After a last minute call from my mother pleading to visit them on the weekend, I headed up and rode a bit more of Taconic 909 on Sat. I didn't arrive until around 1 PM in the afternoon and parked off the Taconic. The parking lot and park were surprisingly empty.
Although no one likes to ride in the afternoon because it is hotter - it wasn't too bad. Despite the intense sun, the humidity had cleared considerably and all in all it was a beautiful day to ride!
Using MapMyRide--I GPSed my trek and noticed up east of
Tent, the map is off a bit--eventually--after subsequent visits--I will try to correct that a bit.
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After looping thru Anthill and Mary Murphy,
the blue arrows indicate the second part of my trek. |
Mustang and Mercury
As you ride along
Mustang you see a lot of these large-sized termite mounds...
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| Termite Mounds along Mustang |
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| Stream Crossing at the foot of the hill where Mercury ends at Mustang |
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| At the Start of Mercury |
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| This is where the connector turns off to connect with Tunnel |
Ascending up Tunnel and Anthill
The climb up
Tunnel was doable and after a short breather at the
Brockway intersection, I proceeded to head up
Anthill. Truth be told, it was very steep and I did the walk of shame up to a spot where it got flatter where I rested at a rock.
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Anthill was steep!
I stopped for a rest here and caught my breath sitting on the rock. |
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| Steep Hill near where Anthill connects with Brockway |
XC Goodness
Right after the steep hill trail I photographed above, there's an inconspicuous turn off of Anthill right before you get to the Main Jeep Trail. This gets you on to all the great XC trails in this area. Needless to say---this is great riding! The terrain is full of short ups and downs, etc. and I didn't stop to take any photos cuz the flow was too great!
Up to Tent and Back
I headed up on
Brockway and it was actually kinda fun as as you speed downhill and the breeze cools you off.
Tent was no big deal and hardly ridden but I photographed the campsites (actually two separate fire pits) before heading up the Double Track and short single track. After reviewing the GPS, that part of the map seems a little off and will need tweaking.
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| Campsite on Tent |
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| On Brockway here is where the Double Track connects |
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Looking south, main fire road turns to the left
The other trail is an easy single track connector |
Discovery - Old Ruins!
As I headed off
Brockway to explore a side trail, I discovered a set of foundation ruins. The trail was apparently an old dirt road and not used very much - it was almost invisible now...
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| Foundation Ruins |
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| More Foundation Ruins - note old cash register machines! |
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The trail here is an old road - hardly biked at all
(leaves on ground - hard to find the actual trail...) |
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| More Foundation Ruins |
Green Acres Crash
The last part of my trek was to check out the Green Acres trail as I headed back to the car. The first section of the trail has nice XC flow but--in retrospect--I was lulled by the flow and completely caught off guard by a huge steep roller covered by thick entangled roots. I had my seat in the high position and hit a diagonal root >> then wham >> ENDO!
I hit the ground hard and was lucky I didn't break any bones. I got up bruised and battered and seriously embarrassed. I limped on thru the next section as there were a couple more super steep rollers on the trail--although none were entangled by roots like the one where I took my spill.
I finally got back on my bike and rode on, taking the high-intensity last stretch that reconnects with the main Jeep road without a fall. Redemption!
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| Surface wounds after the ENDO but I bashed up a rib as well... |
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| This is Green Acres - watch out! |
I had a beer in the cooler in my car... man after the crash, it really hit the spot.
