gambrill

met up at schaeffer for trailwork yesterday morning, with the crew splitting between the new halfpipe extension at schaeffer and more work on the hoyles mill connector. i help lead the schaeffer crew and spent most of the morning trying to figure out how to build a good bermed turn... each successive turn got a little cleaner, and we were helped by the fact that the trail was already in an old road bed... if you want to check it out, there's a new connector from the old halfpipe/whoop-de-dos on the trail inside the white loop. ride up the connector (non-half pipe) side and down the new trail and it meets up at the top of the original half-pipe. the trail starts with some shallower semi-technical turns -watch out for the trees, they're pretty close - and then has a couple of bigger turns inside the pipe, then has a couple of turns that pop you in and out of the pipe.

after sweltering while i was doing trailwork i was a bit worried that the ride we had planned for the afternoon at gambrill would be a sufferfest; leaving us baking in the leafless forest under the midday sun. we had a really good group, most of the old dcamb crew from a couple of years ago, including mike, who was down from PA for the ride. good company and good riding... i felt great, rode better than perhaps i've ever ridden, at least at gambrill. made a couple of climbs that i've never made, or only made once...

my new bike felt better than i expected it too... just like a full suspension bike when i wanted it, and just like a hardtail when i wanted that. climbs the rocks like a mountain goat and despite the steep-ish head tube angles it decends like a champ.