GO FASTER on ARROW at Skypark Bike Park [ TH04 ] 

We need to get you over the M.... 2 pedals out of the corner and a lil pump off the top will get you there

@@DANNOSADVENTURES 👍🏾

Totes agree. Hope some of the tips help. 👊🏾

Nice.

Thanks! Will do.

Thanks Jonathan! I hear you. I do only make Trailhead episodes with trails on which I feel really confident. 👍🏾

100% agree. Getting smooth and fast on Arrow requires pretty much all the MTB skills. Such a great trail!

Heck yeah!

It's a tricky one. It took me a lot of laps to get it to flow top to bottom. But hella fun once you get your head around it.

Thanks Rob! I hope it helps. 👊🏾

Thanks Adam! Let me know if any of the tips help at all. 🤘🏾

It's a blast! If you're ever in the area, definitely worth a visit.

Yew! Let me know if it helps!

My pleasure. It's a complex trail, and yeah...linking so many features together smoothly is a bit of a puzzle. It did take me a lot of laps to start finding a top-to-bottom flow.

My pleasure! It’s worth a visit. 👍🏾

My pleasure! Hope you have fun!

@@mtb_alan Thank you so much! Maybe we will run into each other if you go?!

Thanks man! It was a pretty quick run but a few seconds under my fastest. 🤘🏾

Thanks Nichelle! Thanks for being such a long-term supporter! 👊🏽🙏🏾

Thanks!

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It makes an appearance from time to time.

Thanks!

No worries. Yeah, there’s a bunch more planks on the lower half now.

Same! How do you feel about the re-entry into Lower Arrow now being further up Upline?

@@mtb_alan When did that change? Last time I was at skypark was late august.

Hmmm....I guess it's been a while since they changed it. I have to remember that I was out with an injury for half a year.

Glad you dig the vids. Be careful about riding Snow Summit trails illegally. You can get banned for a season or for life. It also violates their lease with the Forestry and can be a real headache for the bike park.

@@mtb_alan Oh really? I was told by a shop in town that it was ok. Good to know!

Thanks!

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Yew! 🤘🏾 It's such a good trail for learning skills.

Thanks! Sweet!

Thanks for the suggestion.

Thanks! Must’ve been my evil twin.

@@mtb_alan LOL when do you usually ride?

Good question. Where you look is gonna be pretty similar to where you look in a berm, i.e. you'd look through to the exit as much as you comfortably can. Just like in a berm, it'll depend on how long, sharp, or tight the turn is. The main mistake riders make is trying to go up then down a wall instead of coming across it. I talk about that at 2:31 in this video. I also cover it here: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-w5AJjakr5L0.html Hope that helps!

@@mtb_alan Yep that helps a lot! thank you very much.

Yew!

Thanks! Glad the vids have been helpful. Ha! That's funny you noticed the breathing. Before I broke my wrist and when I was better conditioned, I always trained to only breath through my nose. There are tons of resources out there on this, but basically, avoiding mouth breathing especially when participating in athletic pursuits, while initially being very uncomfortable, has long term performance and health benefits. ;)

And thanks for the congrats!

@@mtb_alan thanks for the response. I’m always curious about how upgrading “myself” may have more impact than upgrading my bike/equipment. I know I am far from out-riding my bike (Capra Shred). Thanks again!

@@coachrz7919 I like that. "upgrade myself" rather than "upgrading my bike". 👊🏾

Ha! Yeah...the ol' GoPro effect. TBH, the first time I came across the tire, I just rolled over it. It's really hard to describe how to hit that jump. But if you start by rolling it, you'll get a feel for it and go from there. I would say it's also hard to have enough speed to hit it unless you smoothly hit the wall ride beforehand. Hope that helps!

Slow is smooth. Smooth is fast.

Thanks Randy! Skypark stays open all year. They only close or partially close due to unfavorable weather. So an annual pass actually gives you year round access.

Ha! Hope you're all right. Hope my tips helps you out.

MTB ALAN They did for sure! Just got to go faster I guess. Great video

Thanks for the suggestion. Im definitely spotting the landing early. It’s pretty narrow and that scares me. 😆

Skypark is at Santa's Village...so they'll def be open in December. :) The park, including the trails, are open year round. They do sometimes close some or all of the trails based on weather conditions.

Good question. I don’t. Because each tire gets bumped as you go over, you gotta compensate. I can’t easily explain here, but in general I pull up more. I also sometimes nose bonk it and my rear wheel never hits. Hope that helps!

I ride the version 3 Bronson. I ride trail and park, and I love the Bronson. It's a total brawler on the downhills and with a bit of tuning, flies on the jumps. It climbs all right. I love it!

🤔 They’re not closed.

@@mtb_alan oh? Website must be deceiving me haha. Says tickets not available

Hey there! Skypark is great for beginners. Weekdays are going to see fewer people for sure. Mornings are actually more “crowded”. We are talking about mountain bikers here. 😆 But “crowded” is relative as reservations are limited due to COVID compliance. That being said, if you wanna visit a bike park, part of that experience is learning how to share the trails, learning how to gauge when to drop in, and how to let faster riders pass. It may sound scary, but most of us are cool and encouraging. Anybody who would make you feel unwelcome is not worth you worrying about. Come up! Have fun! Just remember that you may need to make reservations days ahead of time. 🤘🏾

@@mtb_alan Thanks For Taking the time to respond to me, you're a stand up guy..

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That wallride can really punch you back unless you hit it early and ride it like a big berm. Regarding that tire jump, the tire definitely bumps you, so you can't hit it like a normal jump. But if you've ever hit a hard kicker, it's similar to that...except that the kicker part happens when you get to the tire. LOL!

@@mtb_alan Thanks! Consider doing a break down of Neverland Jump line too.

Thanks! I've been up there sometimes on the weekends.

Ha...sorry about that. It was me trying to edit out where I misspoke. I wanted to say that at a faster speed, it's more dangerous to not jump it than to jump it. But I accidentally said the opposite. Thanks for letting me know that was hard to understand. 👊🏾 And totally gimme a shout if you see me on the trail!

Totally will and I wanted to thank you for all the good info. I watch you videos before trying a new trail. I could imagine having to edit all of these videos. ✌️

Arrow, Neverland, Sleighride. Comet if you like tech/skinny/rugged.

The park is small enough for you to try all the trails and decide which ones you like best! 👊🏾

@@mtb_alan this is correct.

All of them, but Sleigh Ride and Arrow are some of the most flexible for skill level. Sleigh Ride is a nice fast blast halfway down the hill that allows you to warm up. Mind the brakes your first time through. Both Sleigh Ride and Arrow let you approach them with caution and roll/bypass features, but if you want to, you can get quite sendy. I've ridden SR and Arrow on a hardtail, (I actually like SR better on a HT.) They used to have a "Green" rated trail that they called Evergreen, but it had black extra credit features. I found this trail more sketchy than Sleigh Ride or Arrow, and they now call the trail Knotty or Nice, which hints at the possibility of it going either way. Comet is a rougher trail, (SR and Arrow are REALLY buff trails for SoCal) but like Arrow, Comet has some options. I can't speak to the Neverland jumpline, but there are tons of video runs of folks riding it. Every time I have been to SkyPark, there has been a park employee at the top to point you to the tools or give you trail advice. You can't go wrong there. The only bad crashes I have seen are on eBike demo days when guys over ride those 50 lb monsters.

I wish I'd gotten it sooner. It has given me a lot more confidence, my wrist never feels beat up after a ride like it used to with like a neoprene "brace". My favorite thing is that with the boa system, the brace allows for free movement while the wrist is straight and the tension/support ramps up the further I bend...similar to how normal tendons and ligaments work. And it has a limiter screw that allows you to adjust where the brace will totally stop the wrist from bending any further back.

Thanks for the pointer! That's def what I had been doing previously. In this vid, I was starting to stand up some and pull, but I think I may have figured out my deal. Because the ramp is straight, I have been just rolling up the ramp and not compressing until the last bit. Next time, I'm gonna treat the ramp like a lip and start compressing on the way up. 🤔

@@mtb_alan Sick! You’ll be cleaning it in no time 🤘🏻

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I session it a bit most times I'm up at Skypark. It's no Muscle Beach, but it's fun to hit a couple times.

Ah! That’s what I forgot to do. 😆

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Pedal down? 🤔

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Thanks for sharing your feelings.