Durham

To my surprise we had a record turn out on a pleasant but somewhat cool July day. I counted 22 riders, which we split into fast and slow groups. A lot of new faces and good riders were there.

I lead the slower group and avoided the nasty hills ( Wall of Pain) while the larger faster riders lead by Albert and Mitch did it all. Somewhere in the middle of the forest we came upon a new trail. The kind that is designed for MTB riding and not just a hiking trail. Sweet! Lots of log jumping on this ride thanks to the crews that built them.

The Apres stop was at a Goodwood bakery, YUM! Durham Forest is definitely getting better these days. - Dan

Albion Hills

Well the week before this place had the 24hr Solstice race. It rained and rained and the trail was trashed. Well after over a 1000 riders stomped and dragged thier bike through a mud highway they had to close her down for a few weeks. Alas one of our favourite rides was not to be.

Don Valley

Here are the maps from last night's Wednesday 6pm ride. Great ride lead Ron as always! Well done. Nice time on the patio, albeit a bit loud!

The first map is from RunGPS which is a program that runs on my phone:
http://www.gps-sport.net/trainings/Wed-night-Don-ride_125465

Second map is from my new Garmin Edge 305 and their new web portal:
http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/8517378

What do you think, which looks better? Of course you get to see my heart rate on the second one :)

John

Hardwood

It was great. They have a new trail - Cranked (intermediate, 8km). We were only 5 (I guess Father's day guys stayed to receive some attention :-) ). After 17km 1 had mechanical problems and left and another (Adnan) was worn out (it was an advanced ride after all). So 3 of us tried "Cranked" about 45 min. - Mitch

Coulson Hill

Lots of rain, no riding today

Glen Major

14 people - one complete newbie ( beginner). At the very beginning Brian wanted to "lead" a faster group. After we started the newbie was falling behind and I intended to say that he would have to manage by himself. But since Albert was there and was a bit more patient and was willing to wait.... I split the group - Albert, newbie, and two more people. Brian was pulling in a different direction - either he was searching for some trail that was supposed to be good, or he was getting restless to go.

After about an hour and 20 min I started bonking. Joniboy was there and I asked him to continue with the group. He did. Arthur stayed with me and we continued for another hour or so - I got lost in Walker woods - we went in circles, mostly double track. I must say that the newbie THOROGHLY enjoyed it and will be joining as a member.

As for me, I guess I will need to work on my navigation abilities. - Mitch

Don Valley

A fine day for a ride in the valley. Because the city posting our ride in the media we got 20 rides to show. Now this was a more advanced ride, with a few killer hills and technical twists so by the end of it I was down to 4 riders. The rest were eaten by wolves - kidding ;^)

I lead the ride beyond the usual loops into the Taylor creek trails that had some crazy stunts. Matt was one of the few to do most as he was wearing chin pads (wise) There were also two 30 meter steep descents that got many considering their options- life insurance anyone? A fun time for all, and in the city too.

Kelso

We had 12 out to he ride today. Unfortunately 5 min into the ride Wes Plant took a endo and was unable to continue. His hand was unable to hold onto the bars. I am not sure if it is broken or not I have not heard. ( it was) We spent a fair bit of time playing on the tricks/rocks. Other than Wes's fall it was a great ride. Albeit a little cold

The GPS seems to have gone a stray at the first part of the ride. Other than that the map is accurate. http://www.gps-sport.net/trainings/Kelso_114481

John G.

Puslinch

Fine sunny weather and a full parking lot greeted us at this excellent ride spot. Unfortunately few cars were from our group. I think it must be the distance, being just before Cambridge can make it seem far, yet I got there in and hour from the Beaches. Hmmm anyway the place rocks folks, literally!

Yes indeed we had a blast riding over trails zig- zagging everywhere. Plenty of challenges, with rocks and roots. I think I found my favourite loop of all our rides half way in on the south side. You know the kind of trail that bikers build cause a hiker would got nuts walking this meander. Does it flow...

Next time give it a try, it’s worth the drive.

PS- did lunch at the Old Marina restaurant down the road, nice view!

Durham

Durham was nice. 14 people in total. I was expecting more. Doug was there. I wanted to come to Puslinch too but I screwed up my hand (landed with my hand on a stump) so it was difficult to ride and decided to give it a rest. - Mitch, ride leader

Knobby Newbie - Don Valley

We did some work going over logs (getting successfully larger), then went for a ride on the trails. Rode the lower trail in, and they wanted more fun stuff, so we rode the upper trail out. Group was slow (as expected), but they all handled the technical stuff well. We stopped a few times to discuss before trying some things, and they had no problems. 12 people, including 3 tbn members for this beginner ride.

Steve S. - leader

Ravenshoe

more rain, don’t think the ride was on

Shorthills

It was a mud-fest. But it was good mud! We had a blast and came back with our bikes and shins coated in Niagara’s richest clay. I even picked a few live earthworms out of my forks when I got home. Dan has the gory photos of our parking lot mud poses at ride’s end.

Despite our resemblance to WW1 trench soldiers, we got a great table at Rockway Glen winery restaurant and partook in their excellent Mothers Day brunch. A great day all around. - Ed D.

Yes it must have been the muddiest I ride since years ago in Haliburton. We where careful to not trash the trail. We had a brave beginner try MTBing. Trial by fire indeed. She stayed on the bike and we hear not swearing. lol I think she liked it :^) - Dan R.

Hilton Falls

Four people showed up at Hilton Falls parking lot after enduring hail on the drive there. There was nothing falling from the sky at 10am though.

We headed out on the main double-track trail and paid a visit to the Falls. Then we continued on to the backcountry trail system. The beginning of the trail was great - some rocks, but not overwhelming. That ended pretty soon though, and a very rocky terrain started. Traversing it was not easy at all [we all had hardtails, btw], and to make things worse every stop was prosecuted by a cloud of hungry mosquitoes.

We decided to turn back and took the 'Bogged up' trail. It was easier to traverse, but still very technical and wet. After some time it started raining, but everybody had rain gear, so it was alright.

When we hit the main trail, the rain stopped. We decided to take a break from rocks and make the double-track loop. We went half of it at a good pace, then stopped by a picnic table and made an obstacle to for training purposes. We had fun with it for about 15 minutes.

The return part of the loop was more rocky, but it went spectacularly well, probably because of the training we did just before hitting it. We returned back on a trail around the Hilton Reservoir, very dirty, but just as happy.

Glen Major

Mitch lead a great ride at today. We broke the ride into two a faster group and a slower group. Folks are still getting there legs but it was a good ride. The fast group had about 6 and around the same for slower group.

Here's the map of where we went http://www.gps-sport.net/trainings/Glen-Major_101785
The entry to Glen Major was quite washed out and muddy in places but that didn't last long. We went in through the new trails directly off the parking lot. Very nice.As you can see we headed over and did a little of Durham as well ... John G.

Another great installment of men (and woman) in tights :)

King City

This was our first outing to this ride spot. What a pleasant surprise to find excellent riding on trails designed for MTB riders. The loops were tight and hilly after a flat open section. Lack of signs confused us a bit but since the area is small you can’t get lost.

We had a group of 13 riders, one guy from Australia and another from Virginia, welcome boys. The only short coming of this location is it is a short loop of perhaps 8km so we rode it the other way too. Some of us headed to a ride I have done on Seneca King campus but they have closed this to MTB riders :^( So we did a bit of the Oak Ridge trail the other way.

An excellent spring ride on a hot day ended up in the village of King City for a beer and bite. This new spot will be on the schedule as it’s central, free, well designed and just off the Hwy for the beginner - intermediate rider.

Palgrave

We got out for a fabulous ride at Palgrave today. There was a bit of snow but conditions were primo. Lots of loose debris and few downed trees but all in all a great ride. We had 6 people out with 2 guests. We got in 15KM in total, some folks called it a day after 8. All in all it was a great ride.

here a GPS map of our ride http://www.gps-sport.net/trainings/Palgrave_96274

See you on the trails! John G.

Durham Forest

The traditional first ride at Durham Forest was covered in snow this year. Unlike other years where the snow is old and packed down, this year we experienced very loose snow cover. It had snowed just days before and the riding was a stuggle through the white stuff.

An hour of not to fast and free riding pushed us to the sideroad which we raced down to the parking lot of Glen Major and back. We meet Hana and Tanya along the way, the sun shone and the crew headed over after to the bakery.