this.  I’ve never ridden so fast on the east coast, and spent so much time on the air! All of the trails were very well built and maintained. Most of them nicely carved into side slopes. More then anything it felt like the trails I grew up riding in Ashland Or. Well worth the detour and lots of fun, but a little less demanding and engaging then I’m used to, certainly nothing there should be marked with a black diamond like it is. I’ll be back for the shear speed if nothing else, although on a busy day this place would be a high risk for a headon collision!

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More interest then I imagined + snow riding tips

So, in our first day live we got 679 hits!

I just got back from riding Twin Peaks in 3″ of fresh snow, beautiful! Mix of sun and snow, a little blizzard. First tracks to whole way. Thought I’d share some snow riding tips:

1) Fresh snow is best, icy stuff with studded tires is second, crusty stuff you punch through is to be avoided.
2) Keep moving, momentum is your friend
3) Follow animal tracks, they are like a tour leader, expending as little effort as possible. They tend to stick to the good lines, just follow their tracks. I followed a pair of Fox tracks for most of today’s ride.
4) Figure on a longer ride, I use the double rule. Today’s ride usually takes 1:30 to 1:45 in the dry, and today it took 3 hours.
5) Don’t over dress, riding through the snow works up a sweat. But, be prepared.
6) Pack lots of food, carry it close to your body to keep it soft. Fill your water bottles with a thick energy drink mix. The sugar will help keep it from freezing.
7) Listen, if your tires are quiet thats good, crunching is bad. Icy crunching is ok, unless you are on a lake or river.
8)Ride a 29’er, the bigger wheels float better. See our friends at Bike29 for the best 29’er gear.
9) When your derailleur freezes up with ice, piss on it… really.

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