Oh man ya'll, this place is SICK!
Lake Leatherwood Bike Park in Eureka Springs, AR delivers the goods! And with a shuttle service!
I'll tell you right off the bat that this is not a place for first time mountain bikers. There's only one green trail which would most likely be a blue in Minnesota. I was actually a little surprised at just how gnarly it all is. I had seen some clips of stuff from there but what I saw was mostly of the flowy sections with jumps and of course everything looks more chill on camera.
They have 7 DH trails stemming from 2 hubs. Go to the left for the easier trails, there's a green, two blues and a double black. So I guess the easier trails and also the hardest trail lol. Like I said before the green seems more like a blue trail and both the blues are a very dark blue, probably would be black in MN. I never actually got to hit the double black and if you watch till the end you'll see why.
The other hub has three trails which are all black diamonds. I think DH 2 is a true black trail and is probably my favorite trail there. Fun rocky sections, a good drop and nice sized jumps combined with high speed that you don't have to work for is my kinda trail. This was also the first trail we hit and in retrospect probably not the best idea for a warmup. As I stated before I was surprised at how gnarly it all was. I thought it was sick but Jess wasn't too stoked on just jumping right into it like that. She made it down though. I also thought I was filming but wasn't in the middle section of the trail. I don't think I missed a lot but still that was stupid and I never got to hit it again like I wanted too. I guess I'll just have to go back at some point.
DH 3 is more of a flow trail but ya really gotta work for it. I was pedaling a good amount to have enough speed for stuff and it was very tiring. With a flow/jumpline trail I don't want to have to pedal at all and be able to hit everything at trail speed, that is not the case here. There's some really cool jumps and features on this one though.
DH 1 is really cool and maybe would've been my favorite had I been able to ride the entire trail. The rock step up took me out though. I hit the drop before with what felt like good speed so I figured the jump would just work but as soon as I was going off the lip I knew I was going too slow. Luckily I rode out of it and all that happened was bent seat and a flat spotted rim. I was able to get another rim from Phat Tire Bike Shop in Bentonville and swamped it out the next morning so that was cool. But the optional features on DH 1 are impressive. There was a rock lily pad after the step up that looked really cool and I was bummed I couldn't hit it. Oh well.
I forgot to mention that it rained the night before which made for some pretty sketchy conditions and there's a lot of rock there and with was slick. DH 4 was especially sketch and it took J Girl out but she was thankfully alright other than some scraps and bruises.
Also just was to say that Eureka Springs downtown area is super cool! It's like a magically gnome village or something haha. Lots of cool patios and shops to explore. I'd like to stay a weekend in Eureka Springs next time. I will be back!
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and J Girl @jesslundeen
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30 сен 2024
