July 19th 03, 05:53 PM
"Alan McClure" > wrote in message news:<0HcSa.97524$N7.12035@sccrnsc03>...
> > wrote in message
> om...
> > The past year has seen alot of firsts for me in mountain biking. Back
> > in May, I attended my first mountain bike festival. During that
> > festival I got to test ride quite a few different bikes, plus I got a
> > chance to ride some very challenging singletrack with a more
> > experienced rider, both of which, in only a two day experience, have
> > benefitted for life as a rider, I'm sure. I've conquered alot of
> > obstacles and trails for the first time this past year. Oddly enough,
> > I've conquered them on a hard tail and a rigid single speed whereas
> > before I wasn't comfortable conquering them on a longer travel bike.
> >
> > My next first came this past week. I had my Kona Stinky up for sale
> > on mtbreview.com about two months ago, when someone emailed me and
> > asked if I would be interested in trading. After seeing what he had,
> > I agreed. I inherited a beautiful 2001 Cannondale F700 hardtail, with
> > the old Volvo/Cannondale paint scheme. It was failry customized too;
> > it has a set of tubless Crossmax wheels, Easton bars, Thomson seat
> > post, full XTR, and Hutchinson Python Tubless tires. When I got the
> > Cannondale, I was searching their site for a local Cannondale
> > dealership, when I came across some place called Grouseland.
> > Curriousity made me look to see what this place was, considering it
> > was listed under the dealer network. Here's what I found
> >
> > http://www.grouseland.com/
> >
> > Grouseland is nestled in mountainous south central Pennsylvania,
> > located in Purcell, Pennsylvania, near the Maryland border. It lies
> > south of Route 26, which is a very scenic, narrow road that flows
> > through Southern PA. Specifically, Grouseland is located off of
> > Robinsonville Road, in Purcell.
> >
> > I checked the website out thoroughly, and didn't take much convincing
> > for me to choose this as my first mountain bike vacation. I just
> > wasn't sure when I would go. My father passed away the week before
> > fathers day, and after getting back to work, had to jump in and
> > immediately get my store ready for inventory. I set the week of July
> > 14th as the target week to get down there. After the inventory and
> > all it's preparation, I was more then ready.
> >
> > I molded the directions I got off of mapquest.com and the directions
> > that Murray and his wife Jane have listed on their website, and set
> > off on Monday morning. It was a beautiful 4 hour plus drive from my
> > part of the state to theirs. I would caution anyone wanting to come
> > to this area: if you can find any way to avoid driving the
> > Pennsylvania Turnpike, DO SO! The traffic was extremely congested,
> > even for a Monday morning, speeds go up and down dramatically, as does
> > your vehicle from one side of a mountain to another, and the road is
> > ROUGH ROUGH ROUGH!
> >
> > It's simply beautiful in the Purcell/Artemas Pennsylvania area. It's
> > also quite a ways from a true small town, the closest being Everett
> > Pennsylvania, which is approximately 16-20 miles from Grouseland. I
> > stayed at the famoust "Road Kill Cafe" owned by a lovely lady named
> > Barb Snyder. She owns a few small, lovely cabins above the cafe,
> > which I is where I stayed. $25 dollars a night for a lovely small
> > cabin with Primestar, hot showers, and two beds.
> >
> > As you can see from looking at the Grouseland website, there are a
> > number of different packages that Murray can make up for you. I
> > choose the one day deluxe tour package. I left my bike off for Murray
> > to go over Monday afternoon, and arrived promptly, as directed, at 9
> > am the next morning. The first thing you see as you approach
> > Grouseland is Murrays bike shop, which is run by solar power. He
> > doesn't keep a huge inventory of bikes on hand that he might end up
> > getting stuck with like alot of other shops; instead, being only
> > around 30 miles from Bedford PA, home of Cannondale USA, he orders the
> > bike straight from the factory for you, goes and picks it up, and
> > brings it to the shop, assembles it professionaly for you, and then
> > invites you back when it's finished and he then takes you along for a
> > ride to make sure everything is up to your standard. He also offers
> > great discounts on the bikes themselves and on equipment/gear.
> >
> > So I pull in at 9 am, and he has our bikes out front ready for the
> > day. After some last minute adjustments, we set off for his skills
> > course. He tested me on panic stopping, weight shifting, tight turns
> > (riding in figure 8's of different difficulties), low bridge (learning
> > how to properly duck out of the way of low hanging obstacles,
> > wheelieing, and conquering steep downhill sections. Murray is a very
> > skilled rider, and brought a whole new perspective on riding for me.
> > After the skills course, we headed to the shop for a brief period of
> > time to fuel up on drinks and snacks. Afterwards, we were off to the
> > Buchanan State Forest. It was climbing, Climbing, CLIMBING, more
> > climbing then I have ever done on one trail ride. of course, I hardly
> > live near mountains too. We stopped at an old maintained church that
> > was built in the late 1800's and is still maintained beautifully by
> > ancestors of those who are burried in the cemetary adjacent to the
> > church. Murray, the owner of Grouseland, is highly educated in
> > wildlife; he is extremely knowledgable in every area, from animals, to
> > plants and trees, to stars and constellations. He pointed out a
> > number of intersting nature related facts during our ride. After a
> > long downhill out of the forest, we headed back to the bike shop,
> > where he furnished lunch for me. After lunch, we headed back to his
> > beautiful pond that he allows you to either, swim, kayak, or just sit
> > and relax and help feed all the beautiful fish that call the pond
> > home. After sitting and relaxing and talking for close to 1 1/2
> > hours, we went for a short ride. After that, I headed back to my
> > cabin briefly to change and shower, and then returned to the shop to
> > meet Murray for the rest of the festivities. The deluxe tour also
> > includes a campfire and a well cooked dinner, a nature program, in
> > which he brings his owl "Thicket" out and allows you to put on a
> > safety glove and let the owl perch on your arm, and star gazing with a
> > very powerful telescope, weather permitting. All in all, it was a day
> > that I could have only dreamt of up to that point.
> >
> > Wednesday I returned to Grouseland to tackle some of Murray's 10 miles
> > of single track on my own. Murray had also mentioned to me that there
> > was some great riding in Maryland's Green Ridge State Forest. After a
> > good nights sleep Wednesday, taking Murray's advice, I packed plenty
> > of water and granola for the trek into the state forest.
> >
> > Maryland is a beautiful state, and if the Green Ridge mountain bike
> > trail is any indication, it caters to mountain bikers.
> > http://www.trails.com/explore/tcatalog_trail.asp?TrailID=BGD018-003
> >
> > The trail is 12 miles long, and has absoloutley everything; steep
> > uphills, BLAZING downhills, rock gardens, mud, stream crossings, and a
> > nice camping area at the trail head. My trip wouldn't have been
> > complete without a visit there.
> >
> > All in all, the trip was more then I had ever dreamt it would be. I
> > highly recommend visiting Grouseland and taking advantage of any of
> > the packages they offer. Being so close, visiting the Green Ridge
> > State Forest is a must do event too. This area is a great getaway, no
> > matter where you are from, and the team at Grouseland will do all they
> > can to make it a memorable event for you!
>
> Sounds like a lot of fun. I think it's always good to ride with a more
> experienced rider, there is no end to what I learn from it.
>
> A.
Here's a better link regarding the Green Ridge State Forest.
http://www.dnr.state.md.us/publiclands/greenridgebike.html
> > wrote in message
> om...
> > The past year has seen alot of firsts for me in mountain biking. Back
> > in May, I attended my first mountain bike festival. During that
> > festival I got to test ride quite a few different bikes, plus I got a
> > chance to ride some very challenging singletrack with a more
> > experienced rider, both of which, in only a two day experience, have
> > benefitted for life as a rider, I'm sure. I've conquered alot of
> > obstacles and trails for the first time this past year. Oddly enough,
> > I've conquered them on a hard tail and a rigid single speed whereas
> > before I wasn't comfortable conquering them on a longer travel bike.
> >
> > My next first came this past week. I had my Kona Stinky up for sale
> > on mtbreview.com about two months ago, when someone emailed me and
> > asked if I would be interested in trading. After seeing what he had,
> > I agreed. I inherited a beautiful 2001 Cannondale F700 hardtail, with
> > the old Volvo/Cannondale paint scheme. It was failry customized too;
> > it has a set of tubless Crossmax wheels, Easton bars, Thomson seat
> > post, full XTR, and Hutchinson Python Tubless tires. When I got the
> > Cannondale, I was searching their site for a local Cannondale
> > dealership, when I came across some place called Grouseland.
> > Curriousity made me look to see what this place was, considering it
> > was listed under the dealer network. Here's what I found
> >
> > http://www.grouseland.com/
> >
> > Grouseland is nestled in mountainous south central Pennsylvania,
> > located in Purcell, Pennsylvania, near the Maryland border. It lies
> > south of Route 26, which is a very scenic, narrow road that flows
> > through Southern PA. Specifically, Grouseland is located off of
> > Robinsonville Road, in Purcell.
> >
> > I checked the website out thoroughly, and didn't take much convincing
> > for me to choose this as my first mountain bike vacation. I just
> > wasn't sure when I would go. My father passed away the week before
> > fathers day, and after getting back to work, had to jump in and
> > immediately get my store ready for inventory. I set the week of July
> > 14th as the target week to get down there. After the inventory and
> > all it's preparation, I was more then ready.
> >
> > I molded the directions I got off of mapquest.com and the directions
> > that Murray and his wife Jane have listed on their website, and set
> > off on Monday morning. It was a beautiful 4 hour plus drive from my
> > part of the state to theirs. I would caution anyone wanting to come
> > to this area: if you can find any way to avoid driving the
> > Pennsylvania Turnpike, DO SO! The traffic was extremely congested,
> > even for a Monday morning, speeds go up and down dramatically, as does
> > your vehicle from one side of a mountain to another, and the road is
> > ROUGH ROUGH ROUGH!
> >
> > It's simply beautiful in the Purcell/Artemas Pennsylvania area. It's
> > also quite a ways from a true small town, the closest being Everett
> > Pennsylvania, which is approximately 16-20 miles from Grouseland. I
> > stayed at the famoust "Road Kill Cafe" owned by a lovely lady named
> > Barb Snyder. She owns a few small, lovely cabins above the cafe,
> > which I is where I stayed. $25 dollars a night for a lovely small
> > cabin with Primestar, hot showers, and two beds.
> >
> > As you can see from looking at the Grouseland website, there are a
> > number of different packages that Murray can make up for you. I
> > choose the one day deluxe tour package. I left my bike off for Murray
> > to go over Monday afternoon, and arrived promptly, as directed, at 9
> > am the next morning. The first thing you see as you approach
> > Grouseland is Murrays bike shop, which is run by solar power. He
> > doesn't keep a huge inventory of bikes on hand that he might end up
> > getting stuck with like alot of other shops; instead, being only
> > around 30 miles from Bedford PA, home of Cannondale USA, he orders the
> > bike straight from the factory for you, goes and picks it up, and
> > brings it to the shop, assembles it professionaly for you, and then
> > invites you back when it's finished and he then takes you along for a
> > ride to make sure everything is up to your standard. He also offers
> > great discounts on the bikes themselves and on equipment/gear.
> >
> > So I pull in at 9 am, and he has our bikes out front ready for the
> > day. After some last minute adjustments, we set off for his skills
> > course. He tested me on panic stopping, weight shifting, tight turns
> > (riding in figure 8's of different difficulties), low bridge (learning
> > how to properly duck out of the way of low hanging obstacles,
> > wheelieing, and conquering steep downhill sections. Murray is a very
> > skilled rider, and brought a whole new perspective on riding for me.
> > After the skills course, we headed to the shop for a brief period of
> > time to fuel up on drinks and snacks. Afterwards, we were off to the
> > Buchanan State Forest. It was climbing, Climbing, CLIMBING, more
> > climbing then I have ever done on one trail ride. of course, I hardly
> > live near mountains too. We stopped at an old maintained church that
> > was built in the late 1800's and is still maintained beautifully by
> > ancestors of those who are burried in the cemetary adjacent to the
> > church. Murray, the owner of Grouseland, is highly educated in
> > wildlife; he is extremely knowledgable in every area, from animals, to
> > plants and trees, to stars and constellations. He pointed out a
> > number of intersting nature related facts during our ride. After a
> > long downhill out of the forest, we headed back to the bike shop,
> > where he furnished lunch for me. After lunch, we headed back to his
> > beautiful pond that he allows you to either, swim, kayak, or just sit
> > and relax and help feed all the beautiful fish that call the pond
> > home. After sitting and relaxing and talking for close to 1 1/2
> > hours, we went for a short ride. After that, I headed back to my
> > cabin briefly to change and shower, and then returned to the shop to
> > meet Murray for the rest of the festivities. The deluxe tour also
> > includes a campfire and a well cooked dinner, a nature program, in
> > which he brings his owl "Thicket" out and allows you to put on a
> > safety glove and let the owl perch on your arm, and star gazing with a
> > very powerful telescope, weather permitting. All in all, it was a day
> > that I could have only dreamt of up to that point.
> >
> > Wednesday I returned to Grouseland to tackle some of Murray's 10 miles
> > of single track on my own. Murray had also mentioned to me that there
> > was some great riding in Maryland's Green Ridge State Forest. After a
> > good nights sleep Wednesday, taking Murray's advice, I packed plenty
> > of water and granola for the trek into the state forest.
> >
> > Maryland is a beautiful state, and if the Green Ridge mountain bike
> > trail is any indication, it caters to mountain bikers.
> > http://www.trails.com/explore/tcatalog_trail.asp?TrailID=BGD018-003
> >
> > The trail is 12 miles long, and has absoloutley everything; steep
> > uphills, BLAZING downhills, rock gardens, mud, stream crossings, and a
> > nice camping area at the trail head. My trip wouldn't have been
> > complete without a visit there.
> >
> > All in all, the trip was more then I had ever dreamt it would be. I
> > highly recommend visiting Grouseland and taking advantage of any of
> > the packages they offer. Being so close, visiting the Green Ridge
> > State Forest is a must do event too. This area is a great getaway, no
> > matter where you are from, and the team at Grouseland will do all they
> > can to make it a memorable event for you!
>
> Sounds like a lot of fun. I think it's always good to ride with a more
> experienced rider, there is no end to what I learn from it.
>
> A.
Here's a better link regarding the Green Ridge State Forest.
http://www.dnr.state.md.us/publiclands/greenridgebike.html