The Mega Dip. The Gravity Cavity. One of the prime features of this week's Iron Hill race. This weekend Diane and I met up with James and we played around on the Iron Hill course. It was really fun.
Now I'm going to sound like an old guy talking about glory days. I remember back in the early 90's, there was no Fairhill, and Middlerun was just getting started, Iron Hill was the mountain bike spot. Pretty much every night at 6:00 you could count on a full parking lot of mountain bikers at Iron Hill. Back then Suspension was just starting to take hold, cantilevers breaks were the best you could get on a mountain bike, and toe clips held your feet to your flat pedals. Oh and there was a tower at Iron Hill too.
The Mega dip was a bit more raw back then. There was a root on one side that if you hit, you were going down. There was really one line into the damn thing. I can remember nights when we'd go to iron hill and ride nothing but the mega dip. It was like nature's own half pipe. We'd go looking for other stepper scarier things to ride down. Oh, there was some blood, and stitches.
what did we know we were young and dumb?
The mega dip was fun this weekend, it's so fast now a days, point and shoot, just let it roll...
very fun.
respect
fm.
9 comments:
we rode fairhill back in 89, we just didn't tell anyone. :) Mark
The Mega Dip was a monster back in the day. One friend cracked the top tube of his brand new aluminum Cannondale at the bottom of that thing. And when front suspension first started to show up, few things were scarier than riding a first generation elastomer fork through that thing.
Your videos make it look rather tame nowadays. Can't wait to see it this weekend.
Man, that's funny. We had a place that we used to ride in the early 90's - I was so technically clueless then that it put me off MTBing for 11 years - that was like the dip you're describing. Guys on dirt bikes would jump the cavity. On an MTB, you'd go to the bottom, and maybe make it up out the other side, if you were strong enough to hang on to the bars, flexy-knee'ed enough not to taco the front wheel, and aimed well enough not to hit the old apple-tree-gone-to-pot at the bottom.
I put a dent in the top tube of my Kona Cinder Cone with my ribs there one night, split a lip, and did something to my wrist that caused it to hurt for a year.
Good times.
I remember racing Iron Hill in the early 90's wearing Keds, cut off jeans and a cooler on my head. Voughing NEVER to be one to wear spandex or any real cycling related gear because I was too cool for that....and finally taking my first series win at the fall race series. Making it up the Mega Dip from the difficult side was pure amazement to watch and after 100 tries I made it on 101....it sure felt like than many tries anyway.
Some old Iron Hill race photos are hiding here: http://www.mlkimages.com/Scanned%20Images
Perhaps it looks so easy because your test rider is skilled?
shit i am in trouble.
Ive been on Iron Hill many times.Has always been my testing grounds.Can't wait to test out my 'reformed' back there.
Bryan Patton once said to me "Dennis, we have to get shocks" after a 7 lap race bombing down the 'wash out trail' (the original down hill way back when).
Remember when the steep side of Mega Dip had foot holds dug into it? Anyone....Fuzzy? Anyone?
Dennis
I remember. I also remember Bryan being very fast. I used to ride alot with his father Keith. He was fast too.
Crouse
I agree w/ Dennisbike, I remember the foot holds. I also remember that root on the top of the steep side that when hit just right would propel you airborne half way down into the dip, giving you the speed and momentum to shoot up the split side (as long as you missed the setup root on the other side). The old wash out downhill is gone now, but the "Bone-rattler" still exists, though not as rattling with a Fox fork and 29 inch wheels
Farty
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