Hi, my name is Evan and Venture is all about getting out on your bike through the perspective of a college student! I ride a 2016 Commencal Meta TR V4 and work as a bike mechanic at my local shop over the summer. I live on Long Island, NY and go to school in Binghamton, NY. This gives me the opportunity to ride everything from cross country trails to full on downhill trails. You can expect trail rides, review videos, tips, and general steezage!
Damn man.... I had a good time 😂. This PSA is well done though, im now considering strava pro for heat maps particulary. The time of year /overall frequency would help. We went to blue mt one time and found a whole trail out of service while we were in the middle of the ride! One mistake i have made is searching on trail forks for descent. I tend to underestimate how technical / slow a trail can be when I interpret graphs. Yes youtube helps with this but i also try not to browse forever. To partially counter my mistakes I look for close to 400ft descents min, clear gopro footage (popularity) and parking lots especially if there is no fire road ( Different riding styles though)! Dont forget tristate traffic either. Biggest point though, stay venturing but not in Jersey. I've been fooled 3 times! 😂
Stay venturing outside of Jersey lol. One day I will show you guys a fun Jersey ride…once I find one myself haha. That is true tho with the interpreting a graph to tell if it really rides like a descent. I’m glad you liked the ride though!
You need to pay for Trailforks to show places on your phone anywhere. You get like a 35 mile radius around your house for free, last I checked. To me Trailforks Pro is 100% worth every dollar
Yeah but I honestly never use it, I just look at my phone whenever I get confused. I prefer the phone over the Garmin for actually figuring out where I’m going. Garmin’s map is useful enough for road riding tho
Average fitness is a decent way to put it, I was cooked by the end of the day lol. Good chill day ender, rembering taking the final laps and feeling this somber sense of the trip being over. Once we ate moved on and were on our way though, it was exciting to look back tbh. Basically might just move there man what do you think? 😂
The real issue here is that people like Venture need to ride soft terrain to feel confortable. There are more "man stuff" at msa because WE (volonteers) build it. WE don't care about beginner stuff it is the job of msa... and they are not good at maintaining their stuff. If the patrollers would give a shit about the only trails they can ride, they would maintain it. They would work when its raining to drain the trails accordingly, etc. If you like big trails that dont want to kill you, come and you will see. For easy and boring stuff, rather go to massif
Msa is such a blast. Love the World Cup trail! It’s definitely a place for more advanced riders that can enjoy a warmup on the blacks and stay on them all day. Sorry it was such a bummer for you.
I mean, the blue trails do suck in MSA, especially the long flat sections at the top. If you ever come back and feel confident doing so, try the harder stuff, like 1837 and Chômeuse. It’s worth it. The World Cup is also fun; there’s nothing objectively “dangerous” in that trail, but it’s really physical.
You’re just not good enough for those trails. Should’ve looked up what style of trails are found there before complaining. You would’ve realized it’s too tech for people who are only used to ride flow trails. Went to Highland mtb park and I loved the flow but realized that if you’re used to their type of tech and you come to MSA, you’ll get f ed up, just like you did. Green trails are all over the province for you guys so if you want some, leave MSA alone, thank you😊
You bring up a good point about the lack of progression coverage from blue to black. But I think it's really unfair to have an opinion on MSA as a whole when you haven't even ridden the double black trails it's known for
Honestly, as someone who rides there a fair bit, if you want progression and arent quite advanced/expert, I agree with the sentiment that there's not much progression and that the place lacks in the flow/jump department (a jumpline at the base is in the work for next year most likely btw, linking off Barbelée and Tordue and apparently quite easily accessible from the bottom). The organisation running MSA is a little hard to work with but progress has been made the last couple years. That said, if you can ride the double blacks, this place is next level and the trails are superb, thanks to the riders who are mostly the ones taking care of them, MSA themselves working on the easier stuff. So I cant exactly disagree with anything you're saying from your perspective, but as you said, if you are a good rider and want the ride some proper DH tech gnar, or even the WC track which is open all year round now, dont hesitate to come check it out, there's nothing like it in the region, on or off the map.
Can't say I disagree with the sentiment here. With so much for the locals to choose from, and the level of riding of those locals on average, perhaps MSA sees lift-serviced double-black tech as its place in the ecosystem. Regrettably, this makes for a poor draw. The quality of trail building at the other centers in the area is going off the charts. MSA will inevitably need to adapt or will disappear.
@@ds2021 exactly, the draw of other trails systems in the area is insanely high. I can think of a couple bike parks in the northeast that have really fallen behind in terms of trail variety and it shows in their number of visitors
Fair enough man, but I think the green and blue trails are quite smooth and wide...just not built for progressive fun in my opinion. It is still very cool that they offer true double black tech though.
I get it. MSA can be the most deceiving place to ride if you don't know your way around the mountain. Definetly best to ride it with locals, it's a bit of a cult!
Haha understood! Similar case with Mountain Creek in NJ I think, many of the old double black lines on the mountain are only known by the locals who have been riding there for decades. What is your favorite run down the mountain?
Fair enough man. Same here, honestly the Vietnam and the very last trail of the day I rode really made it for me. I'm not a fan of meandering greens and blues that feel like a transfer stage, especially when you have to take them over again to get to the good stuff. Also when bike parks have XC style trails it really makes me question how much effort they really did put in besides cutting a path. Maybe I need to look into it more but, no blue / black dedicated jump lines either? It certainly a legendary spot and I have no problem saying I did it and grabbed a shirt. While saying that it is semi elitist though due to that reputation, I'm glad I got to use this a a day to not pedal as well though. It was a very nice reset on the body.
A transfer stage is the perfect phrase for it, that is what La Grisante felt like and a good chunk of La Bapteme. I think they could've had a slightly shorter trail, like 4 miles instead of 5 and it would be the perfect gradient for an epic blue/black jump line. The rest from pedaling was nice though.
@@alexisonbike3652 Frig bromont isn't much better in my opinion. Shit is always blown out, and the flow trails aren''t THAT great. Skip'em both and go to Highland in NH if you want a chair, or e47/SDM/VBN if you're in QC and don't mind pedaling. Oh, and skip Le Massif. It's like MSA, with even less trails and more pedaling.
Dang that’s a bummer man, still sick to get up there though. I know they’re not the same, but I used to feel this way about Creek. Just really no true “intermediate” trails, so progression can be hard. I was looking into going here in the future, but I kinda understand your sentiment.
It's all good, we still had fun of course. I get that too, Creek is intimidating to progress through the trail difficulties. I wouldn't rule it out completely, you just need to be in the mindset of pushing your limits on very technical high-speed trails...if you want to work on linking up a flowy blue jump trail or even black, this is not the place for that.
i am sorry you felt like this at mont-sainte-anne but I will not let you talk shit about this bike parc first in the vietnam you did not even try to take up some speed you were on the brakes the whole time ofc you couldn't clear the jumps second yes the first two trails la grizante and the bapteme you are right they are not the most fun but if you would have at least tried some double blacks i would have let you say whatever you wanted but it was not the case and let go off the brakes sometimes it wont hurt you.
Yeah so no. I've ridden plenty of bike parks and honestly was disappointed at mont saint anne as well. The defense of "just let go of the brakes" is well respected cuz yes the trails would be quite fun at speed, but lets be honest when you have a job and are in a different country and have a 14 hour drive ahead of you to get home Mont saint anne is a waste of time unless you've ridden it before and know the trails. The moves are committed and there is no gradual increase in difficulty. The jumps were easy to clear and honestly too easy leading to over shooting every one when at actual trail speed and nothing is connected. I really think Mont saint anne is a fantastic place, if you live nearby and have put in the time to learn the trails, but I also agree with the sentiment shared in the video. If you are deciding between this bike park and a day in one of the many amazing towns or trail systems in quebec, go with a trail system. With that much elevation and the amount of trails the lack of choice is disturbingly low, the park could really take a hint from other big mountain parks like trestle in colorado or mammoth in california.
Yeah, I understand MSA is a sacred place for mountain biking, and it is an impressive venue. However, my point is that a lot of people from the Northeast of the US in particular are looking to visit Quebec since the trail systems in the area are just exploding in popularity. We have many great bike parks like Mountain Creek, Powder Ridge, Thunder Mountain, Highland, and Killington, while I haven't been to all of them, I was pretty disappointed with the lack of variety at MSA. I am not a great bike park rider, and I'm sure some people watching this video are way better than me, but I also bet there will be plenty of people who are similarly skilled as me who are deciding if MSA should be a part of their upcoming trip. To those people, I just don't think it is worth it. The sentiment that I should just let off the brakes isn't the way I go about riding on biking trips, especially in another country so far from home. My local trails do not give you the chance to let off and plow through rocks and roots at 20 mph for extended periods of time, so trying that isn't wise for me personally as it's just not the way I get to ride 99% of the time.
Any good bike park would not make Double Blacks the only fun trails. If you want your bike park to die due to lack of new riders, then go on and keep it that way. But if you expand the trail system, make a VARIETY of fun trails, people will come. I've been to 10-15 different bike parks, and they are doing so little with so much space. Highland has a third of the elevation, and MSA has less trails? WTF is that!? If I couldn't ride single black tech, I'd be frigging pissed off, because $75 dollars for a place with only one blue trail is kind of insane. To say MSA is a disappointment is an understatement.
I'm honestly shocked MSA hasn't expanded its bike park operation given how famous it is in the mtb world. If e47/sdm had a chairlift, MSA would get zero summer visitors.
Can’t agree. I mean, paying 100$ cad for 3 and half minutes dh? You got Loon, Highlands or Burke mtn. Even if e47 or sdm got a nice network, if there’s 100 riders there…you feel it. MsA, i did laps of 20km without crossing access road more than 2km totals…msa isnt easy and you can see that on google within a 30 secs search
Didn’t want to comment on that video so everyone could see it, but you need to make sure they use sTrAvA heat maps and it really dials down where a lot of people are riding aka the good stuff
www.trailforks.com/region/sunken-meadow-state-park/?activitytype=1&z=13.5&lat=40.89930&lon=-73.26369&content=trails,labels,nst,region,poi,directory,polygon,waypoint,routes_featured Check out the trailforks map. I usually park in Parking Lot 4 and pedal south onto Kohr Road. Stay on the right side of the road as you pedal south and you will find a gap in the fence across from people's houses to get into P5 Woods. Then you start climbing 'Parkway Climb' as it's named on Trailforks.
Nice video man. I met some local Quebec riders (that I sold a pass to in killington on our last day) and I asked them about riding up there near Quebec City, this was the 3rd place they wrote down on my phone (after I asked them to say it 4 times and I couldn’t understand the accent lol) looks beautiful
Thanks man! If you have only 3 to 4 days of riding time I would say Saint Raymond area could be one trip and another trip could be E47 / Sentier de Moulin for 3 to 4 days. We didn’t touch E47 or Sentier becuz it was pretty out of the way from Saint Raymond where we were staying. I think if you stay closer to Quebec City then E47 / SDM is a better focus for the trip. We definitely want to go back!
@@VentureMTB thanks for the insight, haven’t really done any recon as I don’t have plans to go up anytime soon (but we know how that can change rapidly lol) for sure will do it one day. Sentier du moulin was the first place he wrote down. Followed by: Empire47 Valé bras du nord , secteur Shannahan Massif de charlevoix Mont sainte anne
Haha true, my next video will be Mont Saint Anne. None us were particularly impressed with Mont Saint Anne, their green, blue, and black trails are pretty boring or weirdly built in my opinion. The runs are really long about 2000 feet, but there are more double black trails than intermediate stuff. Personally just wasn’t for me, cool to ride there given the racing history though
@@VentureMTB I actually looked up their trail mapped as I wrote that and saw a lot of double black and prolines. that’s usually what I judge by, is going to be a good time (for me anyways LOL)
Hahaha, we saw Remy do the last jump on Godzilla where Octopus ends and that’s when we realized as he sailed by lol. So funny, Phil Kmetz in VT and Remy in Quebec
excellent. Thanks for posting this review. It's often difficult to determine the quality of many Amazon products. While we'd all like the best, sometimes it doesn't make sense. If working on a bike say once a week, or a few times a season, a pro quality stand might be overkill. On the other hand, buying the low end might be more frustration than it's worth. thanks for posting; your video is useful and informative!
Glad you found the review helpful Edward! This stand definitely borders on being more frustration than it is worth, since a heavier mountain bike bends the post to the point of your pedals hitting the post as you pedal.
@@VentureMTB I bought a cheap wall mounted stand. Besides being frustrating to use, it didn't survive the first brake bleed. I won't do that again (hopefully!). Your video should help prevent others from suffering! thanks again.
Bro, gonna try and get a big group ride with a bunch of people at Creek 9/22. We got a discord with a bunch of people who ride and wanted to join extend an invite to you for the ride and discord brother.
I wish I could, but I've been dealing with some pelvic pain/discomfort for this whole year. All my videos this year I have been standing up to pedal...so I haven't been riding much this year. Haven't really been into the bike parks lately, even though I could just stand for the downhill. Just started physical therapy, so trying to play it safe. I think this all started from me actually slamming into my seat from bottoming out on drops with my Meta TR last fall. I would like to join the discord, but I am not able to sit down and go for a normal ride and keep up at the moment.
