Sunday, October 18, 2009

Dryer Road Park

This morning I rode at Dryer Road Park, a mountain biking park, in Victor, NY.

The trails have been rated like trails on a ski slope.
Unfortunately, these ratings are for mountain biking, not mountain unicycling. I got some advice from a local forum and by a few riders on the trails. Some advice was better than others.

Long story short, many of the trails are too difficult for me at my current skill level. But there are some that are good, and many that pushed me.
I took video like yesterday, but it's not worth editing. It's all too shaky, but here are a few frames to give an idea of the trails.

I felt like I gained more skill today. I think I climbed hills better than ever. I've read about "getting out of your saddle" and standing while climbing. I think I was doing some of that today, and it help a lot.

There is also a "Skills Park" in development, just next to the parking lot. I might actually be able to ride this when it's open.

Here's a list of trails I rode and my thoughts on them.
[A]A-Train: No good for me. It's just switchbacks and a lot of it is too steep. I think I got some bad advice on this one. A biker I talked to later said that "Kasha" would have been better.
[T]Tree Beard: Parts of this were ok. But I'd estimate about 30% walking. That's a bit high, but I should try it again.
[SW]SSW: 15% walking. It was ok. But it led me to a junction on black diamond trails and other hard trails. Two bikers there suggested none of them were going to be good. So I ended up riding SSW back the way I came.
Fort Hill Trail: I rode this from the uppermost (southern most) of the Upper Fields. It was ok. But there are 3 or 4 buried logs along the way and a few bigger hills. If I get my hops down this might be more fun.
Ziggy: This trail was challenging but fun. There are a good number of ups and downs, manageable obstacles, and close trees. This might be a favorite.
[EF]Epping Forest: I liked this one too. I figure I only had to walk about 10%. And it's pretty long. I got on at the Fort Hill trail, and ended at the junction of a bunch of trails. I talked with a rider there and he suggested trying Moon Valley.
[M]Moon Valley: This is a one way trail, so uphill is the only option. Unfortunately it go too steep. I won't ride this again for a while. Next time I'm at the start of this trail, it might be better to try the Epping Trail Ext to get back to the parking area.
[G]Gully Down: This is a manageable way out. Nothing too crazy.

I think for the most part, any trail on the map that looks like a bunch of switchbacks have steep parts. Trails that look less coiled up might be better.
A plan for next time: Start with Kaleidoscope, loop back and ride Kasha up, cut over the Upper Fields to Ziggy. Then take Ziggy all the way around to the southern part of the Fort Hill Trail. Try the Betty Loop while I'm there. Then ride the Epping Forest, and take the Epping Forest Ext trail back out.

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