[MTNgirl]

I've been running at 6am with 2 other ladies and 2 dogs; up Hulls/Freeway to Kestral/back to the shi**er lot. We almost always have the trail to ourselves, but yesterday a (very bundled up) guy on a Titus w/a black lab showed much courtesy in yielding the trail. You really took my by suprise, whoever you were, and the other ladies I run with (non-mtb'ers) said that it was the first time they had a mtb'er be so polite!

Heck, I ride that trail all the time (frequently up, frequently with a 10-year old) and have has some close calls. I was so suprised to see a rider that early on Hulls, I didn't have the time to call out a thanks for looking out for us and our dogs. So thanks, and good to know that someone else enjoys the frosty early morning groove. It's a really cool planet up there.

 

[flipnidaho]

Is one of your dogs named Bat?

If so, we see you every morning during our run also (we have the cocker spaniel with the disco LED light and a Ridgeback with a flashing red bike light)... Not a whole lot of folks out there that early...

 

[Guest]

Gotta Love....

A gal who can call a shi**er a shi**er!!!

I always found that saying hello, yielding the trail, etc doesn't detract from your ride that much and does wonders for your kharma.

Also, it wasn't me on that Titus as I'm currently freezing my a** off up in Moscow but as a mountain biker I for one appreciate you taking the time to acknowledge the kindness of others.

 

[MTNgirl]

Crazy moon...

Hi Flip, I have seen you before with the disco cocker (hmm...that sounds funny). I actually don't have a dog, just lots of doggie friends who live with my human friends. We are usually with 2 black mutts, Sammy and Muckwah, who also sport the glow-dog look.

This morning we had some major dog drama, I think it's the full moon. At the footbridge on Hulls my 2 friends turned back to go down Hulls to find Mucky, as he is prone to take off and this a.m. he did just that. One of our mates who is a guy was running with us so I opted to head down the Freeway with him as I was ready to kick it out.

Mucky was indeed back at the car when the girls got there, but on the way I guess Sammy (the smaller of the black mutts) got into a big brawl with another dog on the trail. Pretty dramatic I hear. I arrived at the lot to find my friend in tears inspecting the carnage. No blood, all was well.

Thanks for listening to my paltry goings-on. I'm going to ride this weekend for sure, I'm going crazy. And no new snow for skiing... I actually sat on my bike in the living room last night while I watched CSI. How pathetic is THAT?! (don't answer)

 

[flipnidaho]

small world...

This morning, during our run, we saw the big black dog with the red collar waiting by your cars off of 8th at around 645am. It started to follow us and our dogs but we told it to stay since we figured it lost it's owner and made it's way back to the vehicles. Then, later that morning, around 745am, during our ride, we met up with some friends who were running on the freeway (2 girls with 3 dogs-2 german shorthairs and a brown and white dog) and she started telling me about how bad her dog got into a fight with a dog with lights (her dog got into it with my dog also because the light freaked her out in the past). Small world out there, especially between 6am and 8am in the morning…

 

[MTNgirl]

Small world indeed! Yeah, it was the German Shorthair. I guess it was pretty scary for Sammy and Teresa (her mom) but that's how it goes. I love dogs, I really do, but they are some high maintenence critters.

I want to ride on Sat, maybe Corrals or a Hulls loop w/ Bucktail, do I have to go really early or do you guys think I could ride around noon w/out mud? I know the trail conditions well, but only at 6 in the moring lately since I've been off the bike. I guess it depends on how cold it is...but I'm not getting up at 5:45 on my day off. Nope.

 

[flipnidaho]

Depends

If the sun is out, the trails that get sun will get moist/soft around 1130 in the morning so we typically go before 10am if possible. A good loop that we did last week was Golf Course-Bob's-Corrals-Hulls-Sidewinder-Kestrel but if you get out early enough, say 9am, you can probably include the Mil Reserve loops and get in a nice 2.5+ hour ride…

 

[Earthpig]

I want to ride on Sat, maybe Corrals....

The snow on Corrals, past the third gate (in the canyon part), is still pretty deep; it's not packed down like the Hulls/Reserve trails are. When I rode it last Friday afternoon, traction was very sketchy from the third gate to Bobs, resulting in some not-so-fun push-a-bike through 2 - 3 inch deep snow. Just an FYI.

 

[MTNgirl]

Thanks~appreciate the info.

 

[mtnbkrdr98]

Been pretty good evening late afternoon

Thanks~appreciate the info.

Been doing foothills loops around 4ish. Freeway/Kestrel been good, packed down frozen vanilla. Even the connector and over into black forest and Central Ridge and Shanes
are pretty good. It looks like the high for the next 10 days is about 35
so I don't see anything turning into slush or mud at that temp - enjoy...

 

[bikerx40]

The snow on Corrals, past the third gate (in the canyon part), is still pretty deep; it's not packed down like the Hulls/Reserve trails are. When I rode it last Friday afternoon, traction was very sketchy from the third gate to Bobs, resulting in some not-so-fun push-a-bike through 2 - 3 inch deep snow. Just an FYI.

That was a great day to ride. I did Corrals too. The snow got quite deep and soft on the steeper pitch leading up to the Scott's intersection. I had my tires aired down to around 15psi and it worked pretty well . Beyond the third gate there was a really narrow packed area to ride on, and you can tell that most hikers had turned around about 2/3 the way up because your nicely packed trail turns to fluff.

 

[Earthpig]

That was a great day to ride. I did Corrals too. The snow got quite deep and soft on the steeper pitch leading up to the Scott's intersection. I had my tires aired down to around 15psi and it worked pretty well . Beyond the third gate there was a really narrow packed area to ride on, and you can tell that most hikers had turned around about 2/3 the way up because your nicely packed trail turns to fluff.

I was on the singlespeed, which isn't the best bike to ride in the deep stuff, even with the tires around 25 psi. I had to walk the last steep pitch up to the junction with Scott's, which I don't think I've had to do since the first time I rode Corrals in '95!

FYI - the Redtail trail system out by Stepford Springs (aka Pleasantville) is in pretty good shape. I rode out there last night and tried to hit all the trails at least once. Looks like that side of the foothills got more snow than the central/eastern foothills, but the trails out there are either packed down or clear of snow entirely and dry. Heck, front side of the "big hill" (Redtail) is about 80 - 90% clear of snow. Also, unlike Hulls/Dork Loop, I didn't run into any ice out there either - it's either packed snow or dry dirt.

 

[bikerx40]

I was on the singlespeed, which isn't the best bike to ride in the deep stuff, even with the tires around 25 psi. I had to walk the last steep pitch up to the junction with Scott's, which I don't think I've had to do since the first time I rode Corrals in '95!

I was cursing for having to hop off of my bike right after the switchback-like turn leading into that section. I tried about 5 times to get going, but I was forced to walk a little bit. My feet were cold and didn't want to touch down into the snow. NOOOOOO!

 

[justen]

I was cursing for having to hop off of my bike right after the switchback-like turn leading into that section. I tried about 5 times to get going, but I was forced to walk a little bit. My feet were cold and didn't want to touch down into the snow. NOOOOOO!

In the summer, that turn and hill aren't even a challenge. The winter gives a whole new twist to old, boring trails. When I first moved to Idaho in 96, that hill was a KILLER. The altitude here kicked my ass. Now that hill can be taken in the big ring. (ok, middle ring, but maybe the big ring some day).

My Sidis just aren't warm enough either. What tires are you running at that low pressure (yeah, I know, some tubeless crap). I am running normal Panaracer FR 2.4 Pros (they measure 2.6" wide). I can run them at 15PSI without getting a pinch flat. They are my deep snow tires. They look like motorcycle tires. Major tread and super wide. I can only run them on my 5 Spot. They don't fit on my Stumpjumper or Habanero. I've never seen any other tires this huge. I tried riding with them once in the summer... I turned around about 2 miles from home. They knocked 4 mph off my cruising speed on the road.

 

[bikerx40]

What tires are you running at that low pressure (yeah, I know, some tubeless crap). I am running normal Panaracer FR 2.4 Pros (they measure 2.6" wide). I can run them at 15PSI without getting a pinch flat. They are my deep snow tires. They look like motorcycle tires. Major tread and super wide. I can only run them on my 5 Spot. They don't fit on my Stumpjumper or Habanero. I've never seen any other tires this huge. I tried riding with them once in the summer... I turned around about 2 miles from home. They knocked 4 mph off my cruising speed on the road.

Motoraptor 2.4" front run with Stan's, and a 2.25" Geax Sturdy (no sealant) tubeless rear. Both on 819 UST rims. The Geax runs very large though, and barely clears my front derailleur while in the granny ring (sometimes rubs). Come summer, I think I'll switch to SpecialEd Adrenaline UST front and maybe a Roll-X UST rear. The Maxxis Larsen TT 2.35" rear is interesting, but no UST yet.

 

[Earthpig]

What tires are you running at that low pressure (yeah, I know, some tubeless crap). I am running normal Panaracer FR 2.4 Pros (they measure 2.6" wide). I can run them at 15PSI without getting a pinch flat. They are my deep snow tires. They look like motorcycle tires. Major tread and super wide. I can only run them on my 5 Spot. They don't fit on my Stumpjumper or Habanero. I've never seen any other tires this huge. I tried riding with them once in the summer... I turned around about 2 miles from home. They knocked 4 mph off my cruising speed on the road.

I'm running that same tire up front on the 1x1 with a rigid front fork. Great tire when the conditions are soft, but not so great on hot, dry hardpack. I run it at 20 psi with the "yes tubes" system. Weirwolf 2.3 out back, running about 30 psi, reversed tread. Also seems to be a good "soft soil" tire and, again, not so great on hardpack.

 

[justen]

Motoraptor 2.4" front run with Stan's, and a 2.25" Geax Sturdy (no sealant) tubeless rear. Both on 819 UST rims. The Geax runs very large though, and barely clears my front derailleur while in the granny ring (sometimes rubs). Come summer, I think I'll switch to SpecialEd Adrenaline UST front and maybe a Roll-X UST rear. The Maxxis Larsen TT 2.35" rear is interesting, but no UST yet.

I thought the same thing about the TT. It is now sitting in my closet. It rolls stupid-fast, but can't climb worth a ****. I am sticking with my Panaracer 2.1s for summer riding. (Maxxis tires exagerate their size. My 2.35 TT and HighRollers are the exact same width as my Panaracer 2.1s, which are actually 2.1 inches wide. The 2.4 (2.6") monsters are just for winter fun).

Justen

 

[bikerx40]

I thought the same thing about the TT. It is now sitting in my closet. It rolls stupid-fast, but can't climb worth a ****. I am sticking with my Panaracer 2.1s for summer riding. (Maxxis tires exagerate their size. My 2.35 TT and HighRollers are the exact same width as my Panaracer 2.1s, which are actually 2.1 inches wide. The 2.4 (2.6") monsters are just for winter fun).

Justen

Good to know. I've been using my Geax Sturdy UST 2.25" since I returned from the Turner gathering in Utah in October. While it worked great and held up great down there, I'm not happy with its performance on our soil here. It has a square'ish profile and it gives out while leaned over on loose over hardpack. Before the Sturdy, I had good luck with the Geax Sedona 2.25" (not ust) with Stan's. It seemed to work better when the knobs were worn down a bit, which made it roll more efficiently. One of my riding buddies used a Roll-X this summer and it wore fast, but he said it hooked up great in the lower foothills. The Sturdy may work better up on the rockier terrain around Stanley.