The Kessler mountain bike trails really have some things going for them.
One is standing next to me on the takeoff for a six-foot gap jump. We’re contemplating the landing which, being made of several dirt-covered concrete slabs, is intimidating.

“Looks like a new front wheel, doesn’t it?” Melissa Estelle asks, grinning. She is one of Kessler’s recently-appointed trail stewards and the first woman to hold that title in Kansas City. But more on that in a moment.