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If you were designing/building your own mountain biking trail what would you add? I love seeing new features that are different and fun. What would you build?
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Drops, super chunky rock gardens, roots, berms, and all of it steep.
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One trail feature I enjoy, but don’t see as much these days, is the good old fashioned log stack. Log stacks are generally pretty easy to negotiate, but you never know what’s on the other side, which makes good positioning crucial, especially for tall stacks.
A close second is the huck (for lack of a better term.) Basically any flat surface that launches the rider straight out as the ground falls away below. Again, not a feature you see often but it’s oh-so fun because you can really carry some speed into one. That is, as long as there is an appropriate landing zone. 🙂
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Berms and bouldery rock gardens–but in the same trail. I would be totally fine if every corner was a berm, but I really like riding rocks, so I’d love a trail with big, rocky, drop-filled straightaways funneling into fast berms, and then straight back into rocks. It seems like most trails it’s one or the other and not both at the same time.
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For me…
No man made features. No wooden bridges, skinnies, etc. Not even any man made berms.
…rather…
Maximum incorporation of natural features. If a curve is on the inside of a hill, that’s a natural berm right there. But mostly rocks. Lots of rocks. Big step ups and lots of huck downs. Rock gardens that require a variety of skills. Rocks especially on climbs so that the technical fun keeps my mind off the pain of climbing. And some seriously steep, butt-way-behind-the seat, you’re-gonna’-be -castrated-if-you-don’t-have-a-dropper-post steeps.
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No man made features. No wooden bridges, skinnies, etc. Not even any man made berms.
+1 agreed!
I’m a personal fan of the gully. We have a regional trail (about 25miles) that’s just an old school hiking trail with numerous stream crossings. Many of the gully crossings feature severe angles of approach and departure with large rocks and roots to make it more interesting. – there are a few crossings that I still can’t clear cleanly, but I love the challenge.
Also a fan of your basic stream or creek crossing (especially after hard rains) …i’m always amazed at how much force seven or eight inches of rushing water can exert.
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I’m not against wooded features, but I would keep them to a minimum and bridges only when necessary to avoid areas that get too wet or gaps that need bridging. And even then, wooden feature less than 3ft wide, or more than 2ft off the ground without railings, is not worth the risk vs reward for me. Sure 99.9% of the time I would be fine, but that one time I do something stupid or the wood is wet and slippery and I fall off, it’s not worth it. Skinnies I’m fine with as long as they are low and have plenty of room to bail on either side.
I like slow rock sections.
But the thing I really appreciate on trails are options so riders of different levels can enjoy the ride together.
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I agree on keeping the man made features to a minimum and utilizing nature to provide features and technical bits and don’t care much for the smooth machine cut trails. This is one of the reasons I love riding at Clinton Nature Preserve. There’s a little bit of everything for you there.
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Hands down a bid step down, you can get super creative with them, and it can get you to pick up a lot of speed for the next feature.
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Beer.
Every three miles.
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ZipHead– That could make even road biking exciting!
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I think variety is my favorite feature. I get tired of just flow trails or just rocky trails.
Also, +1 for a beer every 3 miles.
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I generally like old school trails with lots of technical climbing (I hate to climb in general though – long smooth fire roads are the worst). But I am a sucker for bermed turns with lots of switch backs. Amps up the fun factor when carrying speed downhill.
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