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Edmonton - Autumn 2012

11K views 88 replies 11 participants last post by  newfangled 
#1 ·
Great day for a ride. Trails super busy. Found the single track in Patricia Ravine, couple of near seat ejection moments on the trail, but only one bashed finger today.

Not too hot, trails are nice and dry, and the weather's great!

West end of Canada Cup course. For reference, my bike is an XL with 29 wheels. :thumbsup:



 
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#3 ·
With the opening of the new Jay Hoots designed Sherwood Park skills park last week, I finally made my way there last night. There was a lot of good work done and there is something for all ages and skill levels.

If you haven't been there I recommend going and checking it out. If you are unsure of the location it is on Bethel Drive, which is located north of Baseline between Broadmoor and Sherwood Drive.

What you can expect for features: pump tracks, dirt jumps, ladder bridges, log rides, skinnies, trials area, wall ride and more.

Keep in mind this is newly constructed and just getting broken in so it is getting to be in rough shape as it gets packed and ridden. Next year the building crew will be back to put the finishing touches on. The biggest issues are the berms - the clay is coming off in chunks so it makes them quite rough. As the chunks fall off they break up at the bottom so the bottoms are soft. Even with that, it is definitely worth making a trip out and checking it out.
 
#4 ·
Felt more like spring today than autumn.

Things learned on today's ride:
squirrrels do not look both ways before crossing trails
203 rotors have more power than 185s
80% of Edmontonions on the trail are shocked that riders are still out
36 spoked wheels are stiffer than 32 spoked wheels
some people see you, but refuse to make room for you to ride by - playing chicken on the trails
little kids think bikes are cool
little kids have no depth or speed perception of approaching bikes
parents are not in control of little kids at all times
trails become "lost" when all the leaves are down on the ground
sometimes it pays to say hi to a fellow rider, only to find out he's new to town and not sure where to go. A little follow the leader on some local trails followed.

Mill Creek - passable, but pretty muddy still. Old Timer's Cabin - better leaf coverage than Mill Creek, so wet, but not too muddy. Same thing with Kinsmen area.

If it wasn't for tonight's rain, the trails would have been in pretty good shape for tomorrow.

Leaves everywhere:



Trail good up to here, then mud:



And more mud:





Muddy, not tacky, but not slimey either:





Post ride, pretty good for absence of mud all things considered:

 
#5 ·
Felt more like spring today than autumn.

Things learned on today's ride:
squirrrels do not look both ways before crossing trails
203 rotors have more power than 185s
80% of Edmontonions on the trail are shocked that riders are still out
36 spoked wheels are stiffer than 32 spoked wheels
some people see you, but refuse to make room for you to ride by - playing chicken on the trails
little kids think bikes are cool
little kids have no depth or speed perception of approaching bikes
parents are not in control of little kids at all times...
Where you bunny hopping kids? lol
 
#10 ·
Trail conditions based on tonight's ride:

Mill Creek - all good, couple of little puddles, but that's about it
Upper Ewok - all good
Mid Ewok - all good
Trail from McNally to Rowland's Trail - all good
Rowland's Trail - west 2/3 is all good, east 1/3 (just past the ladder bridge) has a couple of puddles, some slime, but generally good
 
#12 ·
So earlier this year one of the pinkbike guys spent a bunch of time digging on Victoria Secret. He added a few new lines, a gap jump, and a couple of berms. Then a month or two ago there was an older guy down there on the weekends filling in the jump and removing the berms.

I ride through on the way home a few times a week, and I walk my dog through there a lot, and I've never had a problem with people sessioning that run. I can honestly say that I've seen more coyotes in that spot this year (2) than I have out-of-control-DHers (0).

I realize that there's all kinds of people in this world, but spending your weekends undoing trailwork is just so weird.
 
#13 ·
You can't just randomly build trails on the City's property. There's been an enormous amount of work done with the City to be allowed to use the existing trails like we do. People who want to trail build really need to get in contact with the clubs and trail builders around town and work on maintaining the existing trails, rather than free lancing. Figure out which club is maintaining trails in the area you want to work, and talk with them.

Someone just built a fancy new extension right across the river in full view of the city office. All that work, and the city will probably pull it out. It's a fun trail, but it will effect erosion of the river bank.

Unsanctioned trail building is a great way to blow some of the good will that people have been trying to build between the mtb community and the City. So yes, the mtb community spending time removing trails is actually good for us, to keep us in the city's good graces.
 
#27 ·
You can't just randomly build trails on the City's property. There's been an enormous amount of work done with the City to be allowed to use the existing trails like we do. People who want to trail build really need to get in contact with the clubs and trail builders around town and work on maintaining the existing trails, rather than free lancing. Figure out which club is maintaining trails in the area you want to work, and talk with them.

Someone just built a fancy new extension right across the river in full view of the city office. All that work, and the city will probably pull it out. It's a fun trail, but it will effect erosion of the river bank.

Unsanctioned trail building is a great way to blow some of the good will that people have been trying to build between the mtb community and the City. So yes, the mtb community spending time removing trails is actually good for us, to keep us in the city's good graces.
I agree that random trail building can be damaaging, but also, if it weren't for random trail building we would have no trails. As long as the trails are well built, out of sight and not conflicting with any of the eco-groups then the city has been embracing the work being done. As an active member working on maintaining the trails, we work on closing the trails the city dislikes and maintaining the trails the city approves of. EMBA has done some excellent work to date and gets more city support each year.

As far as all the new lines with jumps, these are not things the city likes to see and they will be removed. Unfortunately with the closure of Rabbit Hill these kids have no where else to go. If the city opened their eyes to building a skills park similar to what Devon and Sherwood Park have already built we could solve a lot of the issues. There are enough users that a skills park would be well used and having a place geared towards these types of riders will significantly cut down on amount of new pirate trails being cut.
 
#14 ·
And if it had been the City undoing the work I'd understand, but it was just some guy with a shovel. Having come across the chokeline on the groat rollercoaster earlier this year, I can't say I'm a fan of random dudes with agendas.

edited to add: I wasn't even a fan of what had been done down there. I'm not a jumper, and they'd tried to block one of the pre-existing lines which was annoying. But the erosion excuse was not a factor down there at all. A bunch of other trails have been way more messed up in the last little while (what is going on with bobsled?) than the work down there.
 
#17 ·
...A bunch of other trails have been way more messed up in the last little while (what is going on with bobsled?) than the work down there.
Yeah, Bobsled at night is an event when you're not expecting the built up ramps seemingly at every berm! I'm not complaining, just adds to the pucker factor when you're not expecting a launch pad at every turn!
 
#19 ·
Okay, sounds good. Sunday that area was still wet, so with all this wind, and the river being low, it should be good.

The lower section down by the river is always fun...unless it's wet. From the pedestrian bridge at Hawrelak, I usually stay low going west to the end of the equine center and then come back up through the trees going back home. I'll grab some pictures if I can get out tonight.
 
#21 ·
Thanks for the update. There's a couple of sections that I usually walk - one is the super tight turn (handlebars too wide to squeeze through the trees) and the second is where the orange fence is on the ground, right before you climb the eroded trail. I don't remember any downed trees last time, other than the first big one at the start of the trail from the east side.

Sounds like it's all good. :D
 
#23 ·
Lower Kiellor drop in looks good:



Beach area not muddy or soupy:



This chasm leads to an abrupt ledge fallout that is getting closer and closer to the trail. New orange fencing up as a warning:



Pretty much dry and good to ride:



Some nice colours up by the equine center:



 
#26 ·
Great day for a ride. Trails super busy. Found the single track in Patricia Ravine, couple of near seat ejection moments on the trail, but only one bashed finger today.

Not too hot, trails are nice and dry, and the weather's great!

West end of Canada Cup course. For reference, my bike is an XL with 29 wheels. :thumbsup:
Is this by the Valley Zoo?
 
#31 ·
^ the big mound of dirt just east of the Walterdale was originally supposed to become an approach for a new bridge way back in the '60's. I think that's where the skills park was proposed, but now that the city is actually moving forward replacing the Walterdale nothing else is going to happen around there until the bridge is finished.
 
#33 ·
I'm hoping for a snow-free November, even though it's likely not going to happen.

As of yesterday, West Coast Trail, Old Timer's, and Mill Creek dry (and hard!). No ice spotted, a bit cool, but still good riding conditions. Tonight's night ride likely to be cold with the clear skies we've got right now.
 
#38 ·
^ that comes up every year in the commuting threads, so here's my survival list:

Long shell-type pants and fullfinger gloves all year (just personal preference)

5C/41F - switch from shortsleeve to longsleeve jersey

0C/32F - Add basic running/cycling shell jacket from mec. Add 3-in-1 poly balaclava which lets me leave my face uncovered if I want.

-5C/23F - Add flip-top mittens over my fullfinger gloves. Add lightweight tights under shellpants. Switch to cheap, oversized hiking shoes with thick worksocks (I run platform pedals all year anyway).

-10C/14F - Start using the 3-in-1 balaclava as an actual balaclava.

-15C/5F - Switch from mitten/glove combo to Snowboard gloves.

-20C/-4F - Add fleece sweater under shell. Switch light tights to fleece tights. Add second layer of worksocks. Add second liner to gloves.

-25C/-15F - Add neckwarmer over balaclava. Use both the fleece tights and light tights. Use some old wool socks with the toes cut off as arm/leg warmers.

-30C/-22F - Pretty rare so I don't have any specific gear, but I make sure to have some chemical hand/toe warmers easily accessible for emergencies.

Last year I got some cheap ski goggles for days below about -25C/-13F. They were nice but always started icing up after 15~20 minutes.
 
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