My Best Day of Riding Ever

I had the most amazing day of riding today. I accomplished so much and I’m stoked!

I went to Mountain Creek with my Dad. There wasn’t much in head, I was just looking forward to a day of party laps. No race this weekend and the conditions were prime…tacky trails and temps in the low 70s.

The day started off typical enough, laps on the standard trails - Upper Deviant, Breakout, Alpine, Domboo. Alpine was running fine and I was starting to get higher and higher on the wall rides. After lunch, I decided I wanted to check out the Pipeline drop, it’s a minimum 7ft drop and goes further depending on how deep you send it.

We dropped into Upper Dominion and stopped at the drop. I checked it out and it looked good, but definitely high. It would for sure be the biggest drop I’ve ever hit. While checking it out, a couple of guys from Rochester rode up. Rick and Shawn were super nice and super encouraging. They had a really great vibe and Rick volunteered to tow me into the drop. I had a good feeling about it, I knew I could do it and Rick’s stoke was just what I needed to go Full Send. I followed Rick over the drop and sent it! It felt so good. I then hiked my bike back up and sent it two more times. I loved it!

We then regrouped at the top of Lower Dominion. After hearing I could do the large Lower Dominion table tops, Rick floated the idea of towing me into the On/Off drop on Salvation. I was feeling great and said sure. Down we went, sending the table tops until we joined Salvation, we made the turn and hopped onto the wooden planks of the On/Off bridge. With good speed, I just sent it after Rick, with Shawn following. It was amazing, such a smooth landing. I didn’t realize how huge it was until I saw the photos later. It’s about a 12ft gap and at least a 6ft or 7ft drop. Then it was over the bridge and down the rest of Salvation. Again, with Rick leading I had the speed just right and launched over all the tables. Such a great feeling.

Down the mountain we continued to go, launching off the step up on Crap Shoot before eventually finding ourselves on the deck of the Phantom Drop.

I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t been thinking about this drop for a long time. It’s about 8ft high and sits in plain sight from the lift line up. All summer it seemed to be begging me to take it. A few weeks ago I felt ready to send it, but once I got there and took a few practice run ups, I bailed.

Now I was back. Rick again offered to tow me over and showed me his line which approached it from an angle. This allowed you to both see the landing prior to taking off and extend the notoriously short landing a bit because you would land across it, rather than straight into it. I was still buzzing from the other drops so I followed Rick and sent it! It really is an abrupt landing but I sent it perfectly. So rad!

What a run, what a day. I parted ways with Rick and Shawn and hope I see them again soon. For the rest of the afternoon, I did a few more laps on Dominion/Salvation/Alpine getting the drops and tables dailed. I finished off the day on Tempest, sending the potato chip drop that starts the trail, another feature I had never sent before.

Such an incredible day and I’m going to remember it for a long time. I love this sport!