Winter Park XC

#followcamfriday sprinting around with Noah Sears in Winter Park. Who knew that there were XC trails hiding in the woods near the bike park? #ionlyridepark

Wait a minute. So you are telling me that there is a perfectly good chairlift right over there, but we are going to pedal our enduro bikes around on flat XC trails in Winter Park. I feel like I don't even know you anymore, Noah Sears. All joking aside, I actually was unaware that there is a vast network of highly engaging, mostly jank, but very worthy "XC" trails located in close proximity to the chairlift. I learn something new, every day. 

The general rule of thumb is, if it looks like a meatball, it goes. Until it doesn't.... When you see a meatball, pull up and hope for the best. If you are a vegetarian, you might have to look extra hard to see the lines. Either way, this one left me hungry and desperately thirsty. I was in the mood for Italian. Later that night,  we ate pizza. 

Bonus points for wall-riding a meatball. This trail reminded me of playing Hungry Hungry Hippos as a child. A small reward, every couple of feet, on trail. Be careful not to miss any. The hippo needs to eat. Let the hippo eat. 

No jank XC trail is complete without some sketchy high-speed wooden features. This is par for the course. Too bad it wasn't raining, things may have gotten more scandalous. You can tell by the motion blur of the colorful aspens in this photo that we were not going at a low rate of speed. 

Jankzample number 2. This time we go slow. This time we survive the skinny. 1981 Canada, North Shore called, it wants its skinny back. If I am being honest, I actually have much love for the skinny. You can't not laugh while riding this beast. Amazing bit of trail history. Know your jank history.

This meatball is accessed via a jank plank that broke a bit as Noah bravely negotiated this technical section. This line is more dangerous than mentioning politics at the dinner table. That first plank seriously broke under Noah's amazing torque on the uphill. I was lucky to survive this one. 

I guess this will have to do. Hard on the eyes, the season they call, Autumn. Between the smoke in the air and the aspens peaking, this ride was pure fire. Get it? Always stunning, mother nature. Love your work. Now for some meatballs.