Just got back from a quick trip to the MBCotW. I've been there a few times, but one of the guys on the trip was a first-timer, so we tried to hit a good mix of old favorites while also checking out some of the newer stuff that has popped up since the last time I was there a year ago.
Day 1 - We rolled into town a little after noon and after a quick lunch we hit Slaughter Pen Phase 1. We sessioned All American Heroes, spent some time at the skills area, but spent the bulk of our time at a new zone at the far SE end of Phase 1. I've seen it called The Castle, but I'm not sure it has an official name yet. They are clearly still working on the hub, but the trails seem to be done and they didn't disappoint. We hit Catapult (big berms, big rounded wood bridges, and a few dirt tables) and Medieval (flowy jump trail) multiple times and Dragon Scales was an awesome techy black trail with a ton of man-made rock gardens and optional rock features. There's a nice return trail to get you back to the hub.
After checking into our VRBO, we headed back out and went to the Huntley Gravity Zone. Another awesome spot if you like flowy jump trails. There are only a few trails here, but Shock & Awe and Air Raid alone are worth the trip if you are into that sort of thing.
Day 2 - We knew rain was coming, so we hit Coler first and spent some time on Thunder Dome and Family Flow. After some time lost to a mechanical, we headed to the other side. Unfortunately, after 2 laps on Fire Line (amazing flow/jump line) the skies opened up and it rained like hell for a couple of hours. That was it for Day 2...
Day 3 - Thankfully, the rain ended mid-afternoon the day before, so things were pretty well dried out by Monday morning. We headed over to check out Handcut Hollow, which turned out to be a favorite for everyone on the trip. We parked at the J Ave. parking area and rode over to the hub. Turns out there's another parking area that might have been closer to the hub, but it was a pretty nice ride from where we parked (although it involved a fair bit of climbing). Once you are at the hub there are 6 trails that go back down the hill (5, if you don't count the return trail). They were all fun and there's some good variety. Interplanet Janet was a blast, with a little bit of everything - flow, rock features, jumps. We all really loved Schoolhouse Rock as well because of it's super fast sections and rocky tech.
After lunch, we headed out to hit as much of Slaughter Pen as we could. Ravine Trail, Masterpiece, Boo Boo, Choo Choo, Techgnar, Leopard Loop, Barn Burner, Red Barn, Hammer Down, Ozone, and Schroen Train. Of course, we had to show the new guy the Bush Push. We were all dead tired by this point, but he actually tried it and made it all the way up.
I had hoped we'd be able to hit some of the Alice in Wonderland trails (Mad Hatter, Ace of Spades, Area 51) but we ran out of time. Maybe next time...