It wasn’t big by any measurement, maybe a full wheelbase of my Waltworks V2. It was significantly smoother than the janky ‘scoop’ made it look, and the finishing punch was easily handled by my 2.8″ front tire, but it was still the most significant rock move I’ve been on since January and it felt good. Really good. All my nervousness about having brought my rigid bike to Cumberlandworx evaporated. It was a nice feeling, so we went back on Day 2 and hit it again.
Day 2 was a much shorter pedal than Day 1 but it was still a great ride and the Clairebarian managed to math her hard-earned North Shore riding skills and the Cumberland miles into a new lever of riding confidence that’s been so fun to see. In addition to cleaning some impressive technical uphill sections on her 24″ wheels, she rode her longest ever ladder bridge (Upper Crafty Butcher) and steepest ever ladder (Double Pumper).
Actually, the neatest part of this progression in confidence is that Nina and I both are here to be part of it. Claire’s mom works really hard at her job so she doesn’t get to join us for a lot of the weekday rides we go on where Claire rides this ladder or that rock or some steep corner for the first time. And because she’s still at the age, and size, where being ‘spotted’ is a viable safety measure I don’t usually get photos of that stuff either.
Lots of big smiles all around.
I’ve seen a lot of really discouraged little kids (and adults) mountain biking on ‘The Shore’ over the years. Most of the trails are not kind in terms of any smooth progression and they’re greasy much of the year so it’s incredibly frustrating if you can’t keep a positive attitude and it’s just hard if you can’t celebrate little victories over technical trail features as you learn to ride janky trails.
It’s neat to come somewhere the trails are simply easier but still have super-fun rocks, roots, and ladders, and just get that confidence boost that your skills on a bike are solid. Nina’s been stomping steep technical climbs too and everyone’s feeling a sense of accomplishment. If that’s not a reason to add #Cumberlandworx to your mountain bike travel list I’m not sure what would be.
Asking the Clairebarian to name her favourite trail still has to be prefaced by “other than Space Nuggets” but the question is getting harder to answer as we log more saddle time. New Vanilla and Blueprint were both hits but the full Crafty Butcher line and Double Pumper are also part of the discussion.
The trail she most wants to hit again (other than Space Nuggets) is the top part of 50:1 so maybe that’ll take the second step on the podium by the end of our trip?
I can’t believe how many proper big bikes we’ve seen over the last couple of days. I suppose proper long travel rigs do pedal well these days and, of course, if you’re making one mountain bike work it may be optimized for other trails than what we’re seeing folks on, but, well, it just seems to me that this is perfect hardtail country. Even perfect ‘double hardtail’ country.
Why drag around the extra complexity and maintenance costs of a sag wagon when the punchy up and down sections and rolling miles lend themselves so well to rigid frames? Of course, what do I know – I also think Plus tires work awesome around here. Nina’s running 27×2.8″ Butchers front and rear and I’m on the 29×2.8″ Vigilante up front with a (+/-) 29×2.6″ SE4 in the back.