Opinions are formed by first impressions. The first time I rode the trails at Kelso Mountain Bike Park was in a race; actually I rode a lot of trails for the first time in a race. It was in those races I formed an opinion about those places and decided mid race if I would ride there if it wasn't for the race. Kelso left a bad impression on me in that race which stuck with me for many years. The first race I did there was in a rain storm. I guess you can't blame the park for the rain but I did have a bad day. Another race day went off like firecrackers and it was great except for that long arduous climb up the ski hill. It was a funny course with that big hill climb followed by the almost flat terrain up top, Meh! The last time I raced there it was a hot, sweltering day and I overheated on the big sun soaked climb; one of only two races I didn't complete. So when a friend of mine asked me to ride there I thought; Meh... well okay only because you want to go there. After riding there a few times with my friend my opinion started to shift and I began to see another side of Kelso. A fun technical park with lots of cool rock out cropping’s and man made wooden features. The park has some fast flowing double track coupled with winding trails through the forest and a few very nice downhill runs. It takes a few rides there to find a way to effectively connect the trails in a nice consecutive pattern. The park layout seems random with little forethought to connectivity. There are some technical rock sections of trail that presented a challenge to the average rider and a number of skinnies made out of logs with the tops flattened out. Riding skinnies is something I have had little exposure to but I am finding that they are a fun little feature that is more about mind over matter. The skinnies are as wide as a trail but yet they seem more challenging than they should be. But this brings me back to my first impressions of Kelso. This trail system is built on conservation land and as such they charge for entry into the park to ride. One should expect more from the managers when it is a pay to play park, yet not so much. Many of the skinnies are in disrepair making them sketchy to ride. If a park charges to ride they should deliver a quality experience; one would expect a better product than a trail system built and maintained by volunteers, but it doesn't.
Hey Kelso, don't be a dumb-ass; fix your features.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorRon Head Archives
January 2024
Categories |