So I spent all day yesterday in Oak Mountain State Park just outside of Birmingham, Alabama. I have to say I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of elevation and technicality of some of these trails. When I first showed up I saw nothing but green and blue trail markers. As in "easy" and "slightly difficult". But after a mile or two (or seventeen...) I finally came across the bottom of Jekyll and Hyde. Moderate climb. A few slow technical rock sections but nothing major. But the trail this climb put me on was a blast. Blood Rock was hands down my favorite trail out there. Steep in a few sections. A couple rock gardens that were enough to challenge full seat height on the All Mountain rig and a couple floaters over what looked like rock piles to slow down the downhill traffic (sorry BUMP* but they didn't slow me down). I then decided I wanted to defend Jekyll and Hyde as well so I climbed back to the top for a descent on the nice flowy sections and the slow rocky sections of the climb were nice little spots for the Stumpjumper's suspension to get a little workout on the otherwise smooth trail. All in all I would call it a great trail system. Would recommend it if passing through to put in some quick easy miles or if you're staying to do some nice distance. I put in a total of just over 35 miles and thoroughly enjoyed it! Not to mention I got to meet up with a few guys from Specialized Racing who were there for the Bump and Grind race happening Saturday and Sunday. Great guys for sure!
Oh yeah! Then followed it all up camping on site. There were even hot showers available!
The welcoming crew near the start if the north trailhead.
The Stumpjumper posing at the top of Jekyll and Hyde.
Main rock garden on Blood Rock.
And a fun little section on a trail I didn't see the name of.
*BUMP is the organization that maintains this trail system. Good work guys. I approve of everything y'all did!
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