Hard Money

Sampling Colorado's newest, directional, bike only DH trail on Maryland Mountain in Black Hawk with Dacre Dunn. What a time to be alive. 

I honestly don't have any idea where the name for this new trail came from. But if I was a betting man, I would guess that it has something to do with the current state of trail politics in the state of Colorado. Nothing is easy for our collective user group, but let me tell you that this is a giant step in the right direction for the Colorado MTB scene. Directional, purpose built MTB trails? Really? Are we in the PNW? Whistler? New Zealand? The future looks bright. 

Gary Moore from COMBA shot me an email on Saturday. New trail he said. Directional, DH, it will be fun he said. Gary was looking to get eyes on this project that he has been working on with the city of Black Hawk for a couple of years now. I basically cancelled my plans and made this a priority. Interestingly enough, this was the first I had heard of Maryland Mountain and had no idea that Black Hawk was trying to offer something more than well...,  just casinos. Black Hawk built this amazing trailhead, complete with statues, fancy bridges, and a hiking trail to the top of Maryland Mountain to promote some outdoor rec opportunities in this casino economy. Gary approached the town asking for some MTB specific opportunities and they obliged. As this was city property for the most part, many of the usual hurdles of dealing with land management that has been unwilling to accommodate our user group  was out of the picture. And so this project had legs. 

Gary asked me to come and film "Hard Money" This trail was designed by Black Diamond Trail Designs and High Country Conservation and has had the finishing touches put on it in the last couple of weeks after the snow melted. This is the product of thousands of hours of volunteer work, blood, sweat and tears. The passion is very evident and the end result is a work of art and will be well loved and well used by the MTB community. The grand opening is Memorial Day Weekend. If you are looking for some fun next weekend, this is the place to be. 

 They built us jumps. The people celebrated. Fun was had. Again, I can't reiterate this point enough. These trails absolutely do not build themselves and take thousands of man hours and dedication behind the scenes. COMBA and BMA are hugely responsible for holding all of this together. I urge you consider donating to these local Colorado trail organizations. If you don't have the resources, you can come out and dig. Better yet, try and do both. Most of this is made possible by donations, so please help these wonderful organizations that are fighting the good fight for our user group. Everything helps. Follow the links below to show your support. 
COMBA             BMA

The end goal of this project is to have 4 directional, mtb only trails, culminating with a true double black DH track. There are currently 12 miles of amazingly fun and unique riding on Maryland Mountain. This place has some Floyd Hill vibes, and will surely be a favorite with the Front Range crowd. There is a climbing trail so that you can basically do as many laps as you want, have a snack at the car, and get right back out there on the trail. Each lap is roughly 1000ft of vert. 

Dacre Dunn is an absolute beast. Riding trails that you have never seen before, at full speed, being chased with some jerk wearing a GoPro is no easy task. Basically, go as fast as possible, hit all the blind jumps, don't die. No big deal right?? I always joke that everything is JRA (just riding along), but it takes a special breed to make things look as smooth and effortless on the first go as my man Dacre Dunn. On this particular day, I watched Dacre tomahawk himself between two aspen trees and shake it off like nothing happened. Pure legend status. I would have had to go to the hospital directly if I hit the deck like that. Legend. 

 So, to sum things up, you are definitely going to have fun on Maryland Mountain. I am very thankful that the concept of directional MTB only trails is catching on in Colorado. There is a time and place to ride dangerously fast, and a trail devoid of other user groups is ticking that box off nicely. I can't wait to see what the future holds for this place. Again, huge thanks due to all of the people that have poured time and energy into this project. Love your work!