Just got back from a long weekend at Brown County State Park in Indiana. Lots of flow, and lots of beginner stuff that me and my son (age 11) can handle. The minute we got there, my son said "I want to ride up to Hesitation Point!!!" - 1000' of net climb on over 8 miles, and the last portion has some very rocky technical (at least to us) sections. After some not insignificant "hike-a-bike", we made it and he couldn't have been prouder. After a long break for snacks and refreshment of the legs, we bought back the 1000' with some of the "funnest" downhill sections I've experienced.
The second day was Limekiln, which is a short 2.2 mile section that the locals say is "downhill both ways". We did this 4x for a total of almost 9 miles.
This is the last year on his almost 30-pound 24" bike - I told him this spring we'd build him up a Chiner 26" bike on the cheap..
Ruins along the way -
At the top, Hestiation Point -
As for my bike - couldn't have asked for anything more. We were out here last year on my old Craigslist special 26" bike, and the Chiner made everything so much easier (guessing me losing 30 pounds helps too). Rear axle keeps loosening up but I've now made it part of the pre-ride inspection so no issues there. Bottom bracket is starting to creak so I'm going to have to investigate that, and I cannot bleed a rear brake to save my life so I'm taking it into the shop to get that done.