Join the club!

In a time before the internet, clubs were the place to meet people, learn about new areas, share stories and improve your skills. Nowadays much of that dialogue happens on Facebook and the forums or in small bubbles. It's one thing to read and watch videos about gear or technique on the internet but another to see it in person. I was at a masters alpine racing club night and I watched some of the better racers carve turns on icy snow around gates that I was having trouble getting an edge in. I know what's possible.

Where would I be if I never showed up to my first Hardcore group rides in high school? It probably would have taken until the introduction of trailforks.com to really learn the trail system in Edmonton. The adventures in this blog would be even less interesting than they already are. I wouldn't know what "fast" really is. I wouldn't know how long a proper ride is. Every day I come across a question on Facebook asked by someone who would benefit from joining a club and have someone take them under their wing.

Group rides. Learn new trails, ride with better riders who will push you to ride faster. Race in midweek and weekend events. Discounts
Hardcore cycling club

Uphill skiing nights at Sunridge on Monday nights. Free rock climbing at Rock Jungle on Wednesday nights. Weekend trips. Discounts
Alpine Club of Canada Edmonton Section

Lezyne Micro GPS bike computer review

Looking for something to replace your Garmin Edge 500? After losing mine, I recently was.

Typically when it comes time for me to upgrade something, I dive into a military like procurement process trying to define which features I need and finding the best deal. In the end I went with the Garmin Edge 500, but in order to get a heart rate strap, I had to bundle with some speed and cadence sensors I never used and eventually sold for $20. I am not at all interested in attaching speed and cadence sensors to my bike: the GPS does a good enough job of measuring distance and speed and my Stages power meter measures cadence.

My Galibier. Sometimes there's a singletrack trail heading down the other side #brakeburner #wakefield

A post shared by Peter Knight (@peteyknight5) on Aug 13, 2017 at 7:19am PDT

The Garmin Edge 500 ticked all of the boxes for me. GPS, compatibility with ANT+ powermeters and heart rate, and a barometric altimeter for accurate elevation profiles all at around $250. I'm pretty sure it was the price of this device that put it on the bikes of many cyclists and allowed Strava to become what it is.

Unfortunately, Garmin discontinued the 500, and instead offers the very basic Edge 20 and 25 (no power meter compatibility or barometric altimeter) and the Edge 520, which like the Suunto watches costs almost as much as my personal computer.

I am told that Bluetooth LE will be replacing ANT+ for power meter and heart rate compatibility. While my Stages power meter is compatible with both I had an existing ANT+ heart rate strap. I would have to factor in a heart rate strap purchase (and useless speed/cadence sensor bundle) if I wanted the Polar M450, which I believe is another good replacement of the Edge 500.

When you're stuck in a rut... ride it out and hope for the best #yegbike #fatbike #yegfitness

A post shared by Peter Knight (@peteyknight5) on Feb 12, 2017 at 12:52am PST

The new kid on the block is Lezyne. They offer GPS cycling computers in 2 sizes, and either with or without sensor compatibility. I decided that the smaller Micro GPS offered all of the features I wanted from the Edge 500 with some nice additional features all for $190:
-Much improved GPS accuracy. Less waiting to acquire satellites. For better or for worse, this ads more honesty to your Strava!
-Connects with my phone via Bluetooth to let me know if I am receiving text messages or calls, navigate, and even upload rides. Strava live segments for those with a premium account.
-Bluetooth LE and ANT+ compatibility so I can use my existing HR strap and power meter and don't have to buy a bundle with speed/cadence sensors I don't want. Maximum compatibility with past, present, and future sensors.
-Smaller size
-Excellent customer support, I believe that they have fixed the issue recording indoor trainer rides without a speed sensor.
-"breadcrumb" map shows a trace of your ride on the screen. Pretty neat.

With a few limitations:
-Lezyne app does not provide nearly the same data metrics and functionality as Garmin Connect. I have been using a combination of Strava, basic Training Peaks and Golden Cheetah for analyzing rides.
-I haven't gotten auto sync to work with Strava.
-Smaller size makes it harder to read.
-To record indoor trainer rides, it needs to see movement, which get this...requires a speed sensor! BAHHHHHH. I really hope they fix this. fixed with the latest update
-uses its own proprietary mounts.

Around the Misty Range

It's rare that I drive to the start of a bike ride. Especially after already having driven for 4hrs the night before. But the alpine of Kananaskis was calling. Around the Misty Range is one that I have put off for a while (too long, after the floods of 2013), but the 1hr paved drive to the trailhead is not bad (similar to Lake Louise, Bragg Creek, and not gravel unlike the High Rockies trail).

The Elbow lake area is quite underappreciated as a mountain biking destination. I did the climb up to the lake in under 10minutes. After rolling around the lake there is 5km of rocky doubletrack offering opportunities for interesting line selection, and scenic alpine riding and of course even more options for exploring in the Elbow and Sheep trails.

After turning onto the smooth Sheep trail, the riding became easier up and over Sheep Pass but as expected the floods of 2013 had wiped out much of the trail up to and including the Rickert's Pass trail junction. Of course the status of the riding through this section is in dispute as it passes through a historical private ownership region. I made sure to carefully tiptoe my way through the many dismounts, creek crossings, climbing up and down banks, and walking along through the creek! The progress of my blue GPS dot on Trailforks was painfully slow, but I eventually arrived at a coal pile where according to the GPS track, it was time to find the Rickert's Pass trail. Before the floods, the trail was such a rip that people would ride right past the junction!

 

With the dry weather, trail conditions are #alltime in #kcountry . I'd love to get out more in September and tackle some more Eastcott epics. Hopefully not #solo next time! #atomicdog #nebulous #mtb

A post shared by Peter Knight (@peteyknight5) on Sep 5, 2017 at 11:39am PDT

I started to hike up Rickerts Creek, and picked up a trail on the Left side of the creek, put my head down and pushed my bike up the trail. Unfortunately (or fortunately...) I was led to a dead end. Trailforks showed my blue dot well off route, so I started to bushwack towards the trail, making painfully slow progress, and having to cross the steep gully of Rickert's Creek. A silly mistake that would have been obvious had I brought or had a photo of my topo map.

Eventually I picked up the trail but at that point, I just wanted to be over and done with. I had to refuel before reaching the pass and only really stopped at the pass for 3 pictures before heading down the trail.

The Mist Creek descent was awesome. It is approximately 10km long and drop down to the valley bottom is in great shape, especially compared to Cox Hill. As the trail traveled along the valley bottom, there was very minimal horse and flood damage and the slight rolling hills were easy on my fatigued legs. After the junction with the old exploration road that heads up to Mist Ridge, the water-bar-turned-jumps brought a bit of a smile out of me before arriving back at the trailhead to my patiently waiting girlfriend.

Well the fire is stoked, and I've been eyeing up more rides in Kananaskis. While the dry conditions have brought the fire danger to extreme levels, even the most poorly drained trails are drying up and it is time to get after it. The classics of the Elbow valley, the lesser known gems in the Sheep, and the adventures in the Highwood area are calling.

We are loving our favourite spots to death

This post seems timely, at the end of a busy summer of free national parks entries because of Canada 150, larch madness, and just as we are transitioning into early season skiing with lots of eager skiers, but limited suitable options.

I'm not sure if it's a new phenomenon brought on by social media, but I've noticed that when someone posts some pictures from a hike on a Facebook group, it inspires people to go out an post pictures of that same hike, which doesn't really provide input on conditions of other hikes. When word of a new trail gets out, numbers quickly pile up in the new STRAVA segment, and it appears that trail is all that people are riding for the next couple of weeks. And when someone posts a staged picture from a viewpoint on Instagram, you can bet that you will see more of that in your "explore" feed.

I understand, our recreation time is limited and we want to make the most of it. We want to go where good views, trails, conditions, and photos are guaranteed. We buy stocks when the trading volume and price are going up rather than experimenting with other companies. So we follow tracks and go where we heard it was good two days ago.

Overflowing parking lots, traffic jams, crowded viewpoints. In the summer, these places become off limits unless you want to get up really early. In the winter, crowded areas create heuristic traps which trick otherwise rational skiers into taking dangerous risks. But one "social media network" is neglected: Avalanche Canada's Mountain information network (MIN). Why would anyone want to tell the world about conditions at a spot when they know it will get beat down by the hordes the next day? But these observations are important as they provide additional data points to avalanche forecasters and might be useful for estimating conditions in adjacent areas.

The guidebooks present a lot of great options and cost less than the gas needed for a trip to the mountains. Pick one up and explore some different spots. Make it your goal this winter to check out a new area and provide a valuable MIN report for the community.

Edmonton Steeps

I've spend some time after nationals focusing on riding steeper trails to better prepare myself for next year.



Next up, working on jumping and drops to get used to speed.

Pick on someone your own size, stop slaying beginner trails

Arguments about whether the "uphill rider has the right of way" are pretty silly if you think a little deeper about it. Downhill riders argue that they don't want their flow interrupted and that the uphill climbing rider could use a break. I believe the reason for the rule is that it is harder for the climbing rider to restart after stopping. In reality, the climbing rider can likely hear the descending rider and gets out of the way. The rule keeps the descending rider aware that they might have to stop and yield, just as they would for other trail users.

For a trail to be climbable, it must not be too steep or sustained. It must be fairly smooth and devoid of overly challenging rocks or roots. Hardly rad enough to claim an uninterrupted descent. If you don't want to yield to climbing riders, how about riding a trail that is un-climbeable?

Which brings me to another discussion: You could accuse IMBA trailbuilding guidelines of sanitizing trails, but one result of their implementation is a widespread increase in beginner singletrack that is fun for a range of skill levels and introduces new riders to the sport in a way that doubletrack never could. Hordes of people unload their bikes off their Kuat racks attached to their Subarus to ride these trails. The grade of these trails is also within the possibilities of climbing. Surely a nervous beginner should have no problem yielding to a climbing rider? And what a good place to introduce them to that etiquette.

But these trails have also been taken over by more advanced riders. I can imagine them being fun at speed a couple of times, but to continuously ride these trails, given the other options available, one must be uninspired. Maybe you are not feeling at the top of your game. Maybe you don't want crash. Maybe you don't want to beat up your bike. But going at speeds at which clipping a pedal or a tree would be catastrophic on a trail shared with beginner and climbing riders is not responsible. It intimidates beginners on trails that are purpose built for them. Pick on a trail your own skill level.

Thoughts on E-bikes

eBikes, like eCigarettes, are currently at the center of a heated debate about trail access where battles with other user groups and land managers over trail access are still fresh in the mind of mountain bikers.

First we must understand the eBiker. I can think of two distinct types:

A rider who due to injury cannot pedal . In this case, I wouldn't expect an eBiker to provide much issue, and this type of use should be encouraged. But I saw an argument from a French rider who claimed that due to injury, he would not be able to ride without a motor assist and that it enables him to finish enduro stages within 30 seconds of world class local pros like Nico, Barel, and Loic. Think about it. The fastest shredder on your local trails likely cannot finish within 30 seconds of Nico. If someone can ride that aggressively, they aren't injured significantly enough that they need to ride an eBike, or they shouldn't be riding that aggressively! Strap a heart rate monitor on for a descent and if you are gripped, your heart rate can be as pinned as it was on the climb!

A rider looking for the easy way. Part of the widespread disablization of society that has brought upon us health issues like obesity. Accessibility for people who shouldn't need accessibility. Things like parking as close as possible and using the elevator even for short trips. Why don't they just ride chairlifts, shuttle, or ride motocross trails? But those trails are steep and challenging or blown out, full of braking bumps and holes, and require heavy bikes with lots of suspension and advanced skills to maneuver those bikes. These types of eBikers are looking for the shortcut to riding soft fresh cut loam or buff flow on cross country loops, and get more laps than they would be able to do under their own power.

Trail advocacy:While I find the whole argument about the ability to get oneself in over one's head elitist, I think it is a legitimate concern to worry about more remote trails that were never built to handle increased traffic. On the other hand, I would hope that the mountain bike community would embrace having increased traffic on remote trails that are slowly being taken back by nature. Clearing logs, brushing the overgrowth and providing trail conditions updates. In a way eBikes could replace equestrian users. Increasing the number of mountain bikers is a good thing, but when do new school beginner trails become too busy?

Ultimately on multi-use trails, eBike access is not up to mountain bikers, it is up to the other trail users: hikers and equestrians! Mountain bikers have spent decades fighting for trail access under the premise that we are still a non-MOTORISED user group. The way they are currently sold with 30km/hr limits and 500W is just at the limits of human performance but it is not hard to imagine that the future will bring us lighter, more powerful motors, larger capacity batteries and ways to override those settings.

All that said, I think there is a place for e-bikes on select mountain bike trails:
-Trails accessed, by chairlift or truck that are commonly shuttled.
-Durable surface trails, with the blessing of other user groups including hikers and equestrians
-Under utilized trails that could use more traffic to remove logs, overgrowth, and provide conditions updates.
-eBikers with a legitimate disability who cannot ride aggressively.
-eBikes being used as they are sold, that is with the 500W, 30km/hr limiter.

Wrapping up the season with a pair of 2nd places

It feels a little ridiculous to be wrapping up the season already in early August, but I guess people are really pumped for cyclocross. Now that I have to think about more people in my life than just myself, I can understand that there are more ways to spend one of the limited summer weekends than just racing, recovering, and training. The Hardcore Cycling Club was originally planning on hosting a longer distance event as a double header with United Cycle at Sunridge, but we couldn't get the venue because a colour run had booked it earlier! Good to see that one type of racing is not dying.

After a humbling ride at Nationals, I was back in the groove with some racing on my home turf at Terwillegar. Typical start line chatter "this is pretty much a cyclocross course". "it is not technical at all". Probably coming from people who took B-lines the week before at Canmore. The course still claimed a collarbone and some skin when things were all said and done. I welcomed not having to risk injury 2 times per lap. Embrace the lack of tech!

Great legs from Nationals continued and I was able to ride away from a chase group into a podium position, but the leaders were already out of sight. I was gifted a 2nd place when MVDH's seatpost blew up.

But wait, there's more. I managed to squeeze in another race, a BC Cup at Silverstar to kick off my week of summer vacation on the way to visiting my brother. The loop was short, but had a good mix of newer machine built singletrack, old school rolling trails, and one steeper descent. Conditions were dusty! I was worried about passing opportunities, but that was not much of an issue with only 6 racers starting in my wave. I ended up riding myself into 2nd place, within sight of 1st at a couple of spots, but I had to stop and pump up a slow leak in my front tire. Legs felt great and I enjoyed the rolling terrain that felt similar to Edmonton's trails. Off to vacation!

The lack of racing on the calendar is starting to make me want to put on a race on a great course (Hinton Nordic Center, Nordegg). Throw away the rule book and forget about this 20min lap, double tech/feed zone, spectator friendly, A-line/B-line nonsense. No finish line arch, no U2 blasting at the finish line, no finisher medals,but just a great course with passing opportunities and long singletrack descents that you would ride anyways if you were to spend a weekend in Hinton or Nordegg. Hopefully get a club to back me in the likely event that nobody shows, but at least then I've found out how many people like racing on a course that I would find fun.

Another thrashing at Nationals

The 2007 Canada Cup in Canmore was my first crack at National level racing, with National Championships coming a week later at Mt. Washington (we were headed to the island for a family vacation so what the heck, eh?). My coach at the time cautioned me that national level courses are supposed to challenge riders both technically and physically and are a step up from the few provincial level courses that I have raced up to that point. In short, I got owned by the loose dirt in the Coal Chutes, and the slick roots at Mt. Washington. I learned a lot watching riders push the limits of their bikes on descents (if it's not making a terrible noise, you aren't going fast enough) and adapt to adverse conditions. I also did a lot of walking.

Humbled, I spent the next couple of seasons working to improve my technical skills and by the time Nationals returned to Canmore in 2010 and 2011, I was ready. I felt confident on the courses and had an excellent race in 2010, but flatted 2x in 2011 (I had to run a tube after denting my rim at a race earlier in the year).

Nationals returned for 2017 and will again in 2018. But I was a little hesitant to sign up to race with the big guns. XC racing has changed a lot from the long, fun, downhills of 2007, to shorter laps in 2010 and 2011, to even shorter laps for 2017. As well, drops and other awkward features have become crowd favourites and have worked their way into courses. Shorter laps mean you do more laps, and hence are setting up for those features (or taking the time penalty on the B-lines) more often. Shorter laps mean you are more likely to get lapped, or pulled from the race before you are lapped.

I've had good legs the past 2 seasons, and I had done a bit of pre-riding of the new sections of the course in previous weekends. I found them manageable. I also started hunting out steeper descents in Edmonton to prepare myself and boost my confidence. I put a fresh set of tires on my bike. Maybe I could survive until 1 lap to go? Looming wildfire smoke in Canmore was my last excuse but I signed up with a couple of hours to spare. In my experience, conditions on race day are rarely as bad as the forecast makes them out to be.

I can't remember the last time I arrived a day early to pre-ride a race course, but since I had to pick up my race number before 5pm on Friday, I took advantage of the opportunity. Dry weather and lots of traffic on the course had made it hard to get traction on the extremely loose descents. It felt like I had a couple of close calls, and one random crash that beat me up pretty good so I left the pre-ride pretty intimidated. And Kabush is racing on Maxxis Aspens?

Dusty and loose on a fresh section of trail completed in June.

Spectating the women's race was crucial to get my mind focused on the race. I watched riders with great skills taking advantage of those sections. I watched riders make calculated decisions to play it safe. I also heard the "thud" and "ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh" from the crowd as some girl paid the price and hit the dirt.

30 seconds to the start.

The back row attack! Lots of room to settle into position on the start loop and first climb of the lap.

Setting up for the B-line

I rode flat sections like "Buried Alive" and the run into the Eye Dropper better than I ever have.

Starr Trail Solutions sure know how to make trail.

The reality sinks in, but I know what I have to do. Ride the hills as hard as I can and not get in anyone's way on the descents. DFL at the holeshot but the climbs of the course alternated between singletrack and doubletrack making it easy to move up. The first descent was okay. but the 2nd descent contained 3 cruxes in quick succession (awkward rock armoured corner, Get Down, Organ Donor) and would lose huge chunks of time taking B-lines and walking. But I didn't let that faze me. Each time I hit the base of a climb, it was full gas, emptying the tank by the time I got to the top. I've never felt so good on the climbs (I must be getting lots of recovery time on the descents). Yes, it was frustrating having to chase riders I had passed before, but the course made it easy to do so. But eventually I ran out of time and got pulled with 3 laps to go just as I could feel the legs starting to hurt.

I survived, but I've got my work cut out for me before I even think about signing up for next year. If I can limit my losses (I sound like an American grand tour "contender"), maybe I can make it to the lead lap, or one to go. I was pumped to see fellow Albertans Mitchell Thomas and Ian Murray finish on the lead lap.

2018 Marin Wolf Ridge test ride

I was able to take a 2018 Marin Wolf Ridge for a test ride

And a Pine Mountain

High Rockies trail

Canmore has some more cruisy cross country. The high rockies trail has two distinct flavours: Big ring doubletrack and perhaps Matt Hadley's magnum opus:

 Undulating flow. The climbs are never long, yet the descents stretch on with very little braking required. The trail is also wide enough to make passing easier on this 2-way trail.

 Welcome to the nug zone. The trail works it's way through a boulder field on its southern end. But no worries, the trail tread is still buttery smooth.

A pretty solid ride from Canmore and back. That's for sure!

Kootenay Sufferfest Galena Ghost Ride

I put this on my top 5 races list for this year, and I may have inadvertently convinced a couple of people to sign up, there was no backing out now. Not even a suspect weather forecast?

The final running of the 100km point to point mountain bike race. Quite the endeavor for the organizers, especially mixed in with a long weekend of running and cycling races. I was eager to return after having to miss out on the 2015 edition due to injury, but nervous staring down the barrel of 100km and 3000m of climbing off road.

Galena trail is a good trail for all abilities

A great race. I was able to beat my time from 2014. I had forgotten how hard the beginning of the race is through the True Blue area. The final descent down the Alamo trail is a big one, a real brake burner!

lots of great riding to break up the long drive

Golden 24

Another year, another weekend getting roped into doing a 24 hour race. Some friends in Golden were desperate for another rider to join their 4 person team. I know that a 5 person team presents enough suffering as it is and it would be even harder with one less team member, though I did ride for almost 6hrs on that 5 person team. The trails in Golden beckoned and even the initial forecast didn't look so bad with just a slight bit of rain to "keep the dust down", I reasoned.

I'd ridden a loop like that in the Mountain Shadows area before, so I wasn't too worried about pre-riding the course as I would probably get in more riding than I wanted over the course of the weekend.

First lap, off the tag, our leader had a wonderful lap and I tagged off in 2nd, not too far behind the leader (Leighton). I set out hammering up the new Schaecher trail climb (that will eventually go up Mt. 7) and along the extremely flowy trail above the gravel pit and rodeo grounds. Seriously awesome trailbuilding going on in Golden! Chipping away at his lead, I caught the leader at the top of a downhill and went ahead, but crashed over the bars right after with him right on my wheel. Stunned, but no dripping blood, bike seemed ok but the bars were twisted. Strava says I spent over 1.5minutes collecting myself and getting my bike going haha! I got back into the groove for the rest of the fun lap, and still managed to throw down a good time before tagging off to Pierre.

Back in my tent, I could hear rain drops starting to fall. For our team's 2nd go through the rotation, we were going to do 2 laps at a time to give each other more rest between laps. The course was littered with rocks that would be slick in the rain, but I focused on riding smooth and nailed the section that brought me down on lap 1. Soaked after one "hot" lap and another good lap on a course that was deteriorating, I headed to sleep.

Up in the middle of the night for 2 night laps. The rain was still going strong. Not something I was looking forward to, but I just wanted to get it over with. Lots of anticipation. Then the tag comes. The climbs were slick and the trail was one slick puddle. All I could think of was the grit getting blasted into the bearings of my bike, and my brake pads that were already low on life. The kilometers slowly ticked by. It was amazing how some technical sections would sneak up to me in the dark and I managed to ride without much fuss. Nearing the end of the lap, I thought, "what the heck, what's another lap?" and my final lap ticked by. Time to crawl back into the tent to get some sleep.

We had the race locked up, and er fortunately our laps were taking longer than 1hr now, so there wasn't time for everyone to get in one last lap. I politely declined and hopped in the car and drove home from another crazy weekend of mountain bike racing.

The root and rock laden course is punishing in the dry and in the wet, quite a contrast from the speedway that is the Canmore course.

Royal River Valley Rumble

Kurt and Geoff put on a great race. The course featured some steep climbing and I found that I had to spend the flatter sections recovering. Just getting over an illness, but the legs felt good for 7th place.

Got the drone out

More adventure + Devon River Raid XC

Slackcountry biking. As absurd as it sounds, I was thinking about all of the chairlift access mountain bike mountains around here and many of them have a trail that leaves the patrolled boundary. Call it a great way to finish off your day! I don't think many are as long and hard (that's what she said!) as Kicking Horse's (Maybe Khyber Pass in Whistler?).

At first, I was a little angry that the mountain is not too keen on allowing uphill traffic, even after they close for the season. But then I remembered that "The Separatists" had won some gift certificates. What a great way to spend the day: casing some jumps, hitting some stumps, and then cap it off with a hike-a-bike to a super long descent.

Loading up the bikes in the Gondola. The Marin took quite a beating as the trails were quite rough after a dry summer

The trails were ROUGH, and I was taking quite a beating, I could even start to feel the death grip setting in midway down the first lap! Okay, they are pretty long laps. Getting a lift to the top is fun, getting beaten up: not so much.

At the top of the grassy knoll aka T2. A different perspective in the summer for sure! Some steep hiking to get there.

My partner struggling, wearing body armour and carrying a heavier bike

 Unfortunately, I did not really possess the skill level to really make the most out of the trail, and I did a lot of walking. It's definitely more of a hiking trail, but I could see how a skilled rider could get down some sections. It seemed that every time the trail got fun, that the next section would force me to walk my bike. After quite a character builder, We were finally at the logging road, and able to rip the upper Canyon Creek descent (Lower Sir Donald, LSD). This trail is fun, and a great contrast to the blown out and rough nature of the KHMR trails. Steep sections that were not loose, okay, maybe I should tighten my lips about this trail!

As we didn't have a car waiting in Nicholson, we cut the descent short and returned to Cedar Lake, then I finished off the loop by pedalling up to Kicking Horse. My whole body and my mind were sore!

A tough day for sure. The Golden Cycling Club is planning on officially sanctioning the trail with the goal of having a descent from the top of KHMR down to Nicholson. I'm in no position to discuss what that will mean for the nature of the trail, but in its current state, it is best left for the more skilled and adventurous riders looking for a great/challenging way to finish off the day!

The body was sore for a couple of days after. All of those isometric muscle contractions while riding downhill are not something that I normally experience. Fortunately, I was all rested up and ready to race the River Raid XC in Devon on the weekend.

A fast course, mainly consisting of doubletrack, but with some steep singletrack climbs and a tight, but straight descent. I was feeling pretty good and was able to ride the steep climbs every lap with the odd dab or two. I ended up in 4th, just shy of the podium.

I took some notes from the winner of the Kicking Horse hill climb.

I really did have a job interview! Then I met up with Bill at Moose Mountain on my way back to Canmore. We were going to do SHAFT and Special K, but I broke my rear maxle on SHAFT. I had my Xprezo with me, so we salvaged the day with a lap of Shoulda.

And then a Baldy + Hector downhill ride a couple of days later.

Some great riding, and I need a little more rest. I'm itching to get to Revelstoke for some alpine hike-a-bikes to cap the year off properly.

My favourite ride

Since my last post about riding, I made a video:

Riding all over the mountain. on Pinkbike

A repeat of last year but with slightly harder access and better weather!

We rode a good chunk of the climb, but there was lots of pushing to do. Great views!

tight steeps!

My favourite shot. A great view of the Ghost River valley.

After some beautiful scree riding up top, the trail descended into some looser rocks, still very driftable!

Yeah, the t-shirt and elbow pads is questionable style, well, gotta keep that skin intact!

Finding the trailhead was a little tougher with most of the landmarks and trail markers washed away in the June floods.

June floods also washed away a diversion dam, which made for some fording!

When we did this ride last year, it really set me off on a mission to find some great descents. I'll never be able to ride the gnarly steeps, but I do enjoy a long descent that travels through many vegetation zones. I rode a lot of great trails, but this one stood out for not being too intimidating, taking me through some awesome terrain, and of course, being non stop fun for the whole descent. The 90 year old trail flows well, better than some recently built trails designed with "flow" in mind. Maybe back then, they knew something we didn't!

Trans Rockies Canmore pictures

I went for a stroll with my camera and stumbled upon a bike race.

more pictures here

Kicking Horse Cup

Well, I won the series last year, so I had no choice but to REPRESENT. As I was still tired and looking for a full night's sleep after a long drive back from the coast, I decided to skip the prolouge. Last year before the hill climb, we climbed to the paraglider launch on Mt. 7 and threw down a lap, but after a relaxed morning in Canmore, all I had time for was a very short mountain shadows rip before skin suiting UP for the hill climb.

I was feeling confident, knowing how I finished last year, and knowing that I should be stronger this year. The format was slightly different for me because I started with EVERYONE, not just the 5 or so U30's. After a flat rollout filled with lots of sketchyness, the big guns were all eager to get away by upping the pace on the 1st big ramp after the bridge. Fast old guy Olaf attacked and everyone in the group, including me underestimated his ability. I went next, but it was too little too late and along with another rider, we tried our hardest to reel him in. In the end, I rolled in 3rd, even a little slower than last year. Wind? CX bike? time spent on the flats? who knows.

getting up near the front to avoid the sketchyness and set myself up to follow the attacks.

The 60ish km road race is fun, especially with a hill capable of causing selections. I went in with the same game plan as last year, which due to what I think was a stronger field, was not as effective, but led to the same eventual result (I was close to "winning" last year). I again liked the Aussie pursuit format, it provided incentive to keep the pace high early on, and then race through the shrapnel from the older groups on the way to the finish.

outsprinting  the sketchies

So in all, 2 age group wins, wish I could have had a shot at the prolouge. Great event, great prizes, fun racing formats.

Meanwhile, Bill had been crushing self powered Mt. 7 laps and we were going to do a half lap before returning to Canmore. Unfortunately after a steep section, my front brake failed. Bill took one for the team and lent me his bike for the final singletrack: "I've already been down this twice".

After a big week of mountain biking and some racing, the legs are tired and it's time to relax!

great draw prizes!

Zest tour 2013

It was time to pay the grandparents a visit.

Kelowna: Made an attempt on Little White. On a hot 35C day in Ktown, it was nice to get up high! We ended up taking a wrong  route above the KVR and were climbing up a sun-exposed gravel  4wd road instead of the correct trail  through the trees. Once below the KVR and into the Myra-Belleview provincial park network, we descended Crawford to Hillbilly for a fun descent,  though I had to get used to my 26" Marin Attack Trail after spending a couple of months on the 29er. About 300m vertical from the bottom, the heat really set in, which changed our moods from failure to more opportunistic. An Okanagan lake dip was on order!

North Shore: After a short and sweet stop at granny's in Burnaby, we set off for the North Shore, a classic mountain biking zone. We climbed up Old Buck, Baden Powell and Mushroom trails with the intent on starting off with a Pangor lap, but a rock had other plans and got caught up in my rear derailleur after getting flicked into it by my tire.

Bent, with no cage spring tension. This Shadow is more like a Shadow minus

Bill enjoyed his lap, even hitting up Empress after. With a short, but expensive stop at Cove Bikes and some parking lot wrenching, I was back in business, and we headed up again, this time with the goal of trying out a new trail we had been informed of below the classic Dale's trail. There has been a lot of talk about the changing nature of the bike trails on the shore: Some argue that the movement is "dumbing down the shore", while others would like to open up the sport to new riders, impress land managers, and I'm sure lower their monthly expenditure on rear wheels and derailleurs.

In short, I enjoyed the trail with it's smooth transitions between short technical features, but Bill was not impressed with the meandering lines and almost too desperate addition of flow of the trail. Then the trail spat us out in no man's land: along the Bridle Path hiking trail, which required lots of (surprisingly enough) hiking to get us back towards our car. We pushed up and enjoyed the steep Applicator trail and on to the parking lot.

I was starting to feel better on the bike, and we just had to do a quick Executioner-Dreamweaver lap on Fromme before catching a ferry to Victoria. I loved Fromme. A nice, easy road climb up and some awesome descents!

Bill, in his natural element

"does it at least  look cool?" "kinda"

Sunset ferry ride. A must-do

In Victoria, we enjoyed excellent hospitality thanks to the other grandparents, and checked out the Mt. Work/Hartland zone. Mountain bikers in Victoria have it tough, with a large portion of their riding contained to one area 20km from the city. They have lost entire riding zones to questionable development (Bear Mt Golf Course being the main culprit. Boycott them if you love mountain biking...).  I've heard of other trails that can be connected to Hartland through the Highlands or other parks (Thetis Lake?) and Sooke, but there is not much information available on those connections. Anyways, we enjoyed riding the countless rock slabs. We rode a suggested "advanced" loop (little face-switchbacks-twister-snakes and ladders), thew in some other trails (lumpy, jelly roll, mindbender, dave's, trillium, who's your daddy, night shift, skull trail) and Bill even got in some gnar on "birth control". It seemed like endless Razor's Edge!

Our trip was short and sweet and we were headed home the next day, but not before a quick rip at Vedder, near Chilliwack. The Fraser Valley would be a sweet place to call home with lot of excellent biking and skiing options, without the clusterf*** that is Vancouver. On Vedder we rode 2 cents to Turd Ferguson to Dilemna and were surprised by the smooth trails and jumps that were just begging to be ripped fast. I came into a corner a little too zesty and laid 'er down. Fortunately, came up with no damage. 

Finally back home for a short stop before the Kicking Horse Cup road races in Golden!

Stoked to Get Spanked 2013

I had so much fun last year, and the 24 hours of adrenalin entry fee is a little too steep for someone who is underemployed, so I returned to Revelstoke to throw down at Mt. MacPherson!

Same great course as last year with a mix of everything: singletrack climbs, gravel road climbs, lungbustingly steep climbs, followed by some fast, flowy descents, and some tough singletrack. The field was a little deeper this year with some fast guys skipping out on 24HOA and of course, lots of local rippers. Armed with my Xprezo W-29, I felt really strong and smooth on the singletrack climbs, and was a little quicker on the descents, but I still lost time to better riders there.

I grabbed the holeshot pretty much uncontested and was able to stay out of trouble, but maybe I kept the throttle open for a little too long as others were able to impressively throw down equal lap times for the 2 laps, even with the temperature getting close to 30C!

After my slow fade during the race, I rolled over the line in 6th place, and then enjoyed my Begbie beer and the inexpensive burgers and fries. I've got a bit of work to do on pacing and descending still!

but I won my age group!

And got a sweet Shimano backpack!

Great event, thanks to Skookum Cycle and all of the sponsors. Put this one on the calendar for next year, or pay $1500 to do it in the Singletrack 6...