One of my goals the last two seasons has been to return to that jack-of-all-trades rider. I want to be a threat in every kind of race I line up for. Up until the past few weeks, I felt like criteriums were the only type of race I could be competitive in. Then the Lock 4 win came out of the blue. It really surprised me. This trip has given me opportunities to ride all the disciplines I love. And again, I have surprised myself with my riding.
Thursday brought an opportunity to worked on one of the disciplines I don't get to ride as often as I would like. We mixed things up with some downhill and freeride mountain biking. I love riding downhill, but there are no places in Tennessee to do it. My only training/practice comes from the few things I have built on our backyard trail. Shannon and I went over to the Canyons Resort in Park City to play at their bike park. We got there before the lifts even opened so we would not miss one single minute of fun! We started off in the main part of the bike park, riding the two Beginner trails White Rabbit and Flying Salmon. They were good starter trails for Shannon, though they were a bit rough for her Santa Cruz Superlight. We swapped bikes for a few runs so she could enjoy all six inches of travel on my Remedy. We found out she is not fond of steep downhill berms. This one berm on Flying Salmon bit her twice early in the day. She got a few scratches, but otherwise was ok and kept riding throughout the day.
Lift ticket
Looking down on the Wild Mouse trail from the lift
We saw a badger today and a herd of sheep moving up the mountain through the resort
A rider getting big air on the Rally Cat trail
Following Shannon on some wood on Flying Salmon
Shannon pops out of the woods on Flying Salmon
I enjoyed playing on Wild Mouse, the only trail I rode the last time we came here two years ago. It has many big tabletop jumps, some huge berms and a few wooden obstacles that are not too difficult. The size of the jumps scared me a little. I was far from comfortable on them. I was, however, carrying good speed down the hill. I had fun toying with two rather cocky riders who thought they were awesome. They made a comment to Shannon as I was getting ready to go into the trail that they should go in first because, after looking at me, they were sure they would be faster. When they dropped in, Shannon said "Go catch them!" So I did. I let them go in ahead on the next run as well just so I could run them down again. I love how people look at my skinny physique and my "short-travel" bike (by downhill standards it is a small bike) and assume I don't know what I'm doing on a downhill trail. If they only knew how much I raced road they would really think I was slow and didn't belong in a freeride park! Again, I just love being able to ride it all. Race a crit. one day, then do big jumps and drops the next day. How many road racers do you know that can do that?! It's fun to surprise people.
My uncomfortable-ness carried over to the Skills Park as well. I was a little disappointed with myself when we stopped for lunch. I was hoping to feel a little more comfortable on the jumps after hitting the bike park in Green River last week.
Me on Wild Mouse
Boulder sticking up through the wood on Wild Mouse
Wood berm on Wild Mouse
More wood
Big berm near the end of Wild Mouse
Doing the biggest drop in the Skills Area
View from the Short Cut lift
Fall colors on the mountain from the lift
Ricochet trail
Shannon on Holly's trail
View from Holly's trail
After lunch, something clicked. We went over to the more advanced side of the park. I started off by riding the Expert-only Cliffhanger trail. This park is for real. When they say Expert-only, they mean it. Cliffhanger starts off with a lot of rocks, then has an elevated ladder ride about 6 feet high that ends with a big drop, followed by another ladder that rises to 10 feet off the ground! It then rolls down to the ground before ending the trail with a wooden kicker gap jump. I got the urge to try the ladders. I didn't really think I could do them, but I wanted to give it a shot. I rolled up on the first one and before I knew it I was going off the six foot drop at the end. I landed it and went on to the next ladder, also making it. But I bailed before the gap jump. A few minutes later, I tried again, this time doing the full trail including the gap jump. What a rush! I can't believe I got up the nerve to try that and actually pulled it off. I guess my skills are better than I thought.
Cliffhanger
In the tree tops on Cliffhanger
Gap jump coming!
In the air over the gap
Me riding up the lift
I spent the rest of the day on the Dropkick trail. The jumps on Dropkick are bigger than on Wild Mouse, but my confidence was high after clearing Cliffhanger. After a few runs, I was jumping all the big jumps. At the end of the day, I took one more run on Wild Mouse and it was a breeze compared to Dropkick. I cleared all the jumps except the very last one on Wild Mouse that last run. The news of the day was that I flatted four times. The first one happened on the rack before the ride when my valve stem broke. Then I pinch-flatted twice on Dropkick, even though I was running 55 psi in my tires. I guess 2.1" XC tires can't take the abuse and forces that come with downhill riding. I hate pinching tubes, but I am ok with it when I know it is because I have stepped up my game and have surpassed the capabilities of my equipment.
Riding down Dropkick
Getting air on a tabletop jump
Wood feature on Dropkick
Huge wooden berm on Dropkick
More air time
My fourth and final flat of the day came after the park closed and we were riding back down the mountain to the car. I pinched yet again on a jump on the Ricochet downhill trail. This time I was out of tubes and had to walk about two miles out of the woods. I'm actually out of tubes completely now. I have used all my spare tubes with the eight mountain bike flats I have had on this trip. I wanted to bring more tubes, but Maxxis has been out of all tubes since at least July. I don't understand how they could be out of tubes when they are a tire and tubes company. It baffles me, just like when our local SubWay in Pleasant View went through a phase where they ran out of bread about three times a week. How do you run out of bread when you are a SANDWICH company?!
Below is a video we shot at Canyons. It is mostly helmet cam video, starting with me following Shannon down Flying Salmon. Then you can see me making a run through the Skills Park, followed by runs down Cliffanger, Dropkick and Wild Mouse. There are also some shots Shannon took from the side with our other camera.
Video: Riding at Canyons
After Canyons, Shannon and I drove over to Heber City to eat at our favorite place, Granny's Drive-In. They have the best milkshakes and really good hamburgers as well. I love Utah fry sauce so I got a burger smothered in fry sauce to go with my tall Oreo shake. Mmmmm!
My shake from Granny's. More above the cup than in.
Hitting all my favorite disciplines this week has been a good time. I am so happy with how I am riding. I would go back to Canyons, but without mountain bike tubes I guess I am restricted to the road for my final few rides. I had hoped to go to RedBull Rampage this year while we are here, but they sold out of tickets months ago so I guess we will watch it online instead. The trip is nearing an end, but I am sure the adventures are not over. Stay tuned for more!
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