After spending Tuesday in the Bike Park with the bumps and bends clinic, today was about getting back on the same trails and motivating myself to continue to conquer them while working on my riding. Conditions were dry and sunny but the breeze up and down on the ride were perfect for mountain biking. I started out on Live Wire, then headed over to Gypsy for a couple laps and ended the day on easier Coaster and Easy Rider to get back to my truck.
Gypsy has been a good trail for me. Super hard, heart pounding with technical rocks and really fun rideable features like rocks to bridges, rock stairs, crazy rock drops, barrels to rocks. Basically imagine a lot of rocks from small to big, sharp to dull on one run.
I’ve managed to ride every feature in place except this one below. There’s something about the rocks in place especially the smaller ones that can move on you. I’ll have to redeem myself someday but thankfully I walked around it whenever I encountered it.
I was having a great run on Gypsy until right before the wall ride, I was coming in to hit it and felt my back tire really sliding all over the place. I came to a stop and saw my tire was completely flat. Since I was midway through the trail, I flipped over my bike in hopes to stop someone with a bike pump. Luckily for me, a group behind came to my rescue and fixed my tire. Thank you guys for stopping and getting me back on the trail so I didn’t have to walk my bike down.
It’s been fun to travel this summer to different Bike Park’s. I can see differences in the trail constructions and flow, the accessibility and ease of the Bike Park and enjoy the ride while I do it. I believe Northstar follows the Ratatouille rule that anyone can downhill mountain bike. The cost is right ($80 for half day rental + protective gear, clinic and lift ticket), the trails are clearly marked and go in sections so you can try something harder without riding the whole trail and you never have to worry about getting your bike on the lift (lifties load them for you).
This weekend, Northstar is hosting the Pro GRT Gravity Tour races so it was a busier Thursday with racers on the expert trails. I didn’t mind so much, it just meant being more aware of my surroundings and pulling off the trail in case someone came up behind me. Can’t wait to see the pics and video from the event, should be a good one.
I ended the day with a couple laps on the easier blue trails on the mountain. The Easy Rider trail that goes from the top of the gondola to the village is a good trail for learning on without being too easy on the rider. It has everything that someone will encounter on harder trails (berms, rocks, wooden bridges, table tops) and is still fun to ride at the end of the day.
Ended the day on a good note with good riding under my belt. Definitely glad I was able to ride Northstar’s Bike Park and hope I can return to ride the full mountain in the future.
