smootharc
07-16-2007, 11:09 AM
Well, the past two weekends have provided me with the opportunity to kick the tires and sample the smorgasborg at the Lincoln Peak base. Whereas previous summer impressions at the LP base area began and ended with those beautiful peaks looking verdant.....and tumbleweed and dust blowing across a barren parking lot....this summer there's a vibe, look, and energy that is noticeably different....and very positive. Disclaimer here....I've drank the Kool-aid...and the focus of this report is on things positive. I'll also toss a few notes in the suggestion box near the end.
So, on to my take. First off, anyone getting John A's e-mail reports starting when ski season ended has probably figured out ALOT of work has been going on to transform the mountain to it's new summer state. I don't really have any expertise in DH mountain biking trail creation, but there seems to be a lot of thought that goes into creating a natural, flowing ride. I'm sure it's a case of experienced riders envisioning possibilities, and working with the natural contours of the hill. Similar to the cutting of great natural terrain ski trails, methinks.
I'll leave the Disc Golf out of this discussion....but my glimpses of that part of the project indicate tons of work just to get that up and running. They apparently rate the courses with regard to difficulty, and picking up my bike pass yesterday I overheard the guys at the shop desk mentioning the LP mountain golf course has been ranked 3rd hardest in the USA. I'm assuming the base Disc course, which I've seen families on, is much easier. Looks fun !
My first day two saturdays ago was was beautiful. It's amazing how good LP smells....riding that chairlift. There must be 25 different types of flowers. Steins has these surreal pods of some giant ferny things, and the green-ness of everything is just intense. Riding-wise, I got off the lift excited. That lasted a short time, as a bit of a humbling, uncomfortable chapter was about to begin. I got spanked. I brought my very fine, dually suspended, hydraulic disk braked X-C bike to the hill, with my quaint little helmet, my little grammy knitting gloves, and clip on shoes. A better rider (that's not me) would have been very fine doing the downhill rides with that rig, but I was overmatched, mentally unsure, and uncomfortable.....feeling I was going to go AOT (A** over Teakettle) about 25 times. I finally settled on doing the cat tracks instead of the berms, even there feeling on edge, tight, not relaxed and overmatched.
I ended the day having bumped into a few fellow Bush Pilots, John A, & John E, and I got some suggestions and encouragement. I think good X-C riders can handle the terrain, all of it, and have a great time....but during my uncomfortable few rides I did take notes. I kept seeing these creatures, and these creatury looking bikes (DH Bikes !), in creatury looking protective riding gear....doing creatury things. Hmmmm.....
Tail between my legs I sat at my computer at home on Monday morning and I googled "Downhill Mountain Biking". The doors to this creatury world opened, and by the end of the day I had full protective riding gear ordered (so I could be creature, too), and a DH bike I found at a very good price. So, all week long I geared myself up mentally to come back to the 'Bush, and battle the demons of my doubt. Saturday dawned, and I went to Stark Mountain Bike Works in Waitsfield, where I had the bike shipped so it could be assembled, and a thing of beauty sat there. The folks at Stark are very pleasant, generous with their time, and seem focused on all things "Dirt". Nice.
Minutes later I geared up in the parking lot. I'm a bit of a Dr. Seuss-ian "scholar", going way back as a child of the 60's, and I felt like that character in "I had Trouble in Getting to Solla Sollew". In the book the main character takes a journey running from his fear, then finally turns around at the end, never having found nirvana (Solla Sollew), and, bat in hand, he goes back home to the source of his fears...and confronts them. Armchair psychologists can make what they want of that last observation as it applies to me, but by the time I was geared up, I had a bat in my hand. Could take it up the chairlift and swing it ?
Getting off I was a bit nervous. My shiny, candy apple red machine sure looked nice, as I'm sure I did in my mudless, brand spanking new gear. I smelled like plastic. So....DH focused machinery under me, I rolled off....into a new world. The traverse to the top of VH was a blast. The suspension and feel of a 40+ pound DH beast machine is unbelievable. The gnarlier the bits on trail, the happier this thing seemed. At the top of VH, I was going to hit reverse traverse and keep on the cat tracks, but there was the berm trail going down Fling that had freaked me seven days earlier. Bat in hand, my bike pointed itself to the right, and I rolled into the berm. Other than two small sections of a turn or two (which I later dialed), I rode the whole thing (which I had walked 30% of the previous week). The bike and equipment instilled confidence, and I began to try to take John A's e-mail advice about body positioning and "skiing" the terrain. I'm still a beginner, but I did stuff last Saturday and Sunday that just weren't, in my mind, possibilities a few short days earlier.
My second run I bumped into a fellow pilot, then a few more. The afternoon was 4 more runs with pilots, coming in last, but feeling more confident and capable each turn. My body started to relax, and my smile grew. There was a wedding at Allyn's lodge, and it was interesting sharing the chairlift as dirt clad scum with fine folks in their nuptual finery. Everyone was smiling on what had to be considered a perfect summer's day.....puffy white clouds, no humidity, light breeze, and the views over the valley.
Sunday dawned rainy. Rain, harder rain, then rain. But it stopped about 10-ish, and I got up to the hill for more biking about 12:30. Thinking it would be a mess, the mountain had actually drained very well, with a few here and there mud/water patches that provided a nice technical twist to the terrain vs. dry. Did 6 more runs....fun, fun fun ! I also hit a few of the harder berm trails, and linked a few sections where I has skipped a turn or two because they looked a bit too scary. Hey....I'm improving. Covered in mud, I spiked my pedal spikes (like shark's teeth, they are) into my calf....providing the blood. Can't wait to get back, get more muddy, and less bloody !
I don't know good from bad in terms of Mountain biking centers.....but my sense is very good things are coming on line at the Bush. With more berms and more X-C terrain in the works it can only be a short time until we're seeing the Bush becoming a serious competitor in the VT destination MB center realm. Norba races & X-Games, anyone ?
The Fun Park near the bottom of the lift has a lot of features that are fun to hit, me doing the girly (sorry, ladies) edges or easy sides of things. I'm even going to get to practicing wheelies, to impress my wife.
Please note I now have all of two days and 11 or 12 runs under my belt....but I'm addicted to this thing even though I'm a rank beginner. I just love being up on that mountain, white or green season. Not much I can add, other than good work, SB folks, keep on keepin' on with this thing.
Suggestion #1 - Timbers Boxed lunches to go. Call it the "Sticks and Stones menu". Have the Rumble Box, the Castlerock box, etc. Something along those lines, with Win-Win's, Wraps, chips, homemade cookies, Snapples, etc. The reason I suggest this is that for a bunch of impatient, hungry dirt covered mountain bikers to tromp into Timbers, while a wedding group dines at the next table, well, you're probably getting the picture. With Timbers to Go, hiking families could get the boxed lunches, MB riders could get them, and then take them to the outside seating, or ride up to Allyn's, etc. I imagine that would be easy on the kitchen, easy on the waitstaff, and provide a release valve for those who don't want the full sit down experience. Just a thought.
Suggestion #2 - X-C and DH mountain bike lessons. Are these available ? I wouldn't mind taking a few. I was stopped for a moment yesterday, and turned to watch a really good guy hitting a black diamond berm trail I was struggling down the hardest parts of. He stopped, and made a few observations for me....one being a very logical footwork suggestion that I was doing 180 degrees opposite of what I should have been. Is there a call for MB lessons ?
Anyways, I'm excited, encouraged and psyched about the SB Mountain Biking center. It's shaping up to be (here's today's SAT word).....bermtacular !
So, on to my take. First off, anyone getting John A's e-mail reports starting when ski season ended has probably figured out ALOT of work has been going on to transform the mountain to it's new summer state. I don't really have any expertise in DH mountain biking trail creation, but there seems to be a lot of thought that goes into creating a natural, flowing ride. I'm sure it's a case of experienced riders envisioning possibilities, and working with the natural contours of the hill. Similar to the cutting of great natural terrain ski trails, methinks.
I'll leave the Disc Golf out of this discussion....but my glimpses of that part of the project indicate tons of work just to get that up and running. They apparently rate the courses with regard to difficulty, and picking up my bike pass yesterday I overheard the guys at the shop desk mentioning the LP mountain golf course has been ranked 3rd hardest in the USA. I'm assuming the base Disc course, which I've seen families on, is much easier. Looks fun !
My first day two saturdays ago was was beautiful. It's amazing how good LP smells....riding that chairlift. There must be 25 different types of flowers. Steins has these surreal pods of some giant ferny things, and the green-ness of everything is just intense. Riding-wise, I got off the lift excited. That lasted a short time, as a bit of a humbling, uncomfortable chapter was about to begin. I got spanked. I brought my very fine, dually suspended, hydraulic disk braked X-C bike to the hill, with my quaint little helmet, my little grammy knitting gloves, and clip on shoes. A better rider (that's not me) would have been very fine doing the downhill rides with that rig, but I was overmatched, mentally unsure, and uncomfortable.....feeling I was going to go AOT (A** over Teakettle) about 25 times. I finally settled on doing the cat tracks instead of the berms, even there feeling on edge, tight, not relaxed and overmatched.
I ended the day having bumped into a few fellow Bush Pilots, John A, & John E, and I got some suggestions and encouragement. I think good X-C riders can handle the terrain, all of it, and have a great time....but during my uncomfortable few rides I did take notes. I kept seeing these creatures, and these creatury looking bikes (DH Bikes !), in creatury looking protective riding gear....doing creatury things. Hmmmm.....
Tail between my legs I sat at my computer at home on Monday morning and I googled "Downhill Mountain Biking". The doors to this creatury world opened, and by the end of the day I had full protective riding gear ordered (so I could be creature, too), and a DH bike I found at a very good price. So, all week long I geared myself up mentally to come back to the 'Bush, and battle the demons of my doubt. Saturday dawned, and I went to Stark Mountain Bike Works in Waitsfield, where I had the bike shipped so it could be assembled, and a thing of beauty sat there. The folks at Stark are very pleasant, generous with their time, and seem focused on all things "Dirt". Nice.
Minutes later I geared up in the parking lot. I'm a bit of a Dr. Seuss-ian "scholar", going way back as a child of the 60's, and I felt like that character in "I had Trouble in Getting to Solla Sollew". In the book the main character takes a journey running from his fear, then finally turns around at the end, never having found nirvana (Solla Sollew), and, bat in hand, he goes back home to the source of his fears...and confronts them. Armchair psychologists can make what they want of that last observation as it applies to me, but by the time I was geared up, I had a bat in my hand. Could take it up the chairlift and swing it ?
Getting off I was a bit nervous. My shiny, candy apple red machine sure looked nice, as I'm sure I did in my mudless, brand spanking new gear. I smelled like plastic. So....DH focused machinery under me, I rolled off....into a new world. The traverse to the top of VH was a blast. The suspension and feel of a 40+ pound DH beast machine is unbelievable. The gnarlier the bits on trail, the happier this thing seemed. At the top of VH, I was going to hit reverse traverse and keep on the cat tracks, but there was the berm trail going down Fling that had freaked me seven days earlier. Bat in hand, my bike pointed itself to the right, and I rolled into the berm. Other than two small sections of a turn or two (which I later dialed), I rode the whole thing (which I had walked 30% of the previous week). The bike and equipment instilled confidence, and I began to try to take John A's e-mail advice about body positioning and "skiing" the terrain. I'm still a beginner, but I did stuff last Saturday and Sunday that just weren't, in my mind, possibilities a few short days earlier.
My second run I bumped into a fellow pilot, then a few more. The afternoon was 4 more runs with pilots, coming in last, but feeling more confident and capable each turn. My body started to relax, and my smile grew. There was a wedding at Allyn's lodge, and it was interesting sharing the chairlift as dirt clad scum with fine folks in their nuptual finery. Everyone was smiling on what had to be considered a perfect summer's day.....puffy white clouds, no humidity, light breeze, and the views over the valley.
Sunday dawned rainy. Rain, harder rain, then rain. But it stopped about 10-ish, and I got up to the hill for more biking about 12:30. Thinking it would be a mess, the mountain had actually drained very well, with a few here and there mud/water patches that provided a nice technical twist to the terrain vs. dry. Did 6 more runs....fun, fun fun ! I also hit a few of the harder berm trails, and linked a few sections where I has skipped a turn or two because they looked a bit too scary. Hey....I'm improving. Covered in mud, I spiked my pedal spikes (like shark's teeth, they are) into my calf....providing the blood. Can't wait to get back, get more muddy, and less bloody !
I don't know good from bad in terms of Mountain biking centers.....but my sense is very good things are coming on line at the Bush. With more berms and more X-C terrain in the works it can only be a short time until we're seeing the Bush becoming a serious competitor in the VT destination MB center realm. Norba races & X-Games, anyone ?
The Fun Park near the bottom of the lift has a lot of features that are fun to hit, me doing the girly (sorry, ladies) edges or easy sides of things. I'm even going to get to practicing wheelies, to impress my wife.
Please note I now have all of two days and 11 or 12 runs under my belt....but I'm addicted to this thing even though I'm a rank beginner. I just love being up on that mountain, white or green season. Not much I can add, other than good work, SB folks, keep on keepin' on with this thing.
Suggestion #1 - Timbers Boxed lunches to go. Call it the "Sticks and Stones menu". Have the Rumble Box, the Castlerock box, etc. Something along those lines, with Win-Win's, Wraps, chips, homemade cookies, Snapples, etc. The reason I suggest this is that for a bunch of impatient, hungry dirt covered mountain bikers to tromp into Timbers, while a wedding group dines at the next table, well, you're probably getting the picture. With Timbers to Go, hiking families could get the boxed lunches, MB riders could get them, and then take them to the outside seating, or ride up to Allyn's, etc. I imagine that would be easy on the kitchen, easy on the waitstaff, and provide a release valve for those who don't want the full sit down experience. Just a thought.
Suggestion #2 - X-C and DH mountain bike lessons. Are these available ? I wouldn't mind taking a few. I was stopped for a moment yesterday, and turned to watch a really good guy hitting a black diamond berm trail I was struggling down the hardest parts of. He stopped, and made a few observations for me....one being a very logical footwork suggestion that I was doing 180 degrees opposite of what I should have been. Is there a call for MB lessons ?
Anyways, I'm excited, encouraged and psyched about the SB Mountain Biking center. It's shaping up to be (here's today's SAT word).....bermtacular !