Can't blame the DHers

XC riding is dangerous - not much suspension, 6" rotors, and nothing but spandex for protection means there's little room for error. At least that's what the downhillers say in New Jersey - I'm not totally sure it's any safer than riding a big bike off a drop, or a skinny tires at 30+ mph on the pavement. But I had a day to myself on Saturday, so I searched the internet a bit and found an awesome freeride park in Vernon, NJ. The riders I met from Massachusetts say its the best place on the east coast, so I guess I got lucky. I'd probably consider that one of my best days on a bike - meeting cool people and riding all kinds of new terrain. They have rocky technical runs, jump trails, random dropoffs, and a lot more stuff my parents really don't want to hear about. And even better, it's located right next to a water park, which means there are lots of people in swimsuits staring at the fully armored dirt riding junkies and asking how much our bikes cost. But when I was convinced my arms just wouldn't stand another run I had to switch into the lycra chamois and get on my skinny tired, full carbon Ibis and do some ummm... "real" riding out into the backroads of NJ. At that point, I could feel the impact from a crack in the pavement all the way in my shoulders, but I shouldn't complain about any day where I can ride for 7-8 hours.