Northeast TW mountain bike meetup at Kingdom Trails (VT) - June 25-26

Dates set and inked in on my calendar, first post updated. Is there anything you'd like to know that isn't in the first post?

 

In the planning phases for bringing either the camper or pitching a tent - would the intent be for everyone to try and book at the same place for after hours, or do our own thing and meet up at a trailhead in the morning for a ride? One has the potential to be more fun, but the other may be much more convenient.

 

I live less than an hour away and will be driving back and forth each morning, so I don't have any stake in that decision, but you hit the major points of either option. The Tiki Bar is a great post-ride hangout spot and where I figured we'd gather in the morning so we'd be finishing our rides back there and just roll with it.

If a communal hangout spot is something we all want, my buddy's place (Newburke Camping) has a great communal spot located at the top of the campground right outside his (free) shower building. The downside to that is that he's not big enough for any RV camping. You might get by with a teardrop but I wouldn't recommend taking anything bigger up there (I have had my travel trailer in one of his spots, but it was a lot of work and not something he allows for most of his customers). He does have a rustic (no electric or water) cabin that could sleep a few people (1 bed and a loft) on site too.

 

I'm booked at the Kingdom Campground for the weekend. Figure I'll take a half day Friday and head up. As much as I remember liking tent camping, I know I'll be much better rested sleeping in the camper. But, I'm committed, can't wait and I should have all my new parts on the bike by then also

 

What new parts?

 

Got a GPS, clipless pedals (ordered from a TW member), I9 wheels and a new front tire. Still waiting on pedals and wheels, the rest in hand.

 

Oh,fancy! Very nice.

 

this reminds me, I need to post some stuff up for sale. Collecting too much bike stuff lately.

 

Which gps did you go with @Pugga ? Gf just got me one to start using too. Been primarily using the phone before this. I can some up and down sides to switching so far.

 

Not bike specific, but I'm going to play around with it on the bike for sure, I picked up a Garmin RINO 750 at Christmas that I plan to use primarily while hunting, but I can see it being a useful tool while biking and off-roading as well.

 

I originally went with a Garmin Fenix 6 watch. I read the specs and reviews, what I didn't realize was all the videos I watched, the people were referring to the watch as the Fenix 6 however, there's no map capability with the 6, you need the 6 Pro which is another couple hundred bucks. I wanted the watch because it would do heart rate and other sports like golf. The plain 6 is only GPS enabled and can only do point to point navigation, not mapping (the specs are a bit misleading). I returned that and bought a Garmin Edge 530. @guitarjamman has one and it works well. I was torn between the 530 and the 830, basically the same unit but the 830 is touch screen and there's about $100 difference between the 2. I know Zach's works well, I just got it a few days ago and am still learning how to use it, but the Garmin app is pretty easy and I know how it works on a trail from riding with Zach. Comes with a couple mounting options and I bought the gorilla glass and silicone case to protect it.

I was using my phone before, but I would keep it in my back pack. I'm not mounting my phone to my frame or handlebar, one good fall and it's toast. In the back pack, it works ok for a trail system I'm familiar with. I memorize my route ahead of time and really only pull the phone out if I get turned around. On more intricate trail systems where there are lots of intersections, the phone in the bag is not a good solution in my opinion. This allows me to keep my phone in my pack, where it's protected, and navigate with a map on my handlebar using a preloaded route.

 

I'm conflicted on all the tech integration. Think about it - even 10 years ago, the ability to:

1. Monitor heart rate
2. Monitor pacing and splits
3. Have interactive live maps

This was all VERY professional level. You had a personal trainer monitoring the equipment, with a degree and they were employed to do just that. Nowadays, we have a personal trainer on our hand for 20 bucks. Heck I can get a phone that runs offline maps for about 100$ too....

Now you have people "I CAN'T GO ANY FASTER MY HEART RATE WILL GO ONE BPM TOO HIGH FOR MY TRAINING REQUIREMENTS!!!!!!!" with a high level of dependence on it. I dunno, I don't really have a strong opinion, heck I even have a crappy 20$ "smart" watch, I wear it daily and use it. It works for alarms, wakes me up without waking up my wife, etc etc. I see the benefits, but I'm conflicted about it I guess.



Anyway.

 

I primarily was after the map capabilities but, for the price, I was comparing the Fenix 6 watch against the Edge 530 GPS. They were really close (and I thought the watch would do maps at the time) so I figured I can spend the same money and get some more gizmos, why not. I'm not monitoring heart rate, it's more of a curiosity thing than anything. I really just didn't want to get lost in the woods so the 530 solves that problem. Hunting and hiking, I'll continue to just use my phone.

 

My Samsung watch always thinks I'm riding my bike while I'm driving. Sorry I don't ride my bike for 7.5 hrs 6 days a week!

 

Figure I’d ask now as I always over plan and prep for trips, fully aware it’s February and the biking season hasn’t even started yet: do people have an anticipated ride length or effort for the days we would be going?

Want to set my own expectations as well as everyone having the ability to talk about the types of ride we could possibly do. We could set up loops with bail out points as needed, but if people are up for doing 5-6 miles with an hour saddle time while others want to hit 20-25 miles while biking all day, would be good to get it discussed earlier rather than later.

 

I am a numbers nerd and use my smart watch and GPS to measure progress as the season goes on. The heart rate is purely for my own enjoyment - I know when I’m hitting 180 bpm and can see how quick the recovery is. I couldn’t care less on training zones or maintaining a specific target heart rate; but always curious to see the max heart rate hit on a ride to make sure I’m being honest with my own efforts.

The GPS and Strava segments are great to compare and contrast speed and efficiency as well. I am by no means a professional racer (far from it), but biking is a hobby and I like to get invested in my own personal growth. Knowing I did a segment in a certain time lets me have a good baseline to use when I hit it next. Push a little harder and try to clear a tricky section with more speed to beat my own personal best. I can see other riders times through that segment to realize how slow I actually am and work to get better LOL.

At the end of the day I’m out riding in the woods having fun trying to stay on two wheels. When I get home and am having my post ride beer, I get to look at the data and play around with the tech side of it.

 

I get to ride here as often as I like, so I'll let you all decide what type of ride we do. We can always get in a shorter social ride as a whole big group and let the less experienced riders bail at some point while those with more stamina take off for another 10-15 or so and we all regroup at the Tiki Bar.

 

I’m in for the longer, all day ride. My typical weekend rides are about 1-2 hours and usually aim for 10 miles + or -. I figure double that and 5-6 hours with stops and lunch, etc. I’m not at hero pace or anything though, slow and steady.

 

I’m in for whatever. Most of the XC races for me fall in the 20mi range, and I usually do all day gravel/road rides. So I can go with the longer-ride group and of course always willing to work with anyone new if they want some tips….but I’m not promising my help will be any good lol. Still gotta check calendar.

 

By that time I'll have the stamina for the full day ride but we'll see how things shake out. If I still only have my 26er shenanigans then I would bail out earlier and let the group more prepared for the trails have the trails.