Trails over your head or above your pleasure threshold

R

roc

Well-Known Member
I rode from the top of skyline down to Pompton Lakes yesterday. I haven't ridden this trail in forever and now I remember why? That trail is now too scary for me to enjoy.

What trails that you used to ride are just not really that fun anymore? The older I get, the more I'm liking buff singletrack over hard rocky terrain, anybody else feeling this way?

I used to love Jungle, now, meh..
 
roc said:
I rode from the top of skyline down to Pompton Lakes yesterday. I haven't ridden this trail in forever and now I remember why? That trail is now too scary for me to enjoy.

What trails that you used to ride are just not really that fun anymore? The older I get, the more I'm liking buff singletrack over hard rocky terrain, anybody else feeling this way?

I used to love Jungle, now, meh..
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I've never done it. Would that be Castle loop or Pipeline ? I got the potential name from Trailforks, not sure how they are actually called.
 
serviceguy said:
I've never done it. Would that be Castle loop or Pipeline ? I got the potential name from Trailforks, not sure how they are actually called.
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It's the red blaze with a C in the middle. It goes to the walkway over 287. Not my cup of tea anymore.
 
We used to ride Mooch from Tranquility a bunch. The stuff up top is really fun but the slog up seems less worthwhile lately. I know it's not exactly what you meant but it is funny how many spots I don't ride so much anymore.

Cue Dan and Jim to say I don't anything anymore. 🙄
 
serviceguy said:
I've never done it. Would that be Castle loop or Pipeline ? I got the potential name from Trailforks, not sure how they are actually called.
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It's Cannonball trail, I think the entrance by the old soccer field may still be open. That's the beginning trailhead for Cannonball. Tough trail but once you cross the elevated bridge over 287 it's super nice.
 
extremedave said:
We used to ride Mooch from Tranquility a bunch. The stuff up top is really fun but the slog up seems less worthwhile lately. I know it's not exactly what you meant but it is funny how many spots I don't ride so much anymore.

Cue Dan and Jim to say I don't anything anymore. 🙄
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Just think they now make bikes for that problem 😉
But who needs a sip from the fountain of youth 😜
 
I used to love climbing the crossover trail from parking lot c to the top of ringwood. Now it’s just a boneyard of jagged and loose rocks. So the climb went from a great workout to a test of will and rock crawling skill.
 
There are definitely a few. I'm a better rider than I was 10 years ago, and bikes are much more capable, but I find myself avoiding trails like roly poly and a few things at Mountain Creek that I used to ride and enjoy (lower Exodus, BMW, Asylum). But I'd also like to get beyond that and start riding more challenging stuff again.

I also think that some of it is the evolution of the sport and the trails that are being built. I spent a lot of time riding rocky tech in mahlon and allamuchy when I moved here in 2005, because that's really what the riding was. Other than Lewis Morris, there wasn't a whole lot of "flow", at least in the northern part of the state. Now that there is more trail variety it makes sense to me that people aren't spending as much time seeking out the kind of loose, jagged, eroded trails that used to be the norm.
 
Funny, I think every year I do harder and harder stuff...for now anyway.....maybe some improvement in skills, but also the bikes just getting longer and slacker. I remember when candy ass at mooch felt technical in 2009 on my 80mm hardtail...now it feels like an XC trail on my bronson or firebird. Droppers, slack bikes, TIRES...god tires are 1000 times better now then the garbage I would use 15 years ago. Learning to track stand....just general confidence doing something like Rolly polly knowing...ok, this bike will easily roll thru everything on this trail so long as I stay out of its way.

@ebarker9 im fine riding Exodus...EXCEPT for those sketchy fucking bridges, no thank you lol.
 
UtahJoe said:
@ebarker9 im fine riding Exodus...EXCEPT for those sketchy fucking bridges, no thank you lol.
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I haven't been able to talk myself into that rock roller at the bottom of it in a while, something about the spacing of the rocks on the run in and witnessing someone almost go over the bars there, but definitely zero desire to ever do those bridges again.

And totally valid about the bikes. I'm definitely riding in way more control and faster almost everywhere, that just hasn't translated into riding harder stuff necessarily. "Kids these days" don't have the back of the mind fear that comes from riding one of these on tech trails (though I do wish that I still owned mine) :

5744-31f31f9fb04c6700ad7ce70734dacbe1.jpg
 
UtahJoe said:
Funny, I think every year I do harder and harder stuff...for now anyway.....maybe some improvement in skills, but also the bikes just getting longer and slacker. I remember when candy ass at mooch felt technical in 2009 on my 80mm hardtail...now it feels like an XC trail on my bronson or firebird. Droppers, slack bikes, TIRES...god tires are 1000 times better now then the garbage I would use 15 years ago. Learning to track stand....just general confidence doing something like Rolly polly knowing...ok, this bike will easily roll thru everything on this trail so long as I stay out of its way.

@ebarker9 im fine riding Exodus...EXCEPT for those sketchy fucking bridges, no thank you lol.
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I'd say it's more often this. At Ringwood there's the big open rock face section then a switchback downhill-ish. (Yeah, I suck at RW). Anyway, the switchbacks have sprouted an alternate tech line now. Back in the dropper-less, 71 degree HA hardtail days the main line was challenging enough.
 
sundaydoug said:
I think I'm gonna fall off that second bridge on Lower Exodus every time I ride it. Even though I've ridden it a hundred times it's that blind run-in coming off the first bridge...
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that to me is one of the scariest things at creek...yet @Ryan.P manuals over it lol.
 
extremedave said:
I'd say it's more often this. At Ringwood there's the big open rock face section then a switchback downhill-ish. (Yeah, I suck at RW). Anyway, the switchbacks have sprouted an alternate tech line now. Back in the dropper-less, 71 degree HA hardtail days the main line was challenging enough.
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i think your referring to warm puppy
 
extremedave said:
I'd say it's more often this. At Ringwood there's the big open rock face section then a switchback downhill-ish. (Yeah, I suck at RW). Anyway, the switchbacks have sprouted an alternate tech line now. Back in the dropper-less, 71 degree HA hardtail days the main line was challenging enough.
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I believe that alternative tech line was always there, its just gotten a resurrection life-line. I did it a year ago and it was pretty overgrown, someone else must have rediscovered it. A bunch of alt-lines have been resurrected back there (ones that I'm too old to be doing), I just broke a back wheel overshooting a transition off of one of them. Fight Club rules apply.
 
UtahJoe said:
that to me is one of the scariest things at creek...yet @Ryan.P manuals over it lol.
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I haven't manualed that one yet , I think your thinking of the skinny after road to know where drop , that one I've manualed before . That second exodus bridge is always a bit of a surprise
 
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