Have been riding the original line all summer and really liking the old school roots and rock. It has been running great. I have been watching the build on the new line occur but was not interested in the new smooth flowy section from near the top to the big smooth (confession: I did use the word superfluous in an earlier post).
Well today in the pouring rain I finally rode it. And yes I agree it is a wonderful work of trail building art. Smooth, flowy, crowned, gappy, and bermy goodness. The trail builders have done a great job under Digger and Jerry's guidance, as directed by the district.
However….. I don't think it should have been called an "Expresso" TAP. Why?.. Well the trail is not really Expresso (yes I know there was some work done on the upper part of Expresso). The whole new section is really a new trail that could have been built anywhere. I recall the brewhaha before the trail work began about the need for Expresso to be TAPped because it had long been neglected (to which i disagreed). Well it has been TAPped, but really it has not. A new trail has just been built. Thankfully the old section is still there with the skinny brake boosters, log ride to off camber ladder (which was a little sketchy today when I hiked back up to ride the old section), and now there is a new trail for those that did not like Exresso.
After Expresso Smooth, the trail is its old self with some pretty big puddles and mud bogs. Similar to what was there 10 years ago. So really we now have a new trail, and we have Expresso. Maybe the best of both worlds. Perhaps we need a new name for the trail. " Americano" (not as strong as Expresso, and if made well, really smooth, and will put a grin on your face)…?
But I think my gripe is that this should have been conveyed from the beginning. "we are going to build a new trail to parallel Expresso. We will also do some trail work on Expresso.". Just admit that the purpose of the build was to make a trail even smoother than Ladies, that would parallel Expresso and that this was the districts desire. That there was a desire for a smooth NSMBA type trail that was easier. That "yes we will be NSMBAing (read making easier, smoother etc.) a trail" but it will be a new trail and the original line will remain techical and challenging. Creating the brewhaha around Expresso TAP was counter productive and misleading…
I hope that the plans are for the new trail to continue down to Baden, but for the original Expresso line to be left untouched.
Flame away…..