MR. evil
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Highland Bike Park - 9/26/09
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Ha! Awesome. Right up Pat's alley apparently. I know you guys said the DH bikes were big and burly, but how did they ride? Did they give you any more confidence to just let 'er rip? (not that Pat needs any more balls).
the bikes were amazing. you can take such direct lines on the single track no matter what is in your way in regards to rocks, roots and the such. between the suspension, the raked out angle of the forks, the bad azzz rims and tires and the sheer weight, it makes everything so much easier. As far as jumping, again, the suspension and even the weight make it easier. I like the heavier feel of those bikes, cause for me, they just seem so much more stable on approaches, takeoffs, in the air and the landing.
there is PLENTY of stuff there to keep you interested beyond just launching all the hits. I was joking when i said the regular downhill stuff was boring. It was like parts of nass. just alot more downhill. tons of berms, twisty narrow track and techy (i know you love that word) sections. natural wall rides, steep rooty rocky downhills. You would absolutely love it even if your wheels never left the ground all day. Plus, that little jump park has 3 ladder drops. a teeny teeny one probably about 1'. another one around 2' and then the bigger one probably around 3 feet or so, maybe higher. and the last little kicker there, the landing is filled with mulch so you can really get the feeling of leveling the bike out in the air without the fear of pain.
there is PLENTY of stuff there to keep you interested beyond just launching all the hits. I was joking when i said the regular downhill stuff was boring. It was like parts of nass. just alot more downhill. tons of berms, twisty narrow track and techy (i know you love that word) sections. natural wall rides, steep rooty rocky downhills. You would absolutely love it even if your wheels never left the ground all day. Plus, that little jump park has 3 ladder drops. a teeny teeny one probably about 1'. another one around 2' and then the bigger one probably around 3 feet or so, maybe higher. and the last little kicker there, the landing is filled with mulch so you can really get the feeling of leveling the bike out in the air without the fear of pain.
MR. evil
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Ya, what Pat said.
The first couple of runs I was tentitive about getting air on the bigger hits. But once I got used to the bike it was a breeze. The extra weight made the bikes very stable in the air, and you didn't even feel the landings. There were two sections on Hellion that if taken with any speed turned from a roller to decent sized drops with nice down hill landings. The suspension worked so well that you didn't even know when you actually landed. But those bikes REALLY sucked to pedal. As the day went on I think we all got a little over confident becuase we all started to go faster and bigger than on previous runs, and we all had crashes that run. I had two pretty minor ones, would have torn up my legs pretty good had i not been wearing leg armor under my jeans. But Pat and Chris each had afternoon ending crashes. Didn't see either one of them, but heard Pat's about 100 feet back on the trail. Pat and I figured Chris had a crash when we had to wait several minutes for him to catch up. When he showed up covered in dirt it kind of gave it away.
The drops in the practice area were a little higher than Pat mentioned. Probably 18", 30" and 48" respectively. The larger one may have been a little higher but not much. The landing transitions were so well done that you barley felt hitting the ground. But the bikes may have also played into that. The mulch pit after the jump was a cool idea. But the jump had such an extreme pitch that it took a while for me to get the balls up to try it. Pat was going really big off that thing from the get go, with style to boot.
The first couple of runs I was tentitive about getting air on the bigger hits. But once I got used to the bike it was a breeze. The extra weight made the bikes very stable in the air, and you didn't even feel the landings. There were two sections on Hellion that if taken with any speed turned from a roller to decent sized drops with nice down hill landings. The suspension worked so well that you didn't even know when you actually landed. But those bikes REALLY sucked to pedal. As the day went on I think we all got a little over confident becuase we all started to go faster and bigger than on previous runs, and we all had crashes that run. I had two pretty minor ones, would have torn up my legs pretty good had i not been wearing leg armor under my jeans. But Pat and Chris each had afternoon ending crashes. Didn't see either one of them, but heard Pat's about 100 feet back on the trail. Pat and I figured Chris had a crash when we had to wait several minutes for him to catch up. When he showed up covered in dirt it kind of gave it away.
The drops in the practice area were a little higher than Pat mentioned. Probably 18", 30" and 48" respectively. The larger one may have been a little higher but not much. The landing transitions were so well done that you barley felt hitting the ground. But the bikes may have also played into that. The mulch pit after the jump was a cool idea. But the jump had such an extreme pitch that it took a while for me to get the balls up to try it. Pat was going really big off that thing from the get go, with style to boot.
Jon, if I can run some of this stuff, you most certainly can. I've only ridden with you once and I know you would have a blast. I'm heading up there on the 17th (maybe) and I would like to go at least one more time before year end. My son does more of the aggressive stuff and what I run is lame, but it's a lot of fun.
MR. evil
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Did my first trail ride yesterday since DH’g at Highland. Here are a couple of random thoughts.
1.Pedaling up hill sucks! I was not in a very good mood the first 30 minutes of yesterdays ride, chair lifts rock!
2.My bike felt like a toy compared to that beast of a DH bike I rented. I forgot that I have to chose a line with my bike, not so much with the DH bikes.
3.Those heavy DH bikes are much easier to take drops with than my trail bike. I took a couple 24” drops last night at Case and almost wrecked both of them. I forgot that with my bike I actually have to work when taking a drop (pull up on the bars, get weight back, ect…) The way your body position is on those DH bikes along with the head tube angle made drops easy. Didn’t really have to do anything and the bike stayed level and balanced in the air.
1.Pedaling up hill sucks! I was not in a very good mood the first 30 minutes of yesterdays ride, chair lifts rock!
2.My bike felt like a toy compared to that beast of a DH bike I rented. I forgot that I have to chose a line with my bike, not so much with the DH bikes.
3.Those heavy DH bikes are much easier to take drops with than my trail bike. I took a couple 24” drops last night at Case and almost wrecked both of them. I forgot that with my bike I actually have to work when taking a drop (pull up on the bars, get weight back, ect…) The way your body position is on those DH bikes along with the head tube angle made drops easy. Didn’t really have to do anything and the bike stayed level and balanced in the air.
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It's certainly not anywhere close to a DH bike, I'm sure, but I love the slacked out head angle on my Remedy. That stupid little 2 footer we all hemmed and hawed over at the start of the ridge ride at the Rez at the beginning of last year was effortless. The rollers I've tried have been nothing - I've taken a few with pretty bad body position (i.e. not far back enough) and the fork would suck up enough that eventually the bike would level out. In fact, I haven't gone OTB since I got the bike (now I'm cursed). Yeah, climbing is a little more tricky with the front end wandering around, but I deal and simply stand and mash more. It's pretty easy to distribute weight while standing on it. With all that said, I will never ride a sub 6" travel bike on the type of rides we do around here ever again. The Remedy 7 at 32 lbs. is an awesome AM bike.
MR. evil
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I have gotten to a point where I dont really care how steep something is. As long there is a line that looks ridable to me I will go for it. Trev has also turned in a roller nut. in the past month he has ridden some really sketchy stuff. Drops are still something I need to work on and I was making progress with them. They were so effortless on that DH bike. Last night it took me several tries to get up the nearve to wheely drop a 24" ledge with a nice DH landing. I was really pissed with myself.
awf170
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Come back to Lynn... I want to see if I can prove this wrong. :razz:
MR. evil
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At that place I am sure you will be able too......I actually know for a fact you will. That place is just crazy!
MR. evil
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I was looking around in the Turner forum on MTBR and came across this stuff. Looks like they have added a new feature at the end of Hellion, I am guessing its right around where I crashed and tore up my jeans on the last run of the day. That area was really chewed up and looked like it was being cleared for construction.
Insane drop! You may need to save this to disk if it won’t play directly from the link.
http://mechamaniac.com/biker/highland/pt2/MVI_0892.mov
http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=558325
I should stop watching this stuff. I really want to get back there and cant afford to build up a FR bike.
Insane drop! You may need to save this to disk if it won’t play directly from the link.
http://mechamaniac.com/biker/highland/pt2/MVI_0892.mov
http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=558325
I should stop watching this stuff. I really want to get back there and cant afford to build up a FR bike.
