Went with 2 other friends last weekend, and had a blast! got off work and we rolled into the EC parking lot around 4:30, and had the entire trail to ourselves. Who would have known such a trail existed in a backwater like Greenville! Very good flow to it, and some nice stunts which tested out mtbiking acumen. I especially liked the a frame, and the drop down off the rock platform. Also who could forget the various skinny's and ladders along the trail. the only one I didn't try was the log pile...I took one look at the 10" diameter top log and decided that I was not up for the challenge of possibly trashing my rear derailleur so early in the trip...
Then it was off to Sheerer rd.., about 5 minutes away. We heard that it might be a bit hard to find, but my buddy came prepared with his computer so we got the addy off the mmba website and googled it and bam, we were there! This trail is about half the 10 mile EC trail, and doesn't have the stunts on it, but is very fast and flowy, kind of like our Anderson Park on steroids! I especially liked the "pine forest" part of the trail, and several good climbs with sustained downhill sections and built up curves that allowed us to maintain our speed and not have to brake! A great addition to the EC ride, filling out our evening itinerary and ending our mileage for the evening at 15.5.
We then headed out to Founder's Brewing Co. in Grand Rapids, and had us some post ride beers. Theirs a beer for just about everybody, from the 9% Dirty *beep*, to the 5% Pale , and the sandwiches were very tasty. It was Friday night and the place was jammed, the Tigers were on TV., and many locals got in line to fill their "Growlers" for the weekend. We took two for ourselves and headed to the hotel...
Next day it was back out to Luton Park for another incredible experience on the trails. As highly as I thought of EC and Sheerer, the Luton Park experience even surpassed it for technical challenge and fun. this trail was very well thought out and well maintained with 5 separate sub-trails off of a main trail which circles around a perimeter. Each sub trail is anywhere from .9 mile to 3.7 miles, and can be rideden seperately or puzzled together in a variety of ways to provide the level and intensity of whatever type of ride you're looking for. We were able to ride all of them, completing the Luton circuit, then went back and did a blue-black-yellow circuit again. My 50-something year old legs were jelly by the end of the day, and we packed it in and headed home.
In between rides we headed into Rockford for some grub, and to check out the local bike shop there. If you need anything while in this area I would highly recommend stopping in. A great bunch of guys, and their mechanic completed the Leadville 100 this year for the first time, and actually missed a belt buckle by 23 minutes!! It was a lot of fun listening to him talk about the apparent circus that is the Leadville, and the associated carnage. And there's definitely enough bike bling in there to satisfy most appetites including the 500$ Stan's wheelset, and the 1,800.00 Niner carbon 29er frame.
We will definitely be hitting these trails again this year before the snow flies, and will be adding Egypt valley, and Cannonsburg to the mix! For what it's worth, nice job Western branch of MMBA, them are some nice trails you maintain!!
Bill
