Columbia, MO

[dgw2jr]

If you guys/gals haven't been to Columbia, MO, I highly recommend you check it out. I felt I got my first real MOUNTAIN biking experience down there. The switchbacks on the Forget-Me-Not trail at Cosmo Park reminded me of some SoCal mountain trails. Rocks, roots, and steep blind drop-offs abound!

Three Creeks Conservation Area was a big surprise. It seemed like a dud at first with the initial mile being a fire road but then a rocky trail forks off to the left and disappears in to the woods where you descend for about 1/2 mile to the first creek crossing...

Deeper than usual due to 3 inches of rain on Saturday...




Rock Bridge State Park is just around the corner from Three Creeks and is the hotspot for local MTBers. There are several trails within the park. The park brochure is very modest when it comes to describing the type of terrain you will experience on each of the trails. Springbrook Trail started out flat and twisty following a creek bottom. Ah how relaxing... until you turn left to cross a bridge and begin a slippery death-defying ascent to the top of a bluff 200 feet above the creek below. This section of the trail is all exposed rock and some roots. At the top of the bluff there is about a mile of flowing singletrack like this...



But on the other end you must come back down and that section of trail looks like this...



And this...


And it seems to descend forever! Mmm smell them brake pads burnin'?

The best part of the Rock Bridge trail system was the Deer Run Trail. In my opinion this is the best trail I have ever ridden anywhere. Huge rocks, roots, several small and large creek crossings, and a mile of chill singletrack along side the creek. This trail had everything I could ever want in a trail and probably more. We wanted to turn around and ride it in the other direction but we didn't have time. Deer Run Trail: 3.25 miles of pure bliss.

Finger Lakes State Park is home to the Kelly Branch Mountain Bike Trail. This trail is fairly new, having opened just last year. This trail was very stressful to ride. There was no flow whatsoever and the ATV's and dirtbikes buzzing around nearby made it difficult to focus on this way-too-off-camber trail. There are a few fun sections, but they are quickly interrupted with WTF? sections. Oh yea I forgot to mention there is a shooting range nearby as well. KABOOM! ow. splat. I think I broke my derailler.

On the way down we checked out Thousand Hills State Park in Kirksville, MO. I stopped at the rangers station to grab a map and had a quick chat with the ranger. She told me that Thousand Hills is an understatement. She wasn't kidding. More like Million Hills. The Thousand Hills Trail is roughly 13 miles long and it is out-and-back, meaning you will have to do 26 miles if you want to get back to your car. We made it to the 4 mile marker before we realized Kyla's back tire was flat. Did we have a spare tube or patch kit? Of course not! Fat bikes are invincible! Everyone knows that! After a good flogging from my love I raced back to the car and loaded up my backpack with a tube and pump, then raced back out to meet her at the 1 mile marker. Tire fixed, we rode and sometimes hiked-a-bike for that last mile back to the car. All told, my GPS clocked 12 miles that took us 4.5 hours to complete. Lessons learned!

5-hour drive to Columbia, MO. If anyone is interested in making the trip down to Columbia, I would certainly do it again and love to tag along. If it's a long weekend it would be cool to throw Berryman in there too!