So after a nice little trail ride with the husband last night, I finally worked up the cojones to try out the
bike park that my city built in the middle of the park at the trailhead. It's only a 2min ride from my house.
Had I actually stopped to read the sign first, I'd have known that I started the intermediate section in the wrong damn direction instead of having a bunch of 15 year old kids tell me. They were kind about it, at least, and when I got out of the way and read the sign I retreated gratefully to the separate beginner track.
I was quite slow, of course, and got no air at all - just riding over the hits was thrilling (petrifying?) enough. It's designed for BMX, and even my 26er hardtail felt a bit big in the tight turns. I'm sure the kids got a good laugh out of the silly woman in spandex making a fool of herself, but I stayed upright and giggled a lot. Husband took a turn through the beginner section as well (on his monstrosity of a 29er) and wasn't much faster than I was, but definitely more confident since he's the one with the off-road skillz.
It was a good laugh, and I'm sure I'll go back. May take me some time before I'm willing to even go hit the intermediate bit again (let alone the advanced track), but it was fun!
Here's what the intermediate line is supposed to look like:
video And the advanced (yikes):
video And first-person view through the advanced - my gut clenches just watching it:
video Cheers!
-mistress k
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ill advised racing inc.