The Kansas City metro has lots and lots of great singletrack. A good resource for local trail conditions and maps can be found here, at Urban Trail Co.
Over the years I’ve ridden most of our area trails (yes, there are some newer pieces I still need to sample). But because of time and nearness, there are a couple (actually three) trails that I spend more time on.
Shawnee Mission Park is one of the O.G. trails. It’s a 15min or so warmup from my house to the trail head. I first played there in the early 80’s under the mentoring of local legend Curt Bales. Over the years a lot more single track has been added. It’s convenient, but it’s also a rocky and rooty challenge. Even with a recent re-working of the Orange (ostensibly beginner) trail, it’s pretty rough. It’s the nature of the soil and our climate that this trail erodes and births rocks.
The other trail I most frequent (and have for years) is the Lawrence River Trail. It’s the polar opposite of SM Park. Sandy and smooth, with little elevation change. Rocks are rare. Lots of straight line fast. It’s cyclocross bike friendly and reminds me of my very favorite trails in the Kempen region of Belgium and the Netherlands.
The third? Lexington Lake Park. Very similar to Shawnee Mission Park, but fresher. While I don’t get there as often as I like, it’s a fave.
So what tire do I use? In almost 30 years of mountain biking at these spots, I’ve tried a lot of tires (and a lot of bikes). My previous machine was an XC hardtail. I’m currently running a semi-trail geometry hardtail (just a wee more slack at the head and steep at the seat tube than my last bike). I now run a 120mm fork vs. the 80mm on the XC bike. Different bikes, but for the last two years I’ve used the same model of tire.
The Vittoria Barzo. From their website: “Riding technical XC? The Barzo is the choice of the 2015 World Champion, as well as the winner of the BC Bike Race. How can such an aggressive XC tire roll so fast? The magic starts in the center tread, where we place an alternating ridge design, and progressive sipe angles. Cornering duties are handled by the moto-style block knobs, laid out in a proven V-formation. The result is a tire that corners as fast as it rolls, while still offering the protection of a full depth tread. Rocks and roots? Check. World Championship? Check.”
I use the 29 X 2.25 on 30mm wide rims. While this footprint is smaller than a lot of folks use on a trail bike (the tire measures over 2.3 on my rims) I find plenty of volume for the rocky stuff. It’s a tall tire as well. At 690 grams it’s considerably lighter than most trail tires. The stock 2.6 that came on my new bike was well over 1000 grams. Yes, you can feel that difference climbing or on fast sections. I run 19-20 psi in most situations. I’ve had no burps, no sidewall tears, no issues. A caveat: this is wheels on the ground riding. Jumps? Big air? That’s another category.
That low weight and center knob design makes the tire sing at LRT. I’ve ran XC tires that approach ‘file tread’ design in Lawrence, this tire rolls as fast AND gives better cornering confidence.
One tire? For my style and trails. Yes.