Smithers Mountain Bike Association Discussion Forum

Recent trail work, impromptu work bees, management plans and other random nuggets

2011-09-21T07:07:05+00:00

A wet ride last night and today’s soggy weather made taking the saw for a stroll seem like an attractive option tonight. Cruising through the bush just before dark almost always leads the mind to interesting places and forces a person to ask themselves some unusual questions. Is a chainsaw better than bear spray? Do trees ever fall in the woods when a person is around to hear them? Why didn’t I throw a beer in the pack for the walk out? What the hell am I even doing out here? The answers to most of these questions probably fall somewhere between unknowable and absolutely irrelevant.

The one question which occupied the mind for more than a moment as I made my way back to the truck was the proverbial “what the hell?” I can’t speak for anyone but myself, but after seeing the recent volunteer work on Huckin’ Eh, Auntie Flo and Paydirt, I’d be surprised if my motives are much different than anyone else’s. For me working on trail forces me to slow down and take in an environment that I typically see only as a blurred ribbon of dirt somewhere between my front tire and the next turn. It’s an opportunity to get rid of pedal catchers, eye pokers, face slappers, bar clippers and other elements of surprise doom. It’s a rewarding way to get some exercise when I just can’t be bothered to swing a leg over a steed. Most of all, it’s an opportunity to make something that is already good even better. The simple act of filling in a hole, cutting a downed tree out of the way, fixing a blown out berm, or opening up a better line through a corner can make all the difference in how a trail rides.

Shredding fresh trail that you played a part in hewing from the ground is pretty rewarding, but I don’t think it captures what it is that keeps me interested. There is something a little less tangible. Maybe it’s the feeling of building something with the materials at hand. Maybe it’s the feeling of doing real work. Maybe it’s the camaraderie shared between people working towards a common goal. Whatever it is, it’s a damn rewarding way to spend time that I would recommend to anyone, which reminds me why I started thinking about all of this in the first place.

We (SMBA) are currently working on finalizing our agreement and management plan with the province. One of the sections that we have been discussing recently is the volunteer trail work clause. As the managers of the trail network we are obligated to develop policy which directs volunteer work on the trails that we are ultimately responsible for managing. The long and short of it is we want to encourage and support volunteer involvement, but we don’t want to end up in a situation where the efforts of volunteers hinder our ability to effectively manage the trail network by creating unsafe or environmentally unsound conditions.

A potential solution that we have discussed involves developing clear guidelines which define what sorts of activities fall under the heading of trail maintenance and which activities should be considered trail modifications. The concept here is that we don’t want to make it difficult for people to go out and cut out a downed tree, fix a muddy section, repair a technical feature or add a little love to a corner, but we also don’t want to provide free reign to anyone with a chainsaw and an idea. The current thought is that maintenance activities should be able to be performed by anyone who has the time and energy. The last thing we want to do is stand in the way of riders lending a hand and taking ownership of the trails. Activities defined under the trail modifications heading will require approval from the trails director or executive, and if they are significant in nature, the province.

We have been using an unofficial version of the proposed approach with good results so far. For those of you who haven’t been on Huckin’ Eh lately there have been a few significant improvements made to the trail. Dave Percy is the mastermind behind the improvements and has provided the vast majority of the elbow grease required to get them done. He has been informing the SMBA of his intentions before commencing any work and has ensured that all of the improvements have met our satisfaction. B-Rad has been quietly working away on Aunti Flo in much the same way. The results of this approach on these two trails speak for themselves. The trails are constantly improving, motivated individuals have a legitimate (and protected) outlet for their trail work demons and the SMBA is kept informed of changes within the trail network. Seems like a win/win/win to me. What are people’s thoughts on this approach? Have other ideas? We’d love to hear about them.

On a related note, I’d like to throw a thanks out to everyone who turned up at last Thursday’s impromptu mini work bee. Many hands make light work, and we were able to get a surprising amount of work done in a couple hours. High fives all around!

The log across upper Broken Axe is gone as well, so don’t be carrying a saw up there…

Upper Remembrance Day Reroutes Complete

2011-08-31T13:32:52+00:00

The reroutes are now complete on Upper Remembrance Day so you can ride the whole thing both directions now. Big thanks to Roscoe and Brian for lay out and to Dave Percy for working with the Firefighters to get the work done. Another great addition for our trails!

Road Trippin’

2011-08-19T04:20:17+00:00

I think we all know that Smithers has some of best trails in BC. But if you’re like me, you still enjoy a chance to hit the road every now and then and explore something new. Why not share some ideas so when we’re planning our next vacations, or happen to find ourselves killing time in other communities, we can hit up the best trails.

So far this summer I’ve managed to hit up the Sun Peaks and Silver Star Bike Parks, and I’ve done some riding in Williams Lake, Kelowna and Revelstoke. For what it’s worth, here’s a short summary of what I found. Feel free to post about your own experiences.

* Fox Mountain in Williams Lake is a quick and easy stop if you’re passing through town and don’t have a lot of time. The bike club there has installed some signage, and they have pretty good maps posted on the web. We rode Hillbilly Deluxe because access is easy: the shuttle takes off right from the highway and is short on a paved road, or if you’re pedalling it’s not much longer than a half hour to the top. There a fun gully near the bottom, but it’s pretty flat near the top and now that I have wide bars I’m noticing that the trees are getting tighter and tighter!

* Silver Star was awesome like it always is. I was there right after the August long weekend, so the trails had a fair bit of washboard from a few hot dry days and lots of riders. But I was there mid-week and the park was a ghost town. I didn’t stand in line once, and I only rode up with another rider once all day. Gotta remember to do the mid-week thing again next time.

* Sun Peaks was definitely more developed than it was the last time I was there between 5 and 10 years ago. It is much steeper than Silver Star so plan to use a lot more brakes. Even the jump runs have some steep and rough sections, and I felt that many trails didn’t seem to flow quite as nicely as the ones at Silver Star. But still a lot of fun – especially Steam Shovel (their version of A-Line or Rockstar) and the trails on the far left (Sugar & Sweet One, etc.….). The alpine flowers were plentiful, but the people were not. I don’t think we passed anyone (or were passed by anyone) on the trails all day.

* In Kelowna I did a short (+/- 1.5hr) pedal ride on the Smith Creek trails in West Kelowna above the Smith Creek Subdivision. It’s nice flowy singletrack, with some views near the top and few stunts (small drops) and some gullies on the way down.

* Revelstoke is worth a visit, and if you like to pedal, Keystone Standard Basin takes the cake. It’s an alpine ride, approx. 12km long each way on beautiful singletrack. It’s a bit of drive to the trailhead (50km on the highway and then 16km up a fairly rough road). From the parking lot it’s only about 1km up to treeline, then you pedal in the alpine the rest of the day. There’s a small cabin and lake at the end, and amazing views in 360 degrees the whole ride. I highly recommend it. We also did a shuttle ride on the Frisbee Trail, which is located close to town and offers some great views of town and the surrounding area as you bike along the edge of some steep cliffs. The road was pretty rough – you’d definitely want a truck for this shuttle. We ended with a shuttle of the Martha Creek Trail – which should also be on your “must do” list. From the reservoir, you 4WD about 15km up to alpine on a pretty steep rough road. The trail starts above treeline, and I think I read somewhere that it’s about a 5000 foot descent over about 12 km – it was not unlike riding Backdoor a couple times. The locals say it’s much rougher than it used to be, but we thoroughly enjoyed it and there are definitely some sections that you can open it up and let it rip. It’s worth checking out for sure, but bring a truck, and give yourself over 1.5hr to drive your way back up and down the mountain for the vehicle retrieval if you don’t have a shuttle driver. What I learned in Revy was that we are really spoiled with our shuttle access trails! I hear there is some great XC near town, but we ran out of time and couldn’t check it out this trip.

I’d love to hear what you’d recommend for Sea to Sky country since I’m hoping for a chance to visit there next…

Upper Longway OPEN

2011-08-18T03:36:50+00:00

Hola,

BShort, Roscoe and I did a recon on Upper Long Way tonight and while there are 2 or 3 very muddy sections (you won’t miss them) we felt the rest of the trails was good to go and would benefit from the packing of bike tires. We plan to repair the wet spots with the fall work crews or at latest in the spring. Enjoy and ride safe.

Tree down on All Screwed Up!

2011-08-13T17:24:25+00:00

I forgot to mention, when I was up on All Screwed up a few days ago, there is a VERY LARGE Spruce tree down on the trail, right close to the first junction. You have to hike your bike around through the bush. It’s not so much of a hazard that you’d hit it on the way down but it’s a bit of an inconvenience. Anyway, it should be cut out of the way, chainsaw is necessary. So maybe the next time someone is up there, bring the chainsaw!!

PUMP DADDY IS OPEN!!

2011-08-07T16:28:07+00:00

Good news everyone - Pump Daddy is open and shred ready! The entrance is just off the top of Huckin’ Eh and is very obvious. Have a read of the sign, do a few practice laps and start working on getting it dialed in.

As always, be safe out there, respect other trail users and have fun!

The Five stages of bummer summer

2011-08-02T16:46:36+00:00

Hey,

Here is a link to a submission to the crankworks photo challenge.
It’s pretty funny and well worth a look.
Cheers!

http://www.whistlermountainbike.com/wmb/index.php?content=072111-dan-barham-deep-summer
http://wideopenmag.co.uk/videos/the-five-stages-of-bummer-summer

Cronin Pass….......Type 2 Fun

2011-07-25T04:43:24+00:00

Rode Cronin today with 3 others. I won’t lie, the trail is wet and buggy, REALLY BUGGY, those mozzies are hungry and determined. I would recommend 90% deat, it’ll keep you from going bonkers. Cronin Creek is pretty high, high enough that you should be prepared to get wet and if you are a small little thing, there’s a chance you could get thrown down stream. Also prepare to do a bit of bushwhacking as there is a section where the old road has been completely washed away and is pretty much impassable. We did run into a Large Black Bear, but only saw him once, guess he didn’t like the smell of us. High in the Alpine there is still a bit of snow of which can’t be avoided, you will have to hike across with your bike. And of course, true to the Babines, it was windy at the top, so wasn’t ideal for hanging out, but on a nicer day it might be different. The trail down is good and fun, but also wet, but what isn’t wet this year

Pump Daddy Rain Delay :(

2011-07-21T04:10:15+00:00

Sodden lovers of trail:
We really don’t seem to be able to get a break with the weather this year. The snow stayed deep and low well into spring, which made opening trails and dealing with the associated drainage issues a real challenge. If a late to recede snow line wasn’t enough to make some of you consider taking up a different sport the recent trend of daytime highs rarely cracking the low teens mixed with heavy rains every few days likely is. The trail crew has done a very good job this spring, and those of us who haven’t taken up paddling or some other water-based pastime have been fortunate to be able to ride trails that for the most part have been in very good condition all things considered.

Unfortunately, none of this helps with the matter at hand. The buzz around town for the last few days has been that Pump Daddy is finally going to open. Tomorrow is supposed to be the day. We hate to be the bearers of horrendous news, but it is not to be. Today’s deluge leaves us with no choice but to postpone the opening. To shred the trail now will lead to the destruction of a lot of hard work, so we are opting to let the trail dry out for a few days before we open the gate. We are as unhappy about this as anyone, but try as we might we cannot control the weather.

Deluges aside, all is not lost. The trail is holding up really well to the wet, and is 99.9% ready to go. We have installed the required signage, built the required ride around and received the green light from the Province, so we are very close. We simply need a few days with no rain to dry out the ride around. This section was built quite recently so it got completely saturated during Sunday’s torrent. This ride around is a required element of the trail, so we cannot move forward until it is ready to ride.

We also need to be mindful of the Woodcreek Main Road. The Wetzin’kwa Community Forest and Dean Daly have been very supportive of our trails and have thus far been agreeable to riders using their road. To impact the road while it is wet would definitely jeopardize the relationship that we have built, and none of us can afford that! Pedal laps of Huckin’ are OK, but it’s pretty nice to have the option to shuttle when the legs aren’t feelin’ the spin.

We will be monitoring the trail very closely in the coming days, and as soon as it is ready we will pull the closed sign down and send out a notification via email and our website that the trail is open and ready to ride. We are still planning on having an opening event at some point, but for now we will monitor the trail and open it as soon as we can. Stay tuned, and thank you for your ongoing understanding.

The SMBA Exec.

G-Bear hanging around the Piper parking lot

2011-07-12T05:20:27+00:00

Many of you will have heard (or seen) that there has been a male grizzly bear hanging around the Piper parking lot for the last little while. The reason for this behavior was hopefully destroyed on the weekend, so hopefully the bruin decides to move along before too long. I talked to a conservation officer today. They are aware of the situation and suggested that we monitor the situation and take extra precautions while in the area. Make lots of noise, ride in groups and keep your eyes open. If anyone sees the bear please let others know by posting your observations here. If anyone sees anything at all out of the ordinary please contact me so that I can relay the info to the conservation officers.

Be safe out there!