Category: mountain bike

Torrent – Mount Elphinstone

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New Trail Day! I love exploring new trails and getting to know a trail network better. Today started as one of those days where I just couldn’t get motivated to work so instead headed for a workout & re-energizing trip to the forest. I needed something challenging to get the energy flowing. I first hiked Torrent a few years ago with a much fitter friend and I remembered how exhausting yet exhilarating it was. It was a whole new part of Mount Elphinstone that I hadn’t seen before. Now that I’ve explored many more trails in the area, I decided to try and find it again.

Torrent is a black diamond downhill mountain bike trail. This is a steep cardio climb, but it was also very exciting to see how much fitter I am now than the first time a couple of years ago. Before, I never would have made it without my competitive spirit to try and keep up with my friend. Today I made it up in one hour and felt great at the top. One major rule needs to be observed when hiking a trail like this…this was made for mountain bikers and they love flying down it. If you’re hiking, you must be alert to give way to an oncoming bike. There is nowhere for them to swerve to miss you without crashing…you must get out of the way. Today, though, I had the entire trail to myself.
Torrent 710For hikers, the bottom of Torrent is within Sprockids Mountain Bike Park and is accessed from Sidewinder very near where Sidewinder breaks off from the yellow/orange trail. It heads off outside the park, but you’d never know that. When you reach the top (where mountain bikers start the trail), you’re at the intersection of Pressure Drop, Ridge, Sidewinder, and the yellow trail that becomes the Summit Trail at this point. Talk about choices!

Torrent 716

I am all about hikes with rewards at the end. There is no major viewpoint to the ocean on Torrent. The forest is much to thick. However, as you near the top you will find significant rewards. These are the trees that literally will have you saying “WOW” while you hike. I see trees like this and I can’t imagine how massive these west coast forests must have looked when European settlers arrived 150 years ago. I love these spiral trees! This one is so tall, I couldn’t get it in the camera frame. It’s huge! Spiral trees were left behind when the rest of the area was logged as they didn’t have ‘any value’. Boy do I value them today.
Torrent 712Check out this massive tree that fell years ago.  There is an entire forest sprouting up out of its massive trunk. The entire length of the tree has new trees growing from it.

Torrent 707Rather than building trail around it, this massive tree became the trail when it fell. You literally walk/ride the length of the tree. So cool!

So I started this post with ‘new trail day’. At the top of Torrent I saw this piece of art. (can’t believe the photo turned out fuzzy). How do you resist a trail marked by a painting?

Ridge 711Ridge is another black diamond downhill mountain bike trail that runs just west of Torrent. Luckily, I was hiking down to explore this because an hour of steep climbing is enough for one day. Gorgeous hiking..and sure enough…it lived up to its name and I found myself on a ridge with drop offs on either side where I could here rushing water from a creek. Ridge intersects Sidewinder again and I realized I’d been at this part of the trail lots of times, but never realized that it went up at this point. It’s another major trail junction of Sidewinder, Fuzzy Hugs and Ridge…just a short distance from the bridge over Gibsons Creek. I took Ridge further down and realized I had hiked this section many times. It’s fairly easy hiking in the lower section and connects to a lot of fun biking trails…Technical Ecstacy, Rock-n-Root, Skoolz Out. Nice easy hiking and the reward of knowing that I’m really getting to know my way around this fabulous park. One of these days I’m going to set aside the time to hike the Summit Trail. I’m told the views are spectacular.

 

 

 

 

Sprockids Mountain Bike Park

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It has been a gorgeous week for getting outside. Wednesday, Sprockids Mountain Bike Park was home to the North Shore League Mountain Bike Series. Some friends were helping to organize the race, so I stopped by to give a hand (and enjoy the sunshine).
Entrance to Sprockids Park

Over 100 students were on the Coast to test themselves. I have to say that it was a pretty cool event to watch.  Like cross country running, you really can’t watch the entire race.  The course was set up on some of the easier trails near the bottom of the park, but older students had to ride additional laps of the course. Some students were very series and focused…immediately wanting to know where they placed. Some students fist-pumped as they finished, proud of their ride. For others, just finishing the course was an achievement and even though they were exhausted for a few minutes, the pride of conquering the course was clear on their faces.

High School Students preparing to ride

Today with all the students gone, I decided to hike much of the race course.  The first leg went down Ankle Biter and over to Stinger on the south edge of the park.  I must have never gone all the way along this trail, because look what I found. Isn’t this the cutest picnic spot?

Picnic area with a live tree in the center

The birds were singing on such a nice spring day.  This picture is along Stinger.

Love the “faces” in the trees
It was nice to hike along trails I haven’t done in a while: Rock n Root, Skoolz Out, Technical Ecstacy.  It was also fun to see all the new signs throughout the trails that were installed last month. They don’t all have their “you are here” dots installed, but it really helps when navigating this extensive trail network. Can’t wait to find the new trail being created right now by the Capilano University Mountain Bike Program students. They’ve been working hard this month and if previous projects are any indication, this new trail will be great.

Sprockids Mountain Bike Park – March 24, 2013

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Today was a day to celebrate community volunteers. Sprockids Mountain Bike Park is a place I’ve written about a lot. Last year it celebrated its 20th anniversary sharing our amazing forests with kids through the love of mountain biking. Teaching kids to ride safely with family and friends in a sanctioned park with educational components. This system is now used across Canada.  Here it is 2km from my front door and I place where I love to hike.

  

Sprockids Mountain Bike Park – shovels ready
Capilano University’s Mountain Bike Operations students organized the day to install over 30 signs throughout the park. Students, families and some diehard trail fairies spent the morning digging and carrying signs. Never get lost again! I’ve often been hesitant to direct guests to this park because of limited signage and maps in a complex system of trails making it an easy place to become disoriented. This is a great addition and will be very helpful to hikers and bikers alike.

I decided to try it out with a short hike in an area I haven’t been to for a while. These pictures are all from Skoolz Out which is just above the Skills Park. The question isn’t “If a tree falls in the forest and no one is there, does it make a sound?”…the question is “If a tree falls in the forest, what can we make with it?”
I would love to see someone bank on this.

Some very fun bridges
Yes, that long “bridge” is one tall tree…rootball still in tact at the end

That boulder at the end of the jump is taller than me!

 As I hiked, I could here some bikers above me. I decided to wait and see what is was like to jump off this. I expected someone to just launch over it and fly down the trail. Turns out, all these jumps and bridges are great teachers and confidence builders. Three young teenagers rode down and all came to a stop either beside or on top of this jump. They studied it…rode past it to check the landing…and discussed. Three different times one of them would ride up to jump it and stop at the last minute…not ready for the leap…talking to themselves that it was about being there mentally.  Finally one of them did it, and they all celebrated for a minute. A brief pause before taking off together to find the next challenge.

I finished my hike just in time for the skills demonstration. After a morning of digging holes to install signs, the kids were treated to a free lunch from the Lions Club burger trailer. Then they hit the skills park for some serious jumps from Coastal Crew and friends. They were flying…25 feet off the ground. Sorry, no good pictures, but they were impressive. The really fun part was after one of the older kids would jump, an eager 4-8 year old would ride from the same starting point and off to the next small run with a couple of junior size berms. The little guys were just as thrilled to show off in front of the audience and just as proud to ride successfully. The older guys cheered them on as much as they did for their friends making the huge jumps. What a great day.

Ferry Trail – January 30, 2013

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A break in the rain today, so I headed for the forest.  There is a trailhead right at the end of the street which I have written about before, but it has been a while since I hiked here. Every sunny day possible…a treat in January…I’ve chosen to walk at the beach. Today was more of a warm and foggy winter day, so I headed to the forest.

To my surprise, the amazing trail fairies have been very busy. I often avoid this trail in the rainy season as part of it becomes a stream. Someone has been adding gravel improving some of the muddier parts in a big way. I was very surprised to see signage and trail markings to greet me…in hot pink. The trail was really in good shape, thanks to some unknown but special volunteers.

once mighty giant

 I know it’s hard to tell without a frame of reference, but this was once a huge forest giant.  See the skinny trees on the right edge of the photo?  This moss covered stump is easily 3 people’s outstretched arms around.

 Most of the lower part of this area are young alders, but this stately giant stretches wide and proud.

This trail connects Sprockids Mountain Bike Park to the Langdale Ferry Terminal and is the final stretch of day 5 of BC Bike Race. All downhill and a great finish for 500 lucky riders.  For me…its just the trail closest to home.

busy precious trail fairies

 You just don’t see many hot pink trail markers……

This is the sign under the hydro lines clearly showing both the way down to Langdale or the way over to the Elphinstone Trails and Sprockids Park.  This is also the break between mostly young alder psuedo forest and the firs and cedars of the real forest further up the mountain. I love how green it is even in the middle of winter.  Ferns are huge and everything is moist and full of life. I won’t wait so long for my next visit to the Ferry Trail just beyond my doorstep.

Chapman Creek Trail – Oct 21, 2012

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Today was an exciting day.  In between visiting numerous studios & galleries during the Sunshine Coast Art Crawl, I took some time to attend the official opening of the Chapman Creek Trail. This new trail is a very important connection in what will be the Suncoaster Trail connecting Langdale to Earl’s Cove…80km by highway and much longer by trail.  What is important about this trail is the new bridge that crosses Chapman Creek…the only non-highway crossing of the main watershed here on the Sechelt Peninsula.
The trail was actually christened in July during BC Bike Race.  Volunteers raced to have the bridge installed just days before 500 riders hit the Coast for the prestigious race.  Today was a beautiful fall day to dedicate the trail and to honour the many, many volunteer hours that went into building the trail.

The forest is watching

This section of trail runs from the Sechelt Airport near Wilson Creek to Selma Park.  Today I only hiked the first section which is about 20 minutes from the airport to the bridge.  It is a beautiful, fairly easy hike…just some uneven ground and a bit of a hill at the very end as you return to the airport.  From the airport, it is a short distance to the B&K Road network of trails which is a prime mountain bike area.

downstream from the bridge
the highlight – the bridge itself

We’ve had a bit of rain the last two weeks, so everything was a deep rich green.  Lots of ferns, moss, and thick vegetation.  Pine needles rained down and covered the trail.  There are some very large old stumps from the original grand forest that I am guessing was logged 70-100 years ago.

upstream from the bridge

Chapman Creek is also home to the Chapman Creek Hatchery which is a bit downstream from the bridge.  Here, millions of salmon are released each year and are now returning to spawn.  Here is a short video clip to try and share the power of the water.

BC Bike Race – July 5, 2012

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BC Bike Race is an amazing 7 day adventure bringing 500 mountain bike riders in search of some of the world’s best singletrack.  Every year there are a combination of world class racers, international adventurers, and weekend warriors who tackle the course.  Three of the seven days are spent right here on BC’s Sunshine Coast.  I caught part of Wednesday’s action…the longest course of the tour at 63km and 2,100m of elevation change…when they hit the finish line in Sechelt.  Have you ever seen 500 identical tents in a row in one field?  Assembled & disassembled daily?
Today was my favourite part of the race, though,…and for many of the riders as well.  It’s a ‘short’ course at 40km, but a serious climb from Sechelt up and over Roberts Creek and Mt. Elphinstone to finish with 7km of straight downhill into Langdale.  This last section of riding is the part of Mt. Elphinstone that I often hike…around Sprockids Mountain Bike Park.  The riders emerge from the rainforest a block from my house and cruise down our steep hill to the ferry terminal.
Yes! – thrilled to emerge from the forest toward the finish line

Neighbourhood kids came out to watch and cheer along the street.  Many of the riders waved and appreciated the young fans.  One man even stopped to chat with the kids while he waited for his teammate to emerge from the forest.  Pretty cool…and inspiring for the kids.

As one rider popped over the hill, all I heard was “Wow..look at that!”.  The view opens into the deep blue water of Howe Sound, heavily forested Gambier Island, and the Coast Mountains in the backdrop.  Yes, this is the view I’m lucky enough to see every day when I leave the house.

2 person team excited to cross the finish line

The finish line buzzes with activity as the racers shower…bike shower first of course…then personal shower, food, new clothes, medical tent if necessary and off to catch the ferry to the campsite in Squamish.

In line for the bike showers – lots of mud!

BC Bike Race – July 7, 2011

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This week’s highlight was BC Bike Race’s annual appearance on the Sunshine Coast. This is a premier mountain bike race with over 400 riders from all around the world competing for 7 days. The Sunshine Coast is proud to be home for 3 days of the race.

Today, riders made the trip from Sechelt to Langdale…38km with 1,400m of elevation climbing. Serious stuff, but they all love the 7km downhill decent at the end. These are the same trails that I hike regularly on Mt Elphinstone. The last kilometer comes down through our neighborhood with the finish line at the ferry terminal.

The fastest riders made the trip in 2 hours. A good number were in by 3 hours and some made a day of it. There is obvious relief & joy when they hit the finish line.
The first rider I spoke to was from Belgium and the next pair was from the UK. Love to see people come from around the world to ride in my backyard. The brits loved the course, but were disappointed that they hadn’t seen a bear yet. I told them that was probably a good thing.
One rider said, “The most fun you can have on your bike.”
After the race, there is still much work to be done. The support team for the event is as least as big as the riders themselves.


Each day there are celebrations and awards for top finishers. Teams of 2, individuals, and two race categories. There are a number of women racing, and the best are right up there with the guys. These women rock.


What better after 3 hours of gruelling riding than a massage by this caring crew?


The first task after the race is food & drinks. Tables are layed out for the riders with fruit & drinks to rehydrate. The second task is to give the bikes a quick shower and get them loaded up on the truck for easy transport on the ferry.
Once the bike is taken care of…its time for the riders to have a shower, too. Yes, there is a mobile truck for that, too.


Then its time to hit tent city a have a good long sleep. Afterall, there is more singletrack waiting the next morning.
Good luck to all the riders in stage 6 & 7!

Spring – May 1, 2011

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Well it took a while, but spring has fully arrived on BC’s Sunshine Coast. April went by so fast with a bit too much rain and cool temps. But here we are with gorgeous sunshine.

I can’t believe 2 full weeks went by without a good hike. You can tell I’m out of practice…I forgot the camera! I managed to get out Friday with some good friendly encouragement and took to the trails on Mt Elphinstone. We came across some significant trail development. A whole new trail appeared in the last 2 weeks since I’ve been on the mountain! We decided to follow it down…serious work was done! So many cutbacks and some serious built up curves for the mountain bikes. This new trail (still unnamed) will be a great ride, but it’s not a trail for a leisurely hike. Lots of up and down for jumps and some serious curves.

When we reached the bottom, we ran into a student and his dad headed up for a ride. We mentioned the new trail, and the student had been involved in building it. Turns out it was the final project for the Capilano University Mountain Bike Program students. They built the entire trail in the last couple of weeks. A rock feature, a water crossing, wooden jumps, and serious reinforced turns belonged to each group of students. Great to see students gaining practical skills and leaving a great gift to our trail system.

There is also a new sign at the entrance to the park announcing “Sprockids Bike Park”. So much to explore….grab you bike (or your hiking boots) and get outside! It won’t be so long till I get back on the trails.

BC Bike Race – July 1, 2010

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Happy Canada Day!
In true Canadian spirit, we went out and supported the 500 riders competing in the BC Bike Race. This is a 7 day mountain bike trek from Vancouver to Vancouver Island across to the Sunshine Coast and over to Squamish & Whistler.
This is the 4th year for the race. Best part for me is that it literally races down our street! There is a trailhead at the end of our street that I have always enjoyed hiking. This trail connects into Sprockids Mountain Bike Park and over the mountain to the reputable Roberts Creek trails.
Thus, the last segment of the day’s ride is the decent down our trail and onto our street for a mad dash to the ferry and the finish line.
Riders cover a very wide spectrum. We’ve had Olympians and world champions. We have riders from many countries. We have men & women of all ages. There is a 60+ riding this year and there is a 15 yr old. It is hard to tell in this photo, but the guy in the center is a unicyclist! Can you imagine riding mountain bike trails…40km/day…on a unicycle?

They were muddy and wet today after a bit of rain last night…but the riders loved it. “Best trails I’ve ever ridden,” said one of the racers we talked to. The heart of the group took 5 hours to ride today’s course….and this was his quote.

I have a lot of respect for the race organizers. They have traffic control, trail markings, a bike shower, food at the finish line, first aid stations along the route, camping tent city every night, 24 hour repair crews to keep the bikes in top shape, and on-site massage teams to keep the riders in shape.
Very cool. Can’t wait to see you again next year! For more information on great Sunshine Coast mountain biking, visit www.sunshinecoastcanada.com/visit/activities/biking.php or www.bcbikerace.com.