DaveJube

How do you get all your gear to the park if you're riding a train? When I go for a day trip to the bike park I have a truck full of stuff. The cooler of beers alone takes up a lot of room. Plus I have helmet bags, gear bags, tool boxes, folding chairs, pop up tent and clothing to change into after riding. Way too much stuff to carry on a train.

I had season passes to Mountain Creek for a couple of seasons and it was a 2.5 hour drive. We made the trip almost every Sunday. Sometimes we drove to Highland for the weekend and that was about 5-6 hours away. Last year I went to Thunder Mountain in MA and it was a 5 hour drive. Left at 5am, got there by 10am and rode all day until 5,had some pizza and drove home. It was a long day, but so worth it. We did that trip 3 times in August, Sept and Oct. Last year we bought E-MTB and I've only been to a bike park twice this year. Now we drive 2, 3, or 4 hours to ride trail. Just got back from a 4th of July weekend trip to Virginia. It was a 4.5 hour drive and we rode 3 days straight.

Great article and I'm looking forward to listening to the podcast. As much as I want to dislike Specialized, I have to say they make great products. I worked in the industry before COVID and about 10 years ago I flew to Morgan Hills to attend SBCU at their HQ. This was a week of touring their facility, learning about their products and how they are made, and riding bikes. It was a great week and I came away from there thinking Specialized was the best bike company in the world. But then I saw some of their shady practices and how they did business. I saw how our shop had a new sales rep every 6 months. I saw how they forced product on our shop and how they would withhold product until they got their money for the products they forced us to carry. Their reputation in the business world is a bit of a bully. But all that aside, their bikes are really great and they are one of the best innovators. Their research and development team is fantastic. Their other products are excellent as well, like clothing and accessories. After a while it became a love hate relationship. I loved their bikes, but hated the company and their reputation. The final straw for me was about 5 years ago when I had a family member that was injured on a brand new Specialized MTB because of a failure of a part on the bike. This was an obvious case of negligence on their part, and it was litigated in court, and Specialized settled without admitting fault. After that, I swore I would never ride another specialized bike again. I didn't have any hate for them, I just decided that there are plenty of other companies that make bikes that were as good, if not better. Then I decided I wanted an E-MTB and started researching products. This is when I came to the conclusion that Specialized made one of the best E-bikes on the market with the Turbo Levo. This goes back to the research and development team that makes these bikes. For me, the best option was the Turbo Levo and I went out and bought not one, but two, because my wife rides too. It's been a while since I worked in a shop and the bad taste I had for Specialized has been replaced with the joy of riding the Turbo Levo. They say absence makes the heart grow fonder and I am once again, in love with Specialized.

@mthamster: I prefer using small children as jumps and plowing into them.

What happened to the course? Why did they skip Asylum? Then after Frog Pond it's all ski trail. They missed so much.

You don't know what you're missing until you ride one. They are just pure fun. It's hard to imagine what it's like riding an E-MTB until you put some trail time on one.

I wish I was out there. I used to work in the industry and should have gone to Sra Otter when I had the chance. That Trek Y-bike just shows how far things have come. I bought one of those used, about 1997 and rode it two or three times, then hung it on the wall as art because it looked so cool. I had a small apartment back then, with a huge TREK Y-Bike poster on the kitchen wall. I mounted the entire bike, using the poster as a back drop. I had 3 or 4 other bikes in my kitchen, but no kitchen table. Maybe one year I will go out to Sea Otter, until then I have to rely on PinkBike to bring me all the new stuff from there.

Same! I thought the injury turned her leg into a branch.