inbound outbound.

Trail work is great.... and sometimes better with help. Today Juniata College "inbound" freshman visited the trails to work and ride. We met up early and did some cleaning and clearing on the the Buck and Fawn Trails. The 12 volunteers that made up the group put out a tremendous effort to remove debris and dirt from the drains in many of the grade reversals.

Interested in trailwork opportunities for your organization or upcoming community service needs. Contact Me- whysinglespeed@gmail.com

oh no

well the mukluk was fun...but the Raystown Facility is about to become that much more accessible.

http://www.surlybikes.com/blog/2523/

And yes.

boulder fields and big moth

Been a good week for riding with cooler evening and night time temps hitting as low as 60.

As the Allegrippis tends to get pretty busy on the weekends I've been trekking around the area in search of fresh trail. As it should happen found some great snowmobile trails and singletrack on my last ride, which yielded some pretty wild terrain with massive boulders and spires in excess of 40 ft sticking through the woods.

The Salsa Fargo has been my bike of choice for getting lost afterwork and even on some great camping trips. Now with just under 1000 miles on the bike, its time to nitpick. The fit of the bike and rake on the fork has been improved over last years model, however many of the parts on the complete have seem to taken a quick beating.

-The Cane Creek Thudbuster seatpost, is a great piece of equipment on this beast softening the blow of harsh ruts and water-bars on gravel roads. However, it lacks durability as it seems to be always rattling. The bushings are indeed replaceable but with the intended use of post and bike seems like they are lacking.

-The lack of barrel adjusters or inline adjusters on the shifters seems a bit odd as 10-spd has a tendency to be slightly more finicky with reduced spacing in the cassette; it'd be nice is all I'm saying.

-The WTB saddle has already begun to hammock quite severly an issue that I've had before with WTB's Lazer V and Speed. Despite the hammock it is still rather comfortable, although I'll be switching to the tried and true WTB Devo, as it does not seem to hammock nearly as quickly.

-The rims on the stock bike de-tensioned very quickly, prior to loaded camping or heavy use. After re-tensioning the wheels they have held relatively true. For the money they are decent.

-Last is more of a recc'd upgrade which would be the hubs.....engagement is severely lacking and when pickin' through the rocky stuff they just could be a little more precise.

As a whole the bike is a great value for the $1625 asking price and if you haven't jumped on one yet be sure to throw a leg over next time you stop by the shop.

I'm no photographer but the moths have been out and I finally found one hanging out.

somedays you just need to get gone

Its early in the season but the rentals and service always seem to take over all the dimensons of my day. Sometimes its just right to leave at dark and return at dawn from a ride. The Salsa Fargo has been a wonderful tool for just such outtings, with it's Anything Cages installed, I can ride just about anywhere and sleep out for the night. Ridding back before the Dinah Dog needs to be walked.

Late night after the Eagles Nest Outfitters hammock and Superfly are set-up.

Dirtfest a success

Thats right nearly 1200 people showed up for three days of camping, riding, beer, and fun!

Complete with an epic, bike rodeo, womens ride series, beer school, pa tourism rally, and great live music, everyone was sure to have a good time. As the weather finally cleared late Friday morning the campers began to arrive in force. With bike strapped every which way on roofs and trunks the event began to really shape up....

wet weather exploration

The trails have been really hit or miss lately with the massive rain storms followed by dry spells.

In an effort to minimize the impact on the Allegrippis....I've been searching for other two wheeled happiness in the greater Raystown region.

I only just realized the capabilites of the Mukluk as a creeker. Literally cruising down the center of the creeks out to the lake, similar to the winter adventures only several months ago. Unfortunately, no video yet but we are working on that...... enjoy.

During different type of exploration for new trails and fun gravel grinders, I encountered a bit of a setback on my early morning ride. When is a bridge not a bridge?

If you look off to the left of the picture you can see the old metal bridge laying in a cornfield. Minor setback but turned out to be a blessing in disguise......

Riding past the pulpit rocks just after sun-up.

The last three on the Fargo are all from the same weekly morning ride through Huntingdon out towards Baree and Spruce Creek than winding back towards Petersburg and the town of Cottage. Come out and get lost.

Trail Work and GPS'n

This past week has been busy out on the Allegrippis with both riders and RMBA trail projects.

The EMS map is currently being updated to show locations a bit more accurately on the county mapping system. In an effort to get the best data possible we are working with the Huntingdon County Planning Office to GPS the trail system and emergency access points along it.

Waiting for that signal

With the spring rains and winter trail debris the trails have begun to show signs of their holding capacity for water. Several sections that are already usually wet are now rising to the point of causing pooling on the trail. In an effort to alleviate the pooling and fix these problems altogther we have begun to armor a number of the sections. Below is one of the fixes in progress on the Fawn trail. If you have ridden this section in the wet weather or after a hard rain you'll recognize the location.

Tearing up some of the old armoring to reconstruct it deeper.

Creating a drain after the rain.

As you can see a massive amount of water was flowing into the trail.

Despite the wet conditions and sections of muddy trail numerous vehicles and large groups where in the parking lot.

Great Trail Conditions!

And for a little more inspiration to get out there and explore all there is at Raystown........

.....yes this is near the trails.