RR: A Winter Workout!

Quoted message said:

Only a couple of miles in and we have the first problem of the day. Dan's
derailleur has frozen in granny gear. Short of pissing on it, there is
nothing we can do.

Awe you should'a [censored] on it. Many years ago I had a '75 Datsun with no
heat, no scraper and a finicky washer pump-- one very cold night, after
light ice storm, I turned on the wipers and stood on the hood. It was messy
but it did get the job done.

Steve

Nice see you can ride. While all those trainner jocks
look at 4 walls a floor and a ceiling and can't forget blowing their
hearing in the future from blasting those MP3 players and pods. Whats a
little cold when your having fun. It was 5 degrees on my ride to work at
445 am today and not a soul in sight due to the dead King.

Ride-A-Lot said:

Wharton State Forest, NJ

I thought there would have been a few more people showing up after my
ride got hijacked, but I guess looking out the window and seeing the
snow, 30 mile an hour winds, and 25 degrees was a little too much for
most people. It doesn't matter, I was going to ride regardless!
Dressed up nice and warm, all the gear packed, and the SS loaded on the
SUV and off I went on the snow covered roads to Wharton. I made one
stop at Dunkin Donuts in Medford to get my pre-ride hot chocolate.
Usually I have to wait on line their but flew right through. Atsion was
cold and gray when I arrived, but I could see blue sky in the distance.

http://www.schnauzers.ws/images/batsto/IMG_3237

http://www.schnauzers.ws/images/batsto/IMG_3238

I was shortly joined by Dan, Kurt, and Mike. So we head out and quickly
decided that the singletrack will be unpassable due to the heavy snow
bending the saplings. So, we opt for a doubletrack ride to Batsto
Village and back. It's a long ride and even longer trodging through
snow. But, the scenery was spectacular!

http://www.schnauzers.ws/images/batsto/IMG_3240

http://www.schnauzers.ws/images/batsto/IMG_3241

The fire road isn't too bad at this point since some 4x4's have made
ruts for us to ride in. Every so often we stop to admire mother nature
and Kurt proclaims it's like being on LSD. With this look in the next
picture and the Target bag hanging out of his helmet, he certainly looks
like he's on drugs. More like crack, though. He said the bad was an
old motocross trick to keep [censored] from falling down your kneck.

http://www.schnauzers.ws/images/batsto/IMG_3243

I would have to say that Mother Nature did a great job today. The sky
was so blue, the trees so green, and the snow... well you know.

http://www.schnauzers.ws/images/batsto/IMG_3245

http://www.schnauzers.ws/images/batsto/IMG_3246

Only a couple of miles in and we have the first problem of the day.
Dan's derailleur has frozen in granny gear. Short of pissing on it,
there is nothing we can do.

http://www.schnauzers.ws/images/batsto/IMG_3247

He continues on spinning ferociously until Mike finally get's it working
again only to find out that Dan now has a flat. Knowing his day is
cursed, hge turns around and heads back before the Jersey Devil gets him.

Onward we go, albeit slowly. It's bot a race today anyway and the
steady grind courtesy of the snow makes a great workout.

http://www.schnauzers.ws/images/batsto/IMG_3249

http://www.schnauzers.ws/images/batsto/IMG_3251

http://www.schnauzers.ws/images/batsto/IMG_3255

We make it to Quaker Bridge and the Mullica River flowing coldly beneath
it. So peaceful!

http://www.schnauzers.ws/images/batsto/IMG_3256

We then turn onto some doubletrack. It looks like one lone 4x4 tried to
get through, but judging from all the bent branches it'll be one
scratched up truck.

http://www.schnauzers.ws/images/batsto/IMG_3258

http://www.schnauzers.ws/images/batsto/IMG_3259

http://www.schnauzers.ws/images/batsto/IMG_3260

http://www.schnauzers.ws/images/batsto/IMG_3261

Soon we get to a point where there is a tree across the trail and the
4x4 tracks have doubled back. We climb over and continue on with only
about a mile to get to the village.

http://www.schnauzers.ws/images/batsto/IMG_3267

We reach Batsto Village (http://www.batstovillage.org) and stop in the
visitor center to warm up, hit the bathroom, and chat it up with the
friendly old ladies working in the gift shop. It must be a very slow
day for them, but they love to volunteer and talk about the village and
trails. They point out a trail for us to take so we can have sort of a
loop back to Atsion. We walk (out of respect for their rules) through
the village to the trail and take some photos on the way.

This is the saw mill that is still working and powered by water.

http://www.schnauzers.ws/images/batsto/IMG_3267

The water comes from the Batsto lake dam.

http://www.schnauzers.ws/images/batsto/IMG_3268

A few of the village residences from when it was a working factory town
in the early 1800's.

http://www.schnauzers.ws/images/batsto/IMG_3270

Ah, finally some singletrack. There are some footprints to start with
but that changes shortly in.

http://www.schnauzers.ws/images/batsto/IMG_3272

http://www.schnauzers.ws/images/batsto/IMG_3273

Let know one tell you that riding in this stuff is easy. Also, the sand
that is beneath the snow has not frozen yet making it even harder.

http://www.schnauzers.ws/images/batsto/IMG_3274

We stop for a food break at the Batsto river. One of the three
kayakable rivers that run through the forest.

http://www.schnauzers.ws/images/batsto/IMG_3275

http://www.schnauzers.ws/images/batsto/IMG_3278

More fresh marks in the singletrack.

http://www.schnauzers.ws/images/batsto/IMG_3277

http://www.schnauzers.ws/images/batsto/IMG_3281

http://www.schnauzers.ws/images/batsto/IMG_3282

http://www.schnauzers.ws/images/batsto/IMG_3283

Even the king of balance, Mike Air Newman walks this bridge.

http://www.schnauzers.ws/images/batsto/IMG_3286

More singletrack with deep loose sand underneath. It was a pedal to
match any climb!

http://www.schnauzers.ws/images/batsto/IMG_3288

http://www.schnauzers.ws/images/batsto/IMG_3289

http://www.schnauzers.ws/images/batsto/IMG_3290

http://www.schnauzers.ws/images/batsto/IMG_3291

We make it to the Batsto River campsite and it looks like some fresh
kayak tracks. I'm still trying to gather up enough nerve to kayak in
the winter, plus the money for a wet suit just in case.

http://www.schnauzers.ws/images/batsto/IMG_3294

We then meet up with Quakerbridge Road again and cruise out to the car
in slush.

Here's the topo, profile, and satellite view of the ride.

http://www.schnauzers.ws/images/batsto/batsto.jpg

http://www.schnauzers.ws/images/batsto/batstop.jpg

http://www.schnauzers.ws/images/batsto/batstos.jpg

For you Google Earth folks, here's the KML:

http://www.schnauzers.ws/batsto.kml

nice,
bill

The First law, Inertia: Unless acted upon by an outside force,
a body at rest tends to stay at rest,
and a body in motion tends to stay in motion.
Sir Isaac Newton