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Hi! I have somewhat of a trail behind my house, and I’m just curious as to what I could do to make it better. Any ideas? It goes so steep uphill
that I can’t pedal up it, but coming down is great! At the bottom of that hill is a ditch 4′ wide with a 2×6 across it Up on top, there’s another ditch that I have a [i:1vs3bio1]tiny[/i:1vs3bio1] wood ramp beside for my dirt bikes (as in motor) just to float across it. Also going across that ditch is a little skinny slat bridge for my bicycle, and then just a lot of flat trail up on top of that hill. I’m going to get a few 2x4s, 2x6s, plywood, and pallets this week, so the reason I made such tiny obstacles was lack of material. I was thinking to make a teeter-totter about 20 feet long, but other than that I have no clue what to build. I want to hit some trails in parks this summer, and I don’t want to be completely unprepared! Thanks! And by the way…here’s my hardtail: I can’t get that first picture to go upright, so I guess you’ll have to lay down to look at it. Sorry! -
You don’t need to build features to be prepared for singletrack, you just have to ride… a lot. As you get more familiar with your bike, you’ll be more able to adapt to any environment you find yourself. The majority of singletrack riding is an eye for lines and the balance to get around things you don’t want to hit. Almost all wipe outs are due to doing one of those two things badly.
But that being said, features are fun 😀 I would suggest some that require the least resources for the most bang for the buck, since it seems your working within strict material limits.
The one thing I would like to stress is if you’re unable to build a solid and stable feature due to lack of materials or know-how, that you skip it. You can really hurt yourself on poorly built features and although you’re at the age in which you consider yourself invincible, I promise there will come an age at which all the concussions, broken bones and torn ligaments will come back to haunt you. Keep it safe.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, my knee is telling me its going to rain and I need to roll up my car windows.
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Thank you Schwim! I appreciate your advice. I decided to just skip building more stuff and ride more after reading your post. Don’t worry about me getting hurt-I haven’t done that in about 2 years! Best bicycle wreck was a stand-up-no-handed stunt that ended with my leg stuck in the frame that left me with a really cool scar, but it was a learning experience! Evidently not learning enough, because I still have a hard bulge on my back from the time I failed to completely clear the tabletop on my dirt bike and went over the bars. I reckon my legs will be telling me there’s a typhoon near when I’m 40!
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"LCKrisher" wrote
Thank you Schwim! I appreciate your advice. I decided to just skip building more stuff and ride more after reading your post. Don’t worry about me getting hurt-I haven’t done that in about 2 years! Best bicycle wreck was a stand-up-no-handed stunt that ended with my leg stuck in the frame that left me with a really cool scar, but it was a learning experience! Evidently not learning enough, because I still have a hard bulge on my back from the time I failed to completely clear the tabletop on my dirt bike and went over the bars. I reckon my legs will be telling me there’s a typhoon near when I’m 40!
Trust me, I’m a bit over 40 and yes, you do start feeling all of those!
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Well, if you’ve made it past 40 and you’re still riding it can’t be that bad! 😃
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True! My wife doesn’t seem to mind the assorted scars and bumps! Might be different when I get as old as Schim! 😆
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"gar29" wrote
[quote="LCKrisher":18uafe8w]Thank you Schwim! I appreciate your advice. I decided to just skip building more stuff and ride more after reading your post. Don’t worry about me getting hurt-I haven’t done that in about 2 years! Best bicycle wreck was a stand-up-no-handed stunt that ended with my leg stuck in the frame that left me with a really cool scar, but it was a learning experience! Evidently not learning enough, because I still have a hard bulge on my back from the time I failed to completely clear the tabletop on my dirt bike and went over the bars. I reckon my legs will be telling me there’s a typhoon near when I’m 40!
Trust me, I’m a bit over 40 and yes, you do start feeling all of those![/quote:18uafe8w]
Hell, I’m a bit over 30 and feel all of my past injuries!!!
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some nice work. I keep thinking about making an obstacle corse type trail in my backyard. I got two acres back there and think it would be nice to have a small trail with logs skinnies drops and rock gardens to practice on when i can’t make it to the trails because of my stinking long hours at work.
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Thanks! I just have a few scrap boards that I made that stuff out of. I’m renting the place my trail is on, and too much dirt work is frowned upon. I wanted a place to ride my Yamaha dirtbike to practice for when we go to the MX track, so I made myself a portable wooden whoops section beside my MTB trail. A bunch of small wood ramps in a row! Sometimes you just have to make do! 😎
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that I can’t pedal up it, but coming down is great! At the bottom of that hill is a ditch 4′ wide with a 2×6 across it 
Up on top, there’s another ditch that I have a [i:1vs3bio1]tiny[/i:1vs3bio1] wood ramp beside for my dirt bikes (as in motor) just to float across it. 
Also going across that ditch is a little skinny slat bridge for my bicycle, 
and then just a lot of flat trail up on top of that hill. I’m going to get a few 2x4s, 2x6s, plywood, and pallets this week, so the reason I made such tiny obstacles was lack of material. I was thinking to make a teeter-totter about 20 feet long, but other than that I have no clue what to build. I want to hit some trails in parks this summer, and I don’t want to be completely unprepared! Thanks! And by the way…here’s my hardtail: 
I can’t get that first picture to go upright, so I guess you’ll have to lay down to look at it. Sorry!
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