So a few return trips have been made to the Seven Springs bike park. The only weekend we really missed out on was Father's day (coincidentally, I remember my dad being pissed at me for a few weeks in 1999, due to skipping Father's day to race in the National Championship Series. This was the last time I raced, and the only time i failed to place).
Regardless, I headed up to Pioneer Park campground on Saturday evening, June 7. BJ was in Niagara Falls for the weekend, but agreed to join me at the campground, and then again for his first Freeride experience the next day.
We ended up setting up camp in the dark, right next to the lake, and after a few excursions up a Texas-Chainsaw-Massacre looking back road to pick up a couple loads of firewood, I relaxed by the fire. I didn't expect BJ to show up, as he was driving from Niagara Falls to Monessen, dropping his girlfriend off in Latrobe, and then making his way to our campground almost an hour south of there. He didn't know where the campground was, it was dark, he hadn't eaten in hours, and he sounded tired as hell.
BJ showed up at around midnight, and told me some good news, so we broke out the Jagermeister. An hour passed, and 3/4 of the bottle was gone. We stumbled to bed around 1:00 in the morning.
We woke up at 9:00 AM absolutely frying in the morning sun. It was supposed to be over 90 degrees that day, and it seemed like we were already at about 85 when the sun came up. BJ woke up and informed me that he vomited in my tent, which, to be honest, didn't bother me as much as the fact that the tent blew away in the wind, causing the vomit to evenly coat the inside of the tent. He has yet to clean it.
Breakfast consisted of beer, eggs, jager bombs, more red bull, turkey bacon, and cigarettes. We pulled out of the campground and headed past Seven Springs to Speedgoat's rental shop. Bill hooked us up with some amazing, brand new Santa Cruz Bullits, and met us in the parking lot to give us the goods.
The course was absolutely unbelievable on these bikes. 6"-7" of front and rear travel really made a world of difference. I was more confident over the dirt jumps, faster through the corners, WAY smoother through the lower section, and an all-around better rider.
Thursday, December 12, 2013
In.
I finally did the last of the moving stuff yesterday, as I did the final walk-through at the old apartment. I always feel like I've gotten away with something when I get my security deposit back, as I'm going to. Cody kicked a hole in the wall in his old bedroom and I fixed it with a $7.99 drywall patch kit and some perfectly matched paint from sherwin williams. You'd never know it was there. And the carpets were shit when I moved in, but they're definitely worse now. But I'm completely out, aside from... I think my lawnmower is still there, but I can pick that up today after work.
The new house is filled with boxes of nothing. It's really going to be a months-long process to get everything organized and set up properly. I get the feeling my attic is going to be pretty packed, as I can't throw anything away. I suck.
Anytime Greensburg or Pittsburgh gets an inch or so of snowfall, I get about 4-5 times as much up here. As we speak, I'm looking at about 3 inches covering everything, roads included. Working at Seven Springs is going to require the use of my parents' car or jeep pretty often, as it's really a different climate up here.
Although I'm an hour, 50 miles away from Pittsburgh, I can see the USX Tower, the Mellon Building, and a good deal of the skyline from my road, and even more clearly from Route 31, 2 minutes from my house. That's the elevation I'm at, almost exactly 2000 feet.
The new house is filled with boxes of nothing. It's really going to be a months-long process to get everything organized and set up properly. I get the feeling my attic is going to be pretty packed, as I can't throw anything away. I suck.
Anytime Greensburg or Pittsburgh gets an inch or so of snowfall, I get about 4-5 times as much up here. As we speak, I'm looking at about 3 inches covering everything, roads included. Working at Seven Springs is going to require the use of my parents' car or jeep pretty often, as it's really a different climate up here.
Although I'm an hour, 50 miles away from Pittsburgh, I can see the USX Tower, the Mellon Building, and a good deal of the skyline from my road, and even more clearly from Route 31, 2 minutes from my house. That's the elevation I'm at, almost exactly 2000 feet.
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Closing complete. Then the fun shit began.
Well, I closed on the house one week ago. Right now I'm sitting at my desk among a sea of boxes and bikes in my new office.
Closing went smoothly. The realtor and mortgage broker told me it went as smoothly as a sale could possibly go. Then I started moving in. I took a couple of boxes of random shit up on Tuesday, so I could "camp" at the new house, then started running load after load on Wednesday, with my UHaul reserved for Thursday.
When I woke up on Thursday morning, it was raining. Not pouring. Not drizzling. Just a hard, steady rain. I picked up the UHaul, a 14-footer. As soon as I got it to the apartment, I saw a problem. Metal ramp. Rain. The exact shoes I broke my leg while wearing. Whatever. It took a lot of effort, but I got the refrigerator out. When I was trying to get it up the ramp, though, I couldn't trust my grip on the slippery ramp, and eventually got pissed enough that I just pushed the thing over in the middle of the road. My temper is nothing to fuck with. I eventually polished everything off but the dryer, when I flipped out again. It was a shitty ride to my parents house, where they calmed me down and helped me take my gargantuan dresser out of my old room, down the stairs, and into the truck.
The hard part behind us, I was met by my riding buddy Jarrod at the house, where moving everything in went incredibly smoothly. Jarrod and I bought a bunch of alcohol after one more trip to Greensburg, and got royally shit-faced upon returning to the new house. Jarrod barfed for the first time in four years.
We woke up around 11:00 to pick up my Dad's Subaru and then drive to Monroeville to get Crustin. I had bought tickets in early October to see my favorite band, Cave In, play in Philadelphia. We stopped, hung over, at Mad Mex, then drove for 5 hours to the other side of the state.
The show was incredible, and we got on the road at 11:30, headed for Pittsburgh. Jarrod did a good job of keeping me awake on the drive home, and it was hell trying to wake up Crustin to get his address so I could plug it into the GPS. We dropped him off and eventually returned to Bear Rocks at 5:30 AM.
The next day, I woke up late, and made several more runs moving things in. As of now, I've been back to the apartment a few times to pick up a car-load here, a car-load there, but one solid day will pretty much clean that place out.
I have a wood burner at my new house, and have yet to even turn my oil furnace on. It's free heat, it makes the house smell nice, and gives me some exercise with the log splitter and carrying all the wood. I have two sheds, and I turned one of them into wood storage, and with all the wood my Dad gave me today, I should have enough for at least a week. I NEED MY CHAINSAW BACK, though. That's going to be key.
I started working on the backyard trails, although November to March is pretty much a lost cause when it comes to riding. At least I'm building, though. One trail has been started, and another is mostly scoped out. I'd like to set it up like some sort of bizarre pump-track abomination where you can just lap the entire yard forever. But that will come with time. Right now, I need to get some dirt moved and some wood installed. I'll be doing some more work by the end of the week, after I move the rest of the junk out of the old apartment.
Closing went smoothly. The realtor and mortgage broker told me it went as smoothly as a sale could possibly go. Then I started moving in. I took a couple of boxes of random shit up on Tuesday, so I could "camp" at the new house, then started running load after load on Wednesday, with my UHaul reserved for Thursday.
When I woke up on Thursday morning, it was raining. Not pouring. Not drizzling. Just a hard, steady rain. I picked up the UHaul, a 14-footer. As soon as I got it to the apartment, I saw a problem. Metal ramp. Rain. The exact shoes I broke my leg while wearing. Whatever. It took a lot of effort, but I got the refrigerator out. When I was trying to get it up the ramp, though, I couldn't trust my grip on the slippery ramp, and eventually got pissed enough that I just pushed the thing over in the middle of the road. My temper is nothing to fuck with. I eventually polished everything off but the dryer, when I flipped out again. It was a shitty ride to my parents house, where they calmed me down and helped me take my gargantuan dresser out of my old room, down the stairs, and into the truck.
The hard part behind us, I was met by my riding buddy Jarrod at the house, where moving everything in went incredibly smoothly. Jarrod and I bought a bunch of alcohol after one more trip to Greensburg, and got royally shit-faced upon returning to the new house. Jarrod barfed for the first time in four years.
We woke up around 11:00 to pick up my Dad's Subaru and then drive to Monroeville to get Crustin. I had bought tickets in early October to see my favorite band, Cave In, play in Philadelphia. We stopped, hung over, at Mad Mex, then drove for 5 hours to the other side of the state.
The show was incredible, and we got on the road at 11:30, headed for Pittsburgh. Jarrod did a good job of keeping me awake on the drive home, and it was hell trying to wake up Crustin to get his address so I could plug it into the GPS. We dropped him off and eventually returned to Bear Rocks at 5:30 AM.
The next day, I woke up late, and made several more runs moving things in. As of now, I've been back to the apartment a few times to pick up a car-load here, a car-load there, but one solid day will pretty much clean that place out.
I have a wood burner at my new house, and have yet to even turn my oil furnace on. It's free heat, it makes the house smell nice, and gives me some exercise with the log splitter and carrying all the wood. I have two sheds, and I turned one of them into wood storage, and with all the wood my Dad gave me today, I should have enough for at least a week. I NEED MY CHAINSAW BACK, though. That's going to be key.
I started working on the backyard trails, although November to March is pretty much a lost cause when it comes to riding. At least I'm building, though. One trail has been started, and another is mostly scoped out. I'd like to set it up like some sort of bizarre pump-track abomination where you can just lap the entire yard forever. But that will come with time. Right now, I need to get some dirt moved and some wood installed. I'll be doing some more work by the end of the week, after I move the rest of the junk out of the old apartment.
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Sleep Deprivation
So I had to be up today at 7:30 for SPT training up at Seven Springs, for my winter job in the terrain park. I think I'm sucking down a bit too much caffeine, because after trying to fall asleep at 1:00 am, I watched two and a half movies, chugged two cups of supposedly relaxing, calming tea, and could not fall asleep. I think 4:30 had come and gone by the time I finally passed out.
Now I'm trying to fight back the urge to collapse on the couch or crawl into bed, because in 2 hours, I need to go to the pizza shop and work until 1:30 AM. If I get it right and manage to stay awake, I'll crash as soon as I get home, wake up early tomorrow, and get back on a normal sleep schedule.
See, when I'm not working a morning job, I'm instinctively awake until 3 or 4. I don't know why, but I think it has to do with the fact that I habitually sleep in. It's not uncommon that it'll be 2:00 in the afternoon when I wake up. Then I go to work, come home, wind down, and winding down inevitably ends up with me getting stoked on something and not wanting to go to sleep. Then, the next thing I know, it's 4:00 am and the cycle repeats itself.
Now I'm trying to fight back the urge to collapse on the couch or crawl into bed, because in 2 hours, I need to go to the pizza shop and work until 1:30 AM. If I get it right and manage to stay awake, I'll crash as soon as I get home, wake up early tomorrow, and get back on a normal sleep schedule.
See, when I'm not working a morning job, I'm instinctively awake until 3 or 4. I don't know why, but I think it has to do with the fact that I habitually sleep in. It's not uncommon that it'll be 2:00 in the afternoon when I wake up. Then I go to work, come home, wind down, and winding down inevitably ends up with me getting stoked on something and not wanting to go to sleep. Then, the next thing I know, it's 4:00 am and the cycle repeats itself.
Friday, November 13, 2009
Shit
It's been a beast of a summer. Since I last posted, I finally got hired up at Seven Springs for the purpose of building trails. Dream job? Sort of. There's a lot of mundane shit that goes into that job, not much of which is exciting or fun. But the payoff is getting your ass out there with some hand tools and busting out a new section of gnar to shred.
We built a ladder drop my first week there.
And then on to a new trail, Frankenstein. We added the ladder bridges at the end later in the season.
Then we started working on a few new features and a new trail. The Tank, The Battleship, and Slingshot. The Tank:
We're getting started (supposedly) on a slopestyle section at the top of the park at the beginning of next season, hopefully we can fire this out there before all the snow melts. To be continued in the next post.
We built a ladder drop my first week there.
And then on to a new trail, Frankenstein. We added the ladder bridges at the end later in the season.
Then we started working on a few new features and a new trail. The Tank, The Battleship, and Slingshot. The Tank:
We're getting started (supposedly) on a slopestyle section at the top of the park at the beginning of next season, hopefully we can fire this out there before all the snow melts. To be continued in the next post.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
The difference a year makes.
It's been a year since I've posted anything on this. Facebook blogs are just easier. But good lord. I just read my little synopsis of the Seven Springs Bike Park. One year ago... that really was sort of the dawn of the current age, so to speak. The article I wrote didn't go into detail about how much things really changed after the first time I got back on my bike. I'll try and get back up to speed here.
A few days after this, I brought an old BMX friend, BJ, up to the bike park. He loved it, and went as far as to buy a downhill bike immediately. A Specialized BigHit. I thought I would be stuck on the Azonic forever.
In late June, Seven Springs announced the FreeRide weekend on July 14 and 15. A two day free lift ticket weekend. BJ and I made plans to camp during it.
July 5, Adam throws me awkwardly into his pool. I land on my heel and nearly break my foot. It feels absolutely terrible for the next several weeks, including the FreeRide weekend.
The FreeRide weekend is a blast. Seven Springs opens two new expert-level trails, EC and Super Connector. Met lots of cool riders, saw some people get life-flighted, watched BJ bodyslam a tree, and got REAL drunk at the Bavarian. BJ and I each won drinking contests to take the top two prizes: a Fox backpack and a Fox Downhill helmet. Just try and beat me at chugging two successive beers.
Riding becomes more important than work. I decide to stay manager of Sunglass Hut until I can purchase a freeride bike, then quit. I start to look for mellower, more part-time jobs and in early August, begin delivering pizza to help fund a vacation and a freeride bike.
I help out the head mechanic from Seven Springs, and he assures me I won't have to pay to ride for the remainder of the season.
In mid August, I stop into Bike Line in Greensburg, PA to purchase a new tire for my Azonic. I see a 2005 Trek Session 77 Freeride bike in the corner of the showroom and jokingly inquire about the price. "Probably less than $1000. Let me check." I'm told. When I'm quoted at $800 out the door, I hand him $100 to hold the bike and vow to return when I receive my next paycheck. I show up two weeks later and purchase the bike.
The new bike is amazing. I can ride faster, harder, and longer than I had ever imagined. But I can't get the fork dialed in. I also start shutting my phone off when riding, no longer caring about my job. As far as I'm concerned, Sunglass Hut served its purpose. I don't need the money anymore.
Seven Springs announces the Almost FreeRide weekend. Professional demos from top Freeride dudes, half price lift tickets, and lots of novice riders. One of them is sitting right after the drop-off on Super Connector. I swerve to miss him, and am tossed over the bars. I break my rear derailleur and derailleur hanger in the process. I ride my almost-new bike chainless for the remainder of the weekend.
BJ takes the rest of the season off to work on MMA training. I start riding with some of the Park Crew guys, and a few local riders, all of whom are very, very fast. I improve exponentially and am wondering if I should start racing again.
I consider stopping at Wisp on the way back from Myrtle Beach for a Gravity East race, but decide that after a week of vacationing, I will want to go home. Besides, I need to find a new apartment.
Start looking for one-bedroom apartments in Greensburg, and have a really tough time finding one I like. Settle on one in the not-so-nice part of town.
Continue riding almost every weekend through September, while trying to work two jobs and prepare for the move. Get little accomplished.
Move. Learn that the upstairs neighbor is terminally psychotic. Immediately gather my valuables and prepare to live with my parents for a few weeks until I can find something better.
Wind up finding a nice two-bedroom apartment in the nice part of town for only $50 more than the dump I was moving into. Accept the fact that I am going to have a tough time getting everything out of the other place and into the new place.
Hang up the bike after my first full season of riding. Make plans to race in the spring, should an event happen anywhere near me.
Move. Have no stress relief, work 70 hours a week, and become generally miserable.
In November, only a few days before "Black Friday", quit managing Sunglass Hut without notice. Immediately regain some sanity.
Start working on things I need to do for the 2009 season. Start eating better, start working out more, start downloading lots of bike-related movies. ha.
January 15, slip on icy steps during a pizza delivery. Break right leg. I am out of work for 6 weeks and my training is halted.
March, start the South Beach Diet and drop 20 lbs immediately. Return to the gym, working out several days a week. Leg has healed, but not enough to ride.
Drop bike off at Trek Pittsburgh to do a complete overhaul, fix shifting, and add an e-thirteen chainguide.
Late March, start building dirt jumps with BJ. Check on Seven Springs opening date, and am disappointed to find it's not until May 23.
Mid April, smoke my final cigarette. I haven't touched one since.
Find schedule for Gravity East 2009. Plan on racing at Wisp, MD and Seven Springs.
Pick up bike. Start riding street in Greensburg to re-familiarize myself with my freeride bike.
May 17, first day of the new season. Ride at Wisp, MD. Did bigger drops than I ever have, some in excess of 10 vertical feet. Deal with the extremely slow lift.
May 23, show up for first chair at Seven Springs opening day. Ride with some of the dudes from last year. I am disappointed at the apparent lack of progress in the off-season. Offer to work or even volunteer at the bike park.
May 30, ride all day.
Discover dirt jumps in a potential downhill trail location in Greensburg. Start building new lines.
June 6, ride with BJ. Start picking lines through the race course, which is Upper EC1 to Lower 007. A heavy pedaling course with very few tech-y sections. Not my cup of tea at all. Break my chain on the third to last run. Tell some other riders I plan on racing Category 3. At their suggestion, I decide to race Category 2, one step below Semi-Pro.
June 13, practice day. Ride from ten until four. Find some new lines, and totally dial in my run. Become very skeptical about racing Category 2, almost rescind my decision and drop down to Category 3 upon seeing other riders in my category.
June 14. Race Day. Get a few practice runs in. Sore and tired from the day before, nail an almost perfect run, but am somewhat slow in the pedaling sections. Finish 19th in a field of 37, with my time only 11 seconds behind the fastest run of the day. Had I raced Category 3, I would have finished second, but I feel it would have been a bit of an empty victory. Ride with faster riders, and YOU get faster. I'm all Category 2 right now, and if all goes well, I'll be in Category 1 next season.
As of right now, June 16, it's less than a month into the season. I feel great. Riding my bike is one of the only things my life really revolves around right now. If a day passes and I'm not on my bike, I feel a bit empty. Like I'm not getting enough out of every day. I do plan on racing again in the near future, and taking trips to Diablo and Snowshoe, two east-coast freeride meccas. But as I type this, I'm burning daylight. It's a good day to ride.
Th
A few days after this, I brought an old BMX friend, BJ, up to the bike park. He loved it, and went as far as to buy a downhill bike immediately. A Specialized BigHit. I thought I would be stuck on the Azonic forever.
In late June, Seven Springs announced the FreeRide weekend on July 14 and 15. A two day free lift ticket weekend. BJ and I made plans to camp during it.
July 5, Adam throws me awkwardly into his pool. I land on my heel and nearly break my foot. It feels absolutely terrible for the next several weeks, including the FreeRide weekend.
The FreeRide weekend is a blast. Seven Springs opens two new expert-level trails, EC and Super Connector. Met lots of cool riders, saw some people get life-flighted, watched BJ bodyslam a tree, and got REAL drunk at the Bavarian. BJ and I each won drinking contests to take the top two prizes: a Fox backpack and a Fox Downhill helmet. Just try and beat me at chugging two successive beers.
Riding becomes more important than work. I decide to stay manager of Sunglass Hut until I can purchase a freeride bike, then quit. I start to look for mellower, more part-time jobs and in early August, begin delivering pizza to help fund a vacation and a freeride bike.
I help out the head mechanic from Seven Springs, and he assures me I won't have to pay to ride for the remainder of the season.
In mid August, I stop into Bike Line in Greensburg, PA to purchase a new tire for my Azonic. I see a 2005 Trek Session 77 Freeride bike in the corner of the showroom and jokingly inquire about the price. "Probably less than $1000. Let me check." I'm told. When I'm quoted at $800 out the door, I hand him $100 to hold the bike and vow to return when I receive my next paycheck. I show up two weeks later and purchase the bike.
The new bike is amazing. I can ride faster, harder, and longer than I had ever imagined. But I can't get the fork dialed in. I also start shutting my phone off when riding, no longer caring about my job. As far as I'm concerned, Sunglass Hut served its purpose. I don't need the money anymore.
Seven Springs announces the Almost FreeRide weekend. Professional demos from top Freeride dudes, half price lift tickets, and lots of novice riders. One of them is sitting right after the drop-off on Super Connector. I swerve to miss him, and am tossed over the bars. I break my rear derailleur and derailleur hanger in the process. I ride my almost-new bike chainless for the remainder of the weekend.
BJ takes the rest of the season off to work on MMA training. I start riding with some of the Park Crew guys, and a few local riders, all of whom are very, very fast. I improve exponentially and am wondering if I should start racing again.
I consider stopping at Wisp on the way back from Myrtle Beach for a Gravity East race, but decide that after a week of vacationing, I will want to go home. Besides, I need to find a new apartment.
Start looking for one-bedroom apartments in Greensburg, and have a really tough time finding one I like. Settle on one in the not-so-nice part of town.
Continue riding almost every weekend through September, while trying to work two jobs and prepare for the move. Get little accomplished.
Move. Learn that the upstairs neighbor is terminally psychotic. Immediately gather my valuables and prepare to live with my parents for a few weeks until I can find something better.
Wind up finding a nice two-bedroom apartment in the nice part of town for only $50 more than the dump I was moving into. Accept the fact that I am going to have a tough time getting everything out of the other place and into the new place.
Hang up the bike after my first full season of riding. Make plans to race in the spring, should an event happen anywhere near me.
Move. Have no stress relief, work 70 hours a week, and become generally miserable.
In November, only a few days before "Black Friday", quit managing Sunglass Hut without notice. Immediately regain some sanity.
Start working on things I need to do for the 2009 season. Start eating better, start working out more, start downloading lots of bike-related movies. ha.
January 15, slip on icy steps during a pizza delivery. Break right leg. I am out of work for 6 weeks and my training is halted.
March, start the South Beach Diet and drop 20 lbs immediately. Return to the gym, working out several days a week. Leg has healed, but not enough to ride.
Drop bike off at Trek Pittsburgh to do a complete overhaul, fix shifting, and add an e-thirteen chainguide.
Late March, start building dirt jumps with BJ. Check on Seven Springs opening date, and am disappointed to find it's not until May 23.
Mid April, smoke my final cigarette. I haven't touched one since.
Find schedule for Gravity East 2009. Plan on racing at Wisp, MD and Seven Springs.
Pick up bike. Start riding street in Greensburg to re-familiarize myself with my freeride bike.
May 17, first day of the new season. Ride at Wisp, MD. Did bigger drops than I ever have, some in excess of 10 vertical feet. Deal with the extremely slow lift.
May 23, show up for first chair at Seven Springs opening day. Ride with some of the dudes from last year. I am disappointed at the apparent lack of progress in the off-season. Offer to work or even volunteer at the bike park.
May 30, ride all day.
Discover dirt jumps in a potential downhill trail location in Greensburg. Start building new lines.
June 6, ride with BJ. Start picking lines through the race course, which is Upper EC1 to Lower 007. A heavy pedaling course with very few tech-y sections. Not my cup of tea at all. Break my chain on the third to last run. Tell some other riders I plan on racing Category 3. At their suggestion, I decide to race Category 2, one step below Semi-Pro.
June 13, practice day. Ride from ten until four. Find some new lines, and totally dial in my run. Become very skeptical about racing Category 2, almost rescind my decision and drop down to Category 3 upon seeing other riders in my category.
June 14. Race Day. Get a few practice runs in. Sore and tired from the day before, nail an almost perfect run, but am somewhat slow in the pedaling sections. Finish 19th in a field of 37, with my time only 11 seconds behind the fastest run of the day. Had I raced Category 3, I would have finished second, but I feel it would have been a bit of an empty victory. Ride with faster riders, and YOU get faster. I'm all Category 2 right now, and if all goes well, I'll be in Category 1 next season.
As of right now, June 16, it's less than a month into the season. I feel great. Riding my bike is one of the only things my life really revolves around right now. If a day passes and I'm not on my bike, I feel a bit empty. Like I'm not getting enough out of every day. I do plan on racing again in the near future, and taking trips to Diablo and Snowshoe, two east-coast freeride meccas. But as I type this, I'm burning daylight. It's a good day to ride.
Th
Sunday, June 1, 2008
Seven Springs Mountain Bike Park
Well, it's been forever since I've been on my mountain bike, due to my laziness for oh, the past eight years or so. Accepting the fact that I need to get at least moderately back in shape, I decided to revisit one of the only things I've ever really been good at.
Apparently, things have changed in the past eight years. Seven Springs, which is where I do a good bit of snowboarding and a good bit of drinking in the winter, opened up a downhill course last fall, which I got wind of a bit too late to be able to use it. However, as I normally end up catching the mountain bike bug for a week or so every spring, I decided to upgrade some parts on my barely-ridden Azonic Dual Slalom bike and have a go at the new course. The first thing I noticed upon arrivial was that my bike looked like a bit of a lightweight compared to the full-suspension freeride machines most of the other riders were piloting. I should elaborate: My frame, although overbuilt, lacks rear suspension, has no chain tensioner device, still has a triple chainring (how quaint), and a good deal of my components (including my fork) are ten years old. Or older. My stem and handlebars are new. That's it.
So during the inital run, I was blown away by what was an extremely well-designed course. The top section is very BMX-oriented, with about five ten-foot-gap tabletops, three or four rollers, a perfectly angled hip, and nice, steep berms. After dropping through the hip, the course drops into the woods and becomes a bit muddier, with an off-camber berm into a small kicker that requires a lot of adjustment in the air. A few more rollers, a step-up, and then a nice off-camber drop-off finishes off the top half. Then things get a bit scary. For about a half-mile, the course traverses down a slope, and the trail is rocky, fast, and at times, pretty scary. There's a few rollers thrown into the mix, as well as a few small drop-offs. After the last 180 degree berm, the trail heads into the woods again, with a nice rock drop and a few small kickers here and there. It ends up shooting out behind the beginner area, where there's a nice, big drop, and a few more optional kickers, but nothing too big.
Even during my initial run, I had some issues. First and foremost, my lack of a chain tensioner caused the chain to bounce off over even a moderate impact, like landing off of one of the tabletops. Usually the only way I would notice this was to start pedaling, and realize nothing was happening. Second, even as I'm typing this, my hands and wrists feel like my bones have been pounded into dust, due to my ten-year-old suspension fork. I should mention that it was, at one time, a "downhill" fork, built for Shaun Palmer. However, lack of maintenence over the past ten years has caused a seal to blow out, and fluid will sometimes be seen dripping from the bottom of the fork. Not only that, but the 80 mm of effective travel has somehow been lowered to about 60 (and that's being generous). Probably has something to do with the fact that it's blown out. I also noticed a bit of play in the fork legs, but that's to be expected after thing was used off and on for ten years. The legs themselves are absolutely dwarfed by pretty much any current forks on the market, and the lack of rigidity has a lot to do with that. I should also mention that, although I saw two other riders on hardtails throughout the day, it was absolutely punishing. I haven't done that much riding on my current setup, and I'm still used to having at least a moderate amount of full suspension. Mine is a very, very stiff aluminum frame, aimed more at the dirt jumping/mountaincross crowd, which makes it an absolute joy in the BMX-style upper section, but beats the crap out of me in the lower half. With the way I was banging the thing through the rocks and drop-offs in the lower part, I'm truly amazed that I didn't pinch-flat. Another notable feature of my bike is the fact that I'm still running circa-1998 Shimano V-Brakes. Although they function just fine around town, and when they're not being depended upon for too much, they work great. But in the aformentioned lower section, where my hands and wrists are getting bounced around, getting two fingers on the levers comes at a serious loss of control on the bars. I need some disc brakes.
All complaining aside, today was, without a doubt, one of the best times I have ever had on a bike. Nothing can explain the exhilaration of ripping through the upper section, and then having your heart in your throat the entire time you're getting beat up in the second half. If you have the means, I highly reccommend it.
All photos are of the 2007 course.
The upper section:
Into the lower section. It's scarier than it looks:
The rock drop. It was WAY muddier today:
Apparently, things have changed in the past eight years. Seven Springs, which is where I do a good bit of snowboarding and a good bit of drinking in the winter, opened up a downhill course last fall, which I got wind of a bit too late to be able to use it. However, as I normally end up catching the mountain bike bug for a week or so every spring, I decided to upgrade some parts on my barely-ridden Azonic Dual Slalom bike and have a go at the new course. The first thing I noticed upon arrivial was that my bike looked like a bit of a lightweight compared to the full-suspension freeride machines most of the other riders were piloting. I should elaborate: My frame, although overbuilt, lacks rear suspension, has no chain tensioner device, still has a triple chainring (how quaint), and a good deal of my components (including my fork) are ten years old. Or older. My stem and handlebars are new. That's it.
So during the inital run, I was blown away by what was an extremely well-designed course. The top section is very BMX-oriented, with about five ten-foot-gap tabletops, three or four rollers, a perfectly angled hip, and nice, steep berms. After dropping through the hip, the course drops into the woods and becomes a bit muddier, with an off-camber berm into a small kicker that requires a lot of adjustment in the air. A few more rollers, a step-up, and then a nice off-camber drop-off finishes off the top half. Then things get a bit scary. For about a half-mile, the course traverses down a slope, and the trail is rocky, fast, and at times, pretty scary. There's a few rollers thrown into the mix, as well as a few small drop-offs. After the last 180 degree berm, the trail heads into the woods again, with a nice rock drop and a few small kickers here and there. It ends up shooting out behind the beginner area, where there's a nice, big drop, and a few more optional kickers, but nothing too big.
Even during my initial run, I had some issues. First and foremost, my lack of a chain tensioner caused the chain to bounce off over even a moderate impact, like landing off of one of the tabletops. Usually the only way I would notice this was to start pedaling, and realize nothing was happening. Second, even as I'm typing this, my hands and wrists feel like my bones have been pounded into dust, due to my ten-year-old suspension fork. I should mention that it was, at one time, a "downhill" fork, built for Shaun Palmer. However, lack of maintenence over the past ten years has caused a seal to blow out, and fluid will sometimes be seen dripping from the bottom of the fork. Not only that, but the 80 mm of effective travel has somehow been lowered to about 60 (and that's being generous). Probably has something to do with the fact that it's blown out. I also noticed a bit of play in the fork legs, but that's to be expected after thing was used off and on for ten years. The legs themselves are absolutely dwarfed by pretty much any current forks on the market, and the lack of rigidity has a lot to do with that. I should also mention that, although I saw two other riders on hardtails throughout the day, it was absolutely punishing. I haven't done that much riding on my current setup, and I'm still used to having at least a moderate amount of full suspension. Mine is a very, very stiff aluminum frame, aimed more at the dirt jumping/mountaincross crowd, which makes it an absolute joy in the BMX-style upper section, but beats the crap out of me in the lower half. With the way I was banging the thing through the rocks and drop-offs in the lower part, I'm truly amazed that I didn't pinch-flat. Another notable feature of my bike is the fact that I'm still running circa-1998 Shimano V-Brakes. Although they function just fine around town, and when they're not being depended upon for too much, they work great. But in the aformentioned lower section, where my hands and wrists are getting bounced around, getting two fingers on the levers comes at a serious loss of control on the bars. I need some disc brakes.
All complaining aside, today was, without a doubt, one of the best times I have ever had on a bike. Nothing can explain the exhilaration of ripping through the upper section, and then having your heart in your throat the entire time you're getting beat up in the second half. If you have the means, I highly reccommend it.
All photos are of the 2007 course.
The upper section:
Into the lower section. It's scarier than it looks:
The rock drop. It was WAY muddier today:
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