iRide

I’ve always dreamed of being able to have some sort of bike skills course at my own house. I’m pretty certain every mountain biker would love to be able to hit up some fun without ever having to leave the house. Some people have been fortunate enough to make it a reality. Unfortunately, I’ve never had enough property to be able to pull it off. Until now.

Since the day we moved in to our new place, I knew it had LOTS of possibilities. There’s plenty of available space in the yard to put several skill building features in.

I pulled up a Google Earth shot of our property and did a few quick edits to show what I’m working with:

The blacked out areas are areas we won’t be able to use. The other colors show where I have available space. The “red” section is about 50′ long, as is the ‘blue” section. The “yellow” and “green” sections are both 75′ long. Starting at the “red’ section, you would then flow into the “blue”, then the “yellow” and then the “green”. The “red” section is at the highest point of the yard and you continue to loose elevation very gradually all the way down to the “green’ section.

The “red” section is pretty narrow and will basically serve as a run-in to pick up speed to hit the rest of the course. It’s higher elevation makes this an ideal starting point.

The “blue” section will be able to hold 1-2 features.

The “yellow” section has the most promise. Besides being 75′ log, it is at least 10′ wide throughout. I’m thinking a ladder-bridge drop and/or a “skinny” will work great there since it has a gentle downward slope.

The “green” section has lot’s of promise too. I’m thinking a teeter-totter or log roll will fit pretty well.

I’ve been talking to Sean about it this past week and he’s been keeping an eye out for free wood/logs and such to make it happen. I’ve been doing the same.

Today I drove past the local fire station and saw that they had a bunch of tree trunk sections cut up and stacked along the fence at the edge of the property. I stopped, got out and rang the bell. One of the firemen came to the door and I asked him if the trunk sections were free for the taking. I said I had a backyard project and they would work perfectly. He said I could take whatever I wanted.

I went and got dad’s truck to haul them in, grabbed Dylan to help me and went back to the fire station. I was thinking it should be pretty easy since the trunk sections were all about 2′ in diameter and all about a foot high. Boy was I wrong!!! It would appear that the tree(s) they cut down were made of lead and not wood. Wow they were heavy!! I’m guessing at least 200 lbs each. So much for my dreams of a 15′ long log roller.

I was able to muscle 2 sections up into the truck though. I took them back to the house and immediately set them up in the “blue” section. Even though I could only bring two pieces back, it makes for a fun roll:

The very pronounced hump on top of the second, rounded log makes it a little bit tougher than without, but it was really fun to hit. And of course, I had to break it in:

I’ll be sure to post more as we build it. Until next time, seek your bliss.

Ride lots…