Living in the midwest means you get about 5 months where it is almost unridable. That can make you go stir crazy and makes it had to process and keep up with your skill. But thankfully we have an answer to this issue.
RAYS INDOOR MOUNTAIN BIKE PARK!
This place is a life saver in more ways than 1. I started riding at Rays in December of last year. This was my first time riding park of any sorts on a bike, I had GT bikes and Dyno bikes growing up but never took them to parks or learned tricks on them. Before this I only was riding Road bikes, But that day in December changed my life for the best. I took my Trek series 4 to the park and just went for it. My riding skills in park were bad like really bad but I kept riding and trying to keep up with my friends. I broke my bike about 30 minuets in so I went and go a rental bike. I rented a BMX bike and it was jus too ridged and then I went to a Dirt Jumper and that fit like a glove (not OJ’s glove). Riding this Trek ticket around and just learning how to pump and flowing and just feeling free on the bike was on of the best feeling you can have.
Fast forward to about a month or so and I went all the way in! I bought a dirt jumper and a season pass to Rays. I bought a Norco Ryde 26 pretty much brand new from a guy who lived near by, This bike was all stock and that is probably the reason he sold it because holy cow that RST fork sucks ASS!
I upgraded that fork after 1 ride to a Manitou Markhor, Its a cheap fork but it works very well! Still riding on it now! Once the new fork was on the riding experience got way better. At this point I was riding about 4-5 days a week. I was treating Rays how most people treat the gym, And this lead to some awesome results I lost around 30LBS and that lead to me being happier and eating better.
Its really hard to put into words how much this place means to me. I feel so lucky that my friend Adam talked me into going that one day last winter. Its wild how far I’ve come as a rider and on my health. I now have about $1500-$2000 wrapped up into my my bike Ive upgraded everything but the front wheel and the headset. I am happy with life and my riding at this point and can't wait to make more progress. It just wild to think as a avid biker we look forward to winter here in Ohio.