CrownKing

What is the preferred direction to ride the Back 40/Ledges for a below average climber? Going in October for 4 days and most likely will ride Slaughter Pen, Hand Cut Hollow, Blowing Springs, Back 40, and Coler. Thanks!

I have seen reports that it is rideable today, but haven't gone out there myself yet.

Angel Fire is a blast but in my experience it is much tougher than Spider Mt. Granted I went late in the season, but the trails are pretty choppy/rough and I would say a green at AF = blue at Spider. They also have 2 versions of trails, Free ride and Technical, I would stick with the Free ride trails. Overall a great place and fun time.

I dont have any of me biking, best I have is my 3rd mt bike i owned. Rode a rigid Yakota in the late 80s/early 90s on the greenbelt, then a Trek 6500 until this bad boy in 2001...

Yeah anytime there is water flowing at Twin/Sculpture Falls, their will be crazy foot traffic. Good/bad news is the heat will dry up the creek and the peds will stay away.

I've been told it will be back to 100%. I did have the option of letting it go, but decided to fix it since they said it would most likely be good as new. I do admit I thought the procedure would be pretty simple, but there is a pretty long scar and rehab has been tough. I hope to be back on the bike just in time for the August drought and 100 degree temps!

Since this was bumped I will share my injury story. I play ice hockey in the local leagues but hadn't played in a year because Covid. Well, after getting vaccinated I subbed in a game a month ago and promptly tore my distal bicep tendon from the bone. Had surgery and now no riding until at least until July/August. Sucks because I recently got a new bike and was putting in 70+ miles a week. On the bright side (for me) is I haven't missed much trail riding because of the rains. I have been hiking a lot of the trails I normally ride which give a cool perspective of lines, etc. /CSB

I understand that. I normally get on bike from the left side which doesnt seem to cause issues for me. There is definitely a learning curve compared to a backpack, but again the pluses outweigh the minuses for me. Also, I ride SATN and BCGB mostly and haven't had the drink tube come loose yet which was a worry when I got it.

I recently switched to the Osprey Seral 4, a hip pack with 1.5L capacity. Like you said, it will not be enough water for summer, but combined with a couple water bottles it should be ok. The main benefit is no more overheated back. It does take some getting used to with regard to the drink tube but so far so good.

Yeah I saw that last time I rode there, chin up bar? weird placement though.

My Mt. Laurel is showing signs of life, noticed small buds this weekend. I am glad I gave it more time, it was looking pretty bad.

Had a fairly large Rosemary that turned black, trimmed it to the stumps, waiting to see if it will make a comeback. My Mountain Laurel looks rough, still clinging to dead leaves, hoping it makes it. Trimmed my Sago back to the stump, I see life at the top. Burr, Live, and Chinquapin Oaks look ok, so thats good.

I remember someone saw/talked to the suspected vandal and said there was some mental heath issues most likely present. I was thinking, the next time someone comes across the Bambi/Rudolph vandal they offer them a few bucks ($1-5) to help us keep the trail clear. I dont know how to make this work or if it will, but maybe incentive him to stop. Apologies in advance if this is a bad idea in dealing with homeless people.

Damn, there was action, drama, suspense, great dialogue, 5 out of 5 stars! Some of those crashes looked painful. Oh and the riding was epic.

Yeah at first I thought it was for 4 wheel vehicles, but each narrow path kept getting blocked. Oh well, now its a feature!