We hadn't been to Bethpage in about 4 months, not since I
got ill. We decided to take the SS's for a ride in there to
see how things have been holding up. As soon as we got in
the trail it started to pour rain like it was going out of
style. The rain came down hard for a couple of minutes then
suddenly stopped. It wasn't enough to create mud or prevent
us from riding. The trail absorbed the water in immediately.
While we stood under the trees and waited.
Another mountainbiker rode up to us. He introduced
himself as Steve. We asked if he was part of CLIMB or
Vision (a couple of local mountainbikers organizations
and forum). He said he was but he told us that he's the
guy that's been wreaking havoc in mtbr.com about the
Tomac bikes that are pieces of [censored]. Apparently, his
Tomac frame fell apart on him at the welds. He tried to
get it warrantied but Tomac wouldn't do it, so now he's
involved in some kind of legal matter with them and CPSC.
He went into the whole story, we stood there and
listened. And on and on and on he went, about metallurgy,
about how he hates Tomac, about how Litespeed sucks,
about how all American bike companies stink...
He was riding a Turner Burner. Told us that it was a new
bike that he got to replace the Tomac, because it was better
quality and rarely has defects, if any. We agreed it was a
quality design. The conversation lasted for about a
1/2 hour. We finally parted ways, Jim and I stood there and
laughed a little, then got our ride started, finally...
We noticed the trail had been beaten on. The dirt jumper's
area had been destroyed, seems that the State went in there
and flattened the place out, due to liability issues. Also,
many sections of what used to be singletrack, was now slowly
widening and turning into double track. That was a very
disheartening sight, to see the trail being abused this way.
We completed the ride, in the process we visited Mookie's
gravesite to say hello. Jim nearly broke his finger after he
bashed his handlebars into a tree on the side of the trail.
It swelled up like a golf ball. All in a day's ride...
- CA-G
Can-Am Girls Kick Ass!