James Pearl Thinks Blogging is Dead
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December 1: Cromwell
Today we embark on the first day of the many days that will be needed to convert Camp Cromwell from a set of luge-like dirt trails into something awesome. We believe this part of the park can be pretty fantastic. But it's not there yet. Today we did some of the north/lower part of the park, and took on maybe 6-7 areas that needed work. While the park is not technically open yet, we have permission to go in to work. We'll try to get a few more sessions in before the end of the year, then we'll see if we get another 400" of snow this winter. Alternately, we may be working on & off all winter depending on weather, motivation, and availability of resources. The terrain here is pretty nice to work with and, as mentioned, a lot of good things could be on the horizon. Lots yet to do, but today we took our first step. As you can see in the image below, there's more dirt here than you might imagine. We're hoping to shape that into something everyone enjoys.
Today we embark on the first day of the many days that will be needed to convert Camp Cromwell from a set of luge-like dirt trails into something awesome. We believe this part of the park can be pretty fantastic. But it's not there yet. Today we did some of the north/lower part of the park, and took on maybe 6-7 areas that needed work. While the park is not technically open yet, we have permission to go in to work. We'll try to get a few more sessions in before the end of the year, then we'll see if we get another 400" of snow this winter. Alternately, we may be working on & off all winter depending on weather, motivation, and availability of resources. The terrain here is pretty nice to work with and, as mentioned, a lot of good things could be on the horizon. Lots yet to do, but today we took our first step. As you can see in the image below, there's more dirt here than you might imagine. We're hoping to shape that into something everyone enjoys.
December 2: Trexler
It's been 3 years since I've been to this park, and a bit has changed since I was there last. There's now an almost 2 mile jump line, much of which is pretty big league. Here's a picture of us atop the bigger of the 2 lines on Jack O' Diamonds. This whole trail has been built in the past few years, I believe. For some reason we don't really think much about going out here. But it's a pretty solid park and it's only 1:10 away. That's about the same distance as Wawayanda and we don't need to deal with the wet rocks and such. It's not massive, but a tour of most of it will give you 1:15. You could easily end up doing 2-3 hours here if you hit all the good stuff twice. Realistically, it's probably worth hitting it all a second time. This is the 47th distinct place I have ridden this year, and my 95th MTB ride of 2023. Like Robin, I track the parks I ride. And TF tracks the total number. The goals are 50 & 100, which should be attainable.
It's been 3 years since I've been to this park, and a bit has changed since I was there last. There's now an almost 2 mile jump line, much of which is pretty big league. Here's a picture of us atop the bigger of the 2 lines on Jack O' Diamonds. This whole trail has been built in the past few years, I believe. For some reason we don't really think much about going out here. But it's a pretty solid park and it's only 1:10 away. That's about the same distance as Wawayanda and we don't need to deal with the wet rocks and such. It's not massive, but a tour of most of it will give you 1:15. You could easily end up doing 2-3 hours here if you hit all the good stuff twice. Realistically, it's probably worth hitting it all a second time. This is the 47th distinct place I have ridden this year, and my 95th MTB ride of 2023. Like Robin, I track the parks I ride. And TF tracks the total number. The goals are 50 & 100, which should be attainable.
December 3: Neil Gaiman
This is the stage of the NJ PAC, with nobody standing on it, minutes before Neil Gaiman came out and spoke today for nearly 2 hours. This was a birthday present from D, and we were joined by 1 of our dog walking friends who is really into his works. I have read 4 of his books, and after today, just added Anansi Boys to my library. You never know what you're going to get with a show like this, but it was really good. Before the show, ushers walked around telling people to write questions on cards to give him. His show format was to answer some questions, then do a reading. He did that cycle 4 times. In all he probably answered 20 questions. but it's not as mundane as it sounds. Gaiman, I suppose you could say obviously, is a great storyteller. Each question was answered with a story of some sort. Not only is he a good storyteller, he is an excellent orator. It's probably a bit of a lost art, but he's really fabulous at it. I found my thoughts drifting frequently through the show, which for me is a positive sign, as he's making me think. When I go to a show like this, I always come out of it with buckets of ideas for myself. If only I had more time on my hands.
This is the stage of the NJ PAC, with nobody standing on it, minutes before Neil Gaiman came out and spoke today for nearly 2 hours. This was a birthday present from D, and we were joined by 1 of our dog walking friends who is really into his works. I have read 4 of his books, and after today, just added Anansi Boys to my library. You never know what you're going to get with a show like this, but it was really good. Before the show, ushers walked around telling people to write questions on cards to give him. His show format was to answer some questions, then do a reading. He did that cycle 4 times. In all he probably answered 20 questions. but it's not as mundane as it sounds. Gaiman, I suppose you could say obviously, is a great storyteller. Each question was answered with a story of some sort. Not only is he a good storyteller, he is an excellent orator. It's probably a bit of a lost art, but he's really fabulous at it. I found my thoughts drifting frequently through the show, which for me is a positive sign, as he's making me think. When I go to a show like this, I always come out of it with buckets of ideas for myself. If only I had more time on my hands.
ChrisG
Unapologetic Lifer for Rock and Roll
I tend to have the same experience, but don’t make frequent enough efforts to attend these sorts of events.
Good stuff.
He read 2 poems and 2 of his (very) short stories. I imagine you can find online what they were, but I do not recall. I found the Q&A part of the show more engaging, and tended to zone out when he read stuff. I don't know why that would be.
While writing this answer a fox sprinted across the backyard. What might he say?
i was trying to come up with a joke about the fox sounding like he was screaming bloody murder but was actually saying he's late for his train... or something to that affect... maybe he was a fox in socks or something...
but it's monday and i can't come up with clever things before noon on mondays
1speed
Incredibly profound yet fantastically flawed
This type of event seems to be growing in popularity. I've seen a few popping up on socials lately. It seems like a great idea for an author looking to sell books, too - I just attended Geddy Lee's tour for "My Effin' Life" and part of the ticket price included a copy of the book. Considering he's selling out the talk in every city he goes to, that's probably enough to put the book on the best seller list. And you have to figure a bunch of those people would never have bought it otherwise - my wife was with me and she would never have bought a copy on her own.
A couple of things on your Trexler post:
A couple of things on your Trexler post:
- These days, a lot of folks skip the full loop around the park, opting to stay in the middle section where all the jump lines are, but the outer trail is actually a good section with some challenging climbs and fun singletrack. (If you do it all, your GPS track should look like a hatchet.)
- If you're looking for trails to fill out your 50 and want to visit any of SE PA's favorite spots, happy to play tour guide or share GPS tracks for spots like Green Lane (at least plan to check this one out at some point - it's possibly the best spot to ride for variety in the region these days and has now reached that critical 20+ miles of trail that make it worth a longer drive.) Of course, there is also Wiss and/or Belmont right in Philly. Of the two, I'd recommend Belmont more these days simply due to how overcrowded Wiss gets on the weekends anymore.
This is interesting. Close to Nox, looks kinda like Nox, interesting...I'll have to check it out one of these days. Not sure about 2023 though.
1speed
Incredibly profound yet fantastically flawed
Yeah, it is kind of close to Nox, but the ride is definitely different. It's not quite as beginner-friendly as Nox is. Some of it is, but other parts are more like French Creek, and still some others are their own thing altogether (e.g., the four or five gulley drops along Blue.) Honestly, for years I told folks that it was a great spot to ride but not worth the long drive because there was only like 15 or so miles, but my buddy organizes the trail crew out there and he's done a lot of work to get the mileage up over 20 for a full loop, and I'd now consider it a legit destination spot. Everyone I know who's tried it has enjoyed it. It's totally arbitrary, but I kind of figure 20 is the minimum threshold you need to make it worth the drive from further away - even if you don't plan to do all of it, you kind of want the option to justify the drive, you know? Then again, I admit I have lots of weird rules like that for myself when I'm going alone - if I'm driving anywhere, I need a minimum of 2:1 ride:drive time. (I don't do that when riding with other people, though, because my OCD should not be their problem. 🤣 )
December 4: The Trojan Berm
While I was in Florida, 5 of the 8 posts blew over due to the storms we had while we were gone. This is somewhat expected, as the posts were free-standing with no support. I have 8 posts, paired in 2s, each pair nailed together to form some sort of shape. I've also laid out the slats at the bottom to get the curve of the base where I want it. I'm taking a long view here; my target of Xmas is aggressive. I do this mostly because it gives me something interesting to do in between the things I don't want to do (read: work during the day). If you saw my post on the sleep thread, it's also a way of helping me be active. I also like it. Will this work? Who knows. I suspect when all is said and done, there might not be enough speed coming in to warrant this structure. Then I'll start working upstream again to make the whole run faster. I suppose I could take up puzzles, or model cars, to fill this desire to put things together. But it just wouldn't have the same feel to it.
While I was in Florida, 5 of the 8 posts blew over due to the storms we had while we were gone. This is somewhat expected, as the posts were free-standing with no support. I have 8 posts, paired in 2s, each pair nailed together to form some sort of shape. I've also laid out the slats at the bottom to get the curve of the base where I want it. I'm taking a long view here; my target of Xmas is aggressive. I do this mostly because it gives me something interesting to do in between the things I don't want to do (read: work during the day). If you saw my post on the sleep thread, it's also a way of helping me be active. I also like it. Will this work? Who knows. I suspect when all is said and done, there might not be enough speed coming in to warrant this structure. Then I'll start working upstream again to make the whole run faster. I suppose I could take up puzzles, or model cars, to fill this desire to put things together. But it just wouldn't have the same feel to it.
Do you have a sketch of this design?
No, I’ve been using a video the Cutlaps guy posted to walk through the process. He’s the dude that built the orange & blue kicker out of a pallet.
Johnny Utah
Well-Known Member
December 5: Planning
I could also name this image: Kirt, Bear, and a Bunch of Flags. Instead, I have gone with Planning. I could also call it Flagging. These all work. On Sunday, Gaiman related a Picasso quote in which he said something like, there is a perfect circle and the way I draw a circle, and that is what makes a Picasso. It was really a nod to the fact that what makes us unique is our imperfections. When we go out and design a trail, we do our best, make some assumptions and guesses, then lay out a bunch of pink flags that mark where we think the trail should go. Will it be perfect? Maybe, though probably not. But this imperfection is what makes the work we do individual to what we create. Can you call this art? I'd allow it, though I would not say it that way. Maybe it's more of a craft. You do your best to assess how the trail will be ridden, how to best align the trails as they flow together, the ability to maintain it, and how well it's going to deal with water. All of this adds up to our own way to create imperfection in the form of the trails that will be (re)built Friday. That said, the guy who was paid to build these brings the word "imperfection" to a whole new level. Let's just say his circle looks more like a square.
I could also name this image: Kirt, Bear, and a Bunch of Flags. Instead, I have gone with Planning. I could also call it Flagging. These all work. On Sunday, Gaiman related a Picasso quote in which he said something like, there is a perfect circle and the way I draw a circle, and that is what makes a Picasso. It was really a nod to the fact that what makes us unique is our imperfections. When we go out and design a trail, we do our best, make some assumptions and guesses, then lay out a bunch of pink flags that mark where we think the trail should go. Will it be perfect? Maybe, though probably not. But this imperfection is what makes the work we do individual to what we create. Can you call this art? I'd allow it, though I would not say it that way. Maybe it's more of a craft. You do your best to assess how the trail will be ridden, how to best align the trails as they flow together, the ability to maintain it, and how well it's going to deal with water. All of this adds up to our own way to create imperfection in the form of the trails that will be (re)built Friday. That said, the guy who was paid to build these brings the word "imperfection" to a whole new level. Let's just say his circle looks more like a square.