Feeling motivated this morning, I decided to head down to
Absolutely!
My expectations were more than surpassed when I started the trail itself. I found the very first part to be a sudden jump forward into a technical ride, made more difficult since everything was a little moist from the previous rain.
I found that the trail was very well made, with the path using every feature of the terrain surrounding it to provide a network of loops, giving the rider the option to turn back many times. I decided to do every loop that was thrown at me, and that proved to be quite a task! There were countless tree roots to run over, along with rocks and the occasional strategically placed bridge, though even the bridges had little parts to watch out for, like drops on the other end. Every now and then I’d come across a fallen log, etched out to give just enough clearance for those able to lift their bike tires up high enough. I found myself passing these particular obstacles with a 50% success rate. Partway through the trail, I came across a little “playground” of sorts, with a seesaw, a bike-jump bar, and even a log with the top flattened to see how long you could stay on it without falling off.
I, of course, being my beginner self, crashed a few times. The first crash was when I was going down a hill that seemed to slope diagonally to the right and I felt my back tire give out, then the rest of me gave out. Was quite a surprise, but as you can tell, I survived. The rest of the crashes mostly were me coming to a quick stop and having to jump off the bike almost. The only casualty I faced was the snapping of the wire for my bike speedometer, so I’ll have to replace that. My front fender, shaky on my first outing with it, stayed intact and didn’t fall off, even when I crashed.
I was the only person on the trail, and with the sky being overcast time seemingly stood still for me. The only sounds other than the splashing of my tires as I passed through a puddle or the metallic sounds of my bike going over multiple bumps were those of a few birds, including a woodpecker, and a squirrel that decided to run within 2 feet of my front tire (must be an adrenaline-junky).
All in all, once I had made it to the finish, I had gone about 7.78 miles of trail. My favorite part of the trail might be the fact that there were few parts to “rest” so the entire trip kept me on my toes, holding onto my handlebars ready to brake at any surprise.
I do not recommend this for someone who is just getting into the sport of mountain biking, but if you can get a few good rides in, definitely try this trail out. I can’t wait to return and see if I can get some revenge on this behemoth!
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