January Recap

There is a trail system in Austin that has the finest downhill run. Although the system exists on Trailforks I will refrain from mentioning its actual name and location here. You can just enjoy the footage. It’s a proper tech trail with well thought out features, and there is a steepness factor here. The whole trail is loose and chunky and starts with a step down with a steep rocky landing, followed by a roll that becomes a drop at speed. You then blast into the woods and come upon a rock ramp with yet another rocky landing - this one a bit flatter - and plenty of trees to crash into.

A short blast around a left bend and you come up to a slow speed rocky off camber right hand turn, and from this point on gravity takes over. You are gaining speed; the whole trail is pointed downwards from this point on. There is a sequence of berms, another rock kicker ramp, a stone berm, and then a long, sweeping, bermed rut before a steep G-out where your wheels will lose contact at the drop. This is followed by two tree gates, the second one has a small drop between the trees which I am especially fond of. Wild considering how much I despise tree gates.

After the drop is a rooty-rocky plunge before the trail finally flattens out; but the biggest challenge is still yet to come. There is a 6’ creek gap with an optional skinny B-Line which is literally just a 2X6 to cross the gap. it’s possible to break a derailleur here, so fall on your rotor side. Once you clear the creek you are rewarded with a final step down, with you guessed it, a loose rocky landing, and then that’s that! About a minute to a minute and a half. It’s absolutely worth the brutal hike-a-bike climb to get to the top.

I filmed a ton of third-person footage of Brian, Trevor, Cullen, Brooks, and Julian. Everyone was on their A game and the few crashes were mild with no injuries although Brian did lose his shoe on the final step-down. The biggest casualty was Brooks’ rear derailleur, which was taken out by the creek gap skinny.

The new Third-Person Hero 10 rig got a lot of use

The weather was absolutely beautiful, and we decided the fun should not end yet, so Brooks grabbed his backup bike and we drove to the other side of Austin to check what Will Blount has been shaping out at Best Side Trails.

Best Side Trails - Middle Line

This spot is so cool. There are two shipping containers that create an elevated launch platform. One whole side of the park has been completely re-imagined, boasting three jump lines with machine built step-up tabletops that are way too big for me to clear yet. an incredible middle line with pumpable flow and relatively few big moments to be concerned about is perfect for beginners, and then there is the line on the right which is a good intermediate line. The other half of the park remains mostly unchanged, for now. The big kicker ramp on its own straight off the launch platform has grown ever so slightly and has a more curved shape to it. That is probably my personal favorite feature, and you can get some serious air on that. The landing is ample, and the gap is small enough to be a non-issue if you fail to commit fully. There is also a whale-tail, and I am not going to lie, it scares me so much. Probably because it was the site of my worst crash ever which was gnarly enough to make it onto PinkBike Friday Fails. This whale-tail is otherwise totally rad. After you clear it, you are greeted with a gorgeous wall ride that makes use of a huge fallen tree. Ride the tree for extra credit. This line ends with a series of three gap jumps, with wooden kickers and dirt landings. The gaps are mild, but you do have to pedal your ass off to clear them. I believe these will be changed soon as there were new ramps staged and waiting.

The Whale Tail

I really can’t say enough about East Best Side Trails. What Garrett and Will have created out here is a world-class dirt jump location where you can progress or show off if you already have the skill.