Not wanting to waste a scheduled PTO day when my brother and family friend decided not to come up due to the weather, I ventured to Tug Hill today. I usually drop in Redfield - it is 125 miles from my house. The roads up were a bit rough so it took me just over 3 hours to get there (about 2 1/4 home).
When I got to Redfield I was shocked at the snow - I had only been there a few days before and the lower areas that were a low snow pack were now well covered (looked like a foot and a half at least!). The heroes of the day are the Redfield, Southern Tug Hill, and Osceola clubs - their trails were all amazing. Redfield has some great trails including one seasonal road that is like a 5 mile long drag strip. On the whole, most of the trails were in good or better condition - much of the ride was above 45 mph sustained to give you an idea, compared to 25 mph a few weeks ago! There were lots of areas that could be opened up without removing your fillings.
A few of the trails were really rough but I have to say, I rode 145 miles and only about 10 of them were on trails that I considered to be bad.
From Redfield I took the C4a to C5 (Salmon River Road) - good condition. Then I took Pitcher Road to Flat Rock Road. Pitcher road was fine and Flat Rock was pretty good, a bit bumpy but that had been pretty bad on my last 2 rides and it was much better this time (Note that these are the roads that go through the really cool windmill farm). This time, the low point was the same as the low point from Saturday: Talbot Road and the Number 9 Truck Trail. Sucked. 3 groups stopped me to see if where I came from was as bad - fortunately not. I would recommend staying away for the Number 9 and Talbot.
I stopped for gas at Highmarket Inn and Sports - I promised myself I would patronize their shop after how impressed I was with them on Saturday.
Then I decided to explore a route I had not done before. I went past Borrows Performance and took the C4A to the Camp 4 Road (C4B) to C4G t C4J to C4. Holy cow - what a gem. This was riding through pretty decent terrain on a smooth trail (as opposed to a seasonal road). Outstanding - highly recommend. I then went on the C4 back to Redfield. That loop was about 95 miles.
I then rode the C5 along the Salmon River reservoir. This was a ton of fun while I was in the Redfield grooming area. But once the sign said "Entering the Kasog Grooming System" It all went to hell. Bumps, water holes, and poor signage made me turn around after about 6 miles. I then rode up the C4 down one of my favorite places - O'Hara road. Drag strip that was in great condition. After I did that a few times to get the speed out of my system I headed back to the car - still full parking lot.
It was a great day with me and my IPod. There were alot of people out, but not too many. Enough to know that someone would be by if you had an issue, but not people everywhere. I rode about 145 miles in a bit over 5 hours on 10 gallons of gas (I had to put that in since my twin got dissed in another report and I had never calculated this before). HAHA
Anyone going up this weekend should strongly consider riding some of the lower trails - they were in great shape. I want to try the Parish area next trip.
And best of all, there was not much excitement other than the riding!
Peace and happy riding!
Ride safe and sober! Make every ride a round trip.
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