Four riders got a ride in on Saturday just before the impending snow storm. Dave Sheridan made the trip to the nether regions of Perry County to ride with Clay, Smith and Egolf on the Iron Horse, aka Iron Balls, Trail.
The day turned out to very nice for riding. Conditions were good and the trail was 97% ridable. Smith's work on the upper end has the north side of the trail almost completely "doable". Three riders cleared the Rocky Hollow for the first time ever and Smith was even on Stouffer’s Pumpkin Blur due to his mishap of the previous Thursday. At Big Spring SP, the foursome took a detour to the old tunnel for some photo ops and history lessons before returning to the Iron Horse.
Although not the first endo of the day, Sheridan took top honors with his stream crossing face plant. Even though his air time was short, his form along with the splash was enough to knock Egolf's north side rock endo into second place.
Further along in the ride, Smith showed that, when put to the task, he can break any bike he rides. Picking up the flimsiest of branches and stopping quickly at the first sound of trouble did nothing to save the Pumpkin Blur's derailleur which literally exploded. Smith's ride was cut short once again.
Clay expressed his theory that Smith has gotten into a habit of breaking his bike so he can beat everyone else back to the vehicle for first dibs on the after-ride refreshments. Clay may be on to something as Smith did indeed beat the rest of the group back.
After-ride refreshments were had and the group got out of the mountains just as the snow started.
Addendums:
by D. Sheridan
#1 Brian (Animal) Smith lured me to far western Perry County, where he and a couple of friends dragged my sorry ass around the Iron Horse Trail at Big Spring SP. I did two "walk-over" endos (you keep the pedal clip tension very low on a mountain bike) but the third was a little too abrupt. The other three, always in front of me, had ridden through a narrow stream, churning up the water and obscuring a tree root that slowed me from maybe 8 mph to zero very abruptly. My bike went to zero, that is. I went over the handlebars and dinged my helmet. No bike damage, though. Ten miles felt like 40 on the road at 18 mph. But you know what they say: If it doesn't kill you...
#2 The stream was narrow and shallow, so I only dabbed my right leg up to about the knee. And the temperature had shot up to the mid thirties, so I didn't freeze. I've been administering liquid medication since the ride. Ray, one of Brian's friends, offered the first dose, and I followed up when I got home. I've found Troegs provides effective medicinal effect. Sierra Nevada also seems to work.
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"Loysville" was Sorenson’s response to Egolf's question….. " Where are you? "
Egolf's response to Sorenson was " I’m gonna kill you ! "
Either Sorenson had a really hard night or he was trying to tell Egolf something. Planning on being at Smith's house at 9:00, Egolf was patiently waiting for Sorenson, with the van running and everything ready to go. Egolf finally called at 8:59 to find out where Sorenson was and got the word Sorenson had blown him off and drove right by his house on his way to Smith's.
After a sorted conversation at Smith's , the group of Smith, Sorenson, Stouffer and Egolf took off for Fowler's Hollow. Parking off of the Hemlock Road, the four rode out Perry Lumber Trail past Twigg Trail to Fowler's Hollow Rd. Riding back Fowler's Hollow Road, they picked up the Tuscarora Trail and took it west past some hikers hanging out at the shelter. Continuing on the Tuscarora the ride eventually became a hike up the Rising Mountain. Steep and rocky along with rocky and steep is the best description for this section. Reaching the top, the four were able to ride a bit before the trail dropped off the north side. On the hike down, the gang marveled at some trail work that incorporated rock steps into the trail that went on for quite a distance.
Reaching the Hemlock Road, the four turned east and took the forestry road to the Rising Mtn. Trail. Descending to Shearer Dug Trail, a right turn took them back out to the Hemlock Road where they climbed to Twigg Trail. The ride descended Twigg back to Perry Lumber and a return to the parking area.
Even with the long hike, the group decided it was a great ride, with super weather and warm temperatures for February. After ride refreshments were then partaken of before returning to Smith's.
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Sorenson, Stouffer and Egolf did a short night ride up Laurel Run. Dropping in past the Caldwell Camp from Laurel Run Road, the group flushed a large flock of turkeys off of their roost. The snow covered ride went along the creek, up Elk Hill Road, Dynamite Trail, Meadows Road, McCrea Spur Road, Tuscarora Trail, Meadows, Lewisberry trail, Meadows, Dynamite, Elk Hill, and back on Laurel Run to the van.
Sorenson noted that the short hike on Tuscarora now seemed very tame after the hike on Saturday, while Stouffer noted that although it was a good ride, after the weekend ride, it just didn't quite compare. The general consensus was that the group was ready for more daylight riding.
The Stoudt’s Scarlet Lady treated Egolf very nicely, while Sorenson and Stouffer rode the Silver Bullet before the trio returned to Egolf's for stomboli ( provided by Sorenson ), Guinness and some lively conversation.
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Sorenson and Egolf picked up trail maintenance man Smith at the lower end of the Iron Horse Trail and drove up to Big Springs SP. Clay soon arrived and the foursome took off directly west looking for a route from the park to the big turn on RT 274. Right off the bat, a lot of hiking was incurred, much to the chagrin of Sorenson, who made it well known that he did not get up " early" , a term used loosely by him, to come on a hike. Soon an old logging road was found and the crew was able to ride. Thankfully Sorenson's whining subsided a bit.
Reaching RT 274, the group rode up the mountain on the hard road then out Big Round Top Trail to the McCaskey Graves. All agreed that the trail was very nice and that it was too bad it didn't tie in with something else.
Returning to RT 274, the group tuned down the O’Donnell Trail. Although the trail has been very nicely maintained, snow and ice made the descent most interesting. Reaching the Hemlock Road, the ride continued around the end of Big Round Top, where the group followed the Barnhart Trail up the "gut" between Big and Little Round Top. The further up the ride went, the more faded the trail became, until the group was forced to turn around. Returning once more to the Hemlock Road, the ride continued west and up, finding more snow and ice along the way. The decision was made to climb Hemlock to the Tuscarora Trail and head west looking for the Stewart Narrows Trail and the Bear Ponds Trail. After some exploring, “metal log” hoping over drainage tiling, and vivid conversation on area geography, the group found Bear Ponds and enjoyed a nice descent back to the Hemlock Road.
Wanting to ride the north side of the Iron Horse the group descended the Hemlock Road back to Big Springs. This was a very cold ride on snow and ice and made for four frozen riders upon reaching the park. After a warm up and food ingestion period, the group look off for the Iron Horse.
Immediately it felt like the riders had entered a different climate with the trail being on the sun side of the ridge. The temps were warm and the trail was soft and a bit smeary at places. The whole ride flowed and it wasn't long until the group arrived at Smith's vehicle with big smiles.
Upon retrieving the vehicles at Big Springs, the group quickly disbanded due to time constraints.
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Sorenson must have figured Egolf might leave him behind, so this time he left out a loud grunt as he hit the ground. Looking back and seeing how far Sorenson landed in front of his bike , Egolf was immediately concerned for Sorenson’s welfare. But like a true mtn. biker, he staggered back to his bike and resumed riding. The amazing thing was that, having been stopped dead by a large stick jammed through his front fork, Sorenson had no bent or broken spokes.
Sorenson’s swan dive into the rocks happened right after the two turned onto the Tuscarora Trail. They had ridden the lower trail section above Col. Denning, climbed the North Slope Road, Cider Path, and Warner. Be it noted, that both riders hit the same rock in the stream crossing at the head of Kennedy’s Valley, which caused both to dismount midstream, but each was able to dab on rocks and keep their feet dry.
After Sorenson’s dismount the two continued out Tuscarora to the Lehman Road and descended the Ickes Road/TT back to the vehicle. Only two hikers were seen on the whole ride, which was surprising considering how nice a day it was.
After ride refreshment were consumed as per riding etiquette.
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Parking at the east end of the Hemlock Road, the trio of Clay, Smith and Egolf took off heading west on an exploratory ride. The ride followed the Perry Lumber Trail, then west on the Tuscarora Trail, and then dropped along a deer fence back to Fowler's Hollow Road. As the group continued up the hollow, the less pronounced the road became until it finally ended. After a short bushwhacking episode, the group found another road which led them to a trail Egolf had found the week before.
Climbing up onto the Rising Mtn, the group turned west once more following the Tuscarora to Bear Ponds. Descending Bear Ponds Trail and the Hemlock Road, the three again started exploring by taking the Barnhart Trail east. Log hoping skills were honed along with navigational skills as the group looked for a connection to the Iron Horse Trail. Soon after finding a dead but well preserved grey fox in a water hole and crossing the run, the group started to encounter black blazes and old log cuttings which soon lead to the Iron Horse.
After a civil conversation with a KTA hiker from Allentown, the group continued on the Iron Horse to the eastern pipe-line where they picked up Robinson Trail to a soft swampy Bowman Trail and a short stint on Rising Mtn. Trail back to the vehicle.
Clay brought a chocolate " pot of gold" along thinking that Chowhound Stouffer would be joining the ride. It was quickly decided it was his loss and the three riders immediately scarfed the candy along with pretzels and puzzle yielding Lion's Head deluxe pilsner.
Another beautiful March day in the Tuscarora.
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Leaving from the lower parking area, Clay, Smith, Stouffer and Egolf all rode in shorts and light long sleeves or arm warmers as the weather was beautiful. A quick pace was kept and the group made Big Springs SP by 6:45. Turning roadie, the four climbed RT274 to the top of the mountain in order to bomb down O'donnell. Clay was soon out of sight, with Egolf and Smith taking center positions while Stouffer made sure no coyotes snuck up from behind.
Crossing the Hemlock Road, superman Smith took out the forestry gate as the ride descended Reeder Trail back to the Iron Horse. After realizing his strength, Smith pretty much dropped the hammer on the return leg and before long the group was back at the van enjoying refreshments and commenting on what a great ride Sorenson gave up because he was just “soooooo” tired.
Poor Sorenson.
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5/20/06 Smith and Egolf headed north on Saturday for an excursion into the Sproul State Forest, about 10 miles north of Lock Haven.
Leaving shortly after 9:00 am, the two reached Lock Haven around 11:00. Even though the riders had printed maps off the internet, they decided to stop in at the Bike Gallery for some local info and better maps, as some propaganda listed the shop as having maps.
Very little help however was gained from this visit. The shop had no maps and one guy had only ridden a small portion of the trail years ago. It seems there are no local clubs and no trail maintenance from local bikers. The two left the shop and Lock Haven somewhat disappointed.
Arriving at the trailhead about 15 minutes later, the duo got ready and hit the trail at shortly after 12:00.
The Eagleton Mine Camp Trail is actually a 21 mile loop made by connecting a series of other trails. By riding clockwise, the first half of the ride ( to the southwest of Eagleton Road) is the more strenuous. More single-track with steeper descents and some granny gear climbs. More rocks, benchcuts, old railroad beds and some very nice established single-track. But compared to most of the trails in Tuscarora, Rothrock and Bald Eagle SFs, this is not what the two riders considered a very technical ride.
Crossing over Eagleton Road just past the midpoint of the ride, the trails stayed more on top of the mountain with a lot less change in altitude. ( mostly to the northeast of Eagleton Road) The second half had more old old forest road riding with some very new single-track and very faint single-track used as connectors. Fortunately, most of the trail was well marked and fairly easy to follow, unless of course you're color blind, like one of the riders, and have a hard time seeing red blazes. The same rider also somehow managed to lose his maps within the first 4 miles of the ride. While the maps would have been nice, they were not a necessity.
Some ride notes: There are switch backs on some very steep climbs that could have been cut in better. These are pretty much impossible to ride, at least for this mortal rider. Once some of the new single-track is ridden in it will be much better, however judging from the response at the bike shop and the fact that no other trail users ( this is a multiuse trail ) were seen the entire afternoon, this may take a while. The entire ride took around four hours. This included a number of mechanicals, face feeding, intersection stops and some time wasted waiting on a very stupid heart anomaly of the color blind rider to subside. Weather conditions went from sunny to rain to sun to rain to sun to sleet to sun to rain to sun.
All and all this was a very cool ride in some spectacular country. These two riders will make the trip again.
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Stouffer and Egolf did a point to point ride last evening. The trip to Michaux came to a sudden halt as the van, spewing white smoke, barely got the two off of the road. After calling a rollback and leaving the van at Diehl’s Convenience Store on Route 233 in Cumberland County with what would later be determined to be a blown head gasket, the duo rode north towards Col. Denning SP.
After a short stop for Egolf's most stupid mechanical (it’s never a good idea to run crossover gears when in the big chain ring as it does not make the rear derailleur very happy), the two took a new trail from the gate at the Tuscarora Trail/RT233 and rode east picking up the Flat Rock Tail into the park.
For some Moab training the two rode/walked across the sandy beach and then picked up the Lower Trail Section which from now on will be renamed Gaper Central after the lack of riding ability the riders demonstrated. After climbing the newly “paved” North Slope Road, with darkness closing fast, the two ripped down the road and took the Kennedy’s Valley Road home.
After changing, the two made a short road trip to Mark Smith's garage where the van was now waiting with the cold beer.
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Re:the TORC chronicles - 2008/02/19 10:12well gang....that's it.....aaallley-all. i got lazy and just pretty much up and quit the ride reports back in '06.
anyway, i hope you enjoyed the endeavors of TORC.... Tuscarora Off Road Cyclists or Totally Obnoxious Ridiculing Clowns...again your choice. but after reading the reports you'll probably lean towards the latter...i know i would. we may not be hardcore and we may do our best to bust each other's chops and we may piss each other off with our idiosyncrasies but we mostly have a good time and as far as i'm concerned having a good time is what riding's all about.
february's almost gone and the snow is melting so hopefully i'll get a weekend lined up soon to put on a ride down here is the "wilds" of perry county and show you what we have here in the tuscarora.
happy trails and see ya soon
ray
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Re:the TORC chronicles - 2008/03/21 10:30hey..lookie...a new ride report...hope it amuses you.
3/20/09 the spring equinox ride
sometimes a ride becomes memorable not because of the length,or scenery,or conditions, but because of the circumstances the riders put themselves into. this was one of those rides.
Soreson was quiet. Very quiet. Sorenson gets quiet when he’s nervous. Egolf hadn’t heard a word out of Sorenson for the last 15 minutes. Egolf didn’t really care. All Egolf was concerned with was finding a way down off of the mountain. The earlier chase by the rottweiler and the success of finding a new connector trail had been long forgotten.
The sporadic light of the full moon was helping, but when it went behind the clouds it was like the difference between day and night. And night it was. And the trio was still on top of the mountain, bushwhacking, looking for the old woods road that would lead back to the cabin. The old four-wheeler trail had disappeared amongst blow downs and the fading daylight and Egolf had no choice but to try to find the old road by memory. On this end of the mountain it split into two flats on top with a hollow in between and if he wasn’t careful Egolf knew they could end up dropping down into the hollow leading them northeast instead of south towards the main valley. Egolf also knew that if they didn’t find the road, or any road for that matter, down off the top it would be a treacherous hike down the steep side of the mountain through the rocks. And that would make Sorenson really nervous.
To his relief, Egolf stepped out onto an old road a few minutes later. The hike though the thick forest was over.
Turning east and riding about 50 yards Egolf’s relief dwindled some as he realized this was not the road he was looking for. The road he wanted had no split as this one did. Staying right, the road became more pronounced and swung to the south and Egolf’s relief returned. This wasn’t the road he wanted but he was pretty sure of where it would bring them out and even if it didn’t, it had to lead to the main road.
As the three dropped off the side of the mountain down the steep logging road, trying to pick out obstacles in the on again-off again moonlight, Stouffer commented that he thought they actually made lights these days for on bikes and there were actually bikers that rode at night, though the mountains, with those lights. Egolf replied that he thought Sorenson had some such lights and wondered why he hadn’t brought them along. Sorenson was still quite noticeably quiet.
When Sorenson, Stouffer and Egolf left the van 2 ½ hours earlier on the exploratory ride, discussion of lights, which were readily available, was short and quickly dismissed. Egolf knows better. Egolf can be stupid at times. This time may apply.
20 minutes later Egolf cautioned the other two to be careful of the gate as they dropped onto the hard road. As his nervousness faded, Sorenson once again found his voice and readily agreed with Stouffer it was definitely beer time.
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Re:the TORC chronicles - 2008/03/21 11:26ah that brings back memories of ride/hike I had like that at Blue knob years ago. Ive learned not to go "exploring" with limited daylight.
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