Rollin' Below Rowland - New Trail Report

There is a new trail in Edmonton and it is much different than any of the existing trails we have.  It is a 800m stretch of single track just south of the North Saskatchewan River between the Wayne Gretzky bridge and Riverside Gold Course, just down the bank from Rowland Road.  The trail is filled with plenty of short, steep, power climbs, technical side hill riding and 180 degree turns to test your slow speed bike handling skills. There has not been an official name given to it yet, so expect it to go by several names or simply a location name.

Early Ride Thoughts

Because the trail is still quite new, the soil is still quite loamy which robs you of your power.  Once the trail has been ridden and packed, I expect it to ride much differently.   The first time I rode it was on my single speed and I found it to be just a bit more work than was enjoyable.  Through the pain and suffering I could foresee how much fun this trail could be with lower gearing.  On my Sunday ride I brought out the Vertex 29er SE and the trail was much more enjoyable with a full range of gears.

Technical Aspects

The most difficult trail feature that comes to my mind as I write this is the short power climbs.  Once the trail is packed I suspect that I will be able to clean all of these, but with the soft loamy soil, these were the most challenging sections of this new trail. 

What will keep this trail difficult for the long haul is very tight turns that make riding a longer wheel based bike quite difficult.  One place especially tricky has you turning right around the corner into a skinny bridge, (when riding east to west.)  Making this corner and getting my rear wheel on the skinny will require some rear wheel hopping to get better aligned.  Riding it twice now has had my rear tire just miss the inside right even with my front tire as far left on the skinny as it will go.   Riding from west to east I was able to keep both tires on the skinny, however the uphill corner ate me up once I cleared the skinny.  Definitely a great feature to help improve my skills.

My favourite section, riding east to west, is close to the end - a small, tight switchback.  There is a small log pile into a tight 180 degree right turn followed by an even tighter left with a tricky ground formation to overcome.  Here is a video of that section:
http://youtu.be/yqjiP4CFjWE


Thumbs Up

The most impressive thing about this new trail is the lack of actual 'building' that was done.  The builder(s) did an excellent job of designing a very challenging trail by utilizing the natural contours of the area.  The ridge line is worked in on several occasions, creating a nice flow in certain areas, contrasted difficult power climbs and side hills in other areas.  It's good to see that such excellent work is being done to enhance our local trail systems.

Here is a video of the entire trail travelling west to east:
http://youtu.be/MyHnM1xU4gw

Ahhh... Sweet Dirt!

It was a long, snowy, cold winter here in Edmonton, followed by a long, snowy, cold spring.  It's hard to believe that it is May before we can ride the trails without plowing through snow or bogging through mud.  Sure you can find snow and mud on the sheltered trails or those with poor drainage, but trails that are in direct sun all appeared to be clear. 

After seeing how wet the trails looked on Tuesday and Wednesday during my commute, I didn't plan a lot of single track during my ride today but rather just get out and spin the legs.  All of the multi use trails that were sloppy on Tuesday are now dry which gave me some hope that there would be some single track action that wouldn't result in a mudfest. We ran into a few small sections of mud and snow during our ride today, but I found more tacky dirt than anything, and that is definitely a good thing.

I'm not exactly sure why, but Ewok always seems to be one of the first areas to be ready.  Whether it is because it faces west or due to the slope of the bank helps it drains quicker, the upper trail is always one of the driest trails in Edmonton.  There was only one real muddy section near the south end of the trail in one of the drainage areas where there was some standing water.  Overall, the trail is is prime spring condition.

Mill Creek has a couple west facing trails as well which were also quite dry.  The upper trails on the north end of the ravine are in great shape and very little mud to be found.  Some of the steeper climbs were quite dry and loose.  A big 'thank you' to the mysterious person who was busy last fall putting in some ladder bridges over the mud holes. The few mud sections that were found had bridges in place to help preserve the trails as best as possible.

Having some single track to ride home on the commute will sure make the ride home a lot more enjoyable.

Mishugina

What is the craziest trail you have ever ridden?  Most of us instantly think of that one trail when after we got finished we said "WOW - that was the scariest thing I have ever done on my bike!"  If you haven't been on a trail that has scared you half-to-death, I would like to introduce you to Mishugina.  This trail consists of a series of skinnies, gaps and drops located on Bowen Island, just North of Vancouver.  You may have seen this video before as it has been around for a few years but seeing it again can't be a bad thing.  Enjoy!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmbJrhcP0A8

Ride Before the Storm

There was a huge winter storm that hit Edmonton on January 7th, 2011 and continues to dump snow on us.  In just over a week we have seen almost 2 feet of snow and deep freeze conditions with temperatures colder than -30 degrees Celsius when factoring in the wind chill.  What do you  do when the weather is like that?  Well, there is a lot of shoveling, but I also had some spare time on my hands to edit some video.

This video was shot on January 3rd, 2011, my last ride before the storm.  It was my last day off during the Christmas break and the weather was beautiful.  I headed out solo from DaCapo Cafe then rode along the south side of the North Saskatchewan River to the Dawson bridge and back.  It wasn't a long ride, but definitely good to get out for a spin. 



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1W0fIQSP-os

Boxing Day Ride

I guess Santa read my Christmas Wish List because under the tree on December 25th was a GoPro HD camera!  I couldn't wait to try it out but I managed to hold off until Boxing Day. 

My friend Jason and I hit the trails starting in Mill Creek on December 26th.  We rode some of the east Canada Cup trails, over to Conner's Hill and back through Mill Creek.  Here is some of the video I managed to capture.  Being a noob, I wasn't able to capture the first half of the ride as I had the settings wrong.

We also stopped by the river boat fire pit for a while to work on our skillz.  Apparently they still need some tuning...

Here is the updated, high quality (720p) version as promised.  I combined both videos into one and added music, as requested.  Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VhnpK2mlkwE

Take Action: Parks Canada Survey

Do you live and ride in Canada’s beautiful western provinces?  Are you interested in accessing more trails within Parks Canada?  If so, Parks Canada wants to hear from riders like you!  Parks Canada is conducting a survey on cycling in Western Canada and in Mountain Parks such as Banff, Jasper, Mount Revelstoke, and Waterton Lakes National Parks.

There are many ways that visitors enjoy their national parks and Parks Canada is continually striving to improve these services. In recent years, there has been an increase in interest in bicycling of all types, including the various forms of road riding and mountain biking. Parks Canada is interested in better understanding the quality of its current offer and how the cycling experience might be improved in the future.

Please take a few minutes to give them your feedback.
 
TAKE THE SURVEY NOW

Fill out the survey before January 24, 2011 and you’ll get the chance to win one of three sweet prize packs, valued at $250 each.

Help get the word out and invite your contacts to take the survey.

Trail Review - Breathless

For my first review, I am going to share my thoughts on what has quickly become my favorite trail in Edmonton. For the last month, most of my riding has been at Terwillegar and the new trail called Breathless.

Breathless is an out-and-back trail which is much more technical than most other trails in the city. Some of the technical highlights include a few steep switchbacks, a couple short drops, lots of roots and endless power climbs. The most memorable piece of the trail would be the bench that was cut into the steep river bank. The bench is only a couple feet wide and probably over 50 feet above the valley floor at it's highest elevation. There is a severe penalty for failure so needless to say, if you have a fear of heights or have doubts about your skills, this is not a trail for you.

Breathless is a new trail and it shows in certain areas. The soil conditions change frequently throughout the trail, ranging from grassy to sandy to loamy to hard pack. The sandy and loamy sections are still quite loose and it will take some moisture and a lot of traffic to really pack these areas in. Another condition to be aware of is that there are plenty of sharp, rooty stumps from the bushes that were cleared in a few concentrated areas. You will get a lot of tire 'pop' off of these stumps as your wheels deflect off of them. I am running light XC race tires and have not had a puncture from these so you don't need to be too concerned about flatting.  Also of note, work on the trail is not complete as the trail flows nicely then comes to an abrupt end, but don't let that stop you from checking it out.  The work that has been done is amazing and everyone that I have ridden with on the trail has been impressed by how well the existing terrain has been utilized.  Kudos to those who have spent countless hours building so the rest of us can reap the benefits.

Some of the steeper sections of Breathless are only rideable one direction. For me, there are four sections that I can not pedal up and I consider hike-a-bike sections. On the way out, there are three sections that you are required to push and they are lumped quite close together: the climb just before the bench, going up the switchback just after the bench, and the last climb before the meadow. On the way back, the only section I would consider a requirement to push would be going up the switchbacks before the climb back to the meadow.  With how steep many of the sections of this trail are, I would not recommend trying to ride it if conditions are not dry or tacky.  You definitely require maximum traction and if conditions are muddy or snowy I don't think this trail can be safely navigated.

If you are a fan of gravity, the hike-a-bike sections I mentioned are most appealing when pointing your front wheel down. All 4 of those sections all have at least one tight turn in them so be sure to keep your speed in check. If you are the kind of rider who enjoys cranking up the speed and maintaining a fast pace, you may not enjoy this trail. There are very few places where you can pick up much speed, and nowhere that you can maintain momentum. The trail is full of twists and turns with short power climbs lurking around every corner. This trail really works on your low speed bike handling skills as well as your anaerobic climbing. If you aren't used to doing lots of power climbs in your ride, by the time you make your way out-and-back you will know why it was named Breathless.