Hixon Forest | La Crosse, WI | Mountain Bike | Wisconsin

Road trip from Minnesota to try out the Hixon Forest trails in La Crosse, Wisconsin. Also a spattering of Battle Creek, St. Paul thrown in just because. Awesome riding at Hixon but a bit above my pay grade in spots. Owen almost had to hospital up after sliding for safety betwixt two big ass pile o’ rocks. Luckily dude walked away unscathed. The only thing that took a dent was our collective confidence. SPK got some light mileage in which was a probably a nice change of pace from his Routine 100 mile journeys. He also tackled climbs with cyborg-like resolve. Good times and highly suggested.
Ate at the Bodega Brew Pub downtown. Good food and while I’m not a big beer drinker myself both Owen and SPK can vouch for the extensive beer menu they have there ( think it was 300 or more). Gracias a mi amigo Owen for the shuttle. Shoutout to the SPK International Cellphone Footage Conglomerate for licensed use of alternate angle footage of Owen’s demise.
Get out of your city. Get out of your State. Get out on your bike. Or, at the very least, get outside.
Music by: Boards of Canada
Song: Chromakey Dreamcoat
Album: The Campfire Headphase
Link to album below:
warp.net/relea...

[@joshblum6245]

Thanks for sharing the video feed. Like everything Trail Ratings can be subjective. I've visited places that had Blues tougher than anything you'd find at Hixon. With that being said, JEDi was built to be two trails in one with easy options around everything so people can see what they can progress to, then eventually do this. It's worked out quite well, even the left line around the drop is very optional. Regardless, thank you for visiting our community. We recently opened another 5 miles on Grandad Bluff, which is all shared use (Not as DH MTB orientated), and has a lot of family friendly features to get the kids hooked. 2/3's of the new trails were built by Rock Solid, the other 1/3 built by a local company that also specializes in pumptracks. This season is pretty much done as I type this due to winter. Next year should be another great year. Not sure what we'll get built for trails, but we are in the planning stages for some long traverse like connections linking more parts of the community. Thanks Again & Cheers! - Josh

[@ElTerrible2011]

Thank YOU for helping create these amazing trails. I definitely plan on getting back down there in 2021 and can’t wait to see what Rock Solid and the local builders came up with. Hopefully not when it’s 95 and humid as hell next time though lol.

[@davidbartsch255]

Awesome video. I’m down in SW Wisconsin and have to make my way there. Dubuque, IA has some nice loops to check out yourself

[@ElTerrible2011]

Yeah I’ve heard Iowa houses some good riding. Decorah I heard is pretty fun. Dubuque, huh? Did pathfinder build trails there? Or was that Des Moine?

[@davidbartsch255]

@@ElTerrible2011 couldn’t tell you for sure. I’m too new to the hobby to know, but I remember seeing some sort of professional group working on a trail 2 years ago. Dubuque has 2 machine made parks and 1 man made one. Keeps us busy

[@DeadsetYT]

You guys get hella sketchy! Subbed, Love ya work! :D

[@trailsfromthedarkside6460]

Top video dude. That looks hella fun. Nice wee jump line in there. Some major jank as well. Ride Safe. 🤙🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

[@ElTerrible2011]

Trails from the Darkside Thanks man.

[@charliemtbaustralia5308]

Great riding mate

[@ElTerrible2011]

Thanks my dude. It’s been a dream of mine to visit your country at some point in my life. Not sure where exactly (it’s a BIG country) but I wanna go. I heard that Blue Derby trail system they have in Tasmania is gnarly.

[@kielh7411]

Glad you liked La Crosse! I liked how you snuck Bob in there btw.

[@ElTerrible2011]

Nice. Good to hear someone caught that easter egg.

[@Tkolbo_]

When ya heading there next? Looks like a damn good time with a cool variety of trails! Killer riding and video.

[@ElTerrible2011]

TkolboMTB Not sure. Owen just told me they have a 50 in 5 plan (50 miles in the next 5 years). Just checked and this is only an hour drive from Rochester. What are you doing with your life dude? This should be in heavy rotation for you. Just be prepared, things were kinda chunky and the terrain was less predictable than it appears. Didn’t even show Vader, the new double black. That trail design is downright sadistic.

[@Tkolbo_]

SireSingletrack it’s surprising how hard it is to get out and ride when I’m bogged down by homework and research and studying for medical school crap, plus two kids. I actually hardly ride mtb at the moment. It’s quite sad! Hopefully I can get there soon!

[@Tkolbo_]

SireSingletrack and Vader sounds fantastic!!!

[@ElTerrible2011]

TkolboMTB Oh damn. Heard Mayo Clinic and figured the schooling was over with. So many responsibles. Damn responsibles.

[@Tkolbo_]

SireSingletrack lol Mayo Clinic is where I’m attending med school. I just finished a full time clinical at Saint Mary’s down here

[@fullerblacksmithing7954]

I rode here once on a walmart bike, didnt end well for the bike, but i learned i had some serious bailing skills haha. Great video man keep it up!

[@ElTerrible2011]

Those are some heavy trails for a bike from Wally World. It's awesome you got out there and went after it though. Hopefully you had a chance to upgrade to an entry level hardtail or something.

[@fullerblacksmithing7954]

@@ElTerrible2011 Not yet! Still working on it. Best part about a walmart bike is it makes you a mechanic and learning is harder to do.

[@ElTerrible2011]

@@fullerblacksmithing7954 Nice man. I started on a coil sprung hardtail. I beat that thing to hell but had a ton of fun. It also made me appreciate those upgrades so much more (dropper post, 1×, air fork and rear suspension). Good stuff on learning those mechanical skills.

[@fullerblacksmithing7954]

@@ElTerrible2011 Awesome bro! Im looking at a Fuji Nevada 29er, but i gotta work for that thing haha. Thats really awesome man. Hope to have a nice bike like yours one day!

[@driftlessareasingletrack2933]

I love the riding in La Crosse, hoping to go back this weekend again as long as I can breathe. That big drop is a doozie, took me a bit to work up to it, the ratings are very odd there, something I ran into as a climber living out west, every area had there own "starting point" and the first time I climbed in Yosemite I got my a** kicked by their grading compared to other places I'd been. Much like my first trip to Duluth. I am a huge fan of techy single track - rode it all the time in CO and UT. Nice work.

[@ElTerrible2011]

I need to get back to LaCrosse as well. Dude it was sweltering when we were there. Like 98 degrees or something preposterous. Climbs were murder.

[@rebeccacimbalas5217]

Awesome!

[@BeginnerToWhistler]

Tried to get out to Hixon Forest this past weekend. But my trip was ended early - got in a car accident halfway there. The trails there look like they're pretty mega.

[@ElTerrible2011]

Rough dude. Hopefully everyone involved, and your bike, got out ok. These trails are most definitely major. Especially the Star Wars ones. Definitely worth stopping and scoping out first. The climbs were serious too but it was also hot and humid when we were there. Great place for a fall ride but I would suggest maybe even throwing on some extra pads when riding here.

[@BeginnerToWhistler]

@@ElTerrible2011 Yeah, I just bruised my wrist a little. The three people in the other car were okay, too, despite their SUV rolling over. And I was seriously only a couple weeks away from junking my van (220,000 miles, too many minor problems to be worth fixing) so no real loss there. The bike seems to be fine, too, which is the important part! 🤣

[@ElTerrible2011]

@@BeginnerToWhistler Wow. Sounds like good luck all around all things considered.

[@Claytoids]

Is that a yeti sb140?

[@ElTerrible2011]

Im on a Canyon Spectral, Owen was on a Knolly. Cant recall what Stephen was on but know it wasn't a Yeti. They are sick looking bikes though.

[@Tkolbo_]

I want to hit that drop so bad!

[@ElTerrible2011]

Do it. But if things go wrong try not to fall right. Owen literally slid in between two big pile of rocks. That situation had broken arm/ribs written all over it.