Guest Blog: Dirty Church Indoctrination
This past Sunday (Aug. 14) was my first time attending Dirty Church service at the Walnut Creek pump track. I'll spare you some of the puns, but they were flowing like holy water all morning.
I didn't have a bike to ride because I broke my brake lever from a crash on Wednesday. Turns out that didn't even matter. I ended up riding 5 bikes and borrowing 2 different sweaty helmets (yeah, I know, gross, right?) and rode my first jump line ever. I even managed to find some air, which makes it my first time jumping a bike.
Amazing adrenaline rush!
It's always incredible to see how much the riders support one another. Everyone was working to build and maintain the jumps before riding. Sweeping dirt, pouring water, patching the holes in the jumps, listening to classical tunes ... it was an interesting vibe to start out the morning, haha!
The Walnut Creek pump track is rather small, but it's easy to get to, totally acessible, great for beginners, and is well maintained. It's tucked away in Walnut Creek Metro Park, a pretty popular place in northwest Austin for riding, hiking and hanging out in nature. There are plenty of group rides that meet at the park, and the terrain is pretty accessible for riders of all skill levels. There's room to progress and lots of opportunity to meet other riders. There's about 10 miles of trails, some decent punchy climbs, and cool features like the pump track.
Walnut Creek is one of the first places I rode trail in Austin with the Austin Ridge Riders. It's probably a similar story for a lot of riders here.
If you're free on Sunday mornings, come on out, sweep some dirt, and hit some jumps. A chair and some coffee is comfy if you're not riding - and you don't have to, but you'll definitely want to once you see how rad it is!
