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:
