I know I had a cycling thread on here, but I couldn't find it. But perhaps this is worthy for a fresh post.

This past Saturday I decided to check out Diablo Freeride Park in Vernon, New Jersey. For those of you in the area, it's the same as Mountain Creek. In the summer it's a downhill biking place and a water park. In the winter, it's a ski resort.

www.diablofreeridepark.com is the link for those who are interested.

This is the 2nd time I went to a dedicated downhill park, the first time being almost 10 years ago. Back then, bike technology was nowhere near what it is today and my entry level Pro Flex was okay. This time, my baller Ellsworth Moment seemed crappy in comparison to what some of these guys were riding.

Since I did not have full armor, I decided to start out on the easy trails first and ride them several times to increase my speed. Slowly, I would venture into the intermediate and single black diamond trails. No chance for the double black yet, although I did try a few select obstacles. Now onto to the pictures.

This is near the bottom of the chairlift facing upwards. I took most of my pictures from the lift since it's hard holding a camera at 40+mph.



One of the banked turns. It's actually a lot easier than it looks. The camera didn't really capture the slope of the course, it's actually pretty steep. If there was no bank here, you'd be thrown way off into the trees.



Another picture...



View down the lift from a little ways up.



There were lots of riders that day.



Hmm, not today. I didn't feel like dying...yet. Maybe next weekend.



Again, the camera couldn't capure the slope of this wooden obstacle. It's VERY steep, to the point where you couldn't walk up/down. I almost bit it a few times coming off this thing into the rocks.



At the top of the lift, the trails split up several times. I initally went on the easy trail, and this picture is of the expert trail right to my right. I rode it a few times because i wanted to try the obstacles. They were not difficult.



A closeup...



I wussed out the first 2 times I encountered this one. Unfortunately, the 2nd time as I went around it, a chick blasted by me through it. Yeah, a chick. I couldn't let that happen, so the next few times I just did it. I find that when you think too much, you won't do it. Just ride it and don't stop, and you'll find it's very easy.



This one was called the Phantom I think. I did not attempt this one that day. Maybe next time I will try it. It seems pretty easy, it's the whole hesitating and "thinking too much" thing that I have to get past.



Some guys I rode with for a short time, until they took the double black diamond trail. They really didn't speak English much.



More random bikers...



Looking thru the bottom of the lift.







This one captured the banked turns pretty nicely.





There were lots of injuries that day, more than normal they said. One guy nearly sliced off his nipple. Another cut open his kneecap and I could actually see his bone! I didn't get a picture of it. I did, however, get this guy. Had to get stiches. Note that he had a full face helmet too!





Hope you enjoyed. I'll probably double post this in my Official Mountain Biking thread too.

 

Man i gotta get my bike out....

 

Sick!

 

Thats hardcore.. i would so get owned on one of those obstacles.

 

Couple more...

A lot of these type of places RENT bikes. So if your excuse is you don't have one, I don't wanna hear it!

They had two Iron Horse bikes each with almost 10 inches of suspension travel. Yeah they were heavy (45+ lbs) but they're so cushy you could just sit down while bombing down the trails. I was bouncing around a lot in mine since I only had about 6-7 inches of travel.

I forgot to include this picture too. My hydraulic brakes started to lose pressure midway through the 2nd run. Not sure what happened, but I really hope I don't have a leak. I didn't see any oil anywhere, but I had the techs there bleed it for me for $20.

My bike is behind the kid, he didn't know how to bleed, so he had to wait for another tech. The white one on the right is one of the rentals. $89 for the entire day. Not bad if you ask me. $36 for an entire day lift pass if you already have a bike. Unfortunately, I ended up buying:
Replacement disc pads - $19.99
Bleed front brakes - $20
Powerade when my water ran out - $3.75 :thumbdown:



What I'm riding:

 

I dont even think I can walk down the trail. lol

 

wow that is awesome

 

Nice pix. That's Mt. Creek in the winter right?