schnauzers.ws

We ride down the road a bit to the trailhead and we are on our way to find the ultimate fishing hole.


The trail starts out smooth as if to give everyone a false sense of security.


So why is this the best trail in Jim Thorpe and maybe the tri-state area? This is why…


Mile and miles of singletrack bliss loaded with beautiful big babyheads
the entire way! Riding the pig bike made this easy. It’s amazing how
big plush travel just soaks it up. With a little speed to carry you
over, there’s very little that can’t be ridden. And we ride and ride
with the smiles beaming across our faces.




As is customary, we stop to fix Jay’s mecanical. Of course I have to
open my mouth and tout the virtues of SRAM derailleurs as I normally do
with the club and on the Internet. Little did I know it would come back
to haunt me as you will see later.


Problems fixed we head out for some more rocky fun.



All is well with the Ellsworth"less" for now. But what evil lurks beyond the famous toilet?


The bugs were buzzing pretty good from all the wet weather we’ve had,
so we stop to test a theory. We’re told that the gnats will migrate to
the highest part of your body and leave your face alone. So Jeff raises
his fist above his head. Do you see any gnats? I don’t, but they were
happily eating the rest of my body!


After doing some impromptu trail maintenance (someone decided to cover
the trail in multiple places with branches) and getting lost we finally
stop for a bathroom break.


This is where all hell breaks lose. We start heading up the loop out of
the woods. Again, there is rocky wonderment everywhere and I’m clearing
them all even on the uphill. I get up from the saddle to get a little
more torque the sound of the chain mashing against everyhing fills the
air as I come to a complete stop. I figure WTF, the chain came loose.
Nope. Ok, I see the drailleur just hanging and figure I busted my
hanger. Then upon close inspection, I find this:



We’re not talking an X.0 here. This is an X.9, the beafier one. You’d
think I weight 220 pounds and was riding in thebig ring! At 145 pounds
without even hitting a rock, this should not happen. Especially when
the derailleur is three months old and ridden twice (I don’t use the
pig rig much anymore).
Three mile trek out on foot to the fire road and I was lucky Jay W.
braved the low branches and scrathes to his Titan (nice truck) to come
and pick me up, sparing me another two miles. So, it was fun while it
lasted. SRAM will get the derailleur and a nasty letter FedExed this
week. I think it’s just a failure in QC, I am still an SRAM fan.