There I was, soaking in the thick drippy smells of the Northeast forest, rolling over a dense, rooty single track underneath a canopy of big, wide floppy leaves, when suddenly I launched over my handlebars like a rock from a slingshot and next thing I knew I was eating dirt.
Northeastern trails are the epitome of unpredictable riding.
Mountain biking did not exist when I was a kid back east in the '70s. More like a sissy bar behind the seat and playing cards in the spokes. It wasn't until I moved west in the early '90s that I was lucky enough to try off-trail rides on better bikes in awesome places like western Wyoming, northern Arizona and the birthplace of mountain biking, Marin County, California. But I've seen a new light in the East, and it's in Vermont. Though it's no secret to the locals, Mount Snow hosts 45 miles of mountain bike terrain in the Green Mountain National Forest.