Trailside

     After a week of being at Gma's, I finally got to ride my mountain bike. We started the day off with changing the oil in the truck, then headed to Park City to ride. We had borrowed my Dad's truck and it was near needing an oil change so I promised to do it while we were here. We didn't have ramps, but I was able to squeeze under the truck and get the job done. My first crawl under the truck ended with me bleeding. The gravel pull-off in Gma's front yard was full of goathead thorns and they got me in the back and hands. I never noticed them before that moment. That meant another stop at Home Depot after the ride for some weed killer. I tried to take out as many of those thorns as I could before we left. They are horrible little plants. The thorns are huge and sort of shaped like a goat's head with two little horns that stick up. They latch onto everything and are carried to new areas where they take root quickly, reproduce and choke out all other plants. The western states have been trying to get rid of them for years. We had a big problem with them in the parking and staging area at XTERRA USA when I raced it in 2012.

Goatheads stuck in a truck tire at XTERRA USA 2012

     Like I said, the ride destination was Park City. There are tons of trails to choose from in PC. We decided to go to Trailside Park, a park maintained by the city on the outskirts of town. We had never been there before, but heard it had some nice downhill trails and play areas. There's no lift, but the trails were awesome! I got in a good workout on the climb back up after every run. I was so excited after each run that I almost sprinted back to the top to have another go.

     The park has several short, rolling trails and one main climbing trail that connects you from bottom to top. It's basically just one big hill with multiple trails coming down it. By the parking lot, there is a skatepark and a small skills area with some rocks and log skinnies. Halfway up the hill is another skills area with several wood and rock lines. There is a pump track, and two small dirt jump lines as well. Also, from the midway point you can access one of four flow trails the park offers. It was the easier level flow trail, called Yabba Dabba Do, but still very fun with many berms and small tabletop jumps. Shannon really enjoyed that one. I have a helmet cam video of the trail posted below.

Skills area halfway up the hill

Shannon practicing her freeride skills!

Nice view. It's much more brown on this side of town.

Helmet cam still shot in the skills area

S-berms on the pump track

Following Shannon down Yabba Dabba Do

Video: Helmet Cam of the Yabba Dabba Do Trail

     Climbing all the way to the top of the hill gets you access to three more flow trails. Mr. Muchrocks drops you off the backside of the hill and is more of an all-mountain trail, mixing man-made rock gardens with drops and wooden obstacles. The front of the hill has more slopestyle features with the moderate-difficulty Bronto Jam trail and the Pro-level trail called Bamm Bamm. The Pro trail was closed for renovation, but it looked freaking awesome! There were some huge drops and jumps that I could see. I spent most of my day on Bronto Jam. It had several good-sized tabletop jumps, a HUGE wooden berm and two wall rides at the bottom. There is also a downhill trail that starts in the park and descends to the northwest, but I did not get a chance to ride that one. I was having too much fun on Bronto Jam, at the pump track and hitting the dirt jump lines. Helmet cams from the other three flow trails and highlights of our riding at Trailside Park are posted below.

Rock berm on Mr. Muchrocks

Wood berm on Mr. Muchrocks

Airing the hip jump near the bottom of Mr. Muchrocks

One of several man-made rock gardens on Mr. Muchrocks

The HUGE wood berm on Bronto Jam

Video: Helmet cam of a run down Mr. Muchrocks

Video: Helmet cam down Bronto Jam

Video: Highlights of our day at Trailside Park

     We took a break for lunch, then drove over to the Park City Mountain Resort for a few more miles of riding. The plan was to climb up to the Mid Mountain trail on Armstrong, which is a one-way trail that climbs the lower half of the mountain. It does not have much in the way of technical features and is so hardpack that it's like riding a sidewalk. It would be the perfect climb to get Shannon up the mountain. Then we would find a fun downhill to bring us back down.

    We had to do some climbing to get to Armstrong. We knocked that part out, then made it about half a mile up Armstrong before several riders came down the one-way. They stopped to tell us the trail was closed ahead. We were disappointed, but still wanted to ride so we turned around and started looking for some connector trail to take us up. We went up two access roads only to find them dead end after ridiculously steep climbing out in the sun on a hot day. After that second failed attempt, we went all the way back to the resort and started over on Jenni's trail. I had climbed this one before and remembered it being a decent climb, but not killer. And it may not have been killer on Shannon had I not take her to Trailside for two hours of riding already.

Looking down on Park City from the Armstrong trail

Trails like this are why I love riding in Park City

     We climbed 2.3 miles in the hot sun before finally getting a break with a slight descent and some shade. Then we climbed another mile on some rough singletrack in the woods, passing by several side trails. Each time we passed one Shannon wanted to turn down it, but all would take us straight back to the resort. We wanted a longer descent for all the work we had put in to get up this far. After that mile of climbing we met another rider. We asked him how far it was to Mid Mountain and he said at least another mile and then portions of it were closed. What?!! Shannon was too toasted to climb any more without knowing if it would be rewarded. After a rest break, we decided to go back down and pick one of the side trails we had passed earlier. We chose Loose Moose, a trail I had never ridden. It was a fun descent with several nice berms and jumps, but there were quite a few rough places from water run-off and braking bumps. It beat Shannon up on her XC bike. The best thing about this descent was that it ran next to the new alpine coaster the resort installed this year. It's a gravity-fed coaster that works it's way down the mountain through the woods with several drops and banked turns. It's like an alpine slide on rails.

Park City Mountain Resort's Alpine Coaster

Video: Alpine Coaster at Park City Mountain resort

     We were happy to finally get back to the truck. We climbed 1,435 ft. on this ride alone, and ended the day with almost four hours of bike time. That's a long day for Shannon. After the ride, we decided to grab dinner at Maxwell's in Kimball Junction, which is on the outskirts of Park City next to I-80. We ate outside in the setting afternoon sun.The pizza was one of the best pizzas I have ever put in my mouth! I highly recommend stopping there if you are ever hungry in the Park City area. And the Pearl Izumi Factory Store is just across the street if you are in the mood for some bike apparel shopping.

     The next ride I had planned was a trip over to Corner Canyon and the Draper Cycle Park. More on that in the next blog. Thanks for reading!