What does a trip to the Metcalf Motorcycle Park look like for me right now?

10a — leave house, pick up lunch to go
10:3a — arrive at park and relax a bit
11a — start riding trails
12p — break for lunch
12:3p — start riding trails again
1:3p — head home
2p — home

Right now I’m doing this on Mondays (slowest day for the park). Eventually I’ll add Thursdays as well. The DRZ is impressive. It wants to do the work. While riding, I’m always in a ready-but-relaxed state. Anything else means I’m fighting the bike, wasting energy, and having less fun overall.

As for trail difficulty, the best way I can judge this is based on time spent standing up on the pegs, my butt off the seat. At the motorcycle park I’m spending 85-95% off the seat. That’s a lot. Very technical and very tiring. I imagine the GDT will be more like 5% off the seat.

In the 2 hours I spend riding the trails I put in around 15 miles. This puts my average speed between 5-10 mph. It’s so much fun. In the fast parts, which are brief, I manage a 25+ mph burst of speed. In the slow parts it’s a balancing act. The DRZ is pretty remarkable. Even with my oversized gas tank and rear full rack system it still feels super light. The low-end power means WAY less shifting, which frees up my brain functions for other judgements on the fly.