Thanks for all the responses, map, etc. Been away from the forum for a while, so I will try to answer all the questions, etc
My best chances of riding will be Saturday and Monday. If there is nobody to ride along, I think I can follow the map pretty well assuming trails are marked.
Rock gardens aren't the top of my favorite trails to ride, but I will ride anything that doesn't ride me first. =) We have our share of rock gardens and rocky trails at Oak Mountain in Alabama.
Hmmm - Oak Mountain favorites - If you like rocky and technical, then West Ridge, and the top portion of Jekyll and Hyde are your best bet. If you like flowing roller coaster trails, the bottom portion of Jekyll and Hyde is awesome. If you are into boulders, drops, and trials biking, then Boulder Ridge is your thing. There is also the flow trail with step ups, tabletops, etc that is a hit with the big travel bikes. We also have a sweet pump track if that is your thing. The rest of the trail is just great single track.
Tuscaloosa is about an hour from Oak Mountain. If you can't get up to Oak Mountain, the Tuscaloosa area also has some great trail systems but I haven't had the chance to ride them yet. They are Munny Sokol and Lake Lurleen. The WAMBA group (
wamba:: west alabama mountain biking association) is the best group for giving info on those trails.
If anyone ever gets down to the Birmingham area, our club is BUMP (
BUMP). Feel free to post on our forum or Facebook page and there are sure to be some folks show up to ride with you. There is a big group making their second trip down from Michigan to ride Oak Mountain sometime after the first of the year.
Another great place to ride about an hour from Birmingham is Coldwater Mountain. It only has about 12-13 miles of trail now, but it is slated to have 60+ when done. It is pristine land with all purpose built (no roads, double track, horse trails, etc) mountain bike trails designed/built primarily by IMBA trail crews. The 10 mile loop currently has a 3 mile climb that is not incredibly steep, but steady. The payoff is 3.5 miles of downhill with rarely one pedal stroke. If you have a drop post or can lower your seat you can rail the trail like crazy. All the rollers, doubles, etc are spaced just right for a ride that will keep you grinning for a long time!
That photo is definitely at Oak Mtn. I couldnt begin to count the number of times I have ridden by it. =)
Here is a link to one of my buddy's videos (
The Oak Mtn Experience on Vimeo) he did of Oak Mountain. Be sure to check out his other videos as well on YouTube and Vimeo.
Nate