Riverside mountain-bike trails report

Anyone getting Spring fever yet? If you like to mountain-bike on Riverside's trail system, here's a quick report: there's still snowpack in some areas, but you'll be able to find mostly-clear trails if you want to ride. The corn snow and ice is actually fairly rideable too. Do throw on your seatpost fender to deal with the mud, and keep your eyes open for the freshly-downed trees.

Sorry the video quality's not very good this time :(

That's the "outer loop" of the Round and Round 24-hour course, which many of you will recognize. Surprisingly, Little Vietnam is neither flooded nor particularly muddy. Surfaces are soft and power-hungry in most places.

looking back, just before Devil's Down

The video was shot with the ContourHD 1080p on a frame mount this time. For mountain biking, the frame mount is an improvement over the handlebar mount because it's less sensitive to large steering movements, but I'll have to pick up a helmet mount... it's still too much vibration for enjoyable viewing.

The video above is shot in full 1080p resolution at 30 frames per second. As reports led me to expect, this results in a Jell-O effect when the camera's having the stuffings beaten out of it being moved around quickly. Next on the agenda: the Action HD 720p resolution with the 60fps framerate, which is reportedly pretty smooth for trail videos.

Ok, related product plug: the Finish Line brush set is great for you fearless mud riders (and you know who you are). I think we're down to one set, but I'll make sure we get some more in. I use these a lot in our repair shop, especially the large one for the rims and frame, and the loop-shaped one behind cranks and between spoke flanges.

yeah, I'm parking THAT in my living room... NOT.