The Sluice

Calling this a black diamond is misleading. It’s definitely a lot harder than a black. Maybe harder than most double diamonds. Whoever called it a “XC blue” was lying. Also it’s getting sandy at spots so you gotta be careful not to slip.

5 years young and still the best of the sanctioned, bike-only trails outside of Denver. Its ridden in very well despite people saying it would erode to nothing within a year. I will say that Sluice comes into its own once you've taken several laps and sorted out all the alternate lines. First time down, the sheer number of options is overwhelming. Luckily its an easy climb back to the top.

Having spent the past few summers riding in the PNW, I've come to realize that most CO MTB trails are so, so far behind the times. I enjoy some of the features on the Sluice (and have ridden them all), but the lack of flow overall just sucks. The big traversing sections kill momentum. Transitions in and out of features are poorly conceived, making the features the bad type of janky, a poor means of contriving difficulty. Despite the front range being inundated with riders with expendable income, there's a tragic lack of trail production or maintenance. The MTB culture around Denver needs to up its game and invest in higher quality trails. ::sigh:: I'm sorry to poo poo Floyd, since it's one of the few trails with difficulty in the area. I just wish we had better.