IMBA announced their list of 2011 Epic rides late last month and in case you missed it, here are the trails that made the cut. Two of the five new Epics are outside the US and, as IMBA’s Mark Eller notes, the new crop includes several backcountry trails. “For many years, the term ‘Epic’ was the only honorific IMBA used, so we started applying it beyond backcountry trails. Today, the variety of Model Trail categories provides more options, so it’s a good moment to go back to the original idea of an Epic ride.”

Brown County State Park (Indiana)

photo: MINiC.

With nearly 30 miles of singletrack, Brown County State park is a pretty solid pick for IMBA Epic designation. A couple quotes from singletracks reviewers: “the best trail system I’ve ever ridden,” and “if I could give this trail system more stars I would.” The trails are flowy and fast with rocks, boulders, and bridges to keep things interesting. And if great trails weren’t enough, Brown County State Park also offers fantastic views and scenery. As one reviewer put it prior to the IMBA Epic announcement, “I have ridden three EPIC systems and this is better than two of them!” Touché.

Kerr Scott Trails (North Carolina)

photo: plantme777.

North Carolina just bagged their third IMBA Epic trail with the addition of the Kerr Scott Trails this year. Dark Mountain was the first mountain bike trail built at Kerr Scott Reservoir back in 2002 and local volunteers have been working with the Corps of Engineers ever since to add more trails and more miles. Today, Dark Mountain is joined by the Overmountain Victory Trail and the Warrior Creek trail for a total of 35+ miles of singletrack. Sign up for next year’s BURN 24 Hour mountain bike race to get your fill of this Epic trail!

Mountain Hero (Yukon, CANADA)

Talk about a backcountry trail! Mountain Hero features 28 miles of hand-built singletrack crossing mining claims inside the Yukon, Canada’s westernmost province bordering Alaska. The IMBA description suggests bringing along bear spray if you attempt this one so bring your A-game.

Rattling Creek (Pennsylvania)

IMBA hasn’t posted a lot of info on this trail (system?) located near Lykens, PA but from the sound of it, this place is a hidden gem! There’s a 3/4 mile boulder field along the trail and riders say the trail flows well in either direction (a rare distinction among mountain bike trails). As best we can tell there are about 20 miles of trail at Rattling Creek, though we’d love some help filling in the blanks!

W2 Trail (Wales, UK)

Unlike most bike trails in the US, the W2 trail in Wales boasts a bike shop, showers, and bike wash right at the trailhead parking lot! The trail system itself features 27 miles of singletrack inside Afan Forest with a mix of tight, twisty stuff and clean jump lines. One ticket to Wales please.

For the US trails it looks like this year’s list is a sweep for states east of the Mississippi. Better luck next year left coast!

As the morning sunlight of our last day crested the mountain peaks near our campground outside of Crested Butte, CO, we knew that there were a ton of trails that we still wanted to ride, and that there was no possible way we could experience them all. Nevertheless, we had to try!

We decided to try to tackle a number of the trails closer to town, since our legs were way too beat to attempt another epic high-altitude alpine route.

We drove into town and parked at one of the large public parking lots. But then we realized something: instead of riding up the bike path to the town of Mount Crested Butte, we could hop the free shuttle bus and get ~700 vertical feet for free! As an added bonus, the bus showed up less than 5 minutes after we unloaded our bikes. Score!

We ended up riding the shuttle twice, hitting an entirely different set of trails each time. For riders coming from lower elevations that want to ease into the high-altitude riding, for those that just can’t handle the massive climbs, or for riders like us who are just running on fumes after an epic week of riding, I highly recommend utilizing this free shuttle bus to get some free vertical.

Upper Loop -> Upper Upper Loop -> Whetstone Vista -> New Deli

After unloading our bikes, we rode down through the mountain village and dropped into the singletrack of the Upper Loop trails. This trail system runs along the flanks of the backside of Mount Crested Butte. If you drive into town and look at the massive cliffs on the back of the mountain, drop your gaze just below the cliffs and scree field to the trees, and you’ve found this small network of gorgeous singletrack. With several different trails branching off of the main trunk that drop down into town, this area is super easy to access from anywhere in Crested Butte or the Village of Mount Crested Butte.

Unlike the Lower Loop, its easily-accessible singletrack counterpart to the west of Crested Butte, the Upper Loop has some pretty significant elevation changes and a number of rough, rocky sections. While the rocks were challenging at times, we didn’t come across any seriously gnarly features on the trails we rode. Still, the rough sections were delightfully rocky and were a great change of pace from the predominantly smooth singletrack in the area.

But don’t get the wrong idea: the Upper Loop is anything but a continuous rocky gnar-fest. Much of the trail still looked like this:

As you can see, this convenient trail system just east of Crested Butte offers up a true variety package of mountain biking delight. If I lived here in town, I could see this being a regular test loop whenever I got a new bike in for review.

Rider: Andrew K. Photo: Greg Heil.

Rider: Greg Heil. Photo: Andrew K.

We took the Whetstone Vista trail down from the main traverse, and if any cross-country trail that we rode this weekend was rocky, Whetstone Vista was it! It was a cascading chunder-field dropping all the way down to the bottom of the valley below. It was nothing that I couldn’t handle on my hardtail 29er, but it was definitely a rough ride!

Rocks on the side of the Whetstone Vista Trail. Just imagine how much rock had to be removed in order to build this trail!

After popping out on the gravel road, we pedaled back up towards the highway, and jumped on the New Deli Trail to head back into town. Surprisingly, New Deli was actually a nice singletrack trail that roughly parallels the highway and leads right back into the town of Crested Butte, dropping out behind the public school. From the map, I thought it would be a paved greenway-affair, but I was pleasantly surprised.

Thanks to the wonderful shuttle bus (did I mention it’s free?), our elevation profile ended up looking like this (not including the New Deli Trail):

Score!

Round 2: Snodgrass -> Lupine Trail

After our second ride up the shuttle bus, we still had a fair amount of climbing to reach our desired trail. While we didn’t really want to gain elevation on our own (yes, we were getting a litle bit lazy), our destination was so worthwhile!

Dropping into the Snodgrass trail.

Snodgrass is a close-to-town Crested Butte classic! The trail is very buff and just flows down through the thick aspen forest with perfectly-shaped turns and the tackiest black dirt you may ever set tire on!

After wrapping up the way-too-short descent on Snodgrass, we pedaled down the pavement for a few miles and hooked up with the brand-new Lupine Trail.

Lupine Trail

As of early August when we rode it, the Lupine Trail was so new that it wasn’t on any of the maps… even the most recently printed ones from earlier in the year. Instead of carved wood signs, Lupine featured sticks propped up between rocks with laminated computer paper taped to them for marking signs. If any trail was ever brand-spanking-new, it was Lupine this past August!

The top of Lupine begins in a subdivision cul-de-sac, and as such there is no parking available at the top. There are a few spots marked out at the bottom of the trail, so you could possibly park there and ride it as an out-and-back, ride up the road and drop in from the top, ride from town (since it is only a mile or two from the main parking areas), or you could do a rough variation of our route.

One of the many views off of the Lupine Trail.

The majority of the trail rolls through the meadows on this ridge overlooking town and the Slate river. The singletrack is wonderfully designed with excellent flow, while also offering some serious exposure to keep you on your toes:

After this section of trail emerges from the trees on the other side, it feeds into an open meadow for the final descent, and the character of the trail completely changes! The flow is still there, but it’s provided by a series of massive, swooping turns with some serious berms to rail. There are numerous berms as the trail snakes down the ridge-side, allowing you to ride balls-out and shred as fast as you can!

The only complaint I could possibly have about Lupine is that the very end of the trail is a buzz-kill. Before you reach the bottom, the singletrack drops out onto an old gravel road, and as you finish the descent you have to dismount, open, and close (make sure you do this last part) three separate gates. Still, with everything that came before, it’s hard to fault this trail for having a lackluster ending.

Stay tuned for the final ride-report from my trip to Crested Butte: Strand Hill.

A couple weeks ago mudhunny and I spent the weekend camping and riding at Bent Creek in Pisgah National Forest just outside Asheville, NC and we had a blast! Although we had ridden other Pisgah trails like Dupont State Forest and Thrift Cove, neither of us had ever ridden Bent Creek and we were stoked to check it out with our friends Amy and Rob from Decatur and Sean and Katie from Greensboro.

The 30-mile mountain bike trail network within the Bent Creek Experimental Forest features trails ranging from mellow, wide paths to fast, swoopy singletrack. In general Pisgah has a reputation for techy, gnarly trails but the Bent Creek trails are relatively root- and rock-free and typically follow ancient roadbeds carved into the sides of the surrounding mountains. The upshot: scenic, enjoyable climbs and fast, flowy, no-brake descents. All the trails are well marked and there are maps available at most of the trailheads.

A few helmet-cam clips from Bent Creek.

The weather was perfect in mid-October – blue skies and warm temperatures during the day with clear, brisk nights. October is “leaf season” in western North Carolina and we got quite a show as you can see from the pics. Fortunately all the leaves were still on the trees and not on the trail which meant fast conditions.

All the trailheads within Bent Creek were packed on Saturday and Sunday with mountain bikers from all over. Perhaps the most popular trail, Green’s Lick, is listed at 2.2 miles long and is one of the fastest descents you’ll find in Pisgah. Green’s Lick isn’t the steepest trail in Pisgah by a long shot but it is one of the smoothest, allowing mountain bikers to really open up on the downhill. Our run took about 8 minutes (including a minute or two recovering from a minor crash) and by the end of the trail my ears were ringing from the howl of the wind rushing by. Check your tire pressure before you head down this one – we saw two separate groups trailside with flats on the way down!

On Saturday I went out for a solo night ride which normally isn’t a safe idea but the trails are all so easy to follow I had to give it a shot. Without a map I fumbled my way around an impromptu circuit with the Pine Tree and Explorer loops. After a few miles the trail dumped me at a forest road which I thought I recognized from earlier in the day so I followed it for miles, hoping to link up with more singletrack. I eventually gave up after climbing for more than half an hour and descended down the gravel road from Ledford Gap. Still, it was one of the best night rides I’ve been on in a while with black mountains silhouetted against deep purple skies.

The campground at Bent Creek lies within the Lake Powhatan Recreation Area and offers nearly 100 campsites. On this October weekend the place was full but you wouldn’t have known it – the campsites are spaced out nicely with plenty of privacy and room to stretch out. There are even hot showers and flush toilets, not to mention a sand beach down at the lake.

If you end up staying at Lake Powhatan and somehow get tired of riding the Bent Creek trails, you can also ride up FS road 479 to the Blue Ridge Parkway and link up to other Pisgah trails within the Mills River area.

Pisgah National Forest is legendary among mountain bikers and Bent Creek is a great spot to touch down and explore the trails. Get Bent this fall!

My college gives us one day off for “Fall Break.” I’m not sure how a 3-day weekend qualifies for a vacation, but apparently it does! I decided to make the most of this precious time, so I hit the road and drove over to Ellijay, Georgia to investigate a couple of trails I’d never ridden before.

Ridgeway

First on my list was the Ridgeway Loop. I had heard that the hills were short, very steep and anaerobic, and that the trail didn’t receive much traffic… these reviews were dead on.

This photo is very characteristic of the entire trail.

This is definitely an old-school trail design that sends the singletrack straight up and straight down all the hills. Still, in spite of the design flaws, most of the climbs are manageable due to their short overall length; going anaerobic can be tough, but it can be done for a short time.

As for the condition of the singletrack itself, the trail doesn’t seem to receive much traffic at all. There were sticks, branches, and leaf litter on the main tread for miles. It was hard to tell, but it looked like the brush on the sides of the trail had recently been mowed down by a brush hog, and some of that debris fell on the singletrack as well. As a result, it might possibly receive more traffic than it appears to, but from one ride it was very difficult to tell.

Of course, the entire trail wasn’t actual singletrack… some rather lengthy sections were old doubletrack forest roads, and one section ran through what looked and felt like a tilled-up field, but there were a couple of singletrack jewels thrown in, too.

Hands down, the best section of trail was the last mile that drops down from the paved road junction before the turn off to the mountain bike parking and runs directly to the parking lot. This mile featured a modern trail design, and it looked like it had been cut more recently than the rest of the trail. However, it didn’t ride with the feel of a brand-new trail, so it’s difficult to say when they put this section in. Hopefully there is more of this in store for the rest of the trail!

When I dropped out into the parking lot after finishing with this swoopy delight, I had to ride back up the pavement and drop in again!

Taken on the best section of singletrack.

Downhill Trail

I had heard rumors of a downhill trail here at Ridgeway, so I packed my downhill rig, just in case. As my downhill bike isn’t in the best condition at the moment, I didn’t spend a lot of time trying to find the downhill course. I figured that if I saw the trail on my cross-country ride, then I’d go and check it out. Well, I didn’t see it, but when I got home and looked at the reviews, I realized that I should have read GoldenGoose’s review before I left, as the downhill trail apparently doesn’t actually touch any of the cross-country trails, but is very close to the parking lot.

Perhaps that’s another reason to go back and visit, but I do need to do some maintenance on my DH sled before I return!

Woodring Branch: Amadahy Trail

After spending too much time riding and hiking around in circles at Ridgeway, I finally made it to Woodring Branch to check out the Amadahy Trail.

Both of these trails are on the shores of Carter’s Lake, but they couldn’t be more different! While Ridgeway was steep, old-school, and anaerobic, Amadahy was very flat, easy, and flowed like a water slide!

The singletrack featured a beautiful bench-cut design that circles a large knob right on the shore of Carter’s Lake. The tread was mostly smooth with a light gravelly feel and is very fast, but there were a couple of entertaining sections of rocks and roots to break up the action.

While Ridgeway only provided views of Carter’s Lake, if you took a detour off the main trail, Amadahy follows the shore of the lake for about two thirds of its length. There are stunning views of the blue waters around every turn, with many opportunities for gorgeous photos.

At only 3.5 miles long, I just had to do two laps on this trail. Even then, 7 miles didn’t feel like enough. This is a wonderful little gold nugget of a trail, but it certainly isn’t a gold mine. If you live relatively close and want to check this place out, I highly recommend it, but there’s just not enough trail to make me drive an hour each way to get here again.

Your Turn: Have you ridden a new trail recently? Which one was it?

Preface: I spent 9 incredible days of riding in back-to-back exotic (for me) locations famous for their mountain bike trails. I’ll lay them out in the manner that makes sense to me with liberal bragging thrown in for good measure. Week 1 was in Copper Harbor, Michigan for a work retreat that included daily riding. For week 2 I got on a plane to meet up with old friends on a desert adventure we’d been planning for 6 months. I posted about the first part of week 2 here.

This is the final installment of my ride report from a lucky 9 days of glorious mountain bike travel. My ride report from week #1 and the first day of week #2 are linked above. As I mentioned in the Slickrock ride report, we hit the sandstone with optimism, hoping we would get to ride some terrain very different from what we were expecting on the White Rim. Then we’d spend a night by the campfire just outside of downtown Moab and hopefully be reunited with our missing luggage (containing my badass new titanium spork) and do the trail in three days instead of four. So with some rocky miles under our chamois we regrouped and drove to the airport.

Huzzah! Our bags were there! The above picture in no way represents the Canyonlands Field terminal (think high desert lodge with two TSA screeners, a vending machine and a few Kokopelli-inspired objects d’art). In any case, my wife and I did a little dance of joy, thanked the airline employee and jumped in the truck on our way to the rally point. We met the rest of our patient and flexible crew and saddled up. Sunscreen, tire pressure, plenty of water, and ride food and we were ready. We hit the gravel for the first leg of day one, a long, fast roll from the parking lot at 313 to the switchbacks that would drop us into Mineral Bottom.

That first leg was a great way to get started, especially since we needed to make up some time. The eight of us roared down the mostly flat, smooth gravel road at a good clip. We were surprised to realize our first 10 miles ended so quickly at the top of the switchbacks that descend into Mineral Bottom. It took a little less than an hour to verify all the bike adjustments and that pack straps were tight. Our legs were warmed up and we entered the mindset of riding out the next 90 miles of this incredible trail in this alien landscape.

Our first steep descent went down without drama, unless you count the spectacular views as dramatic. They were! It was at this point that I realized the true extremes of altitude, terrain, trail conditions, and nature itself. We almost didn’t get to ride the trail due to a severe flood that washed out these very switchbacks a couple of weeks earlier. But all got repaired and we all made it down, including our intrepid support crew of Annie and Kirsten. They were driving the rented pickup that carried everything we would need to survive and be comfortable on our three day trek. Since there’s no potable water sources we had to bring all of our drinking, cooking, and bathing water. I’m damn glad we had plenty, since the combination of red dust, sunscreen and sweat are really nice to wash off at the end of each day’s ride.

Jake was 1st on every climb

10 million Singletracks points to whoever can identify the MTB legend I stole this pose from

At the foot of Mineral Bottom we cruised along the Green River on a trail that showed evidence of the recent heavy rains. Almost all of the mud was dried, but the momentum-sapping sand pits were everywhere. Soft, fine red sand that made me want a Surly Pugsley or one of these concept bikes. There ended up being a good deal of hiking in the last leg before we hit our campsite on the first day. No matter; we were in good spirits, good shape and we had two more days of gorgeous mountain biking terrain to enjoy. Plus there was cold beer in the bed of the truck…

Day 2 started out with delicious bagels, cream cheese and smoked salmon. We didn’t skimp on any of the details on this trip; Jim put as much thought and effort into the meal planning as any other aspect of the trip. Sufficiently fueled, we set out on a cool morning for the next segment from the level of the Green River up to the crest at Murphy’s Hogback. The riding was rocky but we were having a great time. I believe somewhere in this section we fixed one flat, our first mechanical. After some heroic climbing on everyone’s part we stopped for lunch.

Chris shows fine climbing form and his disdain for long sleeves.

Jim Sr. showed us how much ass a man over 60 can kick.

Jake, Norm, and Al at the top of a damn satisfying climb.

At Murphy’s Hogback we met two brothers who were doing the entire 100 miles in one day. They were making great time and I was really impressed by their casual description of starting out at sunrise and admission that neither of them had done the White Rim before. We wished them luck as they rode off and we set up our lunch station on the truck’s tailgate. A couple sandwiches later we reapplied sunscreen, filled our water, and got geared up to set off for the second leg of our ~40 mile day. Before we could set off we had a little fun. Jake let the air out of Chris’s front tire during our break and when he saw it was flat we told him of a “pro secret” to fixing flats: without taking the tire off the rim one should smear a paste of Gold Bond powder and water around the junction of the tire and the rim. Not sure if we were on the level, Chris got to work.

Photo credit: Al Howard

“How can this work?” was the thing Chris said that made it the hardest to keep a straight face. Nevertheless we got out the pump and would you believe it held air! We would let him believe in this powdery wizard magic for the rest of the trip.

The descent down Murphy’s Hogback was the gnarliest of the trip. Huge rocks, sharp turns and the whole time gravity wants you bad. Well, gravity got me in a spectacular manner. I was in the lead and went full boogie. The loose, rocky trail took a turn to the right but the bike and I stayed straight. Knowing it was wrong but with no other option I grabbed both brakes, lost the front end and when ass over teakettle into a Very Big Rock. I smacked it with authority leading with my face, and the speed of my get-off carried the rest of me across the top of this chunk of pain. Wadded up a few feet below the edge of the trail in a cloud of dust I sat down, took inventory of my assets and liabilities and waited for the rest of the group. Cut across bridge of nose, ear full of dirt, scratched down my neck and all across my chest. To complete the set I had a cut on my forearm and knee. Nothing serious enough to stop the ride but all together it was sufficient cause for a 10 minute clean and first aid stop.

Our two kickass support drivers with food, water, gear and medical supplies.

Patched up and back on the trail we rode on. My new goal was to get to the end of our day 2 ride to wash away the five pounds of desert dirt I accumulated during my gravity check. The ride was tough but we were rewarded with a fast final few miles with tons of whoops to jump. We arrived at the campsite pumped from a great day of riding and looking forward to beer and dinner. Tonight was pasta primavera, and we could all use the fuel. Plus this guy greeted us upon our arrival:

As day 3 dawned and we broke camp, Jim gave us the rundown of what to expect: a little more flatland riding before the final climb. It was going to be a big one. Getting to the top of Schafer Trail would be the cherry on top of the adventure, but to get there we had a morning of beautiful views and lunch at Musselman Arch.

My lovely wife and I made very small by the immense beauty of Canyonlands.

So after lunch it quickly became all about UP. Not before one last mechanical, but at least it was one we were ready for. A broken chain only took a few minutes to fix; thankfully we had a ten speed power link at the ready. I must have taken my own advice about trail-side repairs. Once we were back in motion we took on this:

Yes, we’re going to the top of that.

Without going into the gory details it was steep. And hot. I pushed my bike a bit, and I’m not ashamed to admit that. We had a few in our group who rode the whole thing, which to me is a true feat of athleticism. Emily crushed it, our female destroyer and the only rider on a hardtail 29er. She was consistently one of the first three people to the top of anything the entire ride. Everyone finished it without too much drama, and the payoff was worth every ounce of sweat.

Oh that? No Big Deal.

We came from waaaay down there.

So 100 miles later, countless photos taken, days of fun spent with great friends old and new, salty with dried sweat, dusty, tired, and with the satisfaction of a gnarly challenge taken on and completed, we rolled the last few miles to the parking lot. My awesome wife Kirsten handed out Swedish Fish as we crossed into the lot and they tasted so good! We loaded up the gear and drove back into town to return the rentals, devour lunch and get cleaned up. A great time was had by all and no matter what was thrown at us we kept rolling…

…and rolling, and rolling…

Photo credit Jim Howard

For most of the country the first week of October is usually knee deep into fall and everyone’s MTB season is slowly switching gears. If you’re in Anchorage, fall has all but landed on the ground and old man winter is charging down that newly cut singletrack like an angry Grizzly. “Outerbike in Moab? Sign me up! By the way, what’s an outer bike?”

Now in its second year, Outerbike is an annual event that brings dozens of bike manufacturers to Moab to let regular riders demo the latest bikes. For one price anyone can get admission to the 3-day event and the opportunity to ride any bike they choose on a network of trails ranging from novice to highly advanced and everything in between. Of course you also get the chance to talk with bike and component manufacturers and get your hands on a bunch of cool new stuff.  For those who got in town early, there was the option to choose from several scheduled shuttle rides with Western Spirit Cycle Adventures on trails around the Moab area for the 3 days leading up to the event. Free skills clinics were also held during the week in a park located at the brand new Aquatic/Rec Center in Moab – all you had to do was sign up & show up.

I can’t think of a better location for this event. The Moab Brand trails area has adequate space and parking for the event plus it’s right at the edge of a full range of trails. The paved bikeway from town through the Moab Canyon runs right past the front gate creating not only hotel commuting options but also a place to test ride the road and urban bikes that were available for demo. The event itself was very well organized and is a benefit for IMBA among other MTB-related organizations. The event staff were ever present, friendly, very helpful and seemed to pull this off without a visible hitch. I estimate there were 20 different bike companies there with a huge selection of bikes to choose from. Getting the exact bike you wanted to ride could require a bit of a wait, however the chance to try something you had never seen before was always there. Along with major bike companies there were booths from several component companies like Fox and Shimano.

Continental Tires kicked off the event Thursday night with a showing of Klunkerz at the Star Hall in Moab. This is a must see movie for anyone even slightly interested in how we got where we are today – good stuff. Each day there was a different free shuttle destination from the event; on Friday it was the Mag Seven trails. On Saturday there was a shuttle to Amasa Back and on Sunday the shuttle dropped riders at Slickrock Trail. Check out a bike you want, and get on the shuttle – as many times as you want. Yeti Bikes had the largest selection of demos and was probably the busiest booth there. Want to ride an $8,000 Ibis? Or an Orbea? No problem, getting there early will help. Turner, Elsworth, Kona, Niner, Pivot, Giant, Intense and many others were there too. Spot had a selection of their belt drive hardtails that were very popular.

My friends from Alaska even showed up with the Fatback bikes just to kind of introduce them to the folks here. They brought four bikes since the bikes aren’t really ideal for this type of terrain however they couldn’t seem to keep them on the rack – everyone wanted to try them. Pete even threw in his personal bike as a demo so they could have one more in the rotation – go figure.

Lunch was served for several hours each day so no one missed it and consisted of fresh, locally baked breads and a full selection of cold cuts plus pasta salads, drinks, etc. After a few hours of hard riding the DIY Dagwood sandwich is pretty awesome! The steady stream of riders and bikes coming and going was almost dizzying and kept that constant buzz of excitement heavy in the air. Saturday was actually overcast and unseasonably cold for Moab but that didn’t seem to slow anyone down – the down coats and ski hats came out and everyone kept right on riding.

I noticed at around 4:30 everyday the crowd thinned out dramatically – then I realized this is when the Beer Garden opened for those who wanted to partake. For myself it gave me a chance to talk with the manufacturers and others about their products in a more relaxed manner. I met Maurice Tierney, the original mastermind behind Dirt Rag Magazine. We talked for a bit, swapped stories and that led to an invite to a semi-private party at Poison Spider Bikes including some awesome tacos and several locally brewed beers. It was great having dinner and conversations with some of the industry’s movers and shakers and finding that no matter where you are from and what you do, we all just love to ride.

Not having been there last year I didn’t have anything to compare this event to but this year there were over 850 registered riders. According to the locals Outerbike was at least 3 times bigger this year than last. Nice. With any luck next year will be even bigger, and I really hope they don’t change a thing.

*Disclaimer: I’m not really in the market for a new bike so I wasn’t shopping very hard. Nor am I very qualified in giving the high tech reviews on bikes as some of you are. I did, however, love getting to see the newest frames outfitted with components I have only read about. Outerbike is about the bike, but really, there’s so much more to it. I finally used a 2×10 drivetrain and can see some of the advantages. I also used a 3×10, several new forks, shifters etc. that were all incredible. After my first ride on a bike with new brakes I was compelled to drop my personal bike at Chili Pepper Bikes for a bleed and tune up.

I was disappointed in one bike that I was really anxious to ride but then completely surprised by one that I rode ‘just because.’ That’s the whole purpose here I guess. Of all the bikes I rode the Santa Cruz Blur TRc stands out as light and just a whole lot of fun to ride. I have to say that the Pivot Mach 5.7 is the most amazing trail bike I have ever ridden – this will be the one the industry chases, within this category anyway. It ate up everything I could possibly throw it at and seemed to taunt me asking for more – ‘is that all you got old man?’ I’m very impressed.

Bottom line is this was one cool event and a real bonus if you’re in the market for a 2012 bike. I can only see the popularity of this growing over the years – I know I will be here just to soak up the excitement if nothing else!

The start of the ascent to Georgia Pass on County Road 37, near Jefferson, CO.

Georgia Pass is a spectacular, high altitude (11,585′) mountain bike paradise with trailhead access from both US-285 (SW of Denver, CO) and the town of Breckenridge. It has spectacular close up views of Mount Guyot, the Breckenridge mountains and the South Park plains. The best season to ride there is late July through September – or anytime before the first snowfall.

Views while climbing through the forest up the Colorado Trail.

The most popular ascent route up to Georgia Pass is the 6 mile section of the Colorado trail that starts on County Road 37 at Beaver Ponds Picnic Area, near Jefferson, CO. Pedal onto the Colorado trail and go down, over a bridge, and then begin a long climb up some fairly steep, rocky and rooty – but still mostly rideable – tread. Pace yourself and keep truckin’ up, up, and up for approximately 4-5 miles until you break through the tree line… and continue up onto thin singletrack rolling through high altitude meadows. Above the tree line the trail is less technical and also less steep.

A view of Georgia Pass from the edge of the treeline.

There are a couple of options at the top of Georgia Pass. You can park your bike and hike over the grassy meadows for a spectacular, ultra-close view of Mount Guyout (13,297′) or just lay in the meadows, eat a Clif bar, soak in the sunshine and catch your breath – feeling high as the sky.

You can ride off the Colorado Trail and take the 4×4 Jeep roads just below the pass to spectacular cairn-marked vistas above the pass. However, the 4×4 roads can be extremely steep, rocky and loose in sections – and the altitude can really kick in, making these tracks a grueling technical skill test.

Mount Guyot, close enough to touch, from the top of Georgia Pass.

On the way down you can re-trace your route back to the Colorado trail. The ride down is an all-out scream, an exhilarating, fast descent through the rolling meadows of the High Country and the thick evergreen forests. Enjoy the ride (full suspension recommended) but be careful of other riders coming up as some of the turns and corners are pretty fast and fairly “blind.”

Colorado Trail marker pole at the top of Georgia Pass

You can also take an alternate route down at an obvious junction just below Georgia Pass. Take a left and go down the West Jefferson Trail which is a steeper, more technical, and less-traveled descent. The West Jefferson trail dumps you out in the middle of the Lodgepole campground. Make your way through the campsites and take a left onto County Road 37 and pedal up a bit until you rejoin the Colorado Trail at Beaver Ponds Picnic Area.

Above Georgia Pass, looking back towards Mt. Guyot

This ride is considered by many to be one of the very best in the Front Range of Colorado! It richly rewards all of the effort you’ve put into training during the early season. The beautiful scenery and high-altitude sunshine (on a good day) is well worth the driving and the cranking it takes to get up there.

Access from Denver: Drive approximately 69 miles SW on US-285 to the small town of Jefferson, CO. Turn onto County Road 35 and go about a mile, then make a right turn onto county road 37 towards Jefferson lake. Pay the $5 federal recreation area fee and go about another mile past Lodgepole & Aspen campground. Park at “Beaver Ponds Picnic Area” which is on the left hand side of the road, just past a Colorado Trail sign. From here it’s 6 miles UP to Georgia Pass. (Most people choose to take the 24 mile route from the top of Kenosha Pass – which is recommended for intermediate-to-advanced mountain bikers who are in shape.)

Access from Breckenridge: Drive up Tiger Road approximately 3 miles out of town until you see a dredge boat on the left side. You can get on the Colorado trail shortly past this point… but the climb is very long and gnarly. You can keep driving up Tiger Road and access the Colorado Trail at the “middle fork” and the “north fork” where the Colorado Trail crosses the road. Ride up the Colorado Trail to Georgia Pass.

About the Author: Brett Borders is a direct response copywriter, snowboarder and mountain biker living in Denver, CO… and loving every minute of it!

Trail 401 is one of the most renowned mountain bike trails in the nation and for good reason: it has all of the qualities that you could ever want in a classic singletrack ride:

• Delightfully narrow singletrack
• A long, tough climb with some serious elevation gain
• A long, fast descent!
• Beautiful views of the surrounding mountains
• Remoteness
• Tacky dirt
• Smooth sections of trail
• Rough, challenging sections (including rocks and roots)
• Stream crossings
• Serious exposure
• Switchbacks
• Berms
• Camping nearby
• A great mountain town with a mountain-bike friendly culture
• A place to get some beers and pizza afterwards
• The possibility of getting rained or snowed on at any time

I’ve been nervous about writing this ride report – how does one actually go about accurately describing one of the best trails in the nation in mere words? All of the standard metaphors, many of which now seem to border on the cliche, just don’t measure up to the grandeur of 401.

So instead of employing 5,000 words to describe this slender line of dirt, I’ll try to let the photographs do most of the talking.

Our Ride

We began our ride as most people do with the long climb up Gothic Road.

Rider: Andrew.

Despite the fact that we were slowly grinding up mile after mile of steep gravel roads, I was thoroughly enjoying myself because of the incredible views of the mountains all around us!

We spotted a mountain lake down below the road: it is one of the clearest blue lakes I have ever seen!

The most entertaining part of our entire climb up to the singletrack was crossing the snow. Yes, that’s right: snow. In the middle of August.

This mini-glacier lies at the very bottom of a steep-sided valley, protected from the warmth of the sun by the mountains and the elevation. I have no idea how deep that snow is, and I doubt anyone alive actually knows what the bottom of that ravine looks like.

Loving the mid-summer snow! Rider: Greg (me).

After much painful pedaling, we finally made Schofield pass!

The climbing wasn’t done, though: we still had at least a mile of ascending on the singletrack before we reached the summit of our ride. After already having climbed about 6 miles of gravel road at high elevation, the last steep push to the summit was a challenge, both mentally and physically.

After climbing a ways through the woods, the trail broke out into a high alpine meadow:

Looking back down through the meadow.

Finally, all of our hard work paid off, and we gained the high point:

Andrew and Greg at the Summit.

While all of the trails in Crested Butte are at high elevation, Trail 401 stands out as one of the highest with the summit of the route resting at about 11,400 feet above see level! For two Georgia boys, the oxygen molecules are way too few and far between up there!

The high point of the route afforded incredible views in almost every direction. We enjoyed the especially stunning view to the north, looking into the Maroon Bells Wilderness:

Everything up to this point had been the prelude to the main event, just the opening act: now it was really time to ride… it was time to descend! And descend we did: fast and furiously as we shredded the snot out of that singletrack, dropping as quickly as possible back down into the valley below.

Andrew descending Trail 401.

We were treated to incredible views all along the way. Riding through these high alpine meadows is so different from the deep forests of North Georgia… I found it hard to keep my eyes on the trail!

In the bottom of the valley you can see Gothic Road, which we rode up.

I hope all of these photos help portray how immense an experience riding Trail 401 is, because words just cannot do it justice. But still I must try…

Downhill

“So what about the downhill? What was it like, how did you enjoy it?”

Yeah, I only touched on it briefly above, but as I mentioned, it was just phenomenal! The descent featured several extended straightaways where you could just let ‘er rip, sections with swoopy turns, and even a section of fast, bermed switchbacks in the meadow. It was a glorious descent, and yet I wasn’t able to shred most of it as I would have liked to.

Negatives

In many of the reviews for Trail 401, people have mentioned the beautiful wildflowers right next to the trail that grow to head height. Sure, the flowers are pretty, but how does that affect the riding?

Personally, the wildflowers really harshed my flow. Not only was I getting whipped by the brush as I flew past, but the tall undergrowth made it absolutely impossible to see through the turns. As most of us are aware, the key to riding well is being able to look far down the trail so that you know what’s coming and can set up your line. This is especially important at high speed, which a descent like this is sure to offer. Instead of being able to truly revel in the speed of this mountain descent, I found myself either riding the brakes, or almost flying off of the many switchbacks hidden in the deep grasses. This tacky line of dirt will straight line through a meadow and then without warning feed straight into a series of switchbacks. I’m not complaining about the trail design in the least… it’s just that trail visibility in front of you is severely lacking.

On another negative note, the entire climb is on a gravel road. For many epic Rocky Mountain rides, that’s par for the course, but I can imagine how much more sublime this ride would have been if it was 100% singletrack instead of just about 60%.

Bottom Line

Small quibbles aside, this was probably my favorite ride from my recent trip to Colorado! The grandeur and remoteness of this route coupled with the excellent singletrack will make this a winner in almost anyone’s book!

Trail 401 is definitely on my “Top 10 Trails of All Time” list… though maybe not at the top of it.

Your Turn: Have you ridden Trail 401 before? What did you think?

Here is part two of my mountain bike immersion experience from last month. As I posted previously  I spent a week in Copper Harbor Michigan for a work retreat and riding extravaganza. Before I left for that trip I had to pack up all my gear for a trip to Utah, since I was scheduled to drive 7 hours from Copper Harbor to Madison, get a shower and a (short) night of sleep, then catch a plane to Moab with my wife in the morning. We had been preparing for this trip since our good friend and my #1 riding buddy Jim got the camping permits for the White Rim Trail in March. So that made it all the more challenging when we landed in Moab without our checked bags. We each had our carry-ons, but no tent, sleeping bags, camp clothes, mess kits, toiletries, etc. I was lucky enough to have packed my helmet, shoes and riding kit in the bag I did have. We met up with the rest or our group and got to improvising.

Our original plan was to ride the White Rim Trail in four days. Once we landed in Utah the gang would pick us up at the airport, we’d load our gear into the rented pickup that would be our support vehicle and hit the trail. Since the trail was a 100 mile loop, once we started there was no backtracking. Therefore, it was not an option to start the ride and then go back to the airport the following day (when the next flight would come in with our bags). So a compromise had to be struck. We would camp that night near town right above the Slickrock Bike Trail. We’d have the opportunity to ride there that day and the following morning, then (hopefully) pick up our gear at the airport and hit the trailhead on the second afternoon, turning a four day trip into a three day rip. Win win right? It’s more riding, and now we had a chance to ride Slickrock, which has completely different terrain compared to the White Rim. So I’ll break the reports apart; White Rim ride report coming soon.

Slickrock is like the moon, at least to this east coast guy. Not many trees, just scrubby little bushes, sand and rocks. Big rocks. Huge, steep rocks that are like riding on sandpaper. The climbs and descents are not long but they are so steep there are times when you simply can’t believe physics will allow you to ride up/down/across the terrain. Slickrock Trail has a short practice loop in addition to the main route. On our rented Fuel EX 8s and GF Superfly 100 ALs, (thanks, Poison Spider) eight of us hit the practice course. Just follow a spray-painted white line out onto the rocks. And up the rocks. And down the rocks. And across off-camber sections of rock with nothing below you but a short, cruel lesson in gravity. I confess to getting a mouthful of sand when I “misunderestimated” the force with which I would hit the ground at the bottom of one tricky section.

These guys: no sand eating

After the practice loop the number interested in trying the main loop was smaller. I understand the sentiment; we had four days of riding ahead of us and there was no need to go all-in on the first afternoon. The rest of us followed the white arrow into the unknown. It was unlike any riding I’ve ever done. You simply cannot run out of grip. The surface of the sandstone is gritty and mostly free from debris, which is good for riding across but bad for falling upon. Avoid it if you can. The angles that you can attack are amazing due to the grippy nature of the rock. Drop down into the granny ring if you must but if you can keep spinning you’ll get to the top. Getting back down is another story. This trail proves the point that it is usually safer and more controllable to descend with a bit of speed; go down too slow or grab too much brake and you’re in for trouble. Just make sure your fork is up to the task when you get to the bottom of your drop and use a little finesse, otherwise you may become intimate with the earth in a bad way.

Constant happy for 10 days straight

Surprisingly after I became adjusted to the unique feel of the rock and the different techniques needed to traverse this strange land the riding became much easier. We came back to the trail the following morning after breaking camp and before attempting to reclaim our delayed luggage. The second time around the Slickrock was as gentle as could be, if you knew where to roll. We finished Part One of Moab mashing with no injuries or mechanicals. And we had a great time and built up a powerful thirst for getting onto the White Rim and starting our 3 day, 100 mile loop through this starkly beautiful desert playground. Part Two coming soon…

Preface: I spent 9 incredible days of riding in back-to-back exotic (for me) locations famous for their mountain bike trails. I’ll lay them out in the manner that makes sense to me with liberal bragging thrown in for good measure. Week 1 was in Copper Harbor, Michigan for a work retreat that included daily riding. For week 2 I got on a plane to meet up with old friends on a desert adventure we’d been planning for 6 months.

It’s damn dark up here at 6am, but there are a dozen bikes lined up on the fence outside and our tour guide is handing out maps. Aaron Rogers is our local guide, the president of the Copper Harbor Trails Club and viciously fast on the local dirt. I guess that’s how it is when you’ve built most of the trails yourself. Inside the lodge we’re eating breakfast, filling Camelbaks, making a last minute gear check and getting our layers on right: not too warm and not too cool for the early morning Michigan Upper Peninsula weather.

The trails. That’s what you want to hear about, right? First a word on the setting. I moved to the midwest (in winter. great idea) for work and have been trying a little of this and a little of that to get my fix of the type of singletrack riding I had grown used to back east in the Philadelphia area. Try as I might the fact remains: there is a lot of prairie around here. It can be great for things like a gravel metric ride, but big climbs and long descents are few and far between unless I want to do some serious highway miles to get them. And drive we did to get to Copper Harbor Michigan. Seven hours in the car through Wisconsin and then the Upper Peninsula to the tip-top of the finger that jabs into Lake Superior. The scenery was beautiful – we went through a tunnel of trees that was miles long, saw no less that three bald eagles, a coyote and many deer. If you’re doing a five day, four night trip like this a little driving won’t kill you, and I got to see some unfamiliar parts of the country that were rugged, remote and picturesque. OK, now on to the riding.

It’s amazing. Every damn last foot of singletrack was impressive. I’ll admit I’m a cheap date – give me a halfway decent bike, some dirt to roll on, and some trees to dodge and I’m happy. But the dozen people I was riding with had true skills, including the entire mountain bike development team responsible for bringing to life the rig that won the world downhill championships this year. If they were digging these runs, you know the trails are good. The terrain went from rocky, rooty big-drop downhill-type runs to cush cross country tracks through the pines. The finishing touches were being put on an A-line style run down from the top of the peak, right next to a set of boardwalk switchbacks that take you down (or up) the steep face of Keweenaw Mountain. With the right basket of technical riding skills you could lace together several days of grinding climbs and extended, beautifully flowing descents that leave you looking like this:

Folks, this is what “Bike Stoned” looks like

The photo above was taken at the bottom of a trail simply named Flow. Recently completed, it is a masterpiece of switchbacks, whoops, ripping ridge lines and the sweetest, plushest dirt I’ve ever rolled a knob on. We all looked like Dave when we reached the bottom: blissed out in the realization that this is work. On our final day we took advantage of the shuttle service available from Keweenaw Adventure Company. You can believe we chose Flow a few times that day. Throw in some descents of Woopidy Woo and we were all feeling just right.

My coworker estimated that over $30K of bikes were on this trailer

Did I mention the accolades? I’ve spent enough time praising these Michigan miles so here’s a ringing endorsement from IMBA (and they know about this sort of thing): Copper Harbor has the distinction of being one of their “Epic Rides.” That’s a hell of an honor since there are only 48 in the world that the association has designated. All you have to do is air up your tires, grab a map and hit the trails in this order: Copper Harbor Loop, Garden Brook, Woopidy Woo, Garden Brook, Blue Trail, Dza Beet, Here We Go, Ma Maki, Say Hello, Dza Beet, Simeh, De Deet, Red Trail, Clark Mine Road, Pauls Plunge, John Lincoln Green, Manganese Road, Ma Maki, Der we Went, Stairway to Heaven, Copper Harbor Loop to Trail Head. Do yourself a favor: check out the interactive map here and watch the videos that accompany most of the trails. I particularly like reminiscing about Stairway to Heaven.

So there you have it. If you’ve got the opportunity to get to the north country, or are looking for a centrally located destination for a sweet riding retreat, hit up Copper Harbor. You won’t be disappointed. There are rustic cabins to toast your riding buddies and tell tales by firelight at the Keweenaw Mountain Lodge, gear outfitting and shuttles at the Keweenaw Adventure Company, and tasty post-ride grub and beers to be had at the Mariner on the main strip in town. All in one spot for your riding pleasure. Bring your legs, your skills and your camera – they’ll all be well used up here.

After a rough day of riding at Mont Sainte Anne, I was a bit worried that I would be embarking on more rocky trails for my second day of mountain biking in Québec. The 1 hour, 15 minute drive from Québec City through small towns, corn fields, and eventually gravel roads was actually quite nice. We arrived at the newly built reception office of Secteur Shannahan surrounded by trees and a parking lot full of bikers and other adventurers where I stepped out of the van giddy as a school girl. I met Gilles Morneau, my guide for the day. Gilles is responsible for laying out the 35k (and growing!) network of mountain bike trails at Vallée Bras-du-Nord.

Photo by: Gilles Morneau

I was stoked to see the Rocky Mountain Element 30 being loaned to me was actually the right size! Even better, I think it was a bit lighter than my Santa Cruz back home so I was hoping for some sweet singletrack. We sped down the road to the trailhead where we had to cross the Bras-du-Nord river via a narrow bridge. I was advised the best way to cross the bridge was to walk the bike in front of me with the front wheel up. The bridge swayed with my every step and my pedals kept getting caught up in the netting. When I stopped to get my bearings the bridge continued to sway and I remembered, knees shaking, how freaking scared of heights I am. Fortunately, the Canadians are gentlemen so a kind rider by the name of François took my bike across for me while I scurried towards a laughing Gilles at the end of the bridge. Thank goodness we didn’t have to ride back that way!

Glad to be back on my bike, and on the ground for that matter, we started on a fairly easy trail called Beurre d’érable, or Maple Butter. Like the name implies, it was smooth like butter – swooping singletrack with dozens of banked turns. The trail name also references the maple trees that are tapped with miles of Camelbak-like hoses for collecting maple sap. The Provence of Québec is the world’s largest maple syrup producer. At Vallée Bras-du-Nord you’ll only find these hoses on the mountain bike trails – they are thought to ruin the view and overall experience for hiking trails.

While riding Beurre d’érable I learned that many of the mountain bike and hiking trails (over 70km total) at Vallée Bras-du-Nord were built with the assistance of local youth. Gilles designs and plans the bike trails following IMBA’s trailbuilding techniques and then empowers youth delinquents or those that may have had problems with drugs to perform the arduous manual labor. Along the way, these troubled youth learn their contributions are significant and appreciated and many eventually return to school or the job market, so their hard work has paid off in more ways than one.

There was a lot more singletrack to be ridden so we cruised towards another main trail intersection. The Barbe à Gendron trail, translated as “beard of Gendron”, a mountain biking legend in Québec, was windy singletrack along a stream. On the short extension trail, Coulée Douce, we caught a glimpse of the Typhon trail which is a steep downhill descent. From here, there is an alternate route to climb to the top of the mountain to Lac de la Hauteur, but that was way too much climbing for this city girl!

Photo by: Gilles Morneau

Exiting Barbe à Gendron trail I noticed yurts and cottages through the trees. This “Village of Yurts” is quite popular in the winter. Just a short trek from the main parking area, each yurt can accommodate 2-4 people. Even a southern gal like myself would appreciate this kind of cozy winter weekend getaway. The yurts have a rustic feel, but are much nicer and roomier than a tent. Like camping there’s no running water or electricity, but there is a stove for melting snow and firewood to keep it warm – after all it can get down to -10°C or colder in Québec! Vallée Bras-du-Nord also has many nice cabins and cottages, even hotels throughout the property.

Next we pedaled to perhaps my favorite trail of the day, Chute à Gilles. Proudly named after my guide, this trail is a must-do! The terrain changes to slightly rocky singletrack and the trail opens onto a beautiful chute – a waterfall to us English speakers. The rock outcroppings make a perfect spot to take a break and listen to the gentle sounds of the falls. Unfortunately we skipped the rest of this trail in a rush to get back for an afternoon canoe trip–just one of the many other activities offered at Vallée Bras-du-Nord.

Photo by: Gilles Morneau

We crossed the river and got some nice views of the mountains with their fall colors just starting to appear. The Grande Ourse, Big Dipper, trail was another smooth, fairly easy ride back toward our starting point. At times the trail would spit out onto a fireroad or along the river bank.

I was a little sad that our ride was coming to an end, but Gilles said they are looking to build over 100k of new mountain bike trails here in the next few years, so there is definitely reason to come back! One of the current trail projects is an epic, scenic trail along the Neilson river (splits from the main Bras-du-Nord river at the northside of the Shannahan area). Here is a preliminary shot of the trail that will be on the rocks directly beside the river.

Photo by: Gilles Morneau

I know what I described thus far probably sounds like an easy, scenic day in the mountains, but Vallée Bras-du-Nord also has a handful of more advanced trails to offer. Just 10 miles south of the Shannahan area is another major recreational hub called Secteur Saint-Raymond. There is another 15 km of more technical trail there with even more climbing and descending. Once a year the famous Raid Extreme Bras du Nord race connects the two areas by trail. This challenging event has options for a 70k race, 40k race or a 2-day stage race (80k-140k total) covering the most beautiful trails and landscapes in the area, plus a river crossing.

With so much to offer the beginner to advanced rider, I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Vallée Bras-du-Nord trails bagging an IMBA Epic designation one day. And if you love the outdoors, stay a while and try some of the other activities in the area–overnight canoe trips, hiking and canyoning or snowshoeing, snowmobiling and ice climbing in the winter. Vélo de montagne!

Québec is famous in the mountain bike world for hosting the challenging UCI World Cup Downhill race at Mont Sainte Anne, a ski resort just 40km – about a 30 minute drive – from Québec City. I had just one afternoon to spend at Mont Sainte Anne, so when I arrived my guide, Christian, had a Scott Spark 60 ready for me.

Riding the gondola to the top of the mountain seemed to take forever. On the way up I saw many rocky downhill runs I was relieved we wouldn’t be riding down. The pitch got steeper with about 1/3 of the way to go to the summit at 800m (2625 ft) where there’s a nice view of Québec City. We started our descent on one of the “easy” trails – it was a pretty rocky ride, with baby heads covering the wide singletrack. I was getting tossed around a bit since my bike was too big and the extra length seemed to be pulling me down the mountain and through rough lines.  The initial descent was a lot rockier and bumpier than most east coast trails I’ve ridden.  There’s an old saying about Mont Saint Anne – if you can ride at Mont Sainte Anne you can ride anywhere! I was determined to make it down this mountain, hopefully in one piece.

We headed southeast toward the base of the mountain to the cross country trails.  Twisting, swooping, and less rocky singletrack plus smooth doubletrack and service roads make up about 150km or just under 100 total miles of trails, including the trails on the back side of the mountain.  We even rode several newly constructed trails where it was tough navigating my long bike through the fresh dirt and tight switchbacks. A couple of falls off the bike were inevitable. When you finally pop out of the woods, there are some nice views to the south.

I got just a sample of what Mont Sainte Anne has to offer, and I have a new-found respect for Canadian mountain bikers! Your XC trails are tough, and your downhill trails are just plain sick.  By the time we got back, the gondola was on its last 4pm run and the downhill riders were cleaning off their bikes in the parking lot.  I was surprised that it wasn’t very crowded for a Friday afternoon.  The village and rental shop were shutting down too, so I headed back to Québec City.

The city was bustling with activity after a big bike race, the Grand Prix de Cliciste de Québec, which took place earlier that day. Québec City hosts many major cycling events and the excitement of this race and energy in the crowd was proof of the city’s fervent cycling culture.  This UCI World Tour competition consisted of 16 laps on a 12.6km course through Québec City’s historic district and along the St. Lawrence riverfront.

Québec City itself is bicycle-friendly and cycling is definitely part of many residents’ lifestyle.  It’s always refreshing to see bikes and cars harmoniously sharing the road. In fact, a bike tour is a great way to explore this city. Visitors won’t want to miss the downtown area of Old Québec and a bike is ideal since like most urban areas, parking is sparse and one way streets abound. From the famous Château Frontenac on the cliffs above the St. Lawrence River westward to the vast urban park the Plains of Abraham, there are dozens of historic buildings, monuments, and the like to peruse by bike.

I wish I could have stayed a few more days in Québec City to explore more surrounding mountain bike trails or the Route Verte, North America’s most extensive bike route covering over 4,000 km (over 2,440 miles) across Québec province.  If you’re a mountain biker or cyclist, consider a trip to Québec City. The city is like no other, its history and European charm combined with proximity to world-class bike trails and other outdoor adventures makes it a truly special place!