I had originally heard about the trails last year from local riders and was told it might be difficult to ride muni there because it is rooty. But it's hard to rule out a trail without ever seeing it.
There is a mountain bike race in August at Sprague Brook called the Single Track Stampede II. Mj mentioned it to me and it looked like a good one.
I emailed the race coordinator and got the go ahead to ride muni at the race. But first I needed to test ride the course since I've never ridden there before.So Mj and I drove out there today and gave it a try. They are definitely the most rooty trails I've ever seen. The roots are everywhere and they rarely let up. In the past this would have been an awful trail for me. But I guess I've gotten to a level of riding where it's actually fun to continuously pop over roots and pick the path of least resistance. It's a constant battle to power over the roots, rocks, and log piles on these trails. It's also a huge workout, but surprisingly my lower back did not fatigue like I would have expected. I've been trying to sit up and relax more whenever possible and I think it's helping.
At first Mj and I missed a turn and rode a cross country ski trail which is a much wider and smoother, dirt and rock trail. It was really the only place I used my high gear, but most of that isn't part of the race course.
Looking at a GPS map I found online, I may not have ridden the end of the course completely. But I certainly got a feel for it the trails. ROOTS! There were also, some good hillclimbs, some walking hillclimbs, a fun stream crossing, some cool rock armored sections, wood bridges, skinny bridges, small log piles, one big log pile (I had to walk), and... ROOTS! And a lot of it is right at the edge of a ravine, adding to the excitement.
I enjoyed it a lot and I will likely ride at the race in August.
My cycle computer said I went 9.9 miles, which is a little farther than my GPS. I guess all those ups and downs aren't accounted for on GPS.
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