What’s your favorite old-school technical trail feature?

Water bars, flat turns, and narrow mountain bike trails are becoming harder to find. Tell us which, if any, old-school tech trail features you miss to most.
By Jeff Barber
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A mountain biker rides through a shallow stream, splashing water as he navigates the terrain. The surrounding area features lush greenery and sunlight filtering through the leaves. Another biker can be seen in the background.
File photo.

There was a time, before purpose-built mountain bike trails, when mountain bikers encountered much jank on their everyday rides. Berms weren’t a thing, so riders did their best to carry speed through flat corners. And instead of stacked-stone technical trail features, mountain bikers tested their mettle on washed-out, root-choked gullies. (If you know where to look, there are still places to find this stuff, but it’s becoming fewer and farther between.)

Sure, some of these obstacles were annoying, but others were (and are) kinda fun to ride.

What is your favorite old-school trail feature?

Bonus question for the comments: Tell us which old-school technical trail feature you DON’T miss.

 
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