Friday, July 23, 2010

Friday Flight Crew Update

As promised, here are some multimedia goodies from my time out at the Jackrabbit trail system near Hayesville, North Carolina.  In addition to this, expect a more in-depth write up and full-length video sometime in the near future:




Tree Ride!


Jackrabbit Trail System

We rode Jackrabbit on a Wednesday, and the following weekend my wife and I headed over to Clayton, Georgia for some camping and, of course, mountain biking.  We rode the incredible Stonewall Falls loop, and I also rode the White Twister trail.  White Twister was a big letdown.  I had heard some rave reviews of that trail, but it seemed completely covered in large downed trees.

Stonewall Falls more than made up for White Twister's shortcomings.  Consisting of well-built benchcut singletrack, there were climbs to be had aplenty, and downhills to go right along with them!  The downhill sections of Stonewall Falls were an absolute blast to bomb down!  While there were rocks and some roots, the trail really wasn't very technical.  The Zeppelin Elite soaked up whatever resistance the singletrack offered with ease.  Really, Stonewall Falls is the kind of trail the Zeppelin is made for.  It can climb solidly when the trail demands, and when the singletrack rolls back downhill the Zeppelin is ready to fly!

The more miles I put on this bike, the more satisfied I become with it.  The Zep is really an everyday go-to type bike.  While some bikes may seem to have a more specialized task (the Taka for downhilling, a hardtail for when it's not too rough, a jump bike for jumps), the Zep is one of those bikes that you can just default to and expect to handle most everything a normal day of riding will throw at you!

Stonewall Falls
The trail's namesake.

3 comments:

Chrissa1979 July 23, 2010 at 9:55 AM  

Stonewall Falls was already on my wishlist. If life would ever get out of the way I will get out there this fall. I really appreciate your reviews and updates on Singletracks.com. It's one thing to not have the skills to clear an obstacle and know where you need to improve, but it can ruin a good ride to have to hike your bike over impassable trees. Are locals not allowed to clear the trees since it's in the Chattahoochee National Forest? Had this same problem out at Mistletoe Park for the Muddy Spokes Club.

Anonymous,  July 23, 2010 at 10:27 AM  

im looking forward to my next Hardtail. Either a Cannondale or a Trek 8000. I may go FS but I doubt it. I really prefer a HT.

Greg Heil July 23, 2010 at 9:47 PM  

@ Chrissa, I do not know what the maintenance status is for sure on White Twister. I need to write a full-length review of White Twister(hopefully this week). I think its probably a maintenance nightmare, as much of the trail passes through a burn area, with some large dead trees still standing, just ready to fall in a big storm.

I want to get involved and do maintenance on our local trail system (since I'll be living here a while) and its on national forest. I'm not sure what the legal status is though.

Part of the issue with Mistletoe is probably that it's a state park.

@Crush#41, I'm looking forward to getting a hardtail, hopefully sometime soon. Maybe a 29er sometime in the near future...

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Greg Heil is the Editor in Chief for Singletracks.com. He's been writing and publishing online since before blogging existed.

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Mountain biking, plain and simple. Trail reviews, ride reports, and philosophical musings induced by delirium from grinding up way too many vertical feet.

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