Digging to paradise at Grapefruit MTB Trails

It's never too early for mountain biking, as long as I have my coffee. This morning I'm driving two hours to Palm Bay, to check out a bike park one of my subscribers told me about. Palm Bay isn’t the first town that comes to mind when you mention mountain biking, so I was surprised as anyone when I heard there was an amazing spot here.

A few minutes off I95, tucked away in the back of a neighborhood street, you'll find one hidden gem of a trail.

Grapefruit Trails gets its name from the citrus trees throughout the park. The entire trail system is only 2 miles, but it's packed with advanced features, like doubles, hips, gaps, and drops. There's even a huge BMX section at the back, which was covered in tarps to protect it from heavy rains.

Today was trail maintenance day, so I got to meet some of the folks that make this place possible. The maintenance crew here rivals that of much larger parks, and as a result the trails are always changing rapidly. The city provides them with truckloads of fresh clay, but they rely on donations for tools, equipment, coffee, and hotdogs—all very essential supplies for both the project and the team’s morale.

On trails like this, hardtails shine. The rigid rear lets you boost lips and pump landings. If you take a jump smoothly there's barely any impact, and you can maintain your speed with no pedaling at all. The locals were joking that I didn't have any air in my tires. At 30psi, I ended up belching hard.

The singletrack here is short and fun, with a few jumps along the way. The rest of the park is filled with short, intense runs, almost reminiscent of a BMX park or skills course. For riders like me without much endurance, it’s a dream come true.

The riders here like to hang out and session these sections of the trail. We rode the zebra drop over and over. It starts out with a nice run up under a canopy of trees, followed by drop with a zebra print rug bolstering the landing. This is followed by long mellow jump that sends you into a berm, followed by a short U-shaped bridge. It's short, sweet, and addictive. I would drive two hours just to ride this over and over.

I'm usually bummed out to leave any trails, but the riders here at Grapefruit felt like people I've known my whole life. I’m excited to visit them again soon, and ride the rest of their amazing spot. So to you all at Grapefruit, thanks for riding with me on Saturday, and I'll see you next time.

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