Gravity Logic Report

Few months have passed since we hiked through the jungles of Philippines and the mountains of Dominican Republic last fall. We settled into our winter “hibernation” of skiing, catching up on family life and generally recharging the batteries. Normally we pretty much follow the same schedule as bears and “wake up” in April, normally. But nothing is normal in the bike park business lately, it seems.

January found me dragging my bags through the Domodedovo International Airport in Moscow, searching for my taxi driver in a sea foreign humanity. After a quick night in Moscow, meeting Pavel and the rest of the Russian crew and a short nap I caught an early morning flight to Sochi. There I was met by Alex. We left the seaside and headed into the Caucasus Mountains and the future venues of the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics. The road, choked with trucks, wound up through an almost continuous construction zone where cranes seem to outnumber the trees. To say that the plans for the Olympic venues are grand would be an understatement. 

Next few days Alex showed me around Krasnaya Polyana while I was getting a feel for the terrain of Gorky Karusel Ski Resort. Could it include a Bike Park and would it be good? I always like to compare sites I visit to somewhere in Whistler and usually I can, but this time I was having a hard
time making any correlations. The terrain rolls like I have never seen and the dirt is golden, but almost 95% of the trees are chestnut or some other kind of hard wood and you could drive a logging truck between them they are so nicely spaced. We could almost leave the chainsaws at home building trails there, well almost. That’s what I mean that I can’t compare Gorky to Whistler. In Whistler we need chainsaws! Anyway, if built, Gorky would be a world class bike park supported by world class infrastructure.

Over the few days I was in Krasnaya Polyana, Alex showed me the local culture and introduced me to the local riders, skiers and snowboarders. They spoke a different language but otherwise they had the same needs as Whistler locals. In winter they want deep snow (apparently it attracts the girls from Moscow) and in the summer they want kick ass trails to  ide. While we were discussing the possibilities Alex and his friends would get this glassy eyed stare, looking into the distant mountains through rich tobacco haze, dreaming, smiling. There are some trails and bike culture exists in Krasnaya Polyana, but I could only imagine what could be if this project goes ahead. Once developed, this bike park would be on every rider’s must visit list for sure. 

While Krasnaya Polyana may be going through a major transformation it still has the small Russian village feel. I tend to judge the places I visit by the food and the food here is awesome! Some restaurants are serving ethnic Turkish and other Middle Eastern cuisine, or you can get true Russian
offerings at others. The Czech in me makes me a bit of a beer snob and I can safely report that the local beer is second to none.

Alex drove me to the airport early in the morning, bid me a “do svidaniya” and I was off, flying back to Moscow. I arrived in the early afternoon. What transpired between then and 4:30am, when a taxi took me back to the airport, was truly memorable (thanks Pavel and Alex). I will omit the vodka infused details because this part of the story is not relevant to the development of a bike park in Russia, but I will say that Moscow makes Las Vegas look like a trailer park. Moscow is a must visit city! 

I think that we can all agree that the development of a major bike park in Russia would be a major step in the right direction for mountain biking in general. Let’s hope it happens.

Meanwhile, as the spring breaks in the northern hemisphere, we are busy in West Virginia working on a major project for Boy Scouts of America and our summer is shaping up to be the busiest ever – Korea in April, Sweden in May, summer in Colorado and the North West somewhere in between. We’ll keep you posted.

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We miss having Tom building in Whistler (which he still does on occasion) but it’s great having him and his crew spread the gospel of bike parks and building them all over the world. Anything to say? Over here…