The Purpose of Holiday Weekends

The purpose of the holiday weekend is to give you an excuse to travel to a new bike trail and ride.  No really, that's what the politicians were thinking however many decades ago (Labor Day had its beginnings in 1893) when Labor Day, Memorial Day, and the like were instituted.  The thought process went something like this:

"People nowadays really are getting into this bicycle riding craze."

"You know what I think?" quipped ole' Grover Cleveland.  "I think that one day people are going to get crazy enough to make dirt paths through the woods and try to ride their bicycles down them.  They'll probably call it, oh, 'dirt biking.'"

"These 'dirt bikers' will need to have periodic breaks throughout the year from their hard labor so they can have enough time to ride their bicycles all the way to these 'dirt bike trails' and then ride around on them.  I propose we add holidays designed to give them that needed riding time,"  a senator added.

"Sure, let's do it!  We'll call one, uh, 'Labor Day' because it'll still be a lot of work.  We'll call one 'Memorial Day' so people can think about (and ride) the trails that veterans died to protect, and whenever someone famous comes along and does something great for the nation, we'll set aside another day of vacation specifically for the riding of great singletrack."

While back in 1893 they may not have anticipated motorized bikes being named dirt bikes and off-road bicycles being called mountain bikes, they were pretty much spot-on on every other point.

Fontana Lake near Tsali

Where I'm Riding
I'm currently planning on riding at least the next 3 days in a row.  Right after I finish typing this blog post, I'm heading up to Tsali in North Carolina to meet up with one of the other members of the Airborne Flight Crew.  My plan is to ride the two loops that I missed on my last trip to Tsali due to the alternating day schedule.

Tomorrow is the big day, the main reason I'm making the trek to North Carolina.  This weekend is the last weekend that the chairlifts are open at Sugar Mountain, and I have been jonesin' for some lift-served mountain biking ever since the Taka showed up on my door step a month ago.  Tomorrow it will get a true DH workout!  (For video of my first day of downhilling on the Taka, click here.)

Finally, on Sunday I'm roughly planning on riding somewhere in Pisgah.  I need to be back in Georgia to meet up with my wife in the afternoon, so I'm thinking about roughly a 10-12 mile loop in the morning.  Exactly what I'm going to ride, I haven't decided, but I'm traveling with a great guide book to North Carolina, so I'll figure the rest of the details out as I go along!

Where are you riding?
Well, you heard it from the president himself:  get out there and ride your mountain bike!  I'd love to hear from ya'll in the comments below.  Where are you planning on riding this weekend?  Or if its a few days after this post went live, where did you ride and how was it?  Please feel free to share your stories below!

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Mountain Biking Hints for Novices

The following is a guest post submitted by Pamela Anderson.

Mountain Biking is a great way to have fun and stay fit by getting a complete body workout. It lessens your stress and makes you more vigilant and focused. For mountain biking use special bikes designed for cycling off-road, especially for negotiating successfully over unpaved terrain, steep hills, rocky area, logging trails and dirt tracks.


Stay Safe:

• Opt for high-end braking to ride your bike at great speed while retaining added control over it.

• Get a feel of pedals, whether it is flat or clipless.

• Use gears appropriately and learn to pedal when you are standing on the bike pedals.

• Always have control over your bike while riding, so pick speed wisely.

• On sharp slopes take care to sit back on the seat to avoid flying over handlebars and use correct pressure on handlebars. Hang low on the bike and keep your body nearer to it.

• Slow down your bike when you fall down.

• Learn how to glide over obstacles.

• Loosening shoulders and bending elbows aid in lessening the impact of shocks.

• Be alert of impediments ahead of you on the tracks and think ahead of how to tackle them.

• Wearing helmet is crucial to avoid head injury.

• Put on correct mountain shoes.

• Make sure that your body retains the essential water content. Take non-melting energizers during hottest and coldest days. Eat well-balanced and nourishing diets.

• Carry sun cream during hot seasons.

• Dress ideally for the climate and have protection against wind. Gloves must be comfortable and safeguard you from weather and various hurts.

• Be fit and train your body correctly.

Various Mountain Biking Types:

Cross Country: Bikes with hard tails, completely inflexible frame and suspension frames are used for riding hills up and down and to go for lengthy rides. Bike with single gear and lesser components is used for single speed.

Downhill: Racing down rocky and rutted steep slopes is one of the most perilous styles of mountain biking.

Dirt Jumping: Entails leaping the bike over custom-built big dirt jumps and performing feats while air-bound.

BMX: Doing stunts with bikes of smaller wheels and wheel bases

Cyclo cross: Involves racing along and off the course, traveling over barriers and traversing rivers.

Free ride: Conveying oneself over the area by hitting upon a precise line down mountains.

Street and Urban: Riding along urban sections, over artificial impediments and performing grinds, stalls and other tricks.

"Pamela Anderson is one of the few finest writers who have complete knowledge about Sports Bikes and Cars. She has been appreciated for her work by readers across the world." She works for Riding On Toys, and if you are looking for a toy for your kid, she would probably like you to check out her website here.

That's actually an interesting question: how many of you guys have kids?

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What Big Creek Still Lacks... (Big Creek Review Series, Part 3)

From here on Singletracks.com

In my estimation, there is still one form of mountain biking that Big Creek does not cater to. This discipline is wildly popular in mountain bike movies, photos, and to the riders that thrive off of an even greater sense of danger than is inherent in regular trail riding.  This sort of riding can be classified as "North Shore-style Freeride."


Part 1 of the Big Creek review series
Part 2 of the Big Creek review series.

For those who don't know, "North Shore" riding is characterized by elevated wooden bridges, skinnies, teeter-totters, and all manner of man-made obstacles. 

From here on Singletracks.com

Big creek has one or two low skinnies and log rides spread throughout the cross country trails, but they do not have any sort of dedicated freeride area with man-made obstacles such as the ones pictured on this page.  I personally only know of one area in Georgia that has any real man-made features at all, and there are still only two or three of them. (If you know of a place in Georgia with some real North Shore stunts, please share in the comments below!) 

From here on Singletracks.com

If every other sort of riding can be catered to in one small area, why not North Shore too?  I think that this style of freeride trails would do well in the dense forests of Georgia.  There is an ample amount of trees and real estate to construct trails like these. In fact, the picture to the left is from a trail named Hurricane Creek just next door in Alabama.  The only things that are still required are the permission to build, the know-how, the money, and the hours and hours of time required. That's still a lot of factors that need to come together. 

Perhaps Big Creek park doesn't have the real estate left to construct a trail on this magnitude, but I'm sure there is somewhere in Georgia that does.  And I think that there should  be an area either added to an existing trail system, or built from the ground up that features a high concentration of these man made features.  As trek7k of Singletracks.com wrote back in 2009, freeriding might be the future of mountain biking.

Lucy's Loop at Levis Mound.

Beginner Freeriding
While some people may see these features and think, "That's crazy dangerous!" I think wooden North Shore stunts can be made to be accessible to all skill levels.  Trails can be constructed for varying difficult levels and/or can contain bail-out routes around many of the harder obstacles.  Recently, the geniuses behind the trails of Levis Mound constructed a "skills-course" that basically amounts to low entry-level freeride loop. It is very doable. If a freeride area were built in Georgia, I would recommend building a short loop similar to Lucy's Loop at Levis first, and then continue by building obstacles of progressively greater difficulty.  In that way, there would be features for beginners to learn on, and tangible goals for them to work up to. 

I agree with trek7k: freeriding just might be the future of mountain biking, and it just might be what brings mountain biking to the masses by providing visually challenging and just-plain-awesome stunts. 

Your Turn:  What are your thoughts on North Shore freeriding?  Does Georgia need some skinnies and ladder bridges?

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Dirt Jumping and BMX at Big Creek in Roswell (Atlanta), Georgia

Big Creek has positioned itself as a indispensable center for almost all things with two wheels and a pair of pedals. Dirt jumpers and BMX riders are no exception to this rule!

Currently serving the needs of these two groups  are a dedicated dirt jump section and a downhill slalom course.  And there's even more in the works...


For part 1 of the Big Creek review series covering road biking, cross country, and downhill, click here.

Dirt Jumps
Big Creek has a dedicated line of high-quality purpose-built dirt jumps that run along the top of the ridge above the other downhill and freeride runs. There are a mix of different size jumps ranging from relatively small to one with a lip that's pushing 6 feet high or more. To the best of my knowledge, there is nowhere else in Atlanta, or even the state of Georgia for that matter, with an area that even comes close to comparing to the near-professional grade of these jumps. While most of the riders I have seen sessiong them have been on dirt-jumping mountain bike frames, I've witnessed a number of BMXers sending it big time as well.

I could write more, but including a video that I made almost a year ago of a dirt jumping competition held there will give you a much more accurate idea of what it's all about:



Slalom Course
Located directly in the center of all of the action, the banked slalom-type course seems to be the focal point of all the attention. It is appropriate that all the other trails seem to be built around it, as riders of all different disciplines can navigate the slalom run. For instance, when I was last out at Big Creek, I saw a kid on a rigid single speed 29er rolling down through the berms.

So granted, the big berms and flow are going to be accessible to anyone on almost any bike. To really rail this trail and air out the big table tops, however, you're going to need to be riding something much more aggressive than a rigid SS 29er. A dirt jump bike would be perfect for this kind of work, and a BMX bike or a downhill bike would also function passably, despite being on opposite ends of the bicycle-size spectrum.

Coming Soon: Pump Track!
Pump track riding is the latest craze to dominate the mountain bike world. Pump tracks are going up all over the country, and are now featured at every major mountain bike festival. As of 2 weeks ago, RAMBO (Roswell Alpharetta Mountain Bike Organization) announced that they were breaking ground on a pump track located at Big Creek.

For those who don't know, a pump track is a closed-circuit track that's located on flat ground. Dirt is used to create rollers, berms, and jumps in such a configuration that it should be possible to simply "pump" your bike through the track without pedaling to maintain your momentum. Once you're going pretty well, the berms are easy to rail and the jumps open up to provide air opportunities in the little track.

Viewed from the outside, it doesn't look all that impressive... but just wait until you try it! Good pump track riders have incredible control over their bicycles, and develop exceptional jumping, line choice, and momentum-maintenance skills.

The ideal tool for riding a pump track is a dirt jumper mountain bike, with a BMX bike able to a decent job as well.

Pump track at the Sea Otter Classic

Pump track at the Sea Otter Classic

If you're addicted to the dirt jumps and live in Atlanta, head over to Big Creek and hit these jumps!

Part 3: What Big Creek still lacks.

Your Turn: Know of any other awesome spots in Atlanta to ride your dirt jump bike? Please leave some info in the comments below!

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Downhill and Freeride Video: The Taka meets dirt at Big Creek!

Taka at Big Creek from Greg Heil on Vimeo.

Click "Read More" for the full write up....

I want to give a huge shout out to Matt S. for hanging out and filming, editing this awesome video together, and for giving me encouragement and input as I was setting up for these runs!

Taka Meets the Dirt
This past Tuesday when this video was filmed was the first time I got the Taka out on true mountain bike trails to test its mettle and see what it was made of.  Let me just say this: I am more likely to break before this bike does!  When shredding Big Creek, I felt more limited by my level of gutsiness and lack of downhill experience than I did by the bike or even my bike handling skills!  Being a good downhiller is much like being a good big mountain-freeride skier: it is a mental game first and foremost.

Expect a blog about the sport of downhill mountain biking sometime in the future, but for now let's focus on the bike.

The Taka performed superbly!  It was so stable, so natural in the air, so smooth in the corners, so responsive through the rocks; riding the Taka makes me feel so confident, even when I'm sending jumps that I wouldn't have dreamed about riding before this big brown bike showed up on my doorstep.  As I wrote yesterday, the Taka makes me so comfortable when:

• pinning it (that means going completely balls-out high-speed for those not familiar with moto lingo) through the rock gardens containing mini boulders and 3 foot drops after many of the rocks
• sending a 3 foot high booter to a super long landing (where you could get as much air as you want)
• airing a 15 ft long table top
• doing various rock drops ranging from 4ish feet to 7-8 feet

Full disclosure: I still don't feel comfortable completely pinning it through the big rocks, clearing the whole 15 foot table top, or dropping 8 feet even on my Taka yet.  I have sent the booter, ridden the rocks at pretty high speed, cleared the 7-10 foot tables, and dropped a 5 foot high rock, though. But there are still bigger, badder features for me to work up to!

Of all the Airborne bikes that I've ridden, the parts package on the Taka impresses me the most:

• The Avid Juicy 3s with the massive rotors stop a high speed descent in a heart beat. Matt hopped on to ride, and said that at first he was more scared by the brakes than anything else! 
• I love the massively wide bars and the general feel of the cockpit.  It's made to get big air and handle nasty landings and rocks.  
• I have had no issues with the suspension so far: the fork has been phenomenal, and has sucked up even some totally off-balance drops and landings. 
• The drive train has been rock-solid, and the chainring guard and chain guide have just done their job.  I can almost see running a 1x9 on an All Mountain bike just to be able to run these more downhill specific components.
• I love having big, massive DH tires! As I've mentioned in previous blog posts, I am a sucker for big knobbies that just hook up, and now I have an excuse to ride full on 2.5" wide pieces of rubber perfection!  (That go on a bicycle.)  Maybe I need to try some 3.0s out soon...

I look forward to getting even more time in the saddle (or above the saddle) of the Taka, and hope to write a complete review sometime in the future.  For now, I can easily say that the Taka is an absolutely killer bike, and if you want to get into downhill, you need to buy one!


Your Turn
So how did you like the video?  Does it make you want a Taka now? **winkwink** 

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Big Creek Park, Atlanta (Roswell), Georgia

The Gully

The Big Creek Park / Recreational Area serves as an important bicycling hub in the Roswell community. I used the word "bicycling" on purpose, as it serves virtually every sort of bike-riding discipline.


Getting There
From GA 400, get off on Exit 7 for GA 140 W Toward Roswell. Head Southeast (left turn if coming from the North, right if coming from the South) a half a mile and take a left on Holcomb Bridge Rd. Go 0.4 mi and take a left on Old Alabama Rd. Big Creek will be on your left pretty quickly. There'll be a pretty nice sign out front, and most likely you'll see a ton of cars and bikes in the parking lot.

You can park in the initial lot, or drive down the gravel road a short ways and park in the lower lot right next to the bathrooms and the greenway.

The Route
Detailing one specific route at Big Creek is impossible. I will cover the area in detail below and attempt to include directional information as I do so, but it will be up to you to choose the best route after that. Don't worry, the trail signage is very thorough and will be sufficient to keep you from getting too turned around.

Road Biking
The Big Creek greenway is a very scenic cement path that is almost completely flat, but ideal for an easy ride on a road bike without having to deal with traffic. This would also be a great route for someone looking for a leisurely pedal on their urban cruiser, or for those who prefer to ride a recumbent bicycle. At roughly 6 miles in length (someone correct me if I'm wrong), it is ideal for an easy cruise, but if you're looking for a serious workout you'll either have to ride a ton of laps, or head somewhere else.

Cross Country Mountain Biking
The 6 or so miles of cross-country oriented singletrack trails of Big Creek are well-maintained, well-marked, and entertaining to ride. The trails are labeled with different colors based on their level of technical difficulty, so its easy to pick the trail that will serve your needs the best.

The black/advanced trails feature plenty of rocks, some log rides and other features, a few stiff climbs, and a couple of drop offs.

Most of the trails are directional, so check the signs and pay attention to what day of the week it is!


Downhill
While the cross-country trails are pretty cool, Big Creek's true claim to Atlanta area fame are its downhill and dirt jump-oriented trails. From what I hear, there is really no other place in Atlanta with this kind of riding, and possibly only 1 other place in the state of Georgia with downhill-specific trails! There are about 5-7 different trails to choose from packed tightly together on a hill side located about a mile down the greenway. There are also a number of rock drops spread throughout the area, with 4 or so on the backside of the upper ridge dropping down towards a maintained park.

I've ridden my All Mountain bike down many of these trails before, and I've heard people say that they really don't live up to true downhill-oriented trails.  While that may be true, I know that I definitely don't feel comfortable on a 5" travel bike bike when:

• pinning it (that means going completely balls-out high-speed for those not familiar with moto lingo) through the rock gardens containing mini boulders and 3 foot drops after many of the rocks
• sending a 3 foot high booter to a super long landing (where you could get as much air as you want)
• airing a 15 ft long table top
• doing various rock drops ranging from 4ish feet to 7-8 feet

Bearing in mind that these trails are located in Atlanta, I'd say the terrain is pretty freaking sweet!

Full disclosure: I still don't feel comfortable completely pinning it through the big rocks, clearing the whole 15 foot table top, or dropping 8 feet even on my Taka yet.  I have sent the booter, ridden the rocks at pretty high speed, cleared the 7-10 foot tables, and dropped a 5 foot high rock, though. But there are still bigger, badder features for me to work up to!


Video
Here is a teaser video of riding the Taka at Big Creek. Full-blown edit to come, complete with awesome 3rd person perspective shots, and sweet editing! Be watching for it to be done sometime in the next week or so. (This is about a 4-5 foot drop):



Part 2: Dirt Jumping and BMX riding at Big Creek!

Part 3: What Big Creek Still Lacks...

Your turn: Are there any places like Big Creek near you that are centers for all things bike related? Or if you live in Atlanta, what do you think of Big Creek?

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Copper Harbor Mountain Bike Trails, Copper Harbor, Michigan (Guest Post by Scott)

Copper Harbor

Epic dreams of Copper Harbor

The following is a guest post by Scott Melzer.  Scott is a mountain biker from Wisconsin, and travels all around the Midwest exploring a wealth of largely unsung mountain biking trails.  Read on for an awesome review!

Location: 
Copper Harbor Michigan U.P.

The remote Keweenaw Peninsula is home to Copper Harbor. Take U.S. highway 41 north into Michigan's U.P. and follow it right into town.

Terrain:

Fast flowing singletrack which tends to be slightly rocky with hard pack and rooty in spots.  Nice sized uphill climbs and wooden bridges connecting the trail though out. 

IMBA epic ride in sequence:

Copper Harbor loop, Garden brook, Woopidy Woo,Garden Brook, Blue trail, Dza Beet, Here we go, Ma Maki, Say Hello. Dza Beet, Simen. De Beet, Red trail, Clark mine road, Paul's Plunge, John Lincoln Green, Maganese Road, Ma Maki, Der WE Went, Stairway to Heaven, Copper Harbor loop to trail head.

Lake Superior

Ride Report:

  I have many passions in my life. Two of which are the Green Bay Packers and riding sweet singletrack.  Aaron Rodgers leads my beloved Pack and I find out that a man named Aaron Rogers leads the trail building for the Copper Harbor trail club. Follow the club on Facebook and keep updated on this already epic trail which seems to be expanding more each year.  This system of trails has areas of bedrock that have been made rideable with the help of a Gas powered jackhammer. The hard work is most apparent.  

Stairway to Heaven

 The area is ideal for our sport. It has a  small town feel that is very welcoming. A small strip of Motel, diners and bars line the Lake Superior shoreline. The Keweenaw Adventure company works great as a starting point since they are only a few strokes of the pedals from the trail head. They offer a shuttle service  to the Kewennaw Mountain lodge that connects to the nucleus of the trails and allows one to take advantage of the down hills. However to get the real ying yang vibe of this trail I would suggest to soak up the climbs . The trail head has some parking as well as restrooms which are very useful.  A water tap for your bottles and water packs is located on the side of the rear of the building. 

  Of course being near the lake helps to keep things cool during the summer months. The trails are surrounded by pristine forests, and views of the lake  pop into view as you speed on your way. The uphills will test your legs. In my case I had to cry uncle and hang my head while I partook in the walk of shame more than once. The down hills were payback time as you can really build speed with each crank. It can be a real challenge to focus on the trail ahead with all the eye candy views that pass by at a rapid pace. The phrase "Stay on target, Stay on target!!!" echoed though my mind as I rolled faster and faster down the technical descents and bridges. 

  

 Copper Harbor has been called the British Columbia of the midwest. There is truth to that statement. My time at Copper Harbor seemed short and sweet. Very much like a dream. I will make a trip back to this northern gem a reality sooner rather than later. 

If you would like to submit a guest post, I would more than likely love to publish it!  Posts on Greg Rides Trails fit into one of 2 (or 3) different categories: Informational, Instructional, or if its really good: Insightful.  Email me at g.gaheil AT gmail DOT com for more info!

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