Is the Midwest Really Flat?

Marquette Ski Hill's DH course.

Watching my brother endo reminded me of the video I'd seen of Dave riding the San Juan Trail in Southern California where he endoed at least three times. The trail wasn't very technical and I remember him using the excuse, "My rear brakes didn't work. The hydraulic line broke in the first 20 minutes."

Dave had no mechanicals this day. He rode every ladder drop in the freeride course and styled them out, just as his buddy Mike B. did. They made my brother and I look like cross-country geeks that were riding a DH/freeride course for the first time. We were sloppy and slow, but we tried to hit most of the stunts.

Our next run was in the Benson Grade on a trail nicknamed "flow." It had a double teeter-totter that was set on top of a 4-foot ladder bridge. Mike and Dave rode it flawlessly, so I figured I had to do it.

One of the many challenges of our Marquette rides.

I hit it with so much speed that I launched off the backside before I could ride down the ladder. This would have worked on a dry day. But, it was wet and my front tire washed out. Fortunately, I cracked my head on the packed earth, instead of the wooden ladder.

There are easier routes on every stunt built into the trails, but you can always go big. Dave and Mike hit a 15-plus-foot step-down gap, launching down the trail a good 25 feet. After Dave landed it twice, he went for a third attempt where he nearly overshot the tranny, only giving him and his bike 3 feet to recover before hitting the flat, which put him into a spin and eventually crashed him into Mike.

We left Marquette with two rider collisions and one nasty teeter-totter fall under our belts. As we drove into the fog that night, I felt like I did after each run on Whistler's terrain park--a little shaky and confused at how I was still in one piece.

Check back soon for tour updates from our East Coast stops in Vermont and at Pedro's Fest in Massachusetts.