I haven't been riding much lately and badly needed to get out and experience this the joy of exercise. But it doesn't feel like exercise per say, but I have to say how much I love the mix of adrenaline and endorphins. I panted and sweated and muscled my way up Bear Wallow. I was riding Tim's Turner 5 spot. It took some getting used to the super slack head angle on the uphills. On the downhills it was friggin awesome. When you have 160mm of stiff Marzocchi on the front and an uber capable Turner chassis you can ride some really crazy stuff.
No better spot for some crazy technical mtb trail than Massanutten Mountain. So after climbing up and over Bear Wallow, you cross over the fire road of mud hole gap. You then climb up to the Doll Ridge and start your churning and burning over some knife edge rock fins. There are some tall rocks that just seem to lean in one direction and you have to ride between them, or on the top of them or often times cross over them. All this requires big cohones, core strength, balance and big grippy tires. I took my share of spills landing with my clipless pedals still attached. I was much more confident on the 5 spot than I was on the Sultan(more on 29ers later). It was hard, but so much fun.
Its also so fun to see such an amazing group of riders tackle this type of terrain with such conviction and style. This is very picky, ballsy riding. Tim, Collin, Nate, Jennifer, Matt and Foodles all rode so many amazing things. I felt in the presence of mtb greatness. A trip to Jalisco's in Strasburg put the icing on a perfect day.
.JPG)
