From Darkness To Light

Posted by Adam Howell

Spur Line Trail and skills area at Three Springs

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A new beginner trail in the subdivision of Three Springs has some fast, hard-packed dirt through a mosaic of gamble oak brush, and berms to help you hold the corners.

IMG_2707[1]Spur Line Trail, on Southern Ute Growth Fund Land, was built by Trails 2000 crew leaders and volunteers. Hogan Koesis, Purgatory Resort’s Director of Mountain Biking, assisted with machine work on the trail.

To get there from Durango, drive east to Wilson Gulch Road, where you will eventually see the trailhead near the northeast corner of the new residential neighborhood in Three Springs.

This 4.7-mile cross country trail occupies a piece of land that may someday also be the home of a community park with several soccer and baseball fields.

Spur Line Trail follows the natural topography and takes people along the edge of and through several very large stands of gamble oak. You also get to ride through some sage brush, pinon juniper, and along side some grassy drainage paths.

You won’t be riding any technical rocky stuff on Spur Line, but there’s plenty of high-speed dirt with banking turns at the end of several fingers of trail.

This trail makes efficient use of a minimal number of acres.

More important for entertainment value is how the trail crosses over several draws on the landscape, providing whoops and pumps to teach you or allow you to keep your momentum.

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“Skills Area Pump Track” Trail Review

At the official trailhead for Spur Line Trail is a “skills area” with a “pump track.”

IMG_2615[1]What this 1-acre area consists of is 43 piles of dirt known as rollers, and 8 piles of dirt that can be called table top jumps.

Whether or not this area can be used as a pump track in an effort to build skills is debatable.

The table tops are illogically spaced in a way that makes it difficult to clear the top of each one in succession. Getting enough speed to clear even the first one is a challenge.

What also makes the table tops difficult is the short transitions at the take off and landing of each one.

IMG_2605[1]Perhaps some mountain bike elitist pro can clean and clear each table top, but it’s not me.

Maybe I’m just over analyzing this? Either way, I am grateful that there’s at least some jumps that riders can try to hit and clear with enough speed and technique.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m grateful that some jumps were built.

To those that worked on this skills area, try not to take this critique too personally.

Surely, some of the jumps that I’ve built in the past were inadequately-sized and need improvement, as well.

Now, can we please fix the features in this skills area and continue to improve it? Because this thing is not done.

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