Oh, that's right, I had forgotten about that.

It's probably been asked before (and possibly even by myself) but does anybody here have experience in riding the NCR trail with road tires? I have 23cm tires on right now, but have a set of 25cm available to me as well. I guess any experience riding on crushed limestone would be helpful, now that I think about it.

I've ridden my road bike with 19-21mm tires (Tufo clinchers) from the trail head all of the way to Glen Rock and back with no incidents (i.e., no flats or other problems).

Here's a map of the route that I took (about 112 miles total):

http://www.routeslip.com/routes/14009

I have ridden it with 25c Conti GP Four Seasons tires. Do-able, but it's certainly way more comfy with lower-pressure 32s; but before I broke down and bought a second wheelset, I was way too lazy to always be swapping tires. :D

Hi, I am sorry if this information is somewhere in the 65 pages, but can anyone recommend some good resources for a new mountain biker in Carroll County? I would be interested in groups in Carroll and Howard County.

Additionally, is it bad to ride on a longer bike ride on the road (over 20 miles) with a non-road bike? Thank you.

Welcome Jay, Good to have another Carroll County rider. Whereabouts in CC are you? I am right off Rt 91 just north of 140.

And I have read most of the 65 pages here and we haven't discussed a ton about mtn biking in CC, so don't feel bad about not looking first:D

I haven't actually done a ton of Mtn biking lately as I got hooked on road biking. But if you ever need a riding buddy I am more than willing to explore with you.

Piney run park has some nice trails. They are very short, but scenic and you can do several loops pretty easily. Also Patapsco State park-McKeldin area is very popular for mtn biking. I haven't ever ridden there but I keep meanng to check it out.

Also it isn't exactly mountain biking i guess, but apparently there is some 50-60 miles of fire roads going around Liberty Reservoir. There are entrances to these roads less than a mile from my house and I also mean to explore those but haven't gotten too far yet.

As far as road riding on a mountain bike, the first 2 metric centuries I ever did were on my venerable Trek hardtail with 26x1.5 slicks. It worked fine, just not as fast as a road bike.

-D

MTB options for Carroll County are Patapsco/McKeldin as mentioned above. Trails tend to stay wet in the spring, so if it's muddy don't ride. There's also trails around Liberty, a somewhat haphazard network. In CC proper there is Hashawa/Union Mills. Head west out by me and you've got Gambrill and the Frederick Watershed where there's plenty of rocks and hills.

There's a few Carroll County riders on this local message board, you can probably find someone to ride with there.

wow, riderx, thanks for the link to that site. Didn't know there was a local forum for the Fredneck area.

Fenix lights: I've been pushing these lights to folks here(GB and Barry) and other forums. Well my light recently had some problems, here's the story at post #30
http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...=376973&page=2

I contacted Fenix and they said to return it. I sent it back last Saturday(8th) and they replaced the head and returned it yesterday(13th). Really fast and simple. This company makes a great product and stands behind it. The light never really died just didn't put out the high lumen I was use to. Charlie

Yea I have thought about a Fenix, but I am already decked out with Dinotte's.

-D

Can't blame you. I like the no wire factor of the Fenix. AA is a plus for both of them tho'

I was familiar with the McKeldin trails, and know of some trails on the one side of Piney Run Park. I had difficulty finding the fire roads the one time I checked out the Reservoir.

I unaware that Union Mills had trails.

Forgot to add, even with the trail map, I have yet to find the exact spot you cross the river at in McKeldin to get to the other "unmaintained" trails that are supposedly good. Anyone familiar with these?

You can see some of them here.

Hi everyone. I'm new here, been reading alot of this thread and I'm glad to have finally found some riders around here and a place to stay on top of things.

A little about myself. I've recently separated from the Air Force after 10 years in and am now self employed and continue to live in Annapolis. I've been riding my Trek 7200 for about 3 years though much of last year was spent moving the bike around the garage instead of riding it. Complications from an earlier car wreck and other things tend to get in the way.
I've been out to the rides from Davidsonville quite a lot in the past and have ridden mostly with ABC even though I'm not a member. A few have always been helpful and allowed me to ride with them and I stick to the slower 15mpg group.

So anyway, I got out today for the first time since tackling the B&A on Thanksgiving. The chain broke 10 miles from Annapolis and of course I had nothing with me. Well, I was so tired of not being on the bike most of the year that I just left hoping for the best. It was a long walk back and it rained that day too.
Haven't been back out since then until today. Went to Patapsco and made a loop. About 1/2 mile from the truck, the chain broke again. So now I'm sporting a Sram chain which the guys at Bike Doctor said will do me just fine and have an extra one for backup.

I may head back to the B&A tomorrow and to Davidsonville on Saturday. I've signed up for the Tour De Cure in June which is only 3 months away so it's time for me to get back on the bike again and get ready.

Hope to run into everyone sooner or later.

Mike

^^^^^^
Hi Mike! Welcome!

Maybe we'll spot each other on the B&A Trail. That's one of my most favorite active recovery riding areas.

Thanks NoRacer. I read so much of this thread last night that I did see your name all the time. Are you one of the guys in the pink jerseys?

It's a little colder than I was expecting today so I may not ride. I only have shorts and a light jacket at best for riding. Eh, maybe I'll go anyway to work off the Spam breakfast I had.

Yes, I race for the Baltimore Bike Club (a.k.a., Team BBC). Sometimes on Sundays a few of us from the team ride to Annapolis from BWI. I usually go out there, solo, too.

Got out for a few minutes today. the first 1/2 mile and the bike was giving me troubles. Going up a hill the chain would pop just as if it was about to break. Went back to Bike Doctor who have always done a great job with the bike. The guy said it was a cable tension issue, tightened it and said here ya go. Tried it again and the same thing. They didn't do anything the second time and they have no hills to test it on but said it should be fixed and told me to try it again. Guess I'll have to figure this one out myself.

Only managed to get in about 7 miles total which is well short of riding all of B&A. Until I get it sorted out I'm sticking close to home.

Hi, Mike, welcome! I'm on the B&A and BWI Trails fairly often, too, so we'll probably run into each other (not literally, I hope! :)) at some point.

Are you relatively new to riding? I think you said you had your bike three years, but hadn't actually been able to ride that much. In my (by no means extensive!) experience, busting chains isn't something that should be an every-other-ride occurrence. I don't mean to offend by offering simple advice that you probably already know, but on the off chance . . . are you waiting until the last, gut-busting, I-just-can't-take-this-hill-anymore second to try to shift gears? Those conditions *will* quite often lead to the chain coming off the ring, or sometimes even breaking. Try shifting before you really need to, and shifting when there's as little pressure as possible on the chain -- sort of relax your pedaling for just the split second it takes to shift, and then start pushing again.

So, I'm *finally* mostly over this plague I've had for nearly a month (although I think the allergies are starting up now, YAY) and went out riding this Saturday.

For some insane reason, though, I decided to head up to north-central Baltimore County and ended up doing 40 miles up and down those hills . . . a bit over 3500 feet of climbing. I'm a hill slug in the best of circumstances, and these weren't the best of circumstances. :D Slow, slow, slow. Pain, pain, pain. Neck, arms, back, legs, butt, etc. etc. But I felt pretty much okay the next day, and it was well worth it! What a beautiful day, and as punishing as it is, that is one of my favorite rides -- very low traffic and very pretty scenery.

What a relief to be able to move around again, and to ride!

+1 or the easy shifting. Is the chain breaking at a link or is the master link coming apart. I've never heard that a cable tension issue would cause the chain to break, but I'm still learning also. It may be time for a new chain and rear cassette if you have'nt already been that route. Also you could post the problem over in the "bike mechanics" threads and see what help you can get there. It's amazing how much knowledge is in this forum..Hate to have a mechanical problem stop someone from being able to do the rides they want to do..

What time do you fellas start? I need a good 3 hr ride group ride on Sunday since I wont be able to do any group rides on Saturday. Do you ever go back toward and thru Patapsco Park from the same viewing area?

The times that we've done this, it started at 10am. We usually just rode the trail.

Thanks for the advice. I learned awhile ago to shift earlier and easier but the damage may have been done to the chain and it was just a matter of time. As for why it's still giving me troubles, I'm not sure. Though I was able to get out for about 30 minutes today. Hit a few hills and went against the wind and my legs feel somewhat rubbery but still good. I miss that feeling.

I'm thinking of trying a different new chain tomorrow in hopes that will be the problem with the bike.