Because XC is sooo XC

With more and more 5-6″ travel bikes becoming mainstream in mountain biking, using these longer travel bikes for longer rides are becoming easier. Take for example my weekend. Between Dan Burdett, our friend Eric Young and I, we each had 5-6″ travel bikes. We rode up a bunch of climbs just so we can bomb down the hills. Climbing on these bigger bikes still doesn’t compare to a 4″ XC bike, its more work but it allows you to enjoy gnarlier trails that are out there.

The 3 of us met up at Aliso Woods in Aliso Viejo, Ca. We decided to take on 5 Oaks, up Cholla, down Rockit, up Cholla, down and up Stair Steps and down Lynx and back to the car. If you’re familiar with the trails I mentioned, then you’ll understand there’s a bit of climbing involved. By the way, this is Eric’s first time being on MtnBikeRiders.com, so let me introduce you to him.

What I love about mountain biking is, you get into some deep conversations while you’re out there…

Going down Stair Steps was a treat for me. I haven’t been through that trail in nearly 5 years! Eric and Dan lead the way since they were more familiar with it than I was. I gotta tell you, that’s a super fun trail, plenty of big rocks and drops. As fun as it is, the trail might be too technical for some.

But Dan and Eric hit up Stair Step all the time that they can ride it confidently.

The only sucky thing about Stair Steps is you gonna hike it back up….Once we got back to the top, we sailed down Lynx and headed out of the park.

This really was a fun day, I loved the technical aspects of the trails but I was also grateful that I got a work out in during this ride. As much as I’d prefer a shuttle DH ride, getting the legs moving and lungs working is always going to be better for my health.