Northeast - Deerfield Dirt Road Randonee

Any one here doing it?

My riding buddy just bailed on me and I need some folks to suffer with.

Any one here doing it?

My riding buddy just bailed on me and I need some folks to suffer with. wish I was, but I'll be in France for Paris-Brest-Paris around that time. Enjoy it. It's a tough, but fun, ride.

debating. have some friends doing it from S. VT and they are hoping I'll join them....

Any one here doing it? .

I thought that D2R2 was the toughest ride I ever attempted, I say attempted because I turned back at mile 60-70 something, just south of the VT border.

I thought that the climb with the 25% grade and horses at the top kicked my butt and took the fun out of it.

Pretty cool as I never did a Rando ride before.

I might try it again, but not this year.

Come on ! nudge nudge.

It'll be fun. I was climbing at killington all day this past saturday for practice.

Anyway, I'll be riding my Salsa Dos niner MTB with fat cyclocross tires on it.

Here is a question for those who have done the event. Would it be worth it, in your opinion to swap out the suspension fork I have on my MTB and put a rigid one on?

I think I am going to do it but am curious as to opinions.

Come on ! nudge nudge.

It'll be fun. I was climbing at killington all day this past saturday for practice.

Anyway, I'll be riding my Salsa Dos niner MTB with fat cyclocross tires on it.

Here is a question for those who have done the event. Would it be worth it, in your opinion to swap out the suspension fork I have on my MTB and put a rigid one on?

I think I am going to do it but am curious as to opinions.

haven't done it, but i think the susp. would be annoying.
i plan on using my cross check with 35 knobbies on it.

Here is a question for those who have done the event. Would it be worth it, in your opinion to swap out the suspension fork I have on my MTB and put a rigid one on? after my shoulders and forearms started protesting on my fourth descent on a 10% gravel slope, I started getting really envious of the guys with suspension forks. But, still, I'm with bmike in thinking that the suspension would be inefficient for the climbs. I think that if you're conscientious about keeping your weight and posture back on the descents, a rigid fork should be fine.

Well, the fork does have a lockout, but I guess it really boils down to whether or not carrying the extra 2 pounds is worth the comfort during the last 30 miles or not.

thanks for the feedback

I have a 60 mile MTB race on 8/19 in NH and I am way more excited about tackling the DDRR.

OK

Another question for those that have done the ddr2 before

Which of these two tires would you run. knobby cyclocross tires 35's (http://www.speedgoat.com/product.asp?part=40939&cat=320&brand=128)or semislick tires 38's (http://www.speedgoat.com/product.asp?part=40888&cat=320&brand=128)

Bueller?

Any one here doing it?

So, how did it go?

OK (http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=337472)

OK-116 mile ride with 14,000 feet (http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=337472)

Kurt,

Thanks for posting that, I got tired just from reading your report.

Maybe I will go up there sometime this fall and just follow the cue sheet, which is basically what I did last year except I paid 60+ bucks for it.

It is great riding territory up there and I love it up there. We just rode across the Mohawk trail last month and my wife and I scouted out the roads along the Deerfield River north from rte 2 to VT west of Charlemont and that looks better than the D2R2 roads.

^ I was thinking the same thing. Now that I have the cue sheet I can do that ride later in the fall if I feel like it with a small group or something.

Plus, There are so many dirt roads up there that it would be awesome to put together your own route or routes .

I was thinking of planning a similar (mostly dirt) route down here-there are certainly enough dirt roads to make it interesting, but when scouting them out I sadly discovered that many were virtually unrideabale because of ATV use.

I think that the Mohawk Trail is one of the best rides I have done and that the side roads off of it are just as nice, though I haven't ridden even a small fraction of them.

Riding there in the fall is an added pleasure because the absence of leaves provides views that can't be seen otherwise.

saving up for the GRR (http://newhorizonsbikes.com/page.cfm?PageID=161) on 10/7. anyone else?