Had a great ride around my home turf Monday. Did 110 miles in less than 5 hours of work.
Woke up Tuesday morning ready to stack the miles! Couldn’t get out of the compound fast enough.
Town of Indian Lake was out working their magic as I got underway.
That fresh groom headed toward C8A/Old S84 Blue Mountain trail. I was on my way to Old Forge and beyond.
C8 leaving Indian Lake to Headquarters had studder ripple and low rollers the first 3 miles. Improvement occurred enroute to Deer Valley parking lot.
Then, I hit a fresh groom past Sprague Brook that opened up to this!
For miles, it was the best riding I’ve had on this trail in YEARS! After I overtook the groomer, I found lumps through the twisties along Cedar River, but soft enough for tolerance.
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Moose River Plains!
Riding a cloud from end to end, wire to wire, coast to coast! Someone was nice enough to drop 2-3 inches of fresh pow-pow out there!
Snowpack on the slope of Cellar Mountain was around 3 FEET! It’s a different world up there.
Just AWESOME!
Inlet
Inlet loop trails were immaculate! A total joy to ride, with a stop at Luppi’s Lookout.
Even Ole Barn to Gilbert Road was terrific! Do you even recognize this?
From downtown Inlet, I dropped onto 4th Lake. Lake crossing had some slush, mostly near Daiker’s.
Fumbled through Fulton Chain Lakes to Hollywood Hills, not something I do often. The in-between-lakes segments were painfully bumpy, but also mercifully short. Avoided Trail 5/Rondaxe Road, so I took one poison to avoid another.
Old Forge
From Hollywood Hills, Trail 4 and 4A were good riding. Even found this untouched beauty approaching Upper Hollywood Hills.
Except for the half-mile of hell at the top, I had a really nice ride up Pete’s Peak!
Then I rolled a general path via Trail 5, Trail 1 and Trail 6 & 7 to Thendara, with some diversions along the way. Figured I’d run Elise’s Lookout to complete today’s lookout challenge.
By the time I had hit North Country Market in Thendara for a quick refuel stop, I was in full mileage Terminator mode. No nonsense, nose to the ground riding!
Nearly everything I touched in Old Forge was good to excellent riding. Pipeline was humming!
Brantingham run
Rolled Trail 1, Trail 2 and Sheldrick Run to Stillwater Road. Don’t do Sheldrick often, neat little twisty snake through the woods.
Stillwater Road had good snow cover but was bumpy at times the duration I rode it.
First half-mile of Brantingham trail bypass sucked badly with 1-2 foot humpback moguls. Thank goodness that went away once I made it to the clearing. Rest of the detour was a pretty good ride through C7E/Three Lakes Trail.
From Herk 40 intersection, C7B/10 Mile Crossing was bumpy and rough at times with some carbide clank. Not a good ride, but not bad enough to bail.
WAS MORE THAN HAPPY to turn onto C8A/Mount Tom Trail. That section gives the shoulders a workout through the twisties. But I couldn’t complain about the ride into Stoney Lake.
C8A through Confusion Flats never disappoints!
C8A through Otter Creek Road flats was beyond helmet-whipping booty call. WOW!!!!!!!!
Van Arnam Road had sufficient snow coverage to roll into Brantingham.
Lunch
Pine Tree Inn was moderately busy. Ordered a plate of their Adirondack Nachos. A formidable pile of food. But it was no match for the Terminator.
Absolutely loved the homemade tortilla chips! Soft, but with a bit of crunch as I ate them.
Back home to Indian Lake
Pretty much the way I came, but more direct. Definitely wanted to double up my pleasure through C8A/Confusion Flats & Stoney Lake.
10 Mile Crossing hadn’t gotten any better.
Came through Old Forge via Trail 2 & 1 and Pipeline and skipped Sheldrick. Encountered a fresh groom along the way.
Trails 4 and 4A weren’t as good as they were in the morning, but still holding OK.
Downtown Inlet to Gilbert Road was beaten and brown, but trail to Ole Barn was still pretty good. Inlet Loop trails were still a great ride.
Moose River Plains took a hit from the day’s traffic. Indian Lake side held up notably better than Inlet side. Nobody had hit Bear Pond trail loop near Red River-T today, so I hit it.
Rolled the trail from Headquarters to end of Cedar River Road and back to pad on 8 happy fun miles.
PERFECT!
Next task: Pound it through C8 from Headquarters back to Indian Lake. Beside a rough section about 2 miles in AND the 3 mile bump-n-grind through the Forest preserve goat-path into Indian Lake, it was holding up as a half-way decent ride.
Warmish evening and bright moon added to the ambience.
Made it home shortly after 6pm with 233 miles for the ride.
T’was an old school, solo mega miler. Wow I feel GOOOOOD!
Ride map
Click here to see ride stats, larger map and 3D Flyover!
Bottom line
With widespread 18-30 inch snow pack, there is good snow EVERYWHERE! The usual snow bowls are holding around 3 FEET.
Almost everything is your oyster, just pick a place and ride! Groomers are working daily.
Get here before the holiday weekend hordes do.
For the ilsnow nation,
Darrin
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