Big River Mountain Bike Ride

Finally, my first mountain bike ride here in Rhode Island. Yes, pathetic that we have lived here for more than 4 months and Iʻm just now getting out. Well, my excuses are: laziness in getting my bike unpacked and assembled, I will not lie. Also contributing is that once I did finally get it unpacked my drop out was bent beyond repair, so that took a week to get. For the most part the Moots is running well. But if I EVER suggest going for a ride with both brakes (front and back) rubbing on the rotors again, please kill me. The rubbing didnʻt seem too bad, you know on the rack and spinning the wheel with my hand. Holy crap, I seriously under estimated how that "little bit of rubbing" could affect my strength. For someone with not a lot of power in their legs, taking away just a few percent can really hurt. Thatʻs my excuse and Iʻm sticking to it!

Other factors not helping - temps in the low 90ʻs. None the less, I had a awesome guide - Jason Clark who is a hucker at heart but a beast of a XC riding with incredible power. Seattle folks think - Chris Green.  Granted Iʻm not in the best of condition right now, but I was run into the ground 2 miles in. I recovered well enough to have a blast on this relatively short ride.

I canʻt explain too much about the route since nothing is marked and therefore donʻt know the local names for trails. Rhodies familiar with Big River will be able to tell the loop we did looking at the course plot (clink on the image to zoom in). What I can comment on are 1) Big River mountain biking and 2) East coast riding...

1) Big River is sweet, and a HUGE area. Itʻs broken up into three major sections - Route 3 (or exit 6), Hopkins Hill Road, and Exit 7. We rode from the Route 3 main parking area and just barely hit 10% of this sectionʻs network. Since this area is only 20 minutes from my house (and literally right across the highway from work), I will  spending plenty of time here and exploring.

2) East coast riding - I was surprised to find the trail building similar to PNW - tight turns, burmed corners, steep short climbs, fast and flowy. The major difference is the surface. PNW is for the most part always packed and grippy (gee, wonder why). Here, itʻs soft and lose on top. I was pretty timid for most the ride just trying to get a feel for this kind of surface. I was probably running my tire pressure too high (35 psi) so I need to figure that out too. I lacked the confidence to charged into sharp corners at full speed or get out of the saddle on steep climbs. The terrain is somewhat similar with lots of roots, but a little more rocky than what Iʻm used to. And Iʻm not talking a bed of baby-heads, but larger stationary kind.

Overall a great ride. Thanks Jason for showing me a few killer trails. I canʻt wait to get back out there. The Moots is going into NBX for a reset of my break pistons. That will make all the difference!