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gratefulbiker

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Discussion starter · #1 ·
Travelling to western NC in a couple weeks and wondering if Beech is gonna be any fun for intermediate riders on 6" bikes. A couple guys in our group don't get to ride a whole lot. We were thinking a day at Beech and a day at Rocky Knob unless there's something else more appropriate and/ or fun.
Thanks.
 
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#2 ·
Me and my wife went there about 3 weeks ago. Me and her both have 6" travel bikes and had a blast. I would recommend having full face helmets, for saftey reasons. We saw alot of 6" travel bikes there. There where also a few 4" to 5" travel bikes.

For my wife and I who come from Missouri it was quite an eye opener to downhill as it was alot steeper than we are used to around here. We managed to get 4 runs in but that was with waiting between each time as it was well outside my wifes comfort zone, by the time we got to the end of the 4th run we were both feeling alot more comfortable. The other thing that caught us off guard where all the breaking bumps and how rough they where.

I would recommend going as we had alot of fun and would love to do it again. I wish we had more than one day though as the second day we would have been alot more comfortable.
 
#4 ·
The green (beginner trail) is perfect for 6" bikes. Really fun trail. If the new blue trail is open then that would be another great option. I use to ride my 6" bike on the pro and am courses before I had a proper DH rig. Definitely doable, but if you don't have a lot of experience with a those type of bikes on DH trails it might be a little interesting.

Just watch it when you go into the woods at the very top of the green trail. It can be a muddy mess. It might have bedded in better by now though.

Also on the bottom (after the road) of the green trail there are a couple of ways to jump onto the pro course. The first option puts you into the slope before the hip jump and into the berm/jumps at the bottom. The first jump once you join the pro course is a small ditch gap. You can also cut in a little further down and bypass the hip jump section and just ride the berms/jumps at the bottom. This should go with saying, but in both cases stop completely and look before entering the pro trail.
 
#5 ·
You should be fine. They also have XC trials that are said to nice as well. Don't know Sugars plans this year but they usually do lift assisted riding as well. Haven't ridden sugar in many years but the trails were pretty fun years ago. I am sure some others here could update that situation better than I, but it may be worth a look while you are there.
 
#6 ·
The super d trail at sugar would be fun on a trail bike but I wouldn't recommend the dh trail. You will get more out of your money at Beech. The beginner and intermediate tracks are fine on a trail bike. If you want to try a dh bike both Magic Cycles and Boone Bike have nice rental dh bikes and helmets/pads if you need them. Magic rents Glories specced with lower end SRAM and Boone Bike rents Status IIs with mid/low end SRAM. If you decide to rent call ahead and make reservations. Rocky Knob is a blast on a trail bike and is definitely worth at least half a day of your time. Come see us at Boone Bike if you have any questions.
 
#7 ·
I'm aiming to head to Beech this weekend, and was wondering about camping options. I've heard that they've disallowed camping at Beech itself, and the campground at Grandfather requires a 3-night stay due to it being the 4th of July weekend.
Any other options out there?
 
#11 ·
Thanks for the info. Ended up down in Banner Elk at the Best Western because they allowed us to bring the dog.
Had a pretty good time at Beech for the first time today. Turns out they suck at website notifications and there's a race on tomorrow, so riding there is out.
Trying to decide whether riding to the top of Sugar and checking out the downhill course is worthwhile. So little info on that place it's more like a myth.
Any feedback would be great.
 
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#13 ·
Thanks, that helps. I was going off their website which says the lifts stop after Labor Day. Also, the one video I've seen of the Sugar DH looks way more rad than Rocky Knob (which I've done) and longer than Beech (based on today's runs). As long as the pedal up isn't too hateful I think it's worth sampling, unless someone out there thinks it's better to skip it.
 
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