Another Dirt Fest in the books
Originally posted on May 24, 2012 at 13:07 pm
By Josh Patterson
The dust has settled from the third annual Dirt Fest. The demo crews have packed their bikes and headed to the next town; music no longer echoes through the woods; and the local ground squirrel population is breathing a collective sigh of relief; as are we at the office, as we do our best to recover from the weekend’s festivities.
During the three-day festival nearly 2,300 mountain bikers took to the rollercoster trails at Raystown Lake. By most accounts the event was a success. In an abstract sense, this should be a no-brainer: quality singletrack + free beer + blinged-out demo bikes + live music = a good time. In a very real sense it took a lot of hard work by a lot of dedicated volunteers to pull off—thanks to all.
I, for one, enjoyed myself immensely. Saturday I helped lead a group of riders on Rays-to-Lake; the fastest riders to the shoreline were treated to a houseboat cruise, post-ride recovery keg, and cliff jumping. Harlan Price of Take Aim Cycling, below, put on two skills clinics. I attended one and came away with some valuable insight on how to improve my cornering technique; I immediately put this newfound knowledge to use on the trails.
Speaking of the trails, last year I spent most of my time riding the trail network closest to the expo area. This year I ventured further away from the hustle and bustle of the expo and was rewarded with new and exciting singletrack. I highly recommend exploring all the trails at Raystown; you will not be disappointed.
If you couldn’t make it this year, no worries. We’ll be back. And check out our huge photo gallery of what you missed. Got your own photos? Be sure to tag them with Dirt Rag’s Dirt Fest on Facebook.
Something special happens when you assemble a large group of people so passionate mountain biking—friends are made and stories are swapped. What are your favorite memories from this year’s event? Share in the comments below or on our Facebook page.
Thanks to our sponsors, exhibitors
Dirt Fest would not have been possible without the support of these fine companies. Hope you enjoyed their wares!
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Plus, more shirts!
We had a run on our one-chance-only Dirt Fest T-shirts, so we’ve decided to do a second printing. Order between now and June 1 and we’ll print one up for you, with an expected delivery of June 10. We’ll even throw in free shipping. Don’t delay, this is your last chance!