CAMP MACK TRAILS
Rode some awesome trails yesterday at Camp Mack, just north of Lititz, PA. I have not been there in about 15 years since the Big Timber races put on by Green Mountain Cyclery. The trails there are awesome -- very technical with great lines, killer rock sections, even tougher rock lines on the Horseshoe Trail which intersects, and some great new IMBA style bench-cut flow-trail. Did about 2.5 hours and there were still trails we did not connect. It was a really great ride and it is relatively unaffected by rain. Your bike will suffer, though -- wore out my rear brake pads and chain from all the sand and running water. At any rate, it should absolutely be on your hit list for this fall.
SWATARA TRAILS -- SWATARA STATE PARK
Rode there the weekend of the RCST Bash -- quite the opposite of Lykens. It is total flow lines, ripping 180 degree bermed corners in tight trees, and full-on no-brakes elbow's-up lean-dammit don't-clip-the-tree-or-you'll-pay ninja slalom style riding. The trails are really well constructed and are incredibly easy to follow. Everything is loops off of a main loop. I recommend doing it counter-clockwise and making all right turns for each consecutive loop. It is pretty short (about 1.5 hours), but then turn around and do it all backwards. It totally rips.
INFORMATION
Info on both trail systems can be found here: http://www.sambabiker.com/home
SAMBA is a great club. Perhaps we should open a dialogue with them and have a trail exchange -- we go there one day and ride with them, then vise versa the next weekend. Hmmm...
BTW, in 1991 or '92 I raced at Big Timber (Camp Mack) and saw a really young lanky Mennonite kid in red sweatpants (his Mennonite culture forbade wearing tights) and floppy shoes doing wheelies everywhere, killing the Sport Class, talking a million miles an hour. It was Floyd Landis. He just rode so well, had a huge motor, and rode with such enthusiasm. Everyone who raced back then knew him, and we all travelled the races and NORBA Nationals in one big happy East Coast family. West Coast had the industry and the big companies and the exposure, east coast had the roots and the soul. Mountain biking and racing back then was still in it's infancy, and to see Floyd win the Jr. National Champs, then turn Pro, win everything locally, then regionally, then be full-on National Pro in 1998 was pretty awe-inspiring. Last time I talked with him was in 1998 at Sea Otter, and he did pretty well.
We all know the current Floyd world, but to me he'll always be the kid in sweatpants doing wheelies that rode because he wanted to see how far he could go.