Hmm... where do I begin. I guess I have to say that I have the best wife in
the world who actually planned our first family (w/kid) around my love for
biking. She isn't into biking at all.
We arrived in Snowshoe Sunday afternoon and checked into the Rimfire. I
went to the Adventure Center (bike shop) and bought a SixSixOne full face
helmet. I could have rented one but where I live there aren't any LBS's
that stock ANY FF helmets and I know I will use it all the time.
Woke up on Monday @ 7:00 am and went to my car to put my bike together and
bought a full day shuttle and FR park pass. I hit the shuttle side of the
mountain first and went down the "Ball n' Jack and "Bandsaw" runs. Very
impressive. I didn't wear any body armor because I thought these would be
XC trails. Wrong! By the time I realized what I was in for I was way to
far to go back. I got to the bottom, cleaning every section, and waited for
the shuttle to arrive @ 8:00 AM. I really was surprised at how much rocks
and roots there are there. It was a pretty technical run.
http://www.pinkbike.com/modules/photo/?op=view&image=280858
I was chastised by the shuttle driver for riding alone and I must admit he
was and is right. I am not new to this kind of riding. He took me back up
and I found I had a pinch flat in my rear tube. I brought every tool with
me except tire levers! So I headed to the bike shop and got it fixed. They
were very quick and pleasant to deal with and they changed out my rear tire
(IRC Kujo bad choice there) to a Maxxis Mobster I had with me.
I went back and got my armor and did another run but this time I tried to
take the most twisty and roundabout way down the MT. I hit the "Bear Pin",
"Birdland" and after looping "Bear Pin" again I hit the "Bandsaw" and "Ball
n' Jack". Caught the shuttle and by then the lifts were getting ready to
start up.
So I hit the FR park next. I tried "E" first and dead sailored a ladder
drop but I recovered and didn't wreck. You know the pics of the FR park do
not do it justice. Everything is harder than it looks mainly because of the
erosion in the runouts. I mean rocks and roots everywhere.. deep ruts to
grab your front wheel are non-stop in the FR park. That makes easy drops
way harder.
Anyway it is hard for me to remember because I rode the lift at least 35
times that day. I hit every run... "A" through "O" about 16 marked trails.
I found about 4 more too. I also rode the MTN-X course too, very nicely
setup. Most runs I rode twice in fact some I rode 4 times. By 4 PM I
decided to call it quits and spend some time with my family. They had been
out hiking and swimming. Amazingly I didn't wreck at all that day! I came
close a couple times but I was able to grab a tree because it was a low
speed situation.
Tuesday was spent doing family stuff, horseback riding, put-put golf, hiking
etc..
http://www.pinkbike.com/modules/photo/?op=view&image=280848
Wednesday I got the Bullit out again and rode the lift about 20 times. I
rode every trail at least once more and went a little harder (teeter totter,
drops, ladders etc.) than I did on Monday. I still reigned myself in
because I was riding alone.
Now here is the stupid part. The guy at the bike store actually gave me a
free day shuttle pass! I wasn't planning on riding that side of the
mountain again but I had a FREE PASS.
I stopped by our room and told my wife "hey I am going to make on last run".
http://www.pinkbike.com/modules/photo/?op=view&image=280847
Bad idea, because I wrecked on the "Ball n' Jack" halfway down and cut a
half moon flap in my upper lip. I got up and rode the rest of the way down
without knowing how bad it was (no mirror) but I could feel the flap of skin
moving around and I was swallowing blood. Basically I had to drive 30 miles
to the nearest hospital and got 7 stitches, 2 of which are internal. I am
sure it is going to scar quite a bit. But what the heck I still had an
amazing time. Almost as good as I had in Norway and Sweden.
By the time I got back to the room the sun was setting and we all watched it
together. My son was so excited by it that all of my pain went away!
http://www.pinkbike.com/modules/photo/?op=view&image=280849
All in all it was a great trip and I am really impressed with the level of
difficulty of the FR Park. I plan to head back to Snowshoe before winter.
Scott (dropping Loomer)