Description

After grinding a thousand vertical feet up the pavement, the Dolmen trail begins as a relatively flat, flowy natural singletrack that bobs and weaves through the trees.

But don't get complacent! All too soon, the trail pitches downward, and the challenge ratchets up in an instant. The upper section of Dolmen features several large boulder fields filled with off-camber rock obstacles.

Picking the right line through this boulder field requires scoping your line and some serious courage. After some entertaining chunk and high-speed tech, the next big feature is a narrower and steeper rock garden that twists through a steep series of switchbacks, plummeting down the hillside via a veritable waterfall of rock.

While this section doesn't have any single major drop or feature, stringing together the entire slippery slide is no small feat. After a brief respite, the final major trail feature plummets down a near-vertical set of switchbacks set into a steep, treeless hillside.

It doesn't seem like human beings should be able to ride a bike down a trail so treacherous… and yet it has been done—many times.

In fact, Dolmen has served as a stage for the Enduro World Series stop here in Finale Ligure.

Imagine the best mountain bikers in the world flying through these burly features at mach-chicken, and somehow managing to ride down this final feature at race pace, and your own pace will suddenly feel quite meager!