I’ve been a Parkite for over a year now, and until Thursday mountain biking really had no appeal to me.
Growing up, I biked all around my neighborhood and, in recent years, on my college campus. I didn’t see the need to bike down ski slopes. The sport seemed like a surefire way to earn myself one of those dreaded University of Utah hospital airlifts.
Despite my possibly reasonable hesitations, I knew I’d have to give it a go when Woodward Park City offered me a lesson. My editor Don Rogers saw it as a good opportunity to inform other biking beginners like myself what it’s like to try the sport out. I think he thought, if I did end up in the hospital, “Hey, even better story!”
Our newest staff addition Jonathan Hererra came along to document the day. Despite living in Utah for years now, Jon had also never been mountain biking.
Thankfully, Woodward took care of most everything for us once we arrived in the morning. They set us up with experienced instructor Dale Simmons and top-of-the-line equipment.
Then we were off — but just to their starting park to begin.
Woodward’s youth campers flew right past us right to the chairlift to head up the mountain. Before we could follow, Simmons had to make sure we weren’t a danger to ourselves and those kids.
That meant teaching us how to ride the bikes and how to navigate the terrain. It may sound ridiculous, but he even had to teach us how to properly brake. These brakes were extremely touchy.
Simmons has been biking for 15 years now, and while I’m certain our skillsets didn’t impress him, I’d like to think our efforts and positive attitudes sufficed.
Our main takeaways were that you should stand up almost completely straight and atop the pedals of the bikes. You must flex your elbows and lean over the handlebars when approaching some rocky terrain. You must use your brakes together, and sparingly, so you don’t fly over the handlebars.
Most importantly, you should never get too confident, for Simmons said that’s when the former techniques become forgotten and the accidents start piling up.
Simmons said even he can master his all-important techniques on the greens and blues of Woodward.
After a few tiring laps around the start park, Jon and I were deemed mountain ready, or more likely, mountain acceptable, and we headed up the lift. We struggled and eventually got our bikes into the chairlift slots. We watched a few youth campers fly down the face of the mountain, seemingly not an ounce of fear among them. I wondered if Simmons would be taking us down those same, jump-filled runs — thankfully, not a chance.
Jon and I would spend the majority of our time cruising down a run called “ezpz,” a green-level course. To my surprise, I actually didn’t fall. My tires didn’t slide out. Protruding rocks didn’t throw me off. I was feeling confident until I knocked up my shins with the pedals.
My inability, or unwillingness, to accept that I had to stand up while biking had come back to bite me. The pedals sit much too low, close to rocks and mounds, when not both up.
Thankfully I knocked them up toward the end of our lesson when we were messing around on what most experienced bikers wouldn’t even bother considering as jumps. Ezpz and another green course called “Steezy Rider,” featuring a few more trees, tight paths and fellow bikers, had been perfect for us on our very first day.
We had some fun trying out Woodward’s freshly paved pump track, full of bumps for bikers, skaters and scooters, and soon we were back at the rental area dropping off our gear. The two-hour lesson had passed, and I was a bit bummed out, in my head silently clamoring for more.
Hopefully I’ll experience some more mountain biking before season’s end or in the summers to come. I know, however, that I couldn’t recommend enough the sport or Woodward’s beginner experience.
Woodward made our experience easy, fun and memorable. They’ve certainly earned their reputation as a great place to try out and master extreme sports.
Woodward will offer private lessons, group lessons and other programming through the end of their season. Deer Valley Resort and Park City Mountain also feature mountain biking with their own expansive and challenging mountain terrain.
