FINALLY Back at Brown County!

Posted on December 11, 2019 by Matt Hunt

I first rode Brown County State Park in Nashville, IN (not a typo, it’s INDIANA!) when I was still a new rider in the summer of 2017. It is still to this day my longest ride ever at 32 miles! Shortly after that ride, they opened a new flow trail, Hobbs Hollow. Now there’s yet another new trail open, Weed Patch.

I was back in Indiana in the spring of 2018 for a friend’s wedding, but that was shortly after I had broken my wrist in Moab, so I was unable to ride. In the spring of this year I was back for another friend’s wedding, but this time excessive amounts of rain had all of the trails closed!

Thankfully, luck would be ON my side for this trip! I was back home for Thanksgiving, and Mother Nature blessed me with a 57° day! While it had rained a couple days prior, the trails had enough time to dry up and be just fine for riding (minus some mud puddles here and there).

DSC00217-Edit-2

The new trails were absolutely fantastic! I rode Weed Patch in both directions in order to sample both downhills, and it’s great in either direction. Reminded me so much of the trails in Arkansas! They didn’t just build the downhill sections to go straight downhill. There were a lot of little rollers that allow you to keep momentum going back up a little bit so that all the elevation isn’t used up in a quarter mile! And that’s exactly how they’ve been building trails in Arkansas.

The terrain is pretty similar, too. They aren’t big mountains with a lot of elevation change, but they are rolling hills with a few hundred feet of elevation to work with.

Hobbs Hollow did not disappoint either! There are a lot more jumps on Hobbs Hollow, but unfortunately the lips on these jumps were not very well-defined. They were rounded off a bit, but that’s to be expected this late in the year. I’m sure that come springtime the trail crew will be out there re-working those lips, and I can’t even imagine how great it’ll be then!

Of course, I’m also not that great at jumping anyway, so even if the lips had been freshly packed, I’m not sure I would have been clearing those table tops. They seemed pretty long given the speed… okay, maybe I’m too slow, too!

All in all, it was a fantastic day in the woods! Glad that I finally had the opportunity! Check out the video below!

Riding Cat Mountain in Austin, TX

Posted on December 6, 2018 by Matt Hunt

It wasn’t just another day of riding last Saturday. It also wasn’t the first time I woke up at 4:30 am to go do something fun.

I’d be making the 3.5 hour drive down south to Austin to ride a trail on private property. You won’t find this trail on MTB Project or Trail Forks. You’ll need to be a member of Freeride 512, or be with a member in order to ride it. In my case, I’d not only be riding with a member, but the main builder of these trails. Oh, and I’d also be riding with a YouTuber named BKXC. You may have heard of him before.

He wasn’t the only YouTuber, and I wasn’t the only other one. Also there was the man of Austin, Eric from No Front Brakes, Tony from MTB Drop In, and my friends Chris CXK & Cobra Kyle. We had a crew!

Brian (BKXC) and the local guys were pretty fast. They all jumped out ahead of the rest of us YouTubers. We struggled to breathe as we mainly walked up the steep climbs, and just tried not to slide off the hill on the descents! Seriously though, these trails are tough, but boy are they sweet! Seth, who is the main trail builder I spoke of earlier, has also added many wood features, like drops & jumps. Most of them were well beyond my pay grade.

This really is one of the best ways to improve as a rider, though. Ride trails that have features just a step above your current skill level. Try one new feature, or a more difficult line on a feature each time you ride, and your progress will be exponential. In my case, I did a little bit of this, but looking back on it now, there were some things that I skipped that I now wish I would have gone for!

After the ride, Brian, Eric, Chris, his wife, Kyle, his girlfriend, and myself all went to Hopdoddy to chow down on some burgers and hang out! It was cool to actually meet Brian, but after watching his videos for so long it was as if I had met him already. Kind of a weird thing! All in all it was a great time, and we were also blessed with great weather! Doesn’t look like we’ll be so lucky on that front this coming weekend!

20181201_133127

Check out the video!

#LiveTheAdventure

Trail 140 – My All-Time Favorite?

Posted on August 23, 2018 by Matt Hunt

I had read a lot of good things about Trail 140, but even with that, I found it to be better than advertised! It has it all; chunk, flow, speed, steepness, beauty, and great views!

It was the final full day of my trip to the Inland Northwest (I didn’t know they called it that until I saw a sign just outside of the Spokane airport!), and I went back up to Mt. Spokane State Park for Trail 140. It doesn’t have a name, just a number. But it’s so good, they really should give it a name!

My original plan was to climb up Trail 110, as it was shorter (but steeper and harder) than climbing up the road. Well… that didn’t last long. Parts of it were just way too steep, so I decided the road was the better option. I had made it nearly 2,000 feet up (of the 3,000 foot climb) when a gentleman pulled up next to me in his car, with a bike rack on the back, and asked me if I wanted a ride! On one hand, I wanted to earn my downhill, but on the other hand, I just wanted to be at the downhill! So I accepted his offer.

So… at that point I was drenched in sweat despite temps only being in the mid-50’s. He asked me if I had a jacket or anything… I didn’t. No worries. I was cold as I got my stuff together at the top (oh yeah, it was windy, too!), but once I got the ride started, I warmed right back up and was fine.

The thing is, I had that blister on my left hand, right in the middle of the palm, and right where there just wasn’t a way to move my hand on the grip to alleviate the pressure on it, especially when going over rocks & ruts! It hurt like hell! And the top of Trail 140 is pretty chunky!

I really believe the main reason I got that blister was because of the thin grips on the downhill bike I had rented (at Silver Mountain Bike Park 2 days prior). On my own bike I have ESI Extra Chunky grips, which are silicone, so they’re soft, for one thing, but they are also very thick. I feel like there are too many folds in the skin of my palm on thinner grips. The Extra Chunky’s feel like a much better fit. Since they are silicone, they do tear up easily, but even if they need to be replaced every few months (they’re only like $20), they are so worth it! I highly recommend them!

Anyway, back to the ride. After the rocky section ends, you get to the flowy section. Left, right, left, right. Pump those berms! OH so much fun! The trail flattens out a bit then, so you’ve gotta pedal, but then you get to the speed section! The curves are only slight, so you can maintain some good speed as the grade becomes a bit steeper. My top speed, according to Strava, was 26.2 mph, which I believe happened at this spot on the trail.

After traversing a fire road for a little bit, it gets REALLY steep! The GoPro never really portrays the steepness well (I know, I say that all the time, but it’s so true!). My butt kept hitting the rear wheel I was so far back & low, so that tells you a little bit about how steep it was! This part was really fun and required a lot of mustard (that’s gonna be my new favorite phrase. It really means body English. Mustard sounds better)! Very similar to Trail 290. It was hell on that blister, though!

Check out the video below! #LiveTheAdventure

The Goods

Posted on August 16, 2018 by Matt Hunt

After the bike park day left me with a nasty blister on my left hand, I decided not to ride the next day.

Ha! Yeah right! A little pain wasn’t gonna stop me! I probably made things worse by continuing to ride with that blister, but whatever.

I rented a Santa Cruz Hightower LT from The Bike Hub in Spokane Valley (and barely fit the bike into my rental Jeep Renegade), and headed north to Mount Spokane State Park ($10 day pass, $30 annual pass)! My plan was to ride Trail 290, aka “The Goods.”

Unfortunately the bike shop didn’t open until 10 AM, so it was 11:30 AM or so before I got up to the trailhead. That meant the sun was up high, and it was pretty hot. Yeah, it’s a dry heat, which is wayyyyy better than Texas, but it was still in the 90’s that day. Would make for a sweaty climb.

I parked at the lot where Trail 290 ends, and climbed up the road. It seemed like a tough climb while it was happening, but once I reached the top I looked back on it and thought, hey, that wasn’t that bad! It’s only roughly 1,500 feet, and took me about 45 minutes. Plus it included some good views along the way!

The trail was sweet! Totally different type of riding than what I’m used to. I mean other than it being downhill, of course. It was pretty flowy, but also had some ruts, roots, and a few rocks. In parts it was really steep! It required a lot of mustard, as I put it. I guess “body English” would be a more understandable term for the masses, but I think mustard sounds more intriguing. The Santa Cruz handled it well!

At one point I stopped to get a good selfie for my YouTube banner photo. Yep, I had lugged my 3.5 pound camera + lens up that climb! I used my Gorilla Pod to set it up on top of a branch, put the camera on continuous shooting every 0.5 seconds for like 100 photos, rode back up the hill, quickly turned around, and rode back down! Wooo!

I was concerned about how it would turn out with such harsh light amongst the shadows, but with some editing it looks pretty good! Love the dynamic range of that Nikon D500!

Here’s a look at the map of my route, and the elevation profile from Strava (click it to view the activity on Strava):

Heck, it wouldn’t even be that bad to ride that twice! I think most people shuttle the rides here, though, and would ride Trail 290 and Trail 140 (video & blog coming up next week!) on the same day. I didn’t have a shuttle, so I didn’t do that.

Anyway, the video is below, so enjoy! #LiveTheAdventure

Is Rowlett Creek Preserve Any Fun?

Posted on July 19, 2018 by Matt Hunt

In spite of it being only 25 minutes from home, I had never ridden at Rowlett Creek Preserve in the year and a half I’d been mountain biking. Since I’m now trying to get a good video of pretty much every DFW area trail, it was high up on the list.

Rowlett Creek has over 16 miles of trails, with 14 separate loops, allowing riders to cut their ride as short as they want to. The majority of this trail is beginner friendly, with only small roots and rocks. As you get up into the higher loop numbers, things get a little more difficult. You’ll encounter some steep rollers and creek crossings that will give beginners some trouble. Loop 13 is rated as a black diamond, and features some bigger rocks for a nice technical challenge. For me, this was the highlight of this trail, with a few other cool features scattered about. Since most of the trail is flat, it requires a lot of pedaling in order to maintain speed.

I did only cover the portion of the trail north of the parking lot. However, there is nothing rated past intermediate to the south of the parking lot, so I’d imagine it’s all pretty similar. Quite frankly, I was a little bored after covering all of the north side, and chose to end the ride there.

Check out the video and determine for yourself if it’s worth a try!

Big Bend

Posted on March 10, 2018 by Matt Hunt

A couple weeks ago I took a crazy trip to Big Bend! Why was it crazy, you ask? Because Big Bend is a 9 hour drive, and I did it on a normal weekend.

I left work at 5 pm on Friday evening, and after fighting the DFW traffic & rain (which makes traffic about 8 gazillion times worse) I arrived in Terlingua at around 2:15 am. I “slept” in my car at a free campsite, waking before the sunrise.

I went out from there to take some photos and video, and then went mountain biking on the Dome Loop in Big Bend Ranch State Park.

I met some great people in the parking lot of the visitor’s center, Danny & Darlene, and went biking with Danny, then hung out with them afterward in their Sprinter camper van. They have been traveling the country while living in the van for the past 11 months! I’m jealous!

That night I stayed at a legit campsite, which was amazing, and the moonlight lit up everything!

After a much better (but chilly) night of sleep, I rose super early to make a 45 minute drive to Big Bend National Park to shoot the Milky Way.

Sunday morning was the Lajitas Airport trails, and then the 9 hour drive back home!

Don’t let a lack of money or lack of time keep you from traveling. This trip cost roughly $100 (gas + $10 for the campsite) and didn’t require any PTO time. Yes, I spent 18 hours of my weekend driving, and far less than that sleeping, but you only get one life, so CARPE DIEM! The memories are worth far more than the time and the money spent.

Canmore Mountain Biking

Posted on February 8, 2018 by Matt Hunt

“We yell on the trail, because the bears come close.”

That’s what the woman at the bike shop told me when I checked out my rental bike at the Canmore Nordic Centre. By the way, we’re talking about grizzly bears, not black bears! A bit nerve wracking, but certainly not enough to stop me from riding! Besides, I had bear spray with me. 😉

I screwed up by not ensuring that my gimbal batteries were fully charged, nor did I bring the spares with me, and the result was a gimbal that didn’t work as well as it could have. That was disappointing to me when I watched the footage back, because the riding was outstanding! The dirt was amazing. I know that sounds weird to anyone who is not a mountain biker. Let me try to explain. It wasn’t mud, but there was enough moisture to keep it soft, and prevent loose dirt from laying on top of the hard-packed trail. This is what we call “hero dirt” because you can go ahead and be a hero riding it! It has a high amount of grip, but it’s not tacky like mud. You can get a lot of speed.

Even without the great dirt, the trails were well designed, and being in that pine forest is what dreams are made of! Although I was somewhat adjusted to the elevation at this point, my legs were still sore from hiking two days prior, and the amount of climbing I did on this ride wore me out after 13+ miles.

It sure was a great time, though.