Downhill Experiment

Being on vacation from school during the month of August, and finally having my first weekend free of studying since last Christmas, has afforded Chris and me to partake in some "cross training" and fun! I have never ridden a bike with more than 4" of travel, and nothing other than an XC race bike at that. I have been wanting to ride a big cushy downhill bike for over 2 years now, and today I got my chance!
We drove out to Winter Park and rented Kona DH bikes and rode the lift all day. (Unfortunately it wasn't a Yeti, but beggers can't be choosers). Neither Chris nor I had ever ridden one of these plush monsters, so we took it easy on the first trail down, and I selected a "blue" trail. Contrary to the aim of going downhill, this particular trail involved A LOT of uphill! Chris said that I had not yet gotten out of my cross country mindset, and began cursing my trail selection. So, being the tough-minded stubborn person I am, I pedaled that 40 lb sled up every hill, sweating profusely in the process! Chris begrudgingly followed.On our next lift up, we got onto the proper black trails, which actually kept going downhill the entire time, but we faced a new adversary in that it began pouring down rain. The trail immediately turned into a river of mud and slop. Even so, we negotiated some of the fun little wood ramps, rock launches, high berms, and such. I was determined to ride this wooden bridge feature that curved around the corner, and Chris got a great picture! (Unfortunately the next time I tried it, I got a little over ambitious, got too high up, and with the wood being extremely wet and slippery, I fell about 5 feet from the top, crashing hard!)It was very different getting used to a DH bike, versus the XC type bike that I've always ridden. I have a new-found respect for the downhillers, considering that the bike is slower to turn, requires much more muscle to handle and weight shift, momentum and speed are essential even when you seem out of control, flat pedals were a bit challenging especially when wet, and with 7+" of suspension front and rear, you just roll the beast over nearly everything! It was certainly a good workout, and especially since we were bombing top to bottom each time without taking breaks!

While we were drenched and frozen to the bone most of the day, we stuck it out, and the weather did eventually improve. It was a very fun day, and while Chris and I won't be making our MSC downhill debuts anytime soon, we did agree that we wouldn't mind playing around on the DH bike at a resort from time to time!