Single Track Sunday- A New Adventure For Cliff

Single Track Sunday

Place: South Mountain Lehigh, Bethlehem, PA

Ridden: March 2014

As I am sure most of you experienced, this weekend was a washout. Due to the torrential rains and muddy trail conditions, Joël and I opted to do our training rides on the road.  Nothing video worthy for a Single Track Sunday production, just us pedaling through the rain, puddles, and mud.

Despite the conditions, there was a cycling highlight this past weekend for the Nankman family. During a brief interlude from the rain on Saturday morning we decided to take Cliff over to Lehigh for a short jaunt on the single track; and we transported him there via his Co-Pilot cart.We have been socializing Cliff to his cart for some time with short trips around the block.  This was the day to finally take him in his cart to the trails. He did well, single track as a reward for enduring the bumpy ride works just fine for Cliff.

Not only is the Giant Anthem Advanced a great trail bike, it is also just as quick and nimble when pulling a dog in a cart!

Click on the video below to see Cliff and his cart in action

Single Track Sunday- Tuscarora Off Road Weekend

Single Track Sunday

Place: Tuscarora State Park, Blain, PA

Ridden: March 2014

For both of us, the first race of the year, the Tuscarora 4 Hour Endurance, can be summed up as a great ride with lots of flat fixing practice. Both of us were happy with our rides, but those darn flats just kept on slowing us down.                                                                                                                                                         The day started out with temps in the high 30's, much warmer than the previous years we have raced here, so that automatically started the day off on a good note. Additionally, it was not raining, so once again, much better than previous years.                                                                                                            

The course stared off with a steep climb on a dirt road about a mile long; a great way to spread out the field before entering the single track.  The single track was a slow climb up the mountain, with a few really sloppy sections which made for muddy bikes and slippery climbing.  Soon came the hike a bike section, in which everyone had to walk.  After this was the fun descent and super technical but fun
rock gardens. Joël was happy to have cleared the entire rock garden section multiple times and I was happy to have made it almost all the way through. I have to say, the 27.5 inch wheels of our Giant bikes really are as nimble as 26" but do roll over things better. I was very happy with the way my Lust Advanced handled the rock gardens.  After the rock gardens more climbing on some loose, rocky double track and dirt roads before the chattery double track descent. After this descent it was dirt road back to the start/finish area. Zach Adams puts together some tough but rewarding courses.

Both of us were happy with our rides, we felt good, put in good lap times, and all in all just had an awesome time in the woods.  As for the flats? Maybe time to experiment with different tire pressures? Maybe we need more Stans in our tires? Maybe we just forgot how to ride over rocks because of all the snow this winter?

Overall the Giant Northeast Team did well at Tuscarora.  Abbey from the Pro team was 5th woman.  From the Grassroots team Jamie was 6th woman and I was 7th. Joël was 7th in overall men. Not too shabby for it being the first race of the year for most of us. Looking forward to the next race!

-Jess

Click on video link above for a race recap.

Single Track Sunday- A Weekend in Review

Single Track Sunday
Place:  A review of the weekend- multiple places ridden:
     Saucon Valley area road ride
     Allaire State Park, NJ
     Tuscarora State Park, PA
     Swatara State Park, PA
Ridden: March 2014

This week took us all sorts of places. Because each of them had their own unique attributes, we decided to make a "weekend in review" video this week, highlighting each place that we went.

The roads around the Saucon Valley area are well traveled, but there are back roads that can be found to ride on that offer little traffic and nice views of farm land. Routes can be planned that are relatively flat to rolling or roads that head up over South Mountain can be added in to give some good climbs. A rogue ride on an abandoned golf course in the area offers car free riding.

Allaire State Park was the subject of Single Track Sunday last week. Some new footage this week highlights some new trail features we encountered. All three Giant bikes (our friend Kerry rides on also) performed great on the fast, twisty trails.


Tuscarora State Park is the site of an upcoming race. We had heard
the trails were clear so we decided to head out there for a pre-race course preview.  Some sections of the course were in great shape, some were still snow and ice covered, and some had downed trees that made riding nearly impossible. Not quite the riding we expected so we headed out still needing more miles for the day. The pictures of Cliff show parts of the trail still snow covered.

Last stop of the weekend was Swatara State Park.  A fun place to ride.  The trails weave themselves around the side of the mountain, so riders are always going up or down or right or left.  Add in a fair amount of logs and it makes for a fun place to ride. In addition, the Swatara Rail Trail connects to the park which offers a 50+ mile one way rail trail system directly out of the park.

What a weekend! Lots of time on the bike, fun riding with friends, tons of time driving, and lots of trail time for Cliff.

Single Track Sunday Allaire State Park, Howell, NJ

Single Track Sunday

Place ridden: Allaire State Park, Howell, NJ

Date ridden: March 2014

Finally the temperatures are feeling more Spring-like but the Lehigh Valley is still covered in snow, so off to New Jersey again this weekend to find another place where there is dirt to ride on.

The ride this weekend took a group of us to Allaire State Park, in Howell, NJ.  The park has many multi-use trails that color-coded, but also many unnamed/unmarked trails criss-cross the park and weave all about. The trails vary from flat, wide, sandy trails to twisty, tree-hugging trails.  Add in a few climbs, lots of log overs, multiple bridges and skinnies, and a super fun area with whoop-de-doos and it makes for a really fun day.  What a fun place to ride!

With the exception of the Creek Trail (which was hub-deep mud the entire time), all the trails were in good condition. Rumor has it that during the summer this place is tough to ride; when the sandy ground becomes too dry it's like riding on the beach the entire time.

Miles of trails?  Who knows. We put in almost 25 miles and rarely repeated the same trails twice.  After the ride we were talking to another cyclist in the parking lot and he told us about about another 15 miles of trails just on the other side of the park. So it appears that this place could be an epic ride location.

Click on video below to play

Single Track Sunday Woodbine, NJ

Single Track Sunday
Place ridden: Belleplain State Forest, Woodbine, NJ
Date ridden: March 2014

This weekend again required traveling to find somewhere snow free and warm to ride. New Jersey bike shops were contacted about what could be ridden, and we were told about Belleplain State Forest. Just a little south of where we were last week, we decided it was worth checking out for a day trip.

What started as just a few people ended up being a pretty decent size group, which was great, the more the merrier. Many people who attended were riding friends we haven't ridden with since before it started snowing, so it was nice to catch up with friends.

Most trails were single or double track that were criss-crossed by dirt roads. Some twists and turns, bridges, some roots, and A LOT of puddles.  Deep, icy puddles that at times required traversing through the surrounding forest to get around.  Some puddles we came to were more like ponds or lakes and required us turning around and going back. Thus, needless to say we didn't get to ride all of the trails in the park and spent quite a bit of time retracing a route we had already ridden.

Overall, it was worth the drive. It was a nice day, time spent with friends, explored a new place, got in some good base training, and no matter what it was better than riding the hometrainer in the basement. Would we go back, probably not.

And as always a short video recap.