Bozeman Montana
- Thread starter Blair
- Start date
Big Sky yesterday was awesome. Highly recommend though holy crap are things expensive! Only managed half a day due to many reasons but it was enough - I was gassed. Fighting a cold, have the family with me, haven't downhilled in like 5 years, never been to a western bike park, local buddy nursing an injury but whatever. This bike park puts the east coast ones to shame (though I haven't been to newer ones like thunder and highland). Steep rough tech trails, flow/jump trails of every size - from Greenhorn to 5x the size of Dominion. Everything is so well marked, the views are incredible and people are really nice. Bozeman is a really cool town too. I hope to come back.
On my last night i rented a bike and hit a local Bozeman loop with my buddy when he got off work.
Rented a Trance from Owenhouse Cycling right downtown and they were friendly and rental prices seemed reasonable ($49 Fathom hardtail, $75 Trance, $100 SantaCruz for 24hrs). They also had ebikes but i wasn't gonna cheat for a 6 mile ride. Buddy took me to a newer bike-specific, directional loop called Leverich Canyon. Access road was rougher than the trail and definitely required a 4WD truck. Trail was rated Blue Square and i think that was accurate. Surface was similar to 6MR when dusty with a few small tech sections but steep climb up for this fat guy at elevation and some mild exposure. 1 hour to climb 3.5 miles of umpteen perfectly crafted switchbacks. I stopped a bunch of times to catch my breath but I rode the whole climb, no dabs. Then the downhill is fast and flowy with berms and small optional jumps. It was a hoot for the first minute, but then i got going too fast, almost slid off trail down a cliff and blew out my rear tire in the process. Luckily i made a sweet recovery and came away unscathed, but then had to do the slow ride down the rest with a flat because we were stupid and didn't bring any tools. Buddy swapped bikes with me for a little bc he felt bad but his didn't fit me so took it easy on that too. Either way, i had fun and would recommend the trail for anyone going and looking for something quick, not too far from town.
Rented a Trance from Owenhouse Cycling right downtown and they were friendly and rental prices seemed reasonable ($49 Fathom hardtail, $75 Trance, $100 SantaCruz for 24hrs). They also had ebikes but i wasn't gonna cheat for a 6 mile ride. Buddy took me to a newer bike-specific, directional loop called Leverich Canyon. Access road was rougher than the trail and definitely required a 4WD truck. Trail was rated Blue Square and i think that was accurate. Surface was similar to 6MR when dusty with a few small tech sections but steep climb up for this fat guy at elevation and some mild exposure. 1 hour to climb 3.5 miles of umpteen perfectly crafted switchbacks. I stopped a bunch of times to catch my breath but I rode the whole climb, no dabs. Then the downhill is fast and flowy with berms and small optional jumps. It was a hoot for the first minute, but then i got going too fast, almost slid off trail down a cliff and blew out my rear tire in the process. Luckily i made a sweet recovery and came away unscathed, but then had to do the slow ride down the rest with a flat because we were stupid and didn't bring any tools. Buddy swapped bikes with me for a little bc he felt bad but his didn't fit me so took it easy on that too. Either way, i had fun and would recommend the trail for anyone going and looking for something quick, not too far from town.