Riding in Edmonton, the Fall 2011 thread

[Psycho Mike]

Yeah, I know...they are forecasting summer-like temperatures for the next few days...but we're past the equinox, so I think it's time to get a Fall thread started.

[jkirkpatri]

Absolutely! My camera is with the wife in Vancouver, so no pictures for tonight's first night ride of the year. If you see lights in Terwilliger Park tonight, with some judicious use of red lighting on both front and rear wheels - that's me! Super stocked to get out and ride in the dark!

[jkirkpatri]

Got out last night with another rider and rode around Terwilliger Park until 9:30pm. Park was dead, other than the few parked cars in the lot....

Saw one rider out with his dog and that was it. Temperature was perfect, clear night, and most of the trails are starting to open up as the summer eye-level weeds start to wilt and turn to silt. Trails are all fast and hard packed - minimal dust that I could see. Rollercoaster leading into the park from the west side is fast and dry, but laddled with quite a few significant scars from the rains earlier on this summer. You definately have to watch your lines.

Put on two cheap spoke red lights that I picked up from MEC. As per my riding partner, all he could think of was Tron when he looked at my bike. Once the wheels spin up, it's like the wheels come alive with this continuous ring of red light. Definate geek factor, but caused a few neck swivels.

New Magicshine batteries held up well (recall batch). Only ran two lights last night, one on the bar and one on the helmet. Need more. Will go back to dual bar and solo helmet light for all rides here on out.

[Psycho Mike]

Well, I got my new saddle on Friday and managed to get it mounted this weekend (too much on the Honey Do list to get it broken in ) so the DT is ready to hit the trails again. I just hope some of this nicer weather holds for a bit yet

[Psycho Mike]

Well, the saddle got a 40+ km workout ride after work on Friday. Overall, not a bad ride...a little slower than I had hoped and I didn't do Roller Coaster and Victoria's Secret due to time and light constraints...but I did try lower Melton.

My initial impression is that lower Melton is a bit sketchy...at least compared to a lot of the other trails in town. I did a bit more hike-a-bike than I hoped, but part of it was the IMBA bike patroller in me not wanting to ride the wet stuff and my "look before you leap" preference slowing me up before stuff you'd need some momentum to roll well. With a little work, it could be a very nice trail.

I do wish I could have seen the trail to nowhere before it became the trail to nowhere...found the stairs, went up and had a look, but man, not much left.

Still, a good night on the bike

[newfangled]

Originally Posted by Psycho Mike

My initial impression is that lower Melton is a bit sketchy...at least compared to a lot of the other trails in town.

There's definitely some unique geology or hydrology through there, because it never dries out. I've gone through in the winter a few times, and near the north end it's just an icesheet. I'm always surprised how much it gets used by trailrunners and dogwalkers, because it is pretty sketchy.

[newfangled]

Oh, anyone have an opinion on some of the trail work that's been done in the last month or so?

I bumped into one guy who was complaining about how the holes in the CC course had been filled in below sask drive. I was thinking that might have been because the organizers were getting flack from the racers or maybe the city about how rough that section was?

There are also a fair number of roots that have been taken out - there was a little drop at the end of the CC section near the old QEII pool that's gone, the wallride on the Rollercoaster had one, and there was one on a sharp turn on Victoria Secret. There's probably more I'm forgetting or don't know about.

Someone's also carved some new stairs into the slope at the south end of 123st, so it's an easier climb down to Victoria Secret. Not sure if they'll last the winter, though.

[Psycho Mike]

Originally Posted by newfangled

There's definitely some unique geology or hydrology through there, because it never dries out. I've gone through in the winter a few times, and near the north end it's just an icesheet. I'm always surprised how much it gets used by trailrunners and dogwalkers, because it is pretty sketchy.

I'll agree.... the water is likely from what's left of thalwegs or burried channels that drain into the river and it is on the outside bend of the river, so erosion is going to be an ongoing issue. Ewok has some of the same, though not as bad.

I suspect the stairs / trail to nowhere is due to a bigger slide....kinda like what happened in Ewok a couple years ago...just on a bigger scale so that the middle trail (top of the stairs) is simply gone.

Lot of similarities between Melton and Ewok....I'd venture to say that Melton is what Ewok will eventually turn into in the future as the river takes its toll.

[Psycho Mike]

The 'cross bike has been enjoying the MUTs as of late....dry gravel and leaf litter seems to hold a bit better on the narrower knobbies.

Anyone else braving the cooler temps these days?

[newfangled]

I'll be heading out for a nice 3 hour ride down to Rundle later today. And I'll be commuting all year again, so I just picked up some cheap, clear ski goggles at mec which should make the -20s and -30s more bearable.

[jkirkpatri]

Been out quite a few times so far this autumn including today and yesterday. IMO, this is the best time of the year to be riding. Not blistering hot, no weeds or leaves face wacking you, nice hard trails, leaf mulch and wide open trails. Once it hits 0 degrees, then I'll scale it back, but so long as it's above zero and no snow, I'm good to go for a ride.

Sights seen this autumn on the trail: dogs, porcupine (at night, scared the crap out of me), woodpeckers, drunks, dear, stoners, cats, rabbits, mice (night ride = lots of mice), other riders...but the one that takes the cake...Python!!!

Out of focus, unfortunately:


Better shot:


Just a "baby" according to its owner:


The money shot:


I think my spotting will stand as the freakiest wildlife encounter in the river valley for a very long time!

[Psycho Mike]

I dunno...there are some pretty freaky things running around some of the dog parks... I've seen a lot of the labs in the bottom right as of late

[jkirkpatri]

I actually laughed out loud!

[Psycho Mike]

Hehehe....glad you liked

[jkirkpatri]

Some great riding this past weekend, most of it in the dark. Friday night and Saturday early am for two "dark" rides. Slipped on a frosty root Saturday am and jammed my ring finger a bit.

Picked up my warranty replacement Bontrager rims. Three hours later due to Bontrager rims being super tight for beading a tire to the rim, two brand new tires later (new Specialized Captain vs old Maxxis Ignitors) and after dremelling my fork post mount and actual brake mount (center lock vs 6 bolt pattern), I know have a clean bike that needs to get out tonight. Wheelset is a bit lighter than my old setup as I sprung for an upgrade on the warranty replacement (have to love 5 year wheel warranties!).

I'd say at least 75% of the leaves are down in the river valley now. Great time to explore hidden paths that magcially appear when the foliage disappears.

[newfangled]

I did my typical loop down to Goldbar yesterday, and on the way back I stopped to play around on the giant sandbar that's just east of downtown:



I really wasn't expecting to see that a pretty sizeable chunk of the river is already freezing over. It's a sheltered spot and it probably gets zero sun, but the temperature has barely been below freezing yet. Weird.

Other than that though, a nice time to ride.

[jkirkpatri]

Not enough pictures in this thread.

Went for a quick ride tonight to test my new rims and new Specialized Captain tires. New rims and tires are noticably lighter than the old set and the rear hub makes a nice buzzing noise too. Had some front tire wrinkles going on as I'm used to the higher volume Ignitors and tried to use the same pressure with the newer tires. 2.2 vs 2.0, overall impressions - Specialized by a mile. Grip is way, way better than the Ignitors. Dirt and leaves were being flicked everywhere!

Many pictures of my bike. If you don't like, too bad. Yes, my bike is very clean. I'm a bit OCD that way. All images are mid-Ewok and Mill Creek, and the last one in my backyard where the grass grows wild and the apples rot away.





































Yard work or ride....

[newfangled]

Originally Posted by jkirkpatri

Not enough pictures in this thread.

Oookay:










Gotta love those white 29ers with white rims.

[jkirkpatri]

Those wide aspect shots are super nice!

[newfangled]

Originally Posted by jkirkpatri

Those wide aspect shots are super nice!

Thanks. I just carry a little point-and-shoot and then use a program called autostitch (free from here) to combine a bunch of shots. It's super easy, and better than dragging my dslr through ewok or wherever. Although it works well with dslr shots too:

[jkirkpatri]

Thanks for the link. I'll give it shot sometime next week with some pics and see how they fair out.

[P-Tron]

New guy's first post here! Quick intro, but I'll try to keep the suck to a minimum

Let's see...I'm 34 and haven't had a bike in almost 20 years - my last bike was an old Kuwahara. I used to be in incredible shape but 2 years ago I snapped my ACL and destroyed a bunch of other stuff in my knee. I got if fixed and it's fine, but I never really got my leg strength back. I'm the type that you'll NEVER find in a gym; I like to exercise but it has to be fun so I decided to buy a mountain bike to rehab it.

I ended up with a 2011 Kona Kula. I bought it 3 months ago for $300 off list price and I've logged about 900km - about 80% dirt trails and 20% roads/paved trails. I'm a 5 minute ride from the Capilano bridge(s) so I've mostly been exploring the valley from Rundle to Hawrelak on both banks. My favourite stuff is in (what's apparently called) Ewok and there's a great long descent that begins at the East end of Jasper Ave and goes to the East end of Dawson Park - good stuff!

So far I've had a half-dozen OTB events but not nearly the number of crashes I thought would be caused by clipless pedals - haha!

Here's the part where I'd post up a bunch of pics from our trails but I need 10 posts. Haha - I'll get some up soon

[P-Tron]

Rundle Park


South bank, looking at Gretzky bridge

[newfangled]

Welcome P-tron! Where's that last shot from?

Oh, and speaking of OTBs, have you ever thought about moving your brakes and shifters further in from your grips? You can see it clearly in jkirkpatri's photos and sort of in mine. Then you can use just your index finger for braking, which totally changes the amount of control you have (I think it's a big improvement but ymmv).

[P-Tron]

The last one is just East of Gretzky bridge on the south bank - I think it's an off-leash area. After that little downhill you've got to get a ton of speed to make it up the other side around the corner. It's a 50/50 proposition, making it up that second part without putting a foot down The pic directly above it is looking down 'that' part.