As I mentioned on Friday, we headed over to Huntsville, Alabama over the weekend to get in some mountain biking at the Monte Sano Fat Tire Festival. This annual event attracts about 100 or so registered mountain bikers ready to stay at the cabins and camp sites for a weekend of rocky trails and good food. Friday night, we packed up the truck and headed over to a hotel so that we could be there first thing Saturday morning ready to setup camp and ride.
All racked up and ready to roll, Saturday morning came quick and we were eager to get out and see exactly how many rocks this place really had. This story really starts over a year ago when a friend of ours, SSINGA, moved back over to the Monte Sano area. Ever since then, he has been telling me that I need to get over there and check out the trails. I am a sucker for good old fashion rock tech riding, and Sean kept on telling me how many rocks Monte Sano really had. Now…with the Fat Tire Festival…it was a perfect chance to dig out the tent and make the 4 hour trip over to check the place out.
Note: These are the only pictures I took over the weekend. No video…no pictures…I failed as a blogger. I brought everything with me – I just never took the Nikon or the ContourHD out of my bag. Why you ask? I was having too much fun riding. Sometimes you just have to take a little time off!
After setting up camp in a fantastic camping area, we headed over to the pavilion to get ready to ride. Since this was a mountain biking festival, there were about 6 ride options for riders of all skill levels. Sean was bringing in a new ride this year that was marked on the trail by the skull and crossbones signs. Basically, we were going to loop together all of the most technical downhills and climbs in the park. Since I am obsessed with technical riding…that is the option I chose!
For this trip, I brought out the Niner W.F.O. 9 to see what it could handle. I had heard that 29ers were a perfect sled for this area as the big wheels are known for helping you roll over rocks and obstacles. What better way to try to carry speed over rocks than bring one of the longest travel 29ers on the market? Yeah – seemed like a great idea to me too, so that is the bike that was going to get a thrashing.
As we suited up and headed down the family trail to our first descent, everything was rolling along fine for about the first 5 minutes. I rolled over a large rock and then – all of the sudden – psssssssssssssss! Hole number one in my tire and we haven’t even hit the hard stuff yet! Actually, I think I put this hole in earlier in the week when we were checking out some new drops and rock lines in our local FR area. I just happen to open it up in the first 5 minutes of this ride. Luckily, my pump and the Stans sealant inside of my tire patched things up and we were rolling again (I would have this happen several more times during this 20 mile + romp in the woods…thank God for tubeless and Stans in the rocks).
We came to an entrance and I new it was time. Sean gave me the go ahead, so I dropped the seat and got to work. The next 10 minutes of riding was filled with some of the best rock lines I have ridden to date. This first, super fast downhill run was filled with switchbacks and HUGE rocks that were just begging to throw your line. During 3/4 of the DH, I am pretty sure you couldn’t even see dirt. I was in heaven. Weight back, arms bent, legs bent, working the bike independently of my body, trying to get a pedal stroke in where I can to keep the momentum flowing, listening to the tread rip over the hard corners of the rocks hoping it doesn’t flat, dropping the larger rocks into another rock garden…does it get any better than that? I finally got to the bottom with a HUGE smile on my face. Sean was right…this place has a lot of rocks and we were just getting started.
The rest of the ride was filled with numerous flats, sidewall tears and incredible riding. Monte Sano is a great trail if you are looking to up your tech rock riding skills. All of the climbs, flats and downhills are a blast as you pick your way through. The 20+ mile ride took over 4-1/2 hours as your average is low and the stops to fill up your tires is high. I love groomed speed as much as the next mountain biker, but Monte Sano keeps your attention with every pedal stroke and that is a great change of pace.
About 3/4 of the way through our ride, you get to stop at this bad ass cave. This cave really makes you realize how much rock is really in this area as you ride through the huge mass of stone that looks like it should fall in at any time under the weight.
When it was all said and done, we had two great rides over the weekend that really satisfied my technical riding needs. The W.F.O. 9 performed flawlessly over the course of the weekend and the Panaracer Rampage’s held up despite getting several holes that had to be sealed up with Stans (nothing like white spray all over the frame!). The Monte Sano Fat Tire festival had some great events (so I hear – I was out riding!) and great food to go along with great company. This is one of those events that I will have to keep on the calendar for next year. If you are into rocks…Monte Sano is a place you are going to have to try out.
And I promise to take more pictures and video next time…