ALL TRAILS LEAD TO ICE CREAM

Leading Matt and Tim on a crisscross ridge adventure in Michaux State Forest -- June 21, 2022   Mountain biking with your friends is great group therapy.  There is nothing like hitting the trails and heading off into the woods to lose your mind and find your soul.  There are conversations to be had, stories to be told, laugher to be shared, and trails to be shred. There's not a care in the world...unless you are the ride leader.  You know, the guy who ultimately knows where you are, where you've been, where you are going, how you are going to get there, how long it will take you to get there, and (at any given moment) can point and say "our vehicles are parked over there."  It's a lot of added responsibility. Leading the way in Patapsco Valley State Park. -- December 28, 2021 Taking the lead for our annual ugly sweater ride in Hershey.  Left to right:  Matt L, Dave R, Ben K, Matt W -- December 11, 2021 I've been that guy for the past few years and I ki...

Back in July, my wife, Robin, and I visited the city of my birth...Cumberland, Maryland...and spent some time riding on the C & O Tow Path.  It was a really neat experience.  I was born there and grew up thirty miles north in Bedford, Pennsylvania...but the extent of my time in Cumberland was limited to hanging out at the mall when I was a teenager.  Robin and I had a great time...riding south out of Cumberland and then turning off of the C & O Tow Path, through Knobley Tunnel...straight into West Virginia and then crossing back into Maryland.  Our ride got super nerdy when as we passed the spot of Fort Ohio and Fort Cumberland...both French and Indian War outposts...and then to an old wooden house that served as the headquarters for Colonel George Washington while he was stationed in Cumberland during the French and Indian War.  Not far away, on the sight of what was once Fort Cumberland I paused for a photo with a statue of young Washington.  It w...

In 1985, my brother and I entered a bicycle race in our home town of Bedford, Pennsylvania.  I'd bet the only reason I entered the race in the first place was because Jake did....back then he was significantly more into these types of events than I was.  Honestly, I have no memory of the race (let alone the outcome). It wasn't until I found an old pic of me (dressed in very 1980s sweats) standing on my tip toes over my Huffy Omni 10-speed bike that the vaguest memories of even being there came back to me.   12 year old me prior to my first bike race.  It looks like the staging area was the old Bedford Primary School on  South Juliana Street -- October 1985 My younger brother, Jacob Raymond -- October 1985 Fast forward more than twenty five years...to 2007, 2008, and 2009...a three year period in which I was really into mountain bike racing.  It seemed like Mark, Glenn, Mikey, and I had a race almost each week during the Spring and Summer ...

I almost titled this post TRAIL ADVICE but decided against it.  Far be it from me to consider myself some sort of expert who ought to offer cycling advice to anyone.  As far as I'm concerned, there is no right or wrong to anything when it comes to mountain biking.  Everybody has their own preferences and opinions in style and gear. So whatever works best for you..and feels best to you...is what you should do.   I will, every once in a while, offer some basic tips to people who are interested in biking (especially mountain biking) for the first time.  I think that, after 25 plus years of riding, I can at least do that.  These tips have nothing to do with what kind of bike to ride, how wide your handle bars should be, or how high your saddle should be.   The tips I sometimes offer tend to be more generic and grounded in the overall experience as opposed to the technical side of riding.  So...if you are interested in mountain biking for th...