Ride Report: Greensfelder

The DeClue reroute at Greensfelder is finished, so 7 of us decided to ride it on Sunday. We started at the Roundhouse parking lot and began by riding Dogwood counterclockwise. Dogwood is in great shape, even after taking a pounding during the Spring freeze-thaw cycle. The climb out of the valley back up to the Roundhouse has a few rough spots where it crosses drainages, but is entirely rideable. Next, the awesomely fun section of DeClue down to Allenton Rd.
Then it's up the steep, rocky grinder to the Radio Tower. Not much has changed with it. In order to enjoy all the fun stuff going clockwise on DeClue, there aren't many alternatives.
DeClue is in good shape aside from a few wet spots below the rock garden where post-holes have collected some water in the drainage.
Up, up and away, then the rollercoaster ride. Mountain biking doesn't get much better than this!
Regroup at the cut-off before beginning the next rocky section. So far, the Punisher is crash free!
Through, around, up and over the rocks until you get to the steep, rocky downhill section. Well, it's not there anymore. The trail continues straight, bypasses and cuts back across the old section in a S-shape before rejoining the existing DeClue section. Along the way are ledges, dips, alternate lines, off-camber screamer sections, and other assorted fun. Um, Randy, the trail turns left here.
You're only on the old trail for about 50 ft. and then there's a keyhole which directs you down and to the left--watch out for that ledge! Down, down, around. More ledges, rocks, turns, a bit of climbing, hoops embedded in trees, the "loading dock", and then back to Allenton Rd.
Then the hardest part is trying to decide which way to head next; back up the way you came, or hit the fun section across the road. Better do both!
We need to put a lot more wheels down on this trail. Don't forget the Off.

Illinois Riding in the Shawnee

When most people think about riding in Illinois, rocks are not usually the first thing that come to mind. Well, for those of you who aren't aware of it yet, there's plenty of rocky, technical riding in the Shawnee National Forest near Carbondale.
Our friends down at SMBA are working hard on some existing trails there that needed a little TLC. If you like Chubb and Greensfelder, with maybe a little of Matson Hill thrown in for good measure, then this is the place for you.
Pete and Gigi were down there recently and kindly submitted a few photos of their ride on the Cove Hollow Trail. Cove Hollow and the Cedar Lake Trail share a common trailhead, so you can get in a tough ride of up to 22 miles if you're so inclined.
There are other trails down there as well, so check out the website.

Greensfelder Workday Saturday 5/20

We're going to try and finish the re-route this weekend, but there are several somewhat complicated sections left to build, so we'll need help from all the experienced GORC trailbuilding experts we can get out there.
The map shows what's been done to this point, and what we hope to finish is shown in red.
If you haven't been out yet to see why some GORC members consider this to be one of the most fun, and exciting trails in the area, now's your chance.
Be aware that I-44 has some major construction going on around the 6 Flags exit, so you might want to consider an alternate route. Here are a few other alternatives:

You Were Wrong Cabinet Sanchez

This site features "poorly-drawn cartoons inspired by actual spam subject lines." The Cabinet Sanchez one apparently got things started. I know I've been getting some crazy ones lately.

SIUE Connector Trail

Here's a detail of the newly constructed connector trail between Trails 1 & 3 at SIUE. Previously, you went to the first intersection with the cross-country trail and followed it down to the bottom of the hill, made a left, then a right on the asphalt. Now, the connector branches off to the right just before the cross-country trail, and takes you around to a short section of asphalt which leads to New Poag Rd. and on to the trailhead of #3.

In search of the blue agave

In honor of Cinco de Mayo, the anniversary of the invention of the blender, here's a fourteen page article about tequila and mezcal. I figure it'll take an evening to read it for those inclined to learn more than they need to about the stuff. Happy 84th birthday to the magic spinning blade, and catch a cab home if you drive to the bar on Friday.

Bill Introduced to allow easier development of trails in MO State Parks

News from the MOBikeFed.
In case you missed State Rep. Mike Sutherland's talk at the MMBF, here are the details of a bill he introduced back in Feb. to make it easier for groups like GORC to build trails in Missouri State Parks:
Rep. Sutherland's amendment allows one organization to help across several (or all) Missouri parks and allows expands the scope of the allowed activities to include trail building.
In short, it allows organizations like GORC, EarthRiders, and IMBA to work with the Missouri Parks to build trails of all types.

Ozark Trail on the TeeVee

Not everybody gets the Ozark Trail Association's weekly email updates so I'll post this up here. John Roth of the OTA (and GORC, but he keeps that on the DL) just had a really big weekend with the Middle Fork / 200 mile grand opening celebration. Here's a great five-minute interview with him from last week on the KMOV-4 TV morning show. Click this link and then click Part 3. He even plugs mountain biking on the OT in it. Go OTA.

MTBr's spankin' the roadies!

It's been a good week for old MTBr's gone road racing.

First, Floyd Landis spanks'em good in the Tour of Georgia (not the "Tour de Georgia", as the promotors named it. That's lame) The second-to-last stage up Brasstown Bald was fantastic, with Danielson and Landis stalking each other up the hill. Danielson later admitted to making a potential "tactical error" by not attacking right from the start of the BB climb. Landis was able to cover his every move on the way up. Landis used to race for the GT mtb squad.



Yesterday, Cadel Evans showed'em his backside in the final ITT to win Romandie. Cadel is a former MTB world champ with Cannondale.



Keep'em comin' boyz! The Giro starts this weekend.