Thought I'd post up again now that it seems the wet spring weather is behind us. With Trexler drying out like the rest of the area, conditions are changing fast and the place is starting to ride like you would expect it for this summer.
1st - the place has crazy, crazy good grip
2nd - in spite of the hard pack not being fully developed, the place is getting really fast. It's a combination of rolling resistence and no rocks
3rs - for the speed you can carry the turns are generally tight with the occasional "near hair pin" turn.
This spells old school :rant: bike geometery. I blew the dust off of my cross country bike with the 1.9 tires, 4 in'" front travel, 3" rear and a 71* head angle and the set-up was way better than my longer travel bike with the 68.5* head. The narrow tires were way, way better than the 2.35's(Nevagal Stick-E). You certainly don't need the increased volume to absorb any trail chatter and the narrow tires (Larson TT's) roll a lot faster and seem to grip better. I think it's a bit like riding on sand - a narrow tire to punch though to the harder stuff.
I've been testing out a number of different methods to deal with the thorns and as you would expect, I haven't picked up one in the last two rides. (nothing like being prepared to prevent things from happening). Anyway, I'm packing a can of "fix-a-flat" brand tire sealant in addition to running thorn guards and Stan's inside the tubes. I'm thinking the fix-a-flat might be a real quick way to air up and keep going. Almost as cheap as CO2 and has the extra bang of dealing with the thorns.
I also temporarily closed off all the spider lines and layed out a lolly pop ride so you can't get turned around or lost. Follow the tire treads and you shouldn't have any problems. If you get to a grassy field, bang a right and pick up a double wide trail ( looks like a bombed out disaster zone:poke: :crackup: )
Post up what set-up is working for you.
mtv