Summer Solstice 2013

First Day of Summer = First Palgrave Point to Point

What a killer day to kick of the official start of Summer.  Kris and I went out to Palgrave to do the first portion of the Hockley Epic.  The route is a long time coming and has taken several re-con rides to link it all together but you could not have gotten a better day for this. Stay tuned for the video...

Taking in the rolling vista from atop Glenn Haffey

Sunny Sunday September Stoke...

2012 has delivered some amazing weather weekends. Did another Hockley Valley (mini) epic today and the conditions delivered. One of the good things about this area is the abundance of trails and then trying to link all the tracts together while scoping out new routes.  There is also a LOT of hills, the Garmin recorded just over 4000' today.   Rarely do I ever see anyone in some of these remote sections so its kind of nice that way. Albion, Palgrave, Hockley, Mono, The Knoll and so on ..........

Mono Center

Decided to stop in at Mono for a few laps on the way back from Collingwood. Another stellar day weather wise and a almost empty Provincial Park.

Vacation Withdrawal Syndrome

One of the downsides when you get back from a good riding road trip is you ( at least I do  ) suffer from mountain epic exploration withdrawal syndrome.  Being from Ontario our terrain is not even close to the grand mountain & mesa destination trails but we do have our share of classic Canadian single track and you might not have to climb 2 or 3 thousand feet to the trailhead but you can certainly hit that number spread out over the ride.

Last week it was the Gatineau Hydro Cut trail from Scarborough to the Rouge and then Seaton return.  Today was a completely new spot in the Hockley area and it was perfect.  Something to be said about getting away from the traditional loop rides.  More of these to come faux sho....

Canada Day + Tour Start + Killer Weather =

ROAD TRIP!!! What else to say other than another killer wknd under the belt. Not even the mosquitoes could phuck this up. This spur of the moment shot was trying to capture Hockley Valley's version of the Tour passing through fields of sunflowers. Not sure what these weeds or plants were but they did the trick.

Almost 140 off road km's, over 6000' of climbing from Durham to Hockley to Mono to Mansfield. This wknd also served up running into old friends at far off trail heads.....

Hockley Valley, Mono Mills.....

What a killer day. Decided the hump day epic was in full effect. Took out the Tour of Georgia climbing jersey so we knew this was going to be a hilly loop. Headed off for a mini epic of sorts. ( GPS info and ride profile below )



Parked at Hockley Valley Resort and started the ride of with a 2 km climb up to the first section of single track. Basically the forest tracts are broken up with a grid of dirt roads to piece everything together.



Not a cloud in the sky nobody and I mean nobody on the trails ( we did not see another person for the whole 50 km loop ) Pristine singletrack at every turn and vista what else could you ask for. Epic Days!!

Copeland Forest ( Horseshoe Valley )

Winter WOW from the Wizard of Wheels

What a incredible end to the month of November. Today's Winter WOW enduro ( hosted by W.O.W. & Mansfield Outdoor Center ) was probably the best weather they have had in years. The forest was in pristine shape and the rain on Friday packed the sand down on some of the traditionally hard climbs like " Stairway to Heaven " and a host of others. I actually made the whole climb which is rare.

While this enduro was 40 km it was by all accounts a much better format than the Hardwood one a few weeks back. I am a big fan of the monster loop format and having spent many a day riding in Dufferin / Mansfield with Mike & Co. from W.O.W. this is one of my favorite rides.

I do think the rigid fork experiment is nearing a end as I was wishing ( actually praying ) I had my Fox on for at least half the ride. My back and hands were screaming after some of the long sections of singletrack. This is officially the last MTB event of 2009 in Southern Ontario and more importantly the equipment breaking in the woods spell has been lifted.



For comparisons sake I thought I would throw up a picture of this same event under different conditions. It is hard to believe that this is JUST around the corner :)

Bump.......

Well we took a break from this for 2008 but it is going to happen this year hopefully with better conditions than what Kris and I had in 2007. Going to float some dates as this will be a mid week epic so let me know if any time's are better than others for you. Going to keep the ride small and the distance is 100 km.