Frozen Sloppy Seconds at P-Valley

Riding yesterday might not have been such a good thing because it got really warm, 40 degrees where I was skiing in New Hartford on Saturday, but towards Bridgeport I bet it was closer to 50. Meaning the trails at Pequonnock River Valley on Saturday probably had the consistency of a carnival snow cone. However, last night it was in the low twenty's again and all that slop was frozen by the time Rick and I hit the trails. Trails were awesome. Having studs would have made a few sections a little easier to get across but they were mandatory. All that slop was frozen solid.

This was Rick's first time at P-Valley so I took him on my favorite standard loop. You start out by climbing the white trail, then picking up the red/yellow near the highway - though the blazes go all over the place so it's often hard to tell what trail you are on. Descend to the second stream crossing on Mullholland Drive. Then take the yellow up to the jeep road, cut over and continue on the trail that takes you over another stream and then climb back up to the yellow. Head towards the picnic tables but then branch off and get lost in that spaghetti network of trails until you descend down to the rust river. From there head over to the white trail, come back on the blue trail, and then return on the white. A nice 6 mile jaunt.

60 % of my rides over the last two months have been at Trumbull in varying conditions from frozen solid ground and no snow, to 8 inches of virginal powder, to 3 inches with well packed down trails from bikes. No matter what the conditions, riding at Trumbull never dissapoints. I have been covering a lot ground, too, trying new trails and figuring out other areas. Below is a picture of Rick and a glove that we found on the trail. It's a hunter's glove. I hope the owner will find it but they may never see it because it's camo and I put it in a Mountain Laurel with some green leaves around it. Not too far from this point I saw a Coyote run by, it was pretty big.

The big tree that is down on the blue trail near coyote crossing got a make over this past week, someone cut a pussy path! Probably a hiker because even I can get over that up and over on my dillinger. Still it's a shame that someone had to do this. These features are additional deterants to motorized use. What do they say? Improve your skills, not the trails. Below is a little vid of Rick doing the up-and-over and then heading over the bridge that Rich fixed last week.

Back in the lot, started chatting with some people heading out. One of them had this seat tubeless bike that I thought was really cool.