Saturday, March 12, 2016

Ups and Downs at Huntington/Farringtons and then the lovely Deer encounter

Huntington

It was a sunny and beautiful day and I headed up to Huntington for a change. I parked at Dodgingtown Lot and ran into a bunch of bikers I knew.  I was anxious to ride more with my new 29er and Mike Malwitz suggested I ride with with him. I am glad I did as he took me to some new places and/or places I haven't ridden in ages!

We first headed up to (1) Big Burn and then rode north to do (2) Lollipop counter clockwise. I was winded thru most of Lollipop but it was a needed reminder of my need to ride more and ride more hills. We then headed over to Stratocaster - which is ALWAYS fun and did the South Loop clockwise. South Loop seemed super easy after all the previous trails.
We next rode down the double track that loops around at a low elevation on the east side of the park and stopped at this mammoth rock for a photoshoot. I don't remember being here (perhaps only as a whiz by with my son ages ago) but it was beautiful heading back up as we paralleled a stream on the left.
The bummer was my dropper post started to mess up and drop erratically. I was bummed!

We cruised back to the lot and good ole Mick Ferraro was there with some cold brews! Both him and his friend Ryan tried tinkering with my drop post and said it was fine. I rode around the grassy area bouncing like a kangaroo and it miraculously seemed solid.

Feeling a little better about the bike, I headed over to Farringtons - stopping for a pick up lunch in Bethel.

Farringtons 

The lot was packed and I snapped a shot of the map on the kiosk - strangely It only had a few barely used hiking trails and NONE of the mountain biking trails. (If I recall - I think this was a boy scout merit badge project - the maps should of AT LEAST been labeled hiking trails - oh well  the truth is so relative these days for just about everything...)

The Ride sucked as the dropper post was not fixed and slipped down randomly. I did the lower trails and realized it was time to head home and bring the bike to the shop !!

Deer Close Encounter

After dropping the bike of at the shop it was still warm and and sunny so I hiked Woodway and had a close encounter with 5 or 6 Deer - very cool!
After stare down of a few minutes - they took off and I was able to catch photos of their river crossing.
Well, I will have to ride the road bike tomorrow! But at least I have the wounds of a good day of mountain biking :-)


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