SSV Rocks!

Craig and I headed out Sunday morning for a bit of rocky, rawdy goodness that is the South St. Vrain trail system. We rode up Sourdough from beyond the Tahona boyscout camp east of Peak to Peak, up and up and up over rocks and roots and more rocks till we hit the jeep road which went more up to the Little Raven trail. Little Raven is fun, mostly down and has some nice skinnies and some technical rocky goodness toward the end. It drops you out at the Brainard lake parking lot hell that is the front range and then you ride up the road to Mitchell Lake and this, this in my opinion is where the real, adrenal pumping, physically and skill demanding ride begins.

Taking a breather after some rocky up before we continue with more up. Lovely day.

Riding the SSV from Mitchell Lake all the way back to the boy scout camp is 5 or so miles of down, but it's the closet thing on the front range in my opinion to a DH run at a bike park, just much longer and you're worked at the end. I've been riding this trail for years and it always demands focus and attention or else you could really get hurt. There are many jumbley rock gardens to skillfully pick your way through, there are steep, rooty, droppy, rocky, switchy sections to pick your line through, just enough controlled speed to allow passage but slow enough so you can understand/see your next move. This kind of riding inspires the hell out of me, I can't explain the stoke I get from riding this kind of madness except "Hell Yeah"! I've ridden for many years and I know where my weaknesses and strengths lie with my riding and I'm pretty good at the technical dh stuff, I don't know why, it seems to come naturally and there's a confidence inside of me, I see the line and I just go for it, I can move my bike around under me and it all comes together and the stoke is like a high, it's quite exciting, though I wouldn't want to ride this type of trail every day, it would mentally and physically wear me down. I don't mean to sound all up on myself, I'm not perfect, I crash and burn often enough, but at times I seem to transcend my every day existence, my every day ride that I show up for, and I ride with a fearlessness and accuracy that comes through me. This happens in life, in physical activities, in creative activities.
At any rate, there are so many different types of terrain to ride and styles of riding, everyone has their favorite. I tend to get bored with non-technical riding, I lose my fire if that's all I ride for too long. I need rocks and roots and drops and steeps. Fast and flowy is good too but I'm not as good at that as slower and rowdy technical, it's my strength. With that said, what is your favorite style of riding and what type of riding do you seem to be best at naturally?