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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.