What a great ride a bunch of us had yesterday at Fight Trail! Perfect conditions, perfect weather, bikes were working A1. A group of four of us went in, and we ran into a couple groups of other riders. One big group, with a bunch of well acquainted faces, was having a grand time, it looked, repairing bikes and eating brownies. And riding. And further along, we bumped into two fellas halfway through who were super pumped to be riding. One of them was off for two weeks and lives right around the trail head. He was over stoked at the thought, and seemed to be looking for riding partners for the rest of the week. He’ll be the guy back there on the older A-line. And then on the way out I spotted a couple fellas just coming in the trail for the first time, and on the bikes for the first time this year. And it was around 4:00PM.
Which leads me to a point.
I HIGHLY recommend that people going there for the first time, or even better, the first few times, ride with someone who knows the trails well. These guys found the stuff online, but anyone who rides there knows it can be convoluted to the first time rider there. It’s easy to get turned around, it can bite you back there, and there are lines that are good to know before rolling/dropping them. Not to scare people away, but you will really enjoy it more if you follow these steps. Also, maybe make sure you feel really comfortable riding Whopper before you venture out. It’s not as gnar-core as it used to be, but it IS a very technical trail. A lot of the drops have been made rollable, but it’s still easy to go over the bars if you ride past your ability in some spots.
All that being said, though, it’s a great place to ride in the wetter stuff that basically shuts down/kills other trails. It’s mostly rock of epic proportions and just the landscape will blow your mind. I have some pine needles on my front derailleur and stay yolks. That’s about it for dirt. I ride a rigid XC bike with a bashguard back there, but most folks you’ll see back there are on trail bikes with some travel and a bit slacker angles. This is a place that will test your metal in spots, but will greatly improve your riding skills over time.