Dropping in @ Reveille Peak Ranch
I can’t believe it. I still have not gotten over it. This is some progress…
The Discord crew went to Reveille Peak Ranch to play with bikes, and session the jumps and drops. My buddy Andre is keen to see me progress and has been challenging me when he feels I am ready to tackle bigger features, and even though he would not be here for this, he still told me to go for the second drop platform at the Team Trail Party drop zone. He knew I was ready, and I knew I was ready. It was unfinished business from the last time I was there in October when I felt like I was perhaps asking too much of myself in one day, having just tackled the first drop platform. I suppose we will never know if it was a good idea, but I felt disappointed that I never tried…
however, Things are different these days. For starters, I had an epic crash at East Austin Bike Trails on the Whale Tail. It was gnarly enough to earn me a spot on Pinkbike Friday Fails, and kept me off the bike for a few weeks while my hip grew back the skin that the wood burned off. This had the effect of making me terrified of the whale tail (avoided it a few weeks ago) but more confident on things that are not the whale tail. I was feeling ready for this drop business.
The drop zone at RPR is as fine as it gets. There are actually two drop zones to be exact. The four at the top of the hill are perfect for beginners to intermediate riders. The shortest drop is probably sixteen inches and the tallest is around four feet. The landings are a little rough and do require you turn left ever so gently to avoid washing out, but this is a bigger problem for the largest drop, and a non-issue for the short one. The big drops start with a four-foot platform, and by the time you hit the landing you will have likely dropped six feet. The next one up adds about ten inches of platform height, and you may land deeper than the first one, so your drop is going to be six to eight feet. The third will once again add close to a foot of platform height, and if you send this one you are probably going to lose ten feet of elevation platform to touchdown. The fourth drop platform seems to add double what the ones previous did, and I suppose this is where the bike begins to get tested as well. Even still, the landings for all four drops are steep and have a mellow and long run out so you are not overwhelmed with the hit.
There is of course one more drop - the one with the name - ‘El Toro’. I have no idea how tall it is. It really doesn’t matter. When you send a drop like that you don’t need to get bogged down in bragging over the dimensions; It carries a ton of visual cred.
My goal for the day was to get the second drop done and dusted. Nothing more, just that. This seemed like a good final steppingstone prior to tackling the drop at E-Spank in South Austin trail Network, which is just as tall but a little gnarlier, rawer. I warmed up on the first platform and felt zero hesitation compared to last time, so I actually approached the second drop with a bit more confidence than I usually have when tackling something new. Perhaps this was an indication that was ready for this a few months earlier. I made sure my friends were ready to call emergency services and took off with a few cranks. Everything is slightly downhill so there is no need to pedal once you are on the platform. In fact, I was arriving too hot, I could tell, so I took a quick bite of the brakes, and a few moments later I was I was over the edge, matching the landing, and putting the tires down without a hint of bottoming out. It felt too easy. There was no reason to not do it again. Once more, smooth and silky, almost easier than the first platform, which Brooks just found his confidence on. It occurred to me that at this point, the third platform was the exact same drop as the first two with just a moment more airtime. I wanted to test the theory.
My friend Cullen was hunting his own victories too, and he was feeling like the third drop was not beyond asking for. That was enough validation for me, and with an extra confidence boost from Julian, we climbed back up the hill. I was the first to run down the platform, followed by Cullen with some gap just in case. I built so much speed down the landing it was difficult to turn around and confirm he made it through behind me, but he was right there. It was a total moment. The landing was so smooth and effortless, and the confidence was there in spades, so we went again and again, burning it in, and then started to have fun following each other in a train off three platforms at the same time.
On the other side of the fire road, there is a new jump line, dominated by two huge step ups. This is where my victories for the day would end. I make no secret that my bike is too big. I will complain to anyone who will listen, and I recently shortened the stem to see if this would be a good solution until I can get a bigger bike, but it has had the effect of making me less confident off the lip of a jump, and then there was also the fact that these were just bigger jumps than I was used to. Not a good combo for progressing. The good news is this meant I had the pleasure of watching Julian do his thing, and witnessing Cullen, Gage, Chris, Derek, and Rudy go apeshit, making it a mission to clear the first step up. I am so proud of them. They all got it. It was also cool to run into Noah again. He was killing it out there.
We all left with a victory. Everyone leveled up in one way or another and left with more confidence than we arrived with. It was perfect weather too. A good day on the bike ranch.
