The colonnade is a cool place even if you're not into mountain biking - last fall was the grand opening, then it got cold, but there have been an ass-load of people there all winter long. I went for a snow ride - loads of fun. it's going to be a madhouse this summer, some random guy gave me beer last hot day I was there. I saw some dudes on a mountain board getting bloody. I'm thinking about getting a car just so I can drive there with my knobby bike - is that wrong? i dont have a car because i bike everywhere, but now i want a car so I CAN bike more. it confuses me.
_________________ "Every day you don't ride your bike is a day you will never get back"
- Me
That's not a defect, that's a feature. Congratulations, you just got caught in a squirrel trap.
The idea is start easy to get momentum up -> weed out those who will be in over their heads if they continue (i.e. got a little squirrelly in their trail ambitions) -> continue with trail
Some features I'd recommend if you (like me) aren't comfortable with launching yourself off of gap jumps and large drops...
That thing at the bottom around the foot... It's like a kinder, gentler limestone loop. Except not limestone. Or a loop. You can still hurt yourself if you land badly falling off the curvy ladder bridge or a teeter-totter. But it's a relatively low risk.
The line that cuts diagonally from the main path up the middle northwest to the beginning of the short dirt singletrack line. It's got a rock garden you can either plow through or go around and some log things. Good practice for learning to place your weight and ride out some of the things you'll run into on singletrack. Also, line selection.
The pump track. It's up by the beginning of the flow lines. Also the two dirt jumps that don't commit you to anything. They're up by the beginning of the flow lines and if you don't want to do those, in their crazy, gap-jumping, "I'm gonna die!" glory, you can carry a bunch of speed into the pump track. Dirt jumping on things without gaps is not too bad because if you go too slow, you just don't catch air - it's pretty low-consequence. Learning to ride a pump track has helped me to carry speed better and work less hard on singletrack.
Also, there's a neat raised line next to the dirt jumps with a teeter-totter option. I was pretty amped when I did the whole thing the first time.
_________________ If good cycling technique is poetry in motion, mine's a dirty limerick.
I was pretty novice when I started there, but I can do just about all that crazy killed-to-death gap jump stuff now. I hit the place up about once a week for about 6 months... got tips form a lot of "locals" and kept at it. Now I get to share tips with the next crop of novices. Good times. Pump track is awesome - there's more strategy than you might think. Try riding it without a chain, that's the true test... also convenient if you break your chain while riding other features (happened to me once, no loss!).
Now that sunlight is returning after work hours, I'll be down there a lot more again. I can't wait.
_________________ "Every day you don't ride your bike is a day you will never get back"
- Me
All times are GMT - 8 Hours
The time now is Sat Aug 12, 2023 12:59 pm
You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum
Joined: 02 Aug 2007
Posts: 18
Location: Cap Hill
rookie
Joined: 20 Aug 2007
Posts: 1173
Location: Sur le nord-ouest des États-Unis, pret de la frontier Québécois
Tobias
Joined: 04 Sep 2008
Posts: 251
Location: Greenlake
