Ride Time: 6:00 pm

Meeting Place: End of Perth rd by yellow gate

Ride Length: 1.5-2 hrs

Difficulty: Intermediate

We are back from a lovely vacation in Nova Scotia and ready to ride! Please note that we will be meeting a half hour earlier as it is getting dark earlier. If you cannot make it there for 6:00, you can meet us at 6:30 when we finish riding Roller Coaster. 

Route: We will ride up the gravel road to Roller Coaster, down Roller Coaster, Lumberjack’s, and Trestle Trail. 

Roller Coaster is rated a blue trail. It starts out with some nice loopy corners through some beautiful second growth. It gets steeper part way down, and there are a few roll-downs. The trail ends with a series of banked corners then a straight  shot back to Perth road.

Lumberjack’s trail is a classic technical cross country trail. The greatest challenge of this trail is pedalling uphill over all of the roots and rocks. (It is actually very rooty and has some sharp corners with rocks and roots-Mom’s note)

Trestle trail is another nice single track trail. It is less rooty than Lumberjack’s, and runs generally downhill.

Coho Park Trail is a gravel hiking trail. While running mostly downhill, there are a few short climbs. It descends to a beautiful creek and lovely park.

See you on the trails!

Jen

Time: 6:30 pm

Place: Raven’s Plateau in Valleycliffe at the corner of  Westway and Cherry Driv

Ride Length: 2 hrs

Difficulty: Intermediate – Farther Side, Advanced option – Meet Your Maker. Be prepared to ride uphill!

Ride Leaders:

Amanda and her boyfriend Steve have kindly volunteered to lead the ride this week. Please give them a big thankyou for keeping the Dirt Divas riding!

The group will will ride  up the powerlines to the powerhouse gravel road which will take us to the beginning of the Farther Side. From there we wil ride the Farther side, part of S&M Connector, and maybe Meet Yer Maker. This route involves lots of pedalling- so bring water!

Trails:

The Farther Side

This trail has undergone a few changes in the last few years, and each one of them seems to have made it longer. It starts by going up and up and up, leveling off every now and then to allow you to catch your breath. Now we all now that what goes up must come down, and this trail does that with style. It is a fun, flowy single track with just enough steep spots to help keep you honest. It is a great warm up for the steeper, more technical Meet Yer Maker.

Meet Your Maker

The ride up this trail is very challenging. For me it is more of a hike-a-bike. The hike is worth it, as it brings you up to the top of a very fun trail. It starts out with a moderate slope, then gets steep and technical. There are steep tight corners, loose gravel sections, and a few rock faces just to spice things up. All topped off with a newly built section of flowy berms.

Lost Loop

This is a classic Squamish cross country single track trail. It is fairly lightly ridden these days, as the gravel pit expansion has cut off part of it. We will avoid that section by turning onto Really Lost Loop. This trail is a great introduction to tight, windy singletrack. It twists and turns through the woods, over rocks, roots, and logs. To better anticipate these challenges, keep your head up and look ahead!

 S&M Connector

This is a nice access trail for Lost Loop and Meet Your Maker. Most of it is similar to the Mashiter Trail in both grade and technical difficulty. However, it is a fair bit shorter. It starts out as double track with two short trail sections that climb to the right then descend and rejoin the main trail. Near the end there is a short bridge over a creek then a slightly more technical section.

Have a great ride!

 Jen

Date: May 28
Time: 6:00 at Tantalus Bike Shop or 6:30 pm at the yellow gate at the end of Perth.

Place: Tantalus Bike Shop (if you want to ride up to Perth) or at the end of Perth.

Ride Length: 2-2.5 hrs

Difficulty: Easy-Intermediate

This week’s ride will link together a few short trails into a long loop. The route goes up Jack’s trail, then Alice Lake gravel road, up Bob MacIntosh, around Dead End Loop, down Bob MacIntosh Memorial trail, and back down Jack’s trail. The trails are generally easy with some short sections of more technical bits to keep you challenged. Be ready to ride uphill for at least one hour.

Difficulty: Advanced

The advanced ride will go up Jacks Trail & Mike’s loop, then down Entrails to Icy Hole of Death and back to Jack’s Trail.  Be ready to ride some very steep, sometimes loose sections.

Trails:

 Icy Hole of Death: Despite the name, this trail is less technical and steep than Entrails. It has a series of short steep and technical climbs and descents that bring you from partway along Entrails to Jack’s Trail.

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Ride Date: May 21, 2009

Time: 6:00 pm at Tantalus Bike Shop (to pedal up to the end of Perth) or 6:30 by the yellow gate at the end of Perth.

Length: 2 hours

Difficulty: Beginner to Intermediate, be prepared to ride uphill for at least 45 minutes.

Mashiter Trail

 This is an old logging road that provides great access to many of the trails near Alice Lake Park. Ridden from The Highlands, it has a moderate uphill grade and will keep you in the shade most of the way. Perfect for hot summer days!

The Corners

Cliff’s and Rob’s Corners are aptly named. They consist of nice swooping corners with a grade that is steep enough to help keep your momentum, but not so steep that you spend the whole ride struggling to control your speed.

Roller Coaster

The beginning of this trail is very similar to The Corners. About halfway along it becomes steeper and has a few steep roll-downs. A lot of work was put into this trail in the last few years-last year they bermed much of the corners in the steeper section making it much easier.

Ride Date: August 7, 2008

Time: 6:00 pm

Length: 2 hours

Place: Tantalus Bike Shop

Difficulty: Beginner-You should be able to pedal on gravel trails, and be ready for some turns and dips in the trail. If you are looking for a fun, social ride, this one’s for you!

We had 5 hard core ladies show up to ride the Powerhouse Plunge last week. The ride was challenging as it was a bit slippery due to the rain. Fortunately, the worst of the rain held off until we were finished and on our way to the Burrow for well-deserved appies and drinks!

This week (Thursday, August 7) we will ride the Squamish Valley Golf Course trails, Discovery Trail, and Logger’s Creek Trail. This is a nice mellow ride with very little elevation gain or loss. (I have ridden all of these trails on my cruiser bike.)

It’s a great chance for those of you who have been wanting to come out but aren’t sure about your ability. Everyone is welcome!

We will meet at the Tantalus bike shop at 6:00 pm as usual. If you can’t make it on time, you can always meet us at Gelato Carina around 7:00 pm.

Golf Course Trails

From the bike shop, we will ride across Mamquam Road, then explore the Golf Course trails. These trails will bring us under the highway and up onto Government Road. From there, we cross Government and head down a short paved road to Discovery Trail.

Discovery Trail

 We will follow this trail to the high school, then head down Cleveland for a quick stop at Gelato Carina. When we are ready to go again, we will head back up Cleveland, cross the highway at the lights, head up Logger’s lane for a short distance, then onto logger’s Creek trail.

Logger’s Creek Trail

This trail will take us past the Recreation Centre, then back to the highway by the Mamquam Bridge. After we cross the bridge, it is just a short ride back to Tantalus.

In total, the ride should take around two hours.

Keep riding!

Jen

The Ray Peter’s Trail, named after a local man who was a fireman and Squamish municipal councillor.  He was a driving force behind getting this trail completed and many other trails built and upgraded. Unfortunately he passed away from cancer caused by his work as a fireman and is greatly missed by the mountain biking community in Squamish. 

This trail is a double-track trail that is great for people who are just learning how to ride their mountain bike.  It has moderate incline that varies in steepness so you get to practise using the gears and build up some lung and leg power.  The trail is 8KMs in total and is the longest of the easy valley trails. There are some short cuts if you get tired. Of course, half of the trail is downhill so getting back to the start is not too difficult.  As my grand daughter says, you always get to ride down after you have ridden up.  She loves the downhill.

It officially starts at the Don Ross school on Government road in Brackendale and parallels Government road to Squamish Valley Rd, turns right and follows Squamish Valley Rd up to Hwy 99, then goes down beside Hwy 99 to Depot Rd, along Depot (bike lane) to Ross Rd and back up to the school.  There is a turn off you can take before Depot that will take you back to Ross Rd and to your starting point if you don’t want to ride on Depot.

This trail is very popular with walkers, with and without dogs, runners, moms with strollers, and the odd bit of wildlife, so you do need to cycle carefully.

If your spirit of adventure draws you to more, you can branch off on to one of the Cheekeye Fan trails, locally known as the Dump Trails.  These are single track, cross country trails,  characterized by narrow, twisty, rooty bits and small technical challenges.  It is easy to get lost in this labyrinth but also easy to find your way out.  The easiest way is to listen for traffic noise and head for it.  That will take you to the hwy or Squamish Valley Road.  The other way is to remember that all trails generally funnel towards the hydro right of way.  From there you go up or down.  A great place to practise skills as the slope is gentle and there are many small challenges. It is a popular riding area and is sometimes used for local races.

This weeks ride!!!

Meet at Tantalus Bike Shop

Thursday July 3

6PM depart at 6:10PM

We will ride to Ray Peter’s Trail  and depending on the group, ride some of it then branch off and explore some of the twisty trails.

  I’m not sure where we will start riding the trail, if you want to join us along the way, send a message and Jen will give you the trail starting point.

There will be an opportunity to have a beverage and/or a bite to eat at the Brackendale Bistro at the end of the ride.

Till then,

Good Riding

Cheryle B

Map

Ring Creek South covers a huge amount of territory.  It lies between Ring Creek to the north, Ring Creek Falls Trail to the west, Mamquam Forest Service Road to the South and as far as the eye can see to the east.  Two of the most famous mountain bike trails in Squamish, The Powerhouse Plunge and the Ring Creek Rip are in this area. The Mamquam Forest Service Road is a great artery for many longer mountain bike rides. The Stawamus Forest Service road climbs steeply up the Stawamus River and eventually goes down to Indian Arm.  East of Nine Mile Bridge  there are a lot of logging roads that provide interesting mountain biking in scenic mountain areas.

The Ring Creek Falls Trail is a double track trail that starts on the Garibaldi Park Road and ends up at Ravens Plateau in Valley Cliff.  It serves as the major the major link between the trail networks north of Garibaldi Park Road and the Crumpet Woods Trails. To get to this trail you ride 1km up Garibaldi Park Road from the Squamish Valley Golf Course and turn right down to and across the magnificent Ring Creek Falls Bridge, which was built as a cooperative effort between SORCA and local business for the 1996 Test of Metal.  The trail then goes up and turns right to follow the hydro right of way to the top of Crumpet Woods.   You can then elect to head into the woods or continue to follow the road which will bring you down to Ravens Plateau.

Meet at Tantalus Bike Shop at 6PM.  Departure by 6:10PM.

 This weeks ride has two options.  The one option is to ride up Mamquam Road from Tantalus Bike Shop, onto Garibaldi Park Road and over the Ring Creek Falls Trail to The Farther Side, a technical single track trail that is  great for those who want to take their mountain biking skills to the next level. Where the ride goes from there will depend on the energy and skill level of those present. 

The other option will be to drive to Ravens Plateau and start from there, riding up to Farther Side. 

The choice will be made on Tuesday night.

If you go to the Maps page and look at the Crumpet Woods Map, the trail that starts at the top right of the map and goes down to the Powerhouse Bridge, is the Ring Creek Falls Trail.  Number 34 is Far Side.  Farther Side is somewhere around there.

Till then

Good Riding

Cheryle B 

The Smoke Bluffs, an area that starts at the rock walls just above the highway and goes east to the gas pipeline trail that is the demarcation line between The Bluffs and Crumpit Woods is a great place to mountain bike in Squamish.

It is mostly known for the great variety of rock climbing routes in Smoke Bluff Park. The Smoke Bluffs Loop trail is a very popular and heavily used walking trail that is not suitable for mountain biking as there are very steep places and lots of stairs.

Less well known are the maze of single track mountain bike trails hidden from view, east of, and above the climbing crags.  Most of the trails are difficult, with lots of hike-a-bikes and steep, rocky downhill plummets. There has been quite a bit of work done on some of the trails making them easier for those of us who are less skillful and/or crazy.

This week we will once again start riding from Raven’s Plateau but we will ride up Endo (sounds a bit ominous to me) then across Summer’s Eve to Seven Stitches then up.

Meet at Tantalus Bike Shop at 6 PM Depart, for Valleycliff at 6:10PM.  We should start riding by 6:30 at the latest.

Notice that the word UP has been used a couple of times.  That is because there is a lot of it, some that may have at least one of us (me) pushing her bike.  There are also lots of tight corners that will need to be negotiated. 

Endo, the start of our ride, is described in the 2000 Squamish Mountain Bike Guide “as short and sweet, a technical ride best ridden east to west with a challenging log crossing to warm you up, steep drop offs, and a smokin finish that makes you wish it was longer.  A great trail for sapping that last little bit of energy you may have on the way out of Crumpit Woods”  So!!! Why are we riding UP and from west to east?  Well, the trail has been improved a lot since that book was written, it doesn’t necessarily live up to its name now, and we will only be riding the lower portion where the drop-offs aren’t. 

Summer’s Eve runs roughly parallel to Plateau Drive and connects Endo with  the Smoke Bluffs Loop Trail.  This trail is designated green although it gets more difficult at the western end.  We will use it to connect to 7 Stitches.

Where do they get these names from?  Well, this one is from the hernia operation, five stitches, and a cracked forehead, two stitches, received by the builder of this trail.  It is a popular trail to link Summer’s Eve and Pipe Trail, as well as the more difficult trails that branch off along the way. It is rideable in either direction.

And that is where Jen has left us, at the top of 7 Stitches.  Will she take us down Cougar Ridge or the Gas pipeline right of way?  A mystery.

 Till Tuesday, good riding

Cheryle B

A map, published with permission of Kevin McLane, author of the Squamish Trail Guide.

Crumpit Woods, lies between the Smoke Bluffs, Ring Creek Lava flow, the Power house Bridge Access Road and the Mamquam River. The Valleycliff mountain biking area! It has several small peaks and ridges and viewpoints of the distant peaks.

The trails here are mostly moderately difficult, with some technical riding to be found on every ride. Some of the best “freeriding” mountain biking trails in Squamish are found in this area, including 5 Point Hill, Rock Star and Silver Slide. The freeriding trails have many short, intense downhills that are 5 to 15 minutes long.

There are several ways you can access Crumpit Woods including the Climbers Parking Lot, the end of Plateau Drive and Raven’s Drive.

This Week we will ride from Raven’s Drive, up S&M Connector (sounds like fun,yes?) to Lost Loop and Really Lost Loop then back down S&M Connector.

Meet at Tantalus Bike Shop

6 PM

Depart at 6:10PM

S&M Connector is a gentle trail up Crumpit Creek that is a good introduction to moderately difficult mountain biking. It has a few rough sections and even though it seems fairly gentle going up, the ride out can be fast.

Lost Loop is shorter than it used to be, as it was built on a private gravel quarry which has since expanded. It is a relatively flat ride but provides a good place to practise mountain biking on tight trails. People used to get lost on Really Lost Loop fairly regularly, but I think that happens less now that part of Lost Loop is gone.

So that’s it Ladies. Hope to see you there.

Meanwhile, good riding.

Cheryle B

Map showing S&M Connector and Lost Loop Trails

printed with permission from Kevin McLane author of “Squamish Trail Guide”