swingset

There are plenty of things you should stretch for aesthetic purposes that should come before your swing arm in importance.

Plenty of good men die every day, I don't see threads for all of them, what makes this guy so special?

First off, Chris Kyle's childhood scribblings are more profound than anything you puke out on this forum, and secondly you are 100% free not to shit in this thread if his insignificance as a decorated soldier and decent human being trying to help his fellow soldiers is just too much for you. Fact is, we'd all be happier if you weren't here to make your little bullshit proclamations and philosophy that no one gives a shit about.

Pretty cool, actually.

http://youtu.be/UnXrrOxzZCE

So being involved in your child's education and well being is now called 'volunteering'? America is more f'd up than even I thought.

That's a cynical way of looking at this.

Sounds like a great idea, glad to see it happening.

fify..

That's it, show your character some more. As if any of us were in any doubt.

There's usually all the BBC programs available via Torrent or Usenet hours after they air.

I'd have trouble riding the Mohican 10 right now.

Reagan did what, exactly?

Ran over your puppy. We get it.

I'm ready to ride again.

I fucking hate working out indoors I'm jonesing to get on the trails. It's about a million times more fun blasting down a trail working your butt off than tethered to a treadmill.

I'd love to be one of those nutty hardcases that can ride in the frozen weather...but fuck that. Can't even breathe when it's that cold...snot-sickles, wheezing, the ground is hard as fucking concrete. I just can't do it. I grew up in Phoenix, I'm a pussy.

We need a Hitler parody, complaining about the honest 3-minute video, but auto-tuned to Rebecca Black's "Friday", and the internet will be complete.

I did one right out of a fucking Nerd movie. Pulled into a gas station, got to the pump and there's a jeep with a couple cute girls in it. One of them looks over at me and smiles right as I get my helmet off and says "I like your bike". I said thanks, and then leaned over and dumped it.

No kickstand, of course.

We will all get together for a ride when the weather turns. Im not riding and freezing.

Swingset, is Star Hill multiple trails or just a loop? I work in Newark Thursday nights and was planning on bringing my bike to ride after work Friday mornings. That place sounds perfect.

It's a loop mostly. Kinda hard to find tho, I'd tag along with one of the Bike Doctor rides, best way to hit them and figure them out. They do rides on Fridays.

Next up, cutting the deficit in half by 2012!!!

Barry's on FIRE!!!!

True that trail design is of great importance for sustainability, but truth is the soil in the Midwest just plain sucks for drainage. I've been involved in helping to build trails around here (Cincinnati/NKY) for years and no matter how well they're designed, our mucky clay is a problem after a rain and especially during our freeze-thaw cycles. The soils out west are much better at draining water quickly and thus, offer better traction and stand up better to year-round traffic. I've ridden MTB and MX in CO, NM and UT and it's a whole different game out there.

True, clay and heavy soils are problematic for drainage, but it's not impossible to build for drainage just more difficult. The PNW has a problem with run-off stripping heavily ridden trails, so the methods differ but problems can be the same. 4 degree slope will work on any hill, and a cut line can divert any rain. It's hard to eliminate freeze-thaw, for that you need some intimate knowledge of the ground during those times and build around it. And, if you have a run or area where it just won't move the water you can use rocks or man-made features to overcome it. It can be done, and on a network like Alum so serviced by a large metro it's really the only way or you'll do what COMBO does which is continually battle the elements. They're learning, P1 has been improved a lot in the last couple years.

My single track was built for motorcycles, so it's kind of extreme for a bike but it's holding up to year round riding on both. But, I know the land very well and paid a lot of attention to how it drained and behaved before I cut the trail. I doubt COMBO had that luxury when they installed most of their trails. I know the trails at Star Hill were laid out by a guy who knows that land very very well, and it shows. It stays dry like Mohican does.

I agree with all of this. p1 is usually a mess after any rain. mohican benefits from being on top of a mountain and less traffic since it's harder to do multiple loops and it's in the middle of amish country.

A lot of the problem is the way the trails were put in...Mohican has natural run off, that's true but even on flatter ground you should slope your trail or make cuts where run-off or collection is a problem. I realize why P1 was done the way it was, it was an outlaw trail turned legitimate, but P2 and Chestnut are just poor trail design. I'm not knocking COMBO's efforts, they're very pro-active in maintaining and guarding the trails, but I think they lack a good trail builder. I can name a lot of areas of P2 and Chestnut where it slogs needlessly down between two ridges into a perpetually sloppy zone while the ridges on either side stay firm and could have been employed. That's the mark of a hurried effort.

When I lived out west trail layouts were taken seriously even for motorcycles and they were most always cut with drainage in mind. You can ride a well cut trail even when it's pretty wet...and it takes less maintenance and less closure to protect it.

I try to pay attention to the updates, but all of the COMBO trails are built to hold water and this accounts for 90% of the problem (the other being popularity because of their location). Mohican almost never closes, but most of it is built to drain and P1, P2 and Chestnut Ridge hold water like a motherfucker. P1 especially...that's just a badly cut course.

More important than staying off a wet trail is riding it sensibly. When it's wet here and there go through the wet areas instead of creating new trail around every mudpuddle. THAT ruins train worse than ruts. Ruts can be repaired easily, but a trail that's been widened or re-routed can't.

I lost 35 lbs. by eating less and exercising. It's a fucking miracle.

They've hit several people near the Fredonia area where I live. Smash & grab shit, petty stuff, but they're very bold hitting rural houses. The MO is to drive van or truck to the house, knock, and if no one answers break in and steal shit. Several people have reported a white van and maroon truck, two guys in it and one comes to the door. When people have answered, they've asked to hunt the property or other benign shit like that.

We're on high alert and the wife keeps the gun at the ready when she's home during the day and I'm not.

If you want to feel not slow, john and I can go.

Let's get a "has no business on the trail" party going....first one to pass out or puke wins.

My endurance is for shit right now...barely got 8 miles in on the dirt roads yesterday...first time I've been on the bike for a month.

I ride Alum weekdays around 1pm when it's open, it's on my way to work so I try to get a lap or two in as much as possible....if anyone's in the area around then hit me up always fun to have a riding partner.

I try to ride Denison & Star Hill in Heath on the weekends, since it's close to me in Granville, but I'm up for Mohican or Dillon too usually.

Chestnut Ridge is fairly technical with alot of climbing... i would avoid it for beginners.

Yeah, it's more like a training grounds than a trail network - a lot of the climbs don't reward you, you just blip down a small section and then pow you're climbing again.

Even tho it's 1-way I rode it backwards one time when I was the only person there....totally different (and funner) course that way.

I think someone laid it out as a practical joke.

You did fine, dad, now give your son a carot to chase....something he can do to earn some self-respect.

Have any suggestion for a <$300 bike that can hold up to wrecks well? My crappy bike was stolen a few years ago and I haven't replaced it yet!

Agree with the above, go used. There's some good bomb-proof HT's for that kind of coin.

This is a good deal and they're pretty good frames with decent components. Upgrade the wheel set and front fork when you're able and you have a damned nice entry bike.

http://zanesville.craigslist.org/bik/3559395357.html

I'm kinda new to it, but I've been riding the last couple years...mostly at Alum, Mohican, Dillon & Chestnut Ridge. I'm slow, wreck alot, but I enjoy it.

I've got some trails at my property, too, but this time of year it's like pedaling through syrup. I stick to the hilly dirt roads during winter, I have some cross-trail tires I slap on for that kind of stuff.

Here's my indestructible boat anchor, a GT Karakoram 1.0 29'er.