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T-East Tailhead mayhem

12K views 141 replies 32 participants last post by  FM 
#1 ·
I know this is common knowledge to many here but for any of the noobs....

Be kind, clean up, quiet during the evening hours, respectful of the neighbors, etc. :thumbsup:

It's been packed as of late with news of FT3K re-opening and other multi-platinum video releases circulating the intra-webz...

And, not going to get any quieter as the dry months arrive....
 
#99 ·
Yeah, I missed the turn off for Crazy Ivan while on Midtown too. At least now that I'm slowly making pieces of my own map, I can see how to string some of the trails together better.

Question. So while you're riding on the SVT towards the climb to flowtron, you pass three trails coming down on your left. Crazy Ivan, Midtown, ???, and then the end of OGDH. Is the ??? trail something you can climb up to get to Ivan and Midtown easier? Seems like there's got to be an easier way to get to the pump track than going all the way around to the Powerline climb, no?
 
#100 ·
The second trail is actually originally the old horse trail that climbs the clearcut to a landing with a hitching rail. You can take that road to trail up to where Midtown crosses or take it all the way to the top of the power lines. Either way, you're climbing.
 
#104 ·
Flowtron has had a ton of work done in the last few weeks. There are several new drops on it, and the muddy swamp crossing area has been fixed up really nice. I'll post video of the changes tonight!

Midtown is wearing in nicely and how much better flow now. It is getting a lot of skid ruts, but that's to be expected due to the steep terrain and soft topsoil.
 
#105 ·
I was really impressed with Flowtron on Sunday. The first few corners aren't so tight and the features definitely raise the pucker factor. I would still love to see the first corner be built up a bit more to carry speed from Neutron into Flowtron. It seems to me the angle is there to build a nice banked wall to drop in. The step up jump was a fun addition as well. What was carved into the mini bridge over the swamp? I couldn't read what it said. The swamp was a nice improvement as well. I used to always see someone in our group go off of the old sketchy ramp which was fun for entertainment value.

Thank you to everyone who has been working on this trail.
 
#109 ·
I actually have video of 2 guys climbing out of that thing. One guy tipped over and went in feet first. When he pulled his left foot out his shoe stayed in the mud and it filled up. We were laughing pretty hard as he attempted to pour the muddy goo out.

The other guy went into the goo pit on his side and came up with one arm and one leg completely covered. He had on a light tan long sleeve jersey and brown shorts, so the addition of the goo made it look like he had a two tone Troy Lee outfit on. His nickname has been "swamp thing" ever since!
 
#110 ·
The first time I took my brother in law there he slid off the logs and stepped up to his thigh in nasty mud. I had to cheer for him when he made it mud free yesterday. :)

And maybe it's just me, but I think I actually like Flowtron better now in the clear cut compared to in the trees.
 
#111 ·
It's just you.... ;)

Actually, I like the view but miss the old, early, "before discovered" version....

I have a video of that with all the woodwork and the Bog Log, etc. But, it won't upload to mtbr... :(

Going up Beaver Pond in West Saturday, I was pretty stoked actually about the views we will get now.
 
#116 ·
That's a good point, I guess some err... heads up, is in order. If you struggle with Flowtron, you DO NOT want to go on Midtown or Crazy Ivan, those are way more technical and steep/loose.

I didn't mean to come across as bashing West either, the trails are good and yes fun, they are just very similar to a lot of other trails I ride too. The stuff I like on East feels unique for the area, you don't often get steep and tight switchbacks like that with IMBA trail guidelines. :)
 
#119 ·
Kamikaze was quite overgrown last I heard, and even when it was first 'found' and put on the maps didn't get enough traffic to really become defined. Clearcut used to get some traffic so is probably rideable. It crosses private property at the exit though and really isn't the most fun way back down. There's not really much reason to get out to the top of clearcut now that the views aren't as good at the old overlook. I wouldn't go up either of these trails.
 
#120 ·
I tried to find Kamikaze on Sunday. Found the start of the upper section no problem...and found the last 100 meters of the trail...that's about all that remains. The rest is hikeabike at best. Horses use it still but the brush is so thick I spent about 5 mins clearing my rear cassette just to get home. Stay away from Kamikaze and Clearcut for now.

Cheers,
Mike
 
#122 ·
Thanks for sharing. I'm looking forward to getting out there this year.

Question for the experienced here. I've seen a couple of midtown videos and it seems like its going to be pretty difficult that first time down. What are some other trails I could tackle and build up some skills for those super tight corners? or is it just a matter of just trying it? I've ridden lower Ivan a few times successfully (meaning, made it down :)) and upper Ivan was too much for me. Just wanted to give a frame of reference. I also didn't go out to Tokul at all last year so its been some time. Last year was mostly Duthie and Tiger for me.

-joel
 
#123 ·
You could always ride Cuss Hollow at Duthie... Somebody should.

There is a trail in the flats of T-East that ties into ODGH on the left on the way down that has a few switchbacks. Don't think the WeyCo logging got that far North. There's Full Bench over in T-West too. You can ride those, you can ride Midtown.

Videos: pumping up everyone around to go ride Tokul. (Kinda dumb thing to do IMHO to ensure trail integrity but that's another thread.) Which gets me back to the original post. Be kind, quiet, and clean after ourselves at the TH.
 
#124 ·
IMO Midtown is more technical than Ivan, so I think I would try working on that first. Maybe even just hiking up part of Upper Ivan so you can work on a few of the lower switchbacks until you get comfortable enough to try the whole thing.
 
#126 ·
I ride Cuss Hollow everytime I'm at Duthie. I can ride it clean most times, but the biggest enjoyment is listening to my buddies on XL bikes complain the whole way!

I think Midtown is more technical than Crazy Ivan overall, but Crazy Ivan has a couple turns that are much more difficult (atleast for me) that anything on Midtown.
 
#127 ·
Beautiful day out there today, trails are primo. Only was two other riders out there (thanks for letting me borrow the shock pump!).

Did have one strange thing though, I ran into a horse rider coming UP upper crazy Ivan. I know they are multi use trails, but is this normal? Not much room for passing, me and trail dog looked at each other like "really?" :)
 
#128 ·
Did have one strange thing though, I ran into a horse rider coming UP upper crazy Ivan. I know they are multi use trails, but is this normal? Not much room for passing, me and trail dog looked at each other like "really?" :)
Wow, I've never seen them up there. However there are horses on lower Ivan and they seem to be steadily eroding that part of the trail.

Anybody notice all that woodpecker action on a tree right next to the big stump after one of the switchbacks on lower Ivan? It's pretty impressive work.
 
#129 ·
Alright, time to brave the parking madness and get back out to Tokul. I used to ride it all the time, it'll be a mind-f to see it without trees.

Here's a thing, when I bought my pass in January their instructions alluded to me getting something more formal than a print out in the mail, and it never happened.
I assume I can just shove the permit paper in my pack and be alright?
Does my car need anything on it?
 
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